Canvas Release Notes (2019-07-13)

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Upcoming Canvas Changes
Canvas Release Schedule Adjustments: July 15
Starting July 15, the Canvas Release Schedule will be adjusted to support two-week deploys and monthly releases every third Saturday of the month. For more information, please see Upcoming Canvas Changes‌.
                                 

In this Canvas release (July 13), users with permission to generate pairing codes can export a CSV file with newly-generated pairing codes for all students in a course. 

Admins can request Gradebook exports and the Grade Export report to include integration IDs. The sort arrow in the account-level People and Courses pages has been inverted to display the correct sorting for a specified column.

For all users, Finnish (Suomi) has been added as an available language in Canvas. 

Feature Options

• For institutions using the New Gradebook, the New Gradebook includes a grade posting policy, which sets how grades and comments are released to students.

External Tools (LTI)

• For institutions using Commons, the Search page includes featured content to highlight or promotes specific resources. Additionally, the Imported page includes a search field for users to search for, sort, and filter previously imported resources.

Release notes also include API updates and fixed bugs.

Release notes describe upcoming Canvas functionality and are subject to change. Follow the Canvas release notes space to be notified of updates For all release changes, view the Release Notes Change Log If you notice any contrary functionality compared to the outlined behavior in these notes, please file a Canvas support case according to your institution's support protocol Other questions? View the Canvas Release Notes FAQ

Feature Options The following feature options are addressed in this release: Course: New Gradebook

• Feature Options
• New Features
• New Gradebook
• Grade Post Policies
• Updated Features
• Commons
• Featured Content
• Imported Tab Search Field
• People
• Pairing Codes CSV Export
• Reports
• Integration ID
• Other Updates
• Languages
• Finnish
• Account Course & User Search
• Sort Arrow
• Platform/Integration
• API
• API Change Log
• Assignments API
• Conversations API
• GraphQL API
• LTI Variable Substitutions
• Submissions API
• External Apps
• LTI Advantage Deployment ID
• Fixed Bugs
• Accessibility
• Assignments
• Course Home Page
• Course Settings
• Discussions
• People
• Outcomes
• Assignments
• User Enrollments and Differentiated Assignments
• Commons
• Audio and Video Preview
• Conferences
• Conference Edit Error
• Dashboard
• Inactive Student Submissions
• Outcomes
• Learning Mastery Gradebook Pagination
• Permissions
• Sub-Accounts and Developer Keys - Manage
• Explanation: When a subaccount user viewed the Permissions page and tried to modify the Developer Ke...
• User Settings
• Cricket SMS Notifications

Release Notes Change Log

New Features

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New Gradebook

Grade Post Policies

This feature is used in conjunction with an existing feature option in Canvas. Please view the content below for additional details. For more information about feature options, please see the Canvas Release Notes FAQ.
                          

Release Advisory (2019-07-17)
The Grade Posting Policy inadvertently affected the visibility of existing grades that were posted before the release. Some assignments may need to be manually posted for grades to display to students.  If a Gradebook previously included assignments that were previously muted and graded prior to the release, the grades will remain unposted until they are manually posted with the Post Grades button.
For any assignments that have not yet been graded, they will be graded according to the course-level policy set in the New Gradebook Settings at the time of grading, unless the assignment is anonymous or moderated, which always have a manual post policy. Changing the policy for a course does not affect grade or comment visibility for existing assignments.
     

Feature Availability	15 July
Location to Enable Feature	New Gradebook
Configuration Details	New Gradebook Feature Option
Affected Canvas Areas	New Gradebook SpeedGrader
Affects User Interface	Yes
Affected User Roles	Instructors, Students
Feature Enhancement Ideas	Existing New Gradebook feature ideas
Specified Tag for Feature Ideas	gradebook_new

Summary

The New Gradebook includes a grade posting policy, which sets how grades and comments are released to students.

Change Benefit

This change redefines assignment-wide muting to an individual assignment level, making grades visible down to individual sections of a course, or hide previously posted grades if needed. For a summary of Post Policy changes, please see the Post Policies Overview and API Changes document.

This change only benefits the New Gradebook. Instructors using the Old Gradebook must continue to mute and unmute individual assignments and release grades to all students at the same time.

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

Instructorsc

Instructors are able to control when grades are released to all students. Assignment grades may be manually or automatically posted.

Automatically posted grades for an assignment are the equivalent of an unmuted assignment where grades and comments are immediately posted.

Manually posted grades allows an instructor to hide all grades and comments until the instructor chooses to post the grades.

The concept of muting grades has also been visually updated by replacing the previously known Mute icon with an Eye icon, which represents the assignment’s grade visibility. A transparent eye icon displays for assignments with a manually posted grading policy. 

Course Grade Posting Policy

A posting policy for the entire course can be set in the settings, which will be set for all current and future assignments. By default, the policy is for grades to be posted automatically. 

After a course policy has been applied, any additional changes must be made to individual assignments. Any assignment can be changed to support an individual policy that varies from the course policy. Policies can be updated in the assignment menu.

Manually Posted Grades

With manual posting, grades and comments are not revealed until the instructor chooses to post the assignment grades. 

When an instructor enters a grade for a manually posted assignment, the icon changes to a solid state to show the assignment has been assigned grades that are not visible to a student. 

When open, the Grade Detail Tray also displays a hidden label for each hidden submission. 

Post Grades Process

At any time, an instructor can open the assignment menu in the Gradebook and choose to post grades to students. When the Post Grades option is selected, the Post Grades sidebar indicates the number of submissions that are hidden, including the number of submissions graded but not posted. Additionally, a dot also displays next to the individual submissions. 

Grades can be posted to everyone, which means they are visible to all students, or they can be posted for only students with graded submissions. Additionally, both options support posting to one or multiple specific sections in the course. When posting by section, at least one section must be selected. 

Hide Grades Process

Grades can also be hidden or re-hidden at any time, which may be needed to conceal or adjust previously posted grades. This behavior is the equivalent of muting and unmuting an assignment. The assignment menu Hide Grades option displays for any assignment where grades are visible to students, and instructors can choose to hide grades at any time. 

When selected, the Hide Grades sidebar allows instructors to hide grades to all students by default, or instructors can select one or multiple specific sections where grades should be hidden. When hiding by section, at least one section must be selected. 

When grades are hidden, the visibility icon changes to a solid state to indicate grades have been assigned that are not visible to students. Grades can be re-posted at any time using the assignment menu.

Student View

When assignment grades are manually posted and hidden to students, students see the Eye icon in the Grades page. When grades have been posted, the grade and any comments are visible in the Grades page.

SpeedGrader Functionality

Grades can also be hidden and posted in SpeedGrader.

Individual unposted hidden submissions are also indicated by the hidden label in the SpeedGrader sidebar. The hidden label displays once the submission receives a grade.

The visibility icon manages the grade policy the same way as the assignment menu does in the Gradebook.

Anonymous Assignment Process

Anonymous assignments must always be manually posted regardless of the course-level grade policy. This behavior protects student anonymity. Anonymous assignments must be posted or hidden for all students in the assignment and cannot be managed by section.

Anonymous assignments that are hidden show a Hidden label in both the Grade Detail Tray and the SpeedGrader sidebar.

After grades are posted, SpeedGrader reloads to remove anonymity from all submissions, and grades are visible in the student Grades page.

Moderated Assignment Process

To be included in the Gradebook, moderated assignments must follow the regular moderation workflow. After the moderator has selected grades for all students and posted grades, the grades display in the New Gradebook. If the moderator wants to keep grades hidden, the Display to Students option should not be selected, and grades can be posted to students in the Gradebook at a later date. However, if grades are displayed to students and an instructor wants to keep them hidden, grades can be re-hidden in the Gradebook using the Hide Grades option.

Updated Features

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Commons

These features are used in conjunction with an external tool (LTI) in Canvas. Please view the content below for additional details. For more information about LTI tools, please see the Canvas Release Notes FAQ.
                          

Location to Enable Feature	Commons LTI
Configuration Details	Commons LTI
Affected Canvas Areas	Commons LTI
Beta/Test Environment Support	Functionality affects content in the beta environment only; New/updated features not available until production deploy
Permissions	Course Content - add / edit / delete Discussions - view Assignments and Quizzes - add / edit / delete
Affects User Interface	Yes
Affected User Roles	Instructors
Feature Enhancement Ideas	Existing Commons feature ideas
Specified Tag for Feature Ideas	Commons

Featured Content

Summary

Commons includes featured content at the top of the Search page that highlights or promotes specific resources.

Change Benefit

This change allows instructors to easily identify high quality instructional content in Commons. Featured content is currently curated by the Commons team and highlighted to benefit all Commons users.

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

Instructors

Instructors can view and import featured content from the Commons Search page. Content can be viewed by clicking the content, the same as accessing any other resource item. 

Featured content is viewable to all Commons users and cannot be minimized in the page.

Imported Tab Search Field 

Summary

The Imported page includes a search field for users to search for, sort, and filter previously imported resources.

Change Benefit

This feature allows users to find specific resources on the Imported page.

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

Instructors

Instructors can open the Imported page and view the search field. The search field functions the same way as the search field available throughout Commons.

People

Pairing Codes CSV Export

Location to Enable Feature	People - Options Menu
Configuration Details	Self-Registration must be enabled for the account
Affected Canvas Areas	People
Beta/Test Environment Support	Yes
Permissions	Users - generate observer pairing codes for students
Affects User Interface	Yes
Affected User Roles	Instructors
Feature Enhancement Ideas	View existing people feature ideas
Specified Tag for Feature Ideas	People

Summary

Users with permission to generate pairing codes can export a CSV file with newly-generated pairing codes for all students in a course.

Change Benefit

This change allows instructors to generate pairing codes for all course students in a single CSV file. Previously, pairing codes could only be generated individually.

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

Instructors

Instructors with permission to generate pairing codes can export codes for all students. Located in the Options icon, the Export Pairing Codes option downloads codes as a CSV file. This option only displays in accounts with self-registration enabled.

The CSV file includes the students’ names, pairing codes, and the date and time that each code will expire. These pairing codes can then be used to link observers to the students’ Canvas accounts.

Reports

Integration ID

Location to Enable Feature	Account Settings - Reports
Configuration Details	Contact Customer Success Manager
Affected Canvas Areas	Reports, Gradebook Export
Beta/Test Environment Support	Yes
Permissions	Courses - View Usage Reports, SIS Data - read
Related APIs	Account Reports API
Affects User Interface	No
Affected User Roles	Admins, Instructors
Feature Enhancement Ideas	View existing Reports feature ideas
Specified Tag for Feature Ideas	reports

Summary

Admins can request Gradebook exports and the Grade Export report to include integration IDs.

Change Benefit

This change allows admins to access integration IDs for their institution.

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

Admins

Admins can request their Customer Success Manager enable an account setting to include Integration IDs in the Gradebook exports. Integration IDs are a secondary unique identifier useful for more complex SIS integrations and required by some institutions. Once this setting is enabled, admins can generate the Grade Export report with the included Integration ID column.

Admins, Instructors

When the Integration ID account setting is enabled, exports from the Gradebook also include the Integration ID column. 

Other Updates

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Languages

Finnish

Location to Enable Feature	Account/Course/User Settings - Language Menu
Configuration Details	N/A
Affected Canvas Areas	All Canvas
Affects User Interface	Yes
Affected User Roles	All Users
Feature Enhancement Ideas	View existing languages feature ideas
Specified Tag for Feature Ideas	Languages

Summary

Finnish (Suomi) has been added as an available language in Canvas.

Change Benefit

This change allows users to view Canvas in their native language.

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

All Users

Users can enable languages in their User Settings. Admins and instructors may enable a language for an entire account or course through Account or Course Settings, respectively. When a language is selected, users will view all Canvas areas in the selected language.

Account Course & User Search

Sort Arrow

Location to Enable Feature	N/A
Configuration Details	N/A
Affected Canvas Areas	Account People Page, Account Courses Page
Beta/Test Environment Support	Yes
Permissions	Users - view list
Affects User Interface	Yes
Affected User Roles	Admins
Feature Enhancement Ideas	View existing account search feature ideas
Specified Tag for Feature Ideas	Account_search

Summary

The sort arrow in the account-level People and Courses pages has been inverted to display the correct sorting for a specified column.

Change Benefit

This change aligns consistency with other sortable tables in Canvas.

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

Admins

When admins view the Courses or People pages, they can sort each column individually in ascending or descending order. The arrow points up to indicate an ascending sort, while the arrow points down to indicate a descending sort.

Platform/Integration

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API

API Change Log

Adjustments have been made to the following APIs as noted in the API Documentation change log:

• Assignments API

• Conversations API

• GraphQL API

• LTI Variable Substitutions

• Submissions API

External Apps

LTI Advantage Deployment ID

Location to Enable Feature	Account Settings, Feature Options
Configuration Details	LTI 1.3 and LTI Advantage Feature Option
Affected Canvas Areas	Developer Keys External Apps
Affects User Interface	Yes
Affected User Roles	Admins, Instructors
Feature Enhancement Ideas	Existing Developer Keys feature ideas
Specified Tag for Feature Ideas	Developer Token
Location to Enable Feature	Account Settings, Feature Options

Summary

External tools that are created using the LTI Advantage Framework display a deployment ID once the tool has been installed in Canvas.

Change Benefit

This change provides a deployment ID, if needed, for LTI Advantage tool vendors. The Deployment ID is noted in the LTI 1.3 IMS Core Specification as a stable, locally unique identifier with the issuer and is an essential attribute for tools to associate to an account.

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

Admins, Instructors

Once an LTI Advantage external tool has been installed by a user with sufficient permissions, the Settings menu for the app includes an option to view the Deployment ID. If the tool is disabled and re-enabled, the tool retains the same Deployment ID. However, if the tool is deleted, the external tool would receive a new Development ID upon re-installation.

Fixed Bugs

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Accessibility

Assignments

External tools retain correct focus within assignments for screen readers. 

Course Home Page

The Course Home Page window does not include links in underlined text unless High Contrast Styles is enabled.

Course Settings

The Link Validator links have been resized and does not include links in underlined text unless High Contrast Styles is enabled.

Discussions

The Discussions Index page does not include links in underlined text unless High Contrast Styles is enabled.

People

Spacing and formatting has been revised in the Add People page, including removing links from underlined text unless High Contrast Styles is enabled.

Outcomes

The Student Mastery Gradebook does not include links in underlined text unless High Contrast Styles is enabled.

Assignments

User Enrollments and Differentiated Assignments

Users who are added to an assignment and later removed from the course are restored to the assignment if they are re-added to the course. 

Explanation: When a user was added to an assignment but later removed from the course, if the user was re-added to the course at a later date, the user was not re-added to the original assignment. Canvas code has been updated to restore assignments to enrollments re-added to a course. This behavior also applies to MasteryPath assignments.

Commons

Audio and Video Preview

In some instances, audio and video files would not play a preview on the Commons search page.

Explanation: When a user tried to preview a file in the search page, the file was not able to be previewed. Commons code has been updated to allow previews in the search page.

Conferences

Conference Edit Error

Conferences can be edited using the Edit button.

Explanation: When a user clicked the Edit button for a conference, the conference page generated an error. Canvas code has been updated to correct the impeding error. 

Dashboard

Inactive Student Submissions

Inactive student submissions do not display in the To Do list.

Explanation: When a student submitted a submission for an assignment, and then the student’s enrollment was changed to inactive, the submission persisted as needed grading in the To Do list. Canvas code has been updated to not display inactive student submissions in the To Do list.

Outcomes

Learning Mastery Gradebook Pagination

Pagination is applied per user and displays 20 students on each page.

Explanation: When students were enrolled in multiple sections, the Learning Mastery Gradebook displayed fewer than 20 students per page because the duplicate enrollments were being removed. Canvas code has been updated to display 20 students per page.

Permissions

Sub-Accounts and Developer Keys - Manage

The Developer Keys - Manage permission has been removed from the sub-accounts permissions page.

Explanation: When a subaccount user viewed the Permissions page and tried to modify the Developer Keys - Manage permission, the page generated an error. Canvas code has been updated to remove the permission from sub-accounts.

User Settings 

Cricket SMS Notifications

Users can receive SMS messages via the Cricket network.

Explanation: When users tried to register a phone number to receive SMS messages through the Cricket network, the email domain was outdated and did not allow users to receive messages. Canvas code has been updated to update the email domain for the Cricket network.

Release Notes Change Log

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Date
2019-07-17	Added—New Features New Gradebook: Included details about managing existing grades in the New Gradebook post-release.
2019-07-12	Changed—New Features New Gradebook: Noted that to ensure all data is properly transitioned, Grade Post Policies will not be available in the production environment until Monday, July 15.
2019-07-01	Release Notes Published