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What we have been referring to as Modernized SpeedGrader now has a new name. Performance and usability upgrades for SpeedGrader: a title that better reflects what’s really changing under the hood. While the name has evolved, the functionality remains the same: enhancing the SpeedGrader experience to be faster, more efficient, and future-ready.
What is changing?
Performance and usability upgrades for SpeedGrader introduce backend enhancements aimed at boosting speed, stability, and scalability, especially for courses with large enrollments. Here’s what you can expect:
- Optimized for Large Courses
SpeedGrader now performs more efficiently in high-enrollment environments, delivering faster load times and smoother performance across the board. - Minimal Learning Curve
The interface you know and trust remains intact, allowing users to jump right in with little to no training. - Built for the Future
These foundational improvements enable faster, iterative enhancements to usability and performance going forward.
Minor UI Improvements
While these performance upgrades include a handful of UI refinements, the core SpeedGrader experience remains unchanged, ensuring instructors and graders can continue working confidently, without the need for retraining or adjustment. Below is a summary of the targeted interface updates, each aimed at enhancing clarity and visual consistency:
- The Sections selector now features an updated drilldown interface for a more intuitive selection experience.
- The “No Submission” alert and Empty Course UI have been visually refreshed for greater clarity.
- The Grade Status selector has been updated to match the recent design enhancements introduced in Discussion Checkpoints.
- Rubrics in SpeedGrader now always display using the enhanced traditional (grid) view, regardless of whether the Enhanced Rubrics feature flag is enabled.
- This change applies only within SpeedGrader and does not activate Enhanced Rubrics throughout Canvas.
- For users with Enhanced Rubrics enabled, a new tabbed rubric viewing option is now available.
- The comment attachment workflow has been improved:
- Clicking the attachment button now opens your browser’s file upload dialog.
- Removing an attachment now uses a trash icon, replacing the previous red “X” button.
All community guides and support documentation will be updated by June 21 to reflect these UI changes.
Success from the Early Adopter Program (EAP)
We held an Early Adopter Program (EAP) throughout March and April, which gave over 50 institutions early access to this upgraded SpeedGrader experience. Results of the EAP have been positive. 30 institutions enabled the feature in their production environment, exceeding our 20–25 target, with 165 courses actively using it. Two institutions have already made it the default experience, and others plan to adopt it during peak grading periods. Opt-outs have remained below 1%, signaling strong confidence in the new experience. With a high Net Promoter Score (NPS) and several institutions choosing to use it during final exams, it’s clear the feature is delivering meaningful value where it matters most.
Thanks to our customers who participated in this EAP, we also identified and addressed usability improvements—most within just 2–3 days of discovery. This iterative feedback loop also helped us validate that SpeedGrader’s performance either remained consistent or improved.
What’s next: Feature Preview coming June 21!
We’re excited to announce that on June 21, 2025, performance and usability upgrades for SpeedGrader will be available in all production environments. It will be off by default, giving you complete control over when and how to enable it. You can enable this feature via the account level feature option, “Performance and usability upgrades for SpeedGrader”, as shown below.
Alt txt: Screenshot of feature option titled "Performance and usability upgrades for SpeedGrader".
Read the full release notes here.
To better support our customers who are approaching peak grading season, we are offering early access to the even faster and more performant SpeedGrader before its release on June 21. Institutions interested in gaining access sooner can sign up using this form.
Join the Feature Preview Community
We invite all customers to start enabling and exploring this upgrade when ready—and to join our Feature Preview Community User Group to share experiences, ask questions, and provide feedback.
Your partnership continues to shape the future of SpeedGrader. We can’t wait for you to experience what’s next.
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