June 2024 Canvas Deploy Notes

Created by Maria Shimel
Aug 13, 2024
6 min read

WHAT IS THIS? This Blog is made up of curated notes taken from the official Canvas Deploy Notes; the goal is to highlight upcoming changes and improvements to Canvas at Boise State University.

  • To do a deeper dive on any of these topics, please follow the provided link to the full list of Canvas Deploy Notes.

  • Boise State University does not subscribe to all functionalities that might be included in the Canvas Deploy Notes official webpage. If you have questions about the Boise State Canvas instance, please email LTS@boisestate.edu.

WHO IS THE AUDIENCE? Boise State Faculty and Staff.

  • Occasionally some small changes will impact Students in Canvas, these changes should be communicated by Faculty to their impacted Students.

  • Large changes in the user interface will be communicated to all Boise State Users in advance.

WHY SHOULD I READ THIS? This Blog provides a running list of changes/improvements that have been made in Canvas. Users who work on a rotating contractual basis could find the listed updates helpful in “catching up” with any changes in Canvas during their time away from teaching.

WHEN WILL THE NEXT BLOG BE RELEASED? LTS plans to update this Blog on a monthly basis.

Canvas Deploy Notes (2024-06-05)

Gradebook

  • TOOL: Message Students Who Numbers Update

  • IMPACTED: Instructor

  • CHANGE: When selecting roles using the Message Students Who feature in the Gradebook and modifying the Send Message To list, the displayed numbers update to reflect the current number of selected users. This update enhances clarity by displaying the number of users who will receive the message.

Screenshot of an email To bar demonstrating that numbers are now included in the information shown

  • TOOL: Context Card Tray Close Icon Update

  • IMPACTED: Instructor

  • CHANGE: In the Gradebook, the student context card close icon is relocated. This update provides cohesion across the Canvas interface.

screenshot of the context tray highlighting the X in the upper righthand corner.

SpeedGrader

  • TOOL: Randomize within Submission Status Sorting

  • IMPACTED: Instructor

  • CHANGE: In SpeedGrader Settings, instructors can randomize the order of students within submission status. This update helps prevent grading fatigue and biases when assessing students by sorting randomly. Additionally, it provides grading efficiency by randomly sorting within submission status. When the randomized students option is selected, the preference is saved as the default in the browser for the course. When logging in on another device, instructors must select the sort by options again.

YouTube LTI

  • TOOL: Added Terms and Conditions

  • IMPACTED: All Users

  • CHANGE: When launching the YouTube LTI app to select content for the first time, users must agree to the YouTube Terms of Service and Privacy policy. Note: Once the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy are accepted, the agreement is saved on the device and will not display again. This update complies with Google's terms for using a YouTube API.

Canvas Release Notes (2024-06-15)

SpeedGrader

  • TOOL: Studio Media Comment Screen Capture and Auto Captioning

  • IMPACTED: Instructor

  • CHANGE: In SpeedGrader, the Studio media recorder is introduced for screen capture and captioning. This update enhances the clarity of instructor feedback and improves accessibility by providing a streamlined user experience. Note: Closed captions may not be generated instantaneously and may require some time to process and appear.

 

New Quizzes

  • TOOL: Export New Quizzes Using Common Cartridge

  • IMPACTED: Instructor

  • CHANGE: When Exporting Course Content, New Quizzes are included in Common Cartridge exports and Course Content export files as XML file type allowing the import of existing quizzes to New Quizzes. This update enhances efficiency by enabling instructors to export New Quizzes in Course Exports.

 

  • TOOL: Sub-Account Bank Sharing

  • IMPACTED: Instructor

  • CHANGE: Admin and instructors can share item banks with sub-accounts when the Item Bank-Share with subaccounts permission is enabled at the Course Role or Account Role level. This feature streamlines resource sharing and enhances the overall efficiency of item bank management.

 

  • TOOL: Outcome Alignment Sub-Account Bank Sharing and Additional Context

  • IMPACTED: Instructor

  • CHANGE: At the sub-account level, sub-account specific item bank questions can be aligned to outcomes. Root account, sub-account and course names display in Item banks stating where outcomes are sourced and users can see which outcomes belong to courses and sub-accounts. Additionally, the source drop-down menu is available at the course level. These updates allow users to utilize sub-account Outcomes within item banks with New Quizzes.

Assignments

  • TOOL: Enforcement of LTI Deep Linking Line Items

  • IMPACTED: Instructor

  • CHANGE: The LTI Deep Linking Line Items on Assignment Edit Page is enforced for all institutions and the feature option is removed. This feature option allows LTI 1.3 tools to display a deep linking workflow on the Assignment edit page. Note: Not all third-party tools are updated to automatically support this placement. This change allows instructors to launch a third-party tool before linking to select a specific content item or resource to attach.

Additional Details - To enable the placement, third-party tools need to have this placement added to the Developer Key. Additionally, applications with Assignment Selection placement available on developer keys already enabled may be affected.

Canvas Deploy Notes (2024-06-18)

Courses

  • TOOL: SIS ID’s Added to Course Tray

  • IMPACTED: Instructor

  • CHANGE: In the Global Navigation Courses Tray, SIS IDs display if available. This update provides additional reference information that can help users quickly identify and distinguish between courses.

 

  • TOOL: Sort Course List

  • IMPACTED: All Users

  • CHANGE: In the Courses page, users can sort courses. Additionally, a Favorite header text is added. This update enhances course navigation and personalization.

  • TOOL: View as Student Button Text Update

  • IMPACTED: Instructor

  • CHANGE: The Student view button text is changed to View as Student. This change clarifies the button's function, making it more intuitive for users.

Settings

  • TOOL: Fixed Footer

  • IMPACTED: Instructor

  • CHANGE: In Account Settings and Course Settings, the footer remains fixed on the page.

  • This update enhances user experience by making buttons more easily accessible.

User Settings

  • TOOL: Profile Pictures

  • IMPACTED: All Users

  • CHANGE: When editing a profile picture, the profile picture modal is improved with a Picture Option drop-down menu. This improvement allows users to easily select different options related to their profile picture, providing a more streamlined and user-friendly experience.

Profile

  • TOOL: Pronunciations

  • IMPACTED: All Users

  • CHANGE:

In Account Settings, select the Enable name pronunciation checkbox.

When editing a profile, enter the desired name pronunciation in the Name Pronunciation field.

When the Users can edit their name account setting is disabled, users can still edit the Name Pronunciation field.

Once saved, the name pronunciation displays on a user's profile page.

Studio Media Feedback Player

TOOL: Media Player

IMPACTED: Instructor, Student

CHANGE: After recording media feedback using the new Studio recorder, the recording playback displays on the updated Studio player. This update provides users with an improved and cohesive user experience.