In production

• New Quiz outcome data is available in the Learning Mastery Gradebook, Student Learning Mastery Gradebook, and the admin account-level Outcome Results report. This update allows users to collect outcome data from New Quizzes to improve usage of Competency and Standards-Based Grading.
• Feature option: instructors can use the cropping tool in the Rich Content Editor (RCE) Icon Maker on touch devices, providing more device options for customizing icons. 
• Admin and Sub-account admins can create an account calendar with events and important dates to display for users. In Canvas Calendars, users have the option to subscribe to Account Calendars in the Other Calendars section. This allows schools to share important school or University-wide dates with instructors and students.
• Instructors can quickly view a summary of alignments to the Outcomes in their course. They can use a filter to view all Outcomes, view only those with alignments, or those without alignments.
• The Allow Multiple File AGS Submissions Count as One Submission feature option will be enforced for all users. When using third-party tools to upload assignments, files submitted together will display to instructors as a single submission in Speedgrader.
   

Delayed

Scheduled to be released last month but has been delayed: Users that have both instructor and student roles will have distinct and separate to-do lists displayed in their sidebars so that they can differentiate between their lists.
 

To be released December 7

• In the RCE, the status bar Word Counter displays a detailed view of words and characters, providing fast access to a detailed view of the word count.
• The RCE supports the pasting and drag and drop of content. Pasting content requires the Command+V, Control+V or Paste from the browser’s context menu.
   

To be released December 17

• On the Permissions page, Manage Course Content- add / edit / delete group permission has been added to Course and Account Roles. Each individual permission can also be managed separately within the group, providing more granularity for managing course content.
• The RCE is available in New Quizzes.
• In the Inbox, coding has been updated to improve accessibility and functionality.
• Feature options for New Quizzes:
  • Blueprint Course Quiz Locking disables editing of New Quizzes in associated courses.This update provides consistent quiz content across blueprint associated courses.
  • In the New Quizzes settings, instructors can enable Allow Clearing Selection (Multiple Choice) allowing students to clear multiple choice answers.
  • This update improves the Fill in the Blank multiple word bank answer option experience for students and instructors.
     

Virtual Assistant rollout

Instructure is introducing a Virtual Assistant in mid-spring. Users will be able to chat into the Virtual Assistant, receive Canvas Guide and Knowledge Base Article Recommendations, and have the ability to speak to a live support agent available at each step. The goal for this tool is to enhance the user’s Customer Support experience by guiding them to the right information. Specifically, they are targeting the 30% of non-Canvas questions that L1 Support receives, like registration or school-specific questions. The Assistant works by providing the user information from Harvard-specific information we have previously given to Instructure. We will update you as we hear more information about the release date.
 

Roadmap and Idea Conversations

In the Canvas Community, users have been asking for more transparency into Instructure’s future product strategy. Instructure announced they will be making improvements in this regard starting with regular updates. This post describes some of the changes they will focus on in the coming months from the Roadmap. There is also a follow up post about their work regarding Idea Conversations and how they plan to move forward.

• You can now export results dashboards to Microsoft Word (DOCX format). Widgets will be saved as images within the document.
• The Support Portal has been updated with more personalized content and  intuitive options. Check it out at https://support-portal.qualtrics.com/ (choose SSO and enter brand ‘harvard’).

• The new Channel Manager role allows non-admins to manage channels they create or are assigned.
• Copy and share links to huddles. Start or join a huddle directly from a link shared in calendar invites, another channel, or wherever you are collaborating.
• Improved keyboard navigation for better accessibility.
• For Slack Connect, member profile enhancements include more fields and additional external profile options. Members are able to customize which profile fields are visible for partners in their profile or preferences, and are able to preview what their profile looks like to partners.