[ARCHIVED] What happened to the detailed comment tools in Speed Grader?

[lauraevans]

In the old Canvas gradebook, there were tools over the student submission that allowed the instructor to add in-line comments, strike-through text, etc.  Where have those tools gone?  How do I make detailed comments directly on the assignment (so that students can see comments associated with the text in question)?

[kmeeusen]

Hello  @lauraevans  , and welcome to the Canvas Community!

The annotation tools are still available in SpeedGrader, and the only thing that has changed is how you get to SpeedGrader from the New Gradebook. Accessing SpeedGrader from all other locations (To Do, Assignments, quizzes, etc.) remain the same.

https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-16570-4152814114 

Let us know if this works for you,

Kelley

[lauraevans]

Hi Kelley,

Thanks for your reply.  But I must be missing something else then.  

Here's what I see in an old assignment:

Now, all I see is this:

Is there some setting I need to adjust to see the tools?

Thanks!

Laura

[kmeeusen]

Hi again  @lauraevans 

See if this guide helps, and if not, then I suggest contacting Canvas Support............. How do I add annotated comments in student submissions using DocViewer in SpeedGrader? 

For the record, when I go to SpeedGrader in my courses, this is what I see.................

So I suspect one of two things is happening in your courses:

1. The student submissions are not from a file-type supported by Canvas DocViewer,
2. You are trying to grade from a mobile device, and are not using the Canvas Teacher App.

Good luck with this....

Kelley

[lauraevans]

Hi Kelley,

I appreciate your feedback.  Just for the record, I am on a desktop computer and the documents are Word documents, so those are not issues.  For whatever reason, the annotation tools are simply not showing up (this has never happened before, and I've used Canvas for year).  I will have to contact Canvas Support.

Thanks,

Laura

[Chris_Hofer]

Thanks for the extra information,  @lauraevans .  If you could, please report back after you contact the Canvas help desk folks so that we might know what was done to resolve the issue...thanks!

[lauraevans · Accepted solution]

Hi All,

Canvas Support finally got back to me on the issue.  It turns out that because the assignment in question had the 'Anonymity Peer Reviews Appear Anonymously' activated, the tools were disabled. If comments display, the names of those who made the comments would appear in the document, and thus no longer be anonymous.  The bottom line is thus that the annotation tools will not appear on an assignment where the 'Anonymity Peer Reviews Appear Anonymously' box is checked for the assignment.  I learned something new about Canvas!