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Canvas: Did you know…?

New Rich Content Editor in Canvas

You might not know what it’s called, but you have used the Rich Content Editor multiple times. It’s the ribbon of tools at the top of the frame when you edit pages, discussions, assignments, etc. in Canvas.

St. Thomas is enabling the new Rich Content Editor on January 5th, 2021. However, faculty can switch over to the new editor at any point. Keep in mind that when you switch to the new editor, all users in that class (including students) will be switched over, too. Read more below to learn about the new features and how to try it out.

The original Rich Content Editor featured two rows of editing tools and a sidebar for accessing Links, Files, and Images.

Original Rich Content Editor

The new Rich Content Editor is much more compact and eliminates the right side-bar menu:

New Rich Content Editor

Advantages of the New Rich Content Editor:

one hour of auto save (no more losing your work when your browser crashes or you accidentally click Cancel instead of Save)
more space on the screen for your work
less scrolling when you building quizzes and syllabi

Where did Everything Go?

All the items currently in the menus at the right side of your screen have been split into different icons in the new Rich Content Editor:

Course Links (A)
Course Images (B)
Course Media (C)
Course Files (D)

External tools (including Panopto, YouTube, and library materials) are now in the “plug” icon. (E)

The Accessibility Checker (F) and HTML/Text Editor toggle (G) are on the bottom right.

Note: You can also use the menu (H) to do your editing. Click each of the menus to find some additional functionality, such as: undo/redo, inserting a horizontal line as a visual break, additional options for formatting text, and more.

see Canvas tutorials for accessible images of new rich content editor

Can’t find what you’re looking for? Canvas has updated tutorials for faculty and students. Plus, Canvas Support is available 24/7 to help you.

How to Get the New Rich Content Editor

The new Rich Content Editor is available now, but it’s optional. The New Rich Content Editor will be enabled for all users on January 5th, 2021.

Want a sneak peek or to take advantage of the auto-save feature? Enable the New Rich Content Editor in your course(s) by Going into Settings > Feature Options and turning on RCE Enhancements.

This post was written by Nancy McGinley Myers, Instructional Designer with the St. Thomas E-Learning and Research (STELAR) Center at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. To learn more about what STELAR can do for you, please visit STELAR’s website or email us at stelar@stthomas.edu.

March 3, 2020 by Nancy McGinley Myers

Update to Canvas Quizzes

Since 2017, Canvas has offered two options for online quizzes:

Quizzes LTI (“New Quizzes”)
Legacy Quizzes (“Classic Quizzes”)

Prior to February 15, 2020, Classic Quizzes could be found by clicking on “Quizzes” in the course navigation menu and New Quizzes could be found by clicking on “Assignments.” However, starting on February 15, 2020, both types of quizzes will be found by clicking “Quizzes.” Faculty will no longer be able to create a quiz by clicking on “Assignments.” Canvas will eventually migrate all quizzes currently in the “Assignments” area to the “Quizzes” area, but there is no timeline for that migration.

Starting February 15, 2020, to create a quiz in Canvas, click on “Quizzes” in the course navigation menu, and then click the purple +Quiz button. You will then see this dialog box, where you will choose which type of quiz you want:

If you use essay or short response questions in your quizzes, use the Classic Quizzes tool so you have access to the Speedgrader. This provides a much simpler and smoother grading experience.

If you’d like more information on this update, please visit the Canvas release notes.

This post was written by Karin Brown, Instructional Designer with the St. Thomas E-Learning and Research (STELAR) Center at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. To learn more about what STELAR can do for you, please visit our website at www.stthomas.edu/stelar or email us at stelar@stthomas.edu.

February 7, 2020 by

Canvas: Did you know...?, Technology Tools

New Canvas Feature: Personal Pronouns

Canvas has added a new feature that allows users to identify their personal pronouns. Your chosen pronouns follow your name and show up basically anywhere your name appears within Canvas. That includes places like discussion posts, grading fields, announcements sent by instructors, groups pages, and messages.

Why should I set up my pronouns?

St. Thomas is excited Canvas has made this feature available and we’ve chosen to enable it for our Canvas users.

Enabling this feature supports the university’s commitment to diversity. Identifying your pronouns helps others know how to address you (and lets you know the proper way to address others). In our increasingly digital world, knowing the proper way to address one another helps to build community.

How do I enable the pronouns feature in Canvas?

Identifying your pronouns in Canvas is an optional feature. If you wish to enable the feature and identify your pronouns, go to your User Settings and follow the instructions in the Canvas Personal Pronouns tutorial.

What if my pronouns aren’t available in the menu?

Only pronouns set by the Canvas admin will show up in the drop-down menu. If your pronouns aren’t there, let us know! Send an email to stelar@stthomas.edu and include the pronouns you’d like added to the drop–down menu.

Canvas 24/7 Help

If you need assistance in setting up your pronouns, please contact Canvas’s 24/7 Help. Find your help options by clicking on the Help icon in the purple menu at the left (when logged in to Canvas).

This post was written by Nancy McGinley Myers, Instructional Designer with the St. Thomas E-Learning and Research (STELAR) Center at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. To learn more about what STELAR can do for you, please visit our website at www.stthomas.edu/stelar or email us at stelar@stthomas.edu.

February 6, 2020 by Nancy McGinley Myers

Canvas: Did you know...?, Technology Tools

New Gradebook In Canvas

Canvas is rolling out a new gradebook to all users this winter, and we think you’re going to like the new features. St. Thomas is going to switch from the old gradebook to the new one on January 3, 2020 to accommodate posting Fall 2019 grades and the start of J-Term 2020.

New Features:

To see a list of all the changes, please view the complete functionality comparison chart. Here are three exciting new features that will help you streamline your grading and reporting:

You will be able to set grading policies for late and/or missing work. In other words, you can have your gradebook automatically deduct points for late assignments.
You can also set a grading policy for missing assignments which helps keep your gradebook up-to-date. (Without a score, the gradebook ignores missing assignments, so entering a score early on will give students a more accurate view of their grade.)
You will be able to manually change the status of an assignment submission. This change allows you to track any late or missing assignments that were submitted on paper. In addition, you can remove the “late” status for assignments you granted extensions on.

Enhanced Features:

To see a complete list of enhancements made to current features, please view the complete functionality comparison chart. The following feature enhancements might be especially handy:

In the old gradebook you could only sort student names alphabetically by last name. In the new gradebook, you’ll be able to sort students by first or last name, sort alphabetically, and choose which secondary information (like username or group) you’d like to show.
You have much more control over the arrangement of your assignment columns with the new gradebook. You can arrange by name, due date, points, or module.
You can also filter your columns by assignment group, modules, and/or section. In the old gradebook, you could only filter by section.
The new gradebook allows you to mute all assignments by default (by selecting the manual post option) in Grade Posting Policies.

Features that Still Exist but Have Moved:

Looking for an old feature, but can’t find it? Quite a few features have either moved to another location in the gradebook, or their icons have changed. To see a full list, have a look at the functionality comparison chart.

The option to mute assignments still exists, but there are enhanced features and it’s moved to Grade Posting Policies. You can set a policy for the course or for individual assignments.
The icon that appears when you hover over the column header has changed from a triangle to three vertical dots. Access useful features like Message Students Who, Download all Submissions, Curve Grades, and Set Default Grades from within that pop-up menu.
Accessing the SpeedGrader from the gradebook has moved to the Grade Detail Tray (access the Grade Detail Tray by clicking on a cell in the gradebook).

Getting Help

Looking for something in the New Gradebook, but can’t find it? Trying to make sense of new icons and locations? Canvas has multiple help options for you:

Look through the New Gradebook Instructor Guide to see if you can find an answer to your question.
Contact Canvas help if you have any issues setting up your new gradebook. They are available 24/7 via phone or chat.

This post was written by Nancy McGinley Myers, an Instructional Designer for the St. Thomas E-Learning and Research (STELAR) Center at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. To learn more about this topic, please visit our website at www.stthomas.edu/stelar or email us at stelar@stthomas.edu.

November 20, 2019 by Nancy McGinley Myers

Best Practices, Tips, and Tricks, Canvas: Did you know...?

What’s All the Hype About Modules?

Since the university moved from Blackboard to Canvas, we’ve heard a lot about Modules: “Build your content in modules; don’t forget to publish your modules; I never had to use modules in Blackboard, they’re too confusing.” So, what’s all the hype about modules anyway?

True, Blackboard didn’t use modules. That’s one of the main paradigm shifts we encounter when moving to Canvas. Instead of creating menu items and folders as you did in Blackboard, Canvas has you assemble and display content items in Modules. But once we wrap our heads around the modules concept, we can see they’re pretty powerful.

To better understand the idea behind modules, picture a scrumptious spread of holiday food set out on the dining table. The items on the table really come from other locations: the kitchen, the cupboard, the refrigerator, or pantry; but they are assembled and displayed on the table for the benefit and consumption of our guests. So it is with Modules. Content items like files, assignments, discussions, and pages really live elsewhere in the course site, but we intentionally assemble and display them in modules so there’s a logical sequence that walks the student through the learning process.

One of the powerful features behind modules is that you can set requirements for viewing or completing the items inside a module, or specify the sequence in which they will be completed. By setting module requirements, you can release individual items based on certain criteria met on previous items. You can also control the visibility of module items or an entire module through the Publishing function.

Modules really help us assemble content in logical, sequential ways, allowing us to display various content pieces, whether it be an assignment, a page of instructions, a file, and so on. The flexibility and capability of modules make them a great feature in the Canvas learning management system.

For more information on the power of modules, check out these guides and videos.

This post was written by Michael Wilder, an Instructional Designer for the St. Thomas E-Learning and Research (STELAR) Center at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. To learn more about this topic, please visit our website at www.stthomas.edu/stelar or email us at stelar@stthomas.edu.

October 17, 2018 by Michael Wilder

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