New Quizzes to replace Classic Quizzes July 2021

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shaun_moon
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni
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[UPDATE 2020-09-20] Because of challenges from COVID-19, the timeline presented in this post has been affected. For the most current information, please reference New Quizzes Users Group.

For quite some time now, teams at Instructure have been working on a more scalable, robust, accessible quizzing engine for Canvas. Sixteen months from now, in July 2021, New Quizzes is going to be the out-of-the-box tool for Canvas assessments.

 

Transition Timeline

The transition from Classic Quizzes to New Quizzes is a big milestone in the evolution of quizzing in Canvas. I’d like to highlight other significant dates that are part of this process.

 

December 2020: Quizzes Cross-fade

This December is an inflection point in the “cross-fade” period where New Quizzes and Classic Quizzes live side by side. December will see two important events:

  • Content migration capabilities will be available for Course Copy and Course Content Import. I’ll share more details about this functionality later in this post.
  • New Quizzes will be enabled for all courses in all Canvas accounts.

The cross-fade period will help customers ease into the July 2021 milestone instead of everyone having to “forklift” quizzing activities from Classic Quizzes to New Quizzes in one fell swoop.

 

February 2021: Classic Quizzes Deprecation

In February of next year, Classic Quizzes will officially be deprecated. You can learn more about  deprecation in our Upcoming Canvas Changes document.

 

July 2021: No Student Submissions, etc.

July 2021 is the fulcrum on which this whole plan pivots.

This milestone of Classic Quizzes Sunset affects creating, attempting, and submitting Classic quizzes.

  • Students will not be able to attempt or submit with Classic Quizzes.
  • Instructors will not be able to create with Classic Quizzes.

Classic Quizzes APIs for creating, attempting, and submitting will be disabled at this time.

This milestone means that beginning July 2021, New Quizzes will be the only out-of-the-box assessment engine that can collect student submission.

 

October 2021: No Content Editing

In the three months after New Quizzes takes the reins from Classic Quizzes, instructors will be still be able to edit Classic quizzes and question banks. While the same content could be migrated to New Quizzes and then edited, we wanted to provide a window where instructors and staff could make adjustments in Classic Quizzes before migrating the content. Classic Quizzes editing will be disabled October 2021.

From October 2021 until the next milestone, Classic Quizzes content and information will be read-only in Canvas.

 

July 2022: UI End-of-life

July 2022 marks the end-of-life for Classic Quizzes user interfaces. At this point, instructors will no longer be able to view quizzes or question banks authored and delivered with Classic Quizzes. Student data will still be presented in the Gradebook.

 

July 2026: API End-of-life

July 2026 is the last milestone in Classic Quizzes Sunset. Five years after New Quizzes becomes the assessment engine for Canvas, Classic Quizzes APIs will be unpublished.

Please note that Classic Quizzes Sunset does not change current data storage policies or procedures. End-of-life for the user interfaces and APIs changes modes of access, but they do not change storage and archival.

The above timeline is fundamental to our plan for the future of quizzes in Canvas. There are two other cornerstones for our work—content migration tooling and development of critical capability for New Quizzes.

 

Content Migration Tooling

Content migration is crucial for the transition from Classic Quizzes to New Quizzes. You must be able to carry your institution’s quizzing content into the future. We are working on a very elegant workflow that seamlessly augments existing activities.

When instructors and staff create and prepare courses, they will have an option to import assessment content as New Quizzes. This option will appear in the Course Copy and course Content Import screens. With this option, administrators and teachers don’t have to learn how to use any new tools or screens. They can simply check a box to add quizzes, banks and outcomes to the course as New Quizzes content. 

 

Development of Critical Capabilities

We know there are many high-impact improvements that could be made to New Quizzes. We’ve had to be extremely focused when prioritizing work to be completed before July 2021. Plans are, of course, subject to change based on work of other teams and evolving information, but here are some details about what we’re working on in this space.

We are in the final stages of work on a partial-scoring option for multiple answer questions. We’re also in the process of validating Respondus Lockdown Browser support and expect that to be available in a few months.

As these efforts are nearing completion, we’ve started to ramp up work to improve the liquidity of New Quizzes data. This will include integration with Canvas Data Access and the Learning Mastery Gradebook.

 

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There’s a lot going on over the coming months and there will likely be no shortage of questions and feedback. I hope this information can provide some structure for the conversations to come. The New Quizzes User Group will be a great place to keep the conversation going. Please feel free to ask additional questions in the group, and my team and I will be happy to respond.

 

We’re looking forward to working together for a brighter (more scalable, robust and accessible) future!

The content in this blog is over six months old, and the comments are closed. For the most recent product updates and discussions, you're encouraged to explore newer posts from Instructure's Product Managers.

2 Comments
Hildi_Pardo
Community Champion

Hello.   February 2021 is just around the corner.  Is this still an accurate timeline?

erinhmcmillan
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

Hi, @Hildi_Pardo 

Please reference the New Quizzes User Group for the most accurate information. Thanks! 

Erin