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With Flipgrid becoming part of Microsoft Teams and closing on September 30th, has anyone found a good LTI alternative to Flipgrid? Thanks!
FlipGrid is a free video discussion tool that allows for threaded video discussions in your Canvas course. It's become very popular in both K-12 schools and college classes lately, possibly even more popular than Kahoot And Microsoft recently bought FlipGrid and opened up all the premium features to everyone for free (such as maximum allowed video length, now 10 minutes). My colleague James May posted a short 2 minute video about FlipGrid & Canvas that includes some comments from his students about using FlipGrid:
Feel free to try it out for yourself and post a video reply to this FlipGrid discussion "grid": Using FlipGrid in Canvas.
Michelle Pacansky-Brock made a a couple of great videos showing students how to participate in a FlipGrid discussion in Canvas, either with their computer and a webcam:
If students do use FlipGrid with a laptop or computer, they may get errors that Flash is required. Here are instructions on how to enable Flash in Chrome and enable Flash in Firefox.
Or students can participate with their smartphone and the Canvas Student app (Android, Apple) and FlipGrid app (Android, Apple) installed:
These videos can help students not only see how to successfully use FlipGrid but also help assuage any fears some may have about recording video.
Setting up and configuring FlipGrid for use in a Canvas course requires a few steps, but should not take too long, especially once you get used to using FlipGrid. FlipGrid has a nice handout explaining how to set up and use FlipGrid in Canvas.
It is missing a few things that may come up though: 1) what do you need to do when you roll over your course from one semester to another? 2) what if you have more than one instructor/facilitator, and 3) what if you share your course with someone else to use?
This video walks through setting up and using FlipGrid in Canvas, and it addresses those issues at the end:
But as to those 3 issues about using FlipGrid in Canvas:
A couple of things I didn't mention in the video: captions are not enabled by default in FlipGrid, and by default you will get an email notification every time a student posts a video.
To enable captions (which I recommend), click on the FlipGrid link in your course navigation menu, then click the pencil icon, scroll down, and toggle on the "Captions" option.
If you wish to turn off email notifications, toggle off the "Notify Me" option.
When I've introduced FlipGrid to teachers and faculty, they are excited about it, and they get some of the obvious uses for FlipGrid such as an introductory discussion or using it in a foreign language course or the like. But FlipGrid has also been popular in STEM, history, and all kinds of courses. See for example these resources:
Why can I not add my Canvas class group when I use Flipgrid?? I see other students videos, but when I attempt to add my own, it says I can't do so. Very frustrating...
I have added FlipGrid to my Canvas class. All my students except one can access our FlipGrid from Canvas. Why can that one student not access it? I gave her the join code and it says she has to join via Canvas.
Rational for integrating external apps into Canvas ecosystem.
Step 1: Installing External Apps into Canvas Course
Step 2: Setting up an Assignment leveraging the newly installed Flipgrid App
After you add your instructions in the assignment content management panel scroll down to the “Submission Type” section, select the “External Tool” option, and search for and select the Flipgrid tool.
Step 3: Grading Flipgrid Canvas Assignments utilizing SpeedGrader
Step 4: Keep an eye on the Gradebook because it will make you smile.
When leveraging Flipgrid as a Canvas "Assignment" a gradebook instance is automatically created. Scores also populate the gradebook as the instructor grades student responses in "SpeedGrader" alleviating the need for double entry and screen swapping while streamlining instructor workflow and improving accuracy. In short; everyone wins :smileygrin:.
Here are some additional resources provided by Flipgrid.com:
Canvas LTI Integration – Flipgrid Help Center
**Please keep in mind the timing of this post. Processes and outcomes mentioned above could change at anytime as Canvas and Flipgrid continue to improve their integrations. I also look forward to hearing from the Community. Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or observations. I'm always happy to help.**
Kindest regards,
Brandon K. Risenhoover
Teachers have the option in Flipgrid to hide videos, however this is not an option in Canvas. Several students are VERY uncomfortable having their videos be shared, often due to issues like speech impediments. They are fine with me seeing their video, but they do not want other students to see their videos.
01/06/2021: The new OneDrive LTI for Canvas is generally available!! See all the details in the post below. Thanks to my friends from LTI office hours for reminding me to update this page 😊
10/06/2021: The new OneDrive LTI for Canvas is now available for public preview - without the need for a preview agreement! See below for more information and how to get started.
9/12/2021: The full course on the new integrations is available on the Microsoft Educator Center! The link is here: Connect faculty and learners with Canvas and Microsoft 365 - Microsoft Educator Center. We also have a webinar we are running live on Tuesday, September 14th to hear directly from Microsoft and Canvas about the new integrations:
The webinar will be held on Sept. 14, 2021 and two time options to provide customers in various time zones to attend:
We look forward to your customers joining this important webinar to learn how they can provide their educators and students with a “better together” rewarding solution, and leave with tools and resources ready to launch success.
8/31/2021: Two updates: We would love to invite any customers that are interested in the OneDrive private preview to reach out to lmsintegrations@microsoft.com to get signed up. In addition, we would invite all customers who have been using the Teams and Teams Meetings integrations to fill out this survey: Teams and LMS Integrations (office.com) to give feedback and help our product team prioritize their roadmap. Thank you!
8/11/2021: We've been receiving questions about whether or not customers should still fill out the form now that the Teams classes and Teams meetings integrations have released publicly. The answer is YES! Filling out the form allows our customer success team to know you're interested in the integrations and send you information about how to self deploy the integrations and get help if you run into any issues. The form can be found here: aka.ms/lmsintegration
8/10/2021: The new Teams meetings LTI is here!
7/23/2021: Latest updates:
7/21/2021: We wanted to inform you all that our release timeline for the new OneDrive integration has been pushed back. We don't know the exact dates, but we are working hard to accelerate the delivery date as much as possible. We are also targeting the release of a full course on the Microsoft Educator Center and Microsoft Learn about the new integrations next month. I've been informed that community members aren't able to comment on this page - so I've been answering questions here: Canvas + Microsoft Upcoming LTI Integrations (canvaslms.com). Feel free to @ mention SamanthaFisher there with questions.
7/16/2021: The Teams classes LTI app will be available for all Canvas customers by Friday, 7/23! This app will allow educators to create Teams for their Canvas courses, and gives students and educators an easy launch point into Teams from Canvas. We are so excited to role out this integration and get your feedback!
7/6/2021: Click-through demos are now ready and posted below and in the Educator PD and support documentation section! Please reach out to LMSIntegrations@microsoft.com with additional questions.
6/9/2021: The new integrations between Canvas and Microsoft 365 are coming this summer! See below for the latest info on what new capabilities are coming, links to professional development resources, FAQs, and how to get more info.
5/28/2021: What's new in Microsoft Teams - Office Support
Microsoft 365 already has a number of helpful integrations with Canvas, including:
We are excited to be expanding on these capabilities in Summer 2021 with a collection of new LTI apps for OneDrive, Teams classes (now available!), and Teams meetings (now available). You can view an overview of the existing and new integrations in the attached presentation and get answers to your most pressing questions in the FAQ below.
Looking for assistance in getting set up with the new M365 LTIs as soon as they are available? Let us know by filling out the form and our customer success team will contact you with information on how to begin.
Microsoft OneDrive LTI is now generally available for all Canvas customers. Microsoft OneDrive LTI has rolled out to all customers and is no longer in preview. Microsoft OneDrive LTI brings the best of OneDrive and Office365 directly into Canvas. Educators can access their OneDrive files right within Canvas, add Office 365 files to modules and assignments, and grade Office 365 files in the Canvas SpeedGrader. Students can work on Office 365 cloud assignments, submit OneDrive files directly from Canvas in response to their assignments, and collaborate using Office 365 files within Canvas.
The new Microsoft OneDrive LTI has several exciting new features:
To help you prepare for deploying this integration, we have provided the following resources:
If you’d like deployment assistance, please visit our scheduling form and select LTI Integrations Deployment to book a convenient day and time that works best for you and your team, including your Canvas administrator and your Microsoft tenant administrator.
Still have questions? Join our weekly LTI Open Office Hours with our LMS Integrations team. To attend, join our Teams Meeting during the following times:
You've asked for an easy way for educators to create class Teams for their Canvas courses and the wait is over. Educators will now be able to create class Teams based on the enrollment roster of their courses with appropriate user roles. Once the team is created, educators and students will be able to navigate to their associated class teams directly from their Canvas courses using desktop, mobile, or web platforms.
Please refer to the following resources for deployment:
Sign up to our interest form to get started and receive email updates.
Teams meetings LTI empowers educators and students to access and schedule Teams meetings for the class directly from Canvas using desktop, mobile, or web platforms.
To help you prepare for deploying this integration, we have provided the following resources:
If you’d like deployment assistance, please visit our scheduling form and select LTI Integrations Deployment to book a convenient day and time that works best for you and your team, including your Canvas administrator and your Microsoft tenant administrator.
Still have questions? Join our weekly LTI Open Office Hours with our LMS Integrations team.
Have questions about the integrations or the deployment process? Join our weekly LTI Open Office Hours with our LMS Integrations team, including representatives from our customer success deployment team and our product teams. To attend, join our Teams meeting during the following times:
Our IT admin documentation describes the configuration process for new integrations.
Our educator documentation describes how to use the LTI apps for educators.
Our interactive click-through demos give an overview of how to set up and use the new LTIs in Canvas:
Connect faculty and learners with Canvas and Microsoft 365 - Microsoft Educator Center.
Our Mission: Empower every student on the planet to achieve more.
Website: |
Professional development portal: |
Microsoft Teams links: |
Sales Contact: |
Resources for remote learning: |
Microsoft Education on social media: |
At Microsoft, we understand the power of technology, and that's why we continue to innovate, create, and design in a way that gives everyone the ability to achieve more.
This article provides an overview of Teams-specific security and compliance.
We are committed to privacy. In our Microsoft Privacy Statement, you can find information on the following topics:
Effective March 22, release notes comments will be managed differently to provide a better experience for everyone. For details, please see the Canvas tl;dr blog.
In this Canvas release (March 20), students can use their webcam to submit File Upload assignments.
In SpeedGrader, instructors can reassign an assignment to an individual student and ask them to redo their submission. In Course Settings, the Participation menu includes an option to select course dates by term or course. Files linked in the Rich Content Editor can be previewed in an overlay or inline.
The Course Files - add / edit / delete permission has been grouped into three separate permissions. Additionally, the Add/Remove Teachers, Designers, TAs permission and the Add/Remove Students permission have been consolidated and separated into individual user permissions.
Feature Options
External Tools (LTI)
For all resources and feedback information related to this release, see the Release Resources section at the end of this document. Related Links
|
New Features |
Feature Functionality Details |
N/A |
Affected Canvas Areas |
Assignments |
Affects User Interface |
Yes |
Affected User Roles |
Students |
Related Idea Conversations |
|
Feature Video |
Summary
In File Upload assignments, students can use their webcam to submit to an assignment.
Change Benefit
This change allows students to use their webcam to submit a file upload assignment from the browser and aligns behavior with the Canvas Student app.
Affected User Roles & Behaviors
Students
For File Upload assignments, students have the option to use their webcam for file uploads. The first time they use the feature, they will need to give permission to Canvas to access their computer webcam. Like all other graded submission types, images submitted via the webcam functionality do not count against course or user quota.
Instructors
Instructors can view uploaded images submitted via a student’s webcam as they see other file uploads in SpeedGrader and anywhere that submissions are available.
Updated Features |
This feature is enabled for all institutions through a feature option in Account Settings, which can be temporarily disabled until 2021-04-17. Please view the content below for additional details. For more information about feature options, please see the Canvas Release Notes FAQ.
Feature Functionality Details |
New Course Availability UI Feature Option (temporary) |
Location to Enable Feature |
Account Settings, Feature Options |
Feature Functionality Details |
N/A |
Affected Canvas Areas |
Course Settings |
Beta/Test Environment Support |
Yes |
Affects User Interface |
Yes |
Affected User Roles |
Instructors |
Feature Video |
Course Settings: Course Availability Date Enhancements (2021-03-20 Canvas Release) |
Feature Q&A |
Summary
The Participation menu includes an option to select course dates by term or course.
Change Benefit
This change offers clarification for how student participation is managed for a course.
Affected User Roles
Instructors
When an instructor views the Participation section in the Course Settings page, the Participation section displays a menu that defaults to Term dates for new courses. This option sets student course participation to the start and end dates defined for the term.
If preferred, instructors can change course participation to the Course option, where course participation is limited to the course start and end dates, which can be added in the course. Course dates override term dates; however, section dates that exist in the course override course dates.
Course dates default to midnight. If the course is set to end at midnight, the page displays a warning icon.
The Participation option is retained when the Course Settings page is updated.
Notes:
Existing courses will be set by existing dates. If a course includes custom course dates and the participation checkbox is selected, the new Participation checkbox will be set to the Course option. However, if the participation checkbox in the old interface was not selected to override term dates—even if custom start and end dates were included—the new Participation checkbox will be set to the Term option.
This feature is 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 |
Modules |
Feature Functionality Details |
|
Affected Canvas Areas |
Modules |
Beta/Test Environment Support |
Yes |
Permissions |
Course Content - add / edit / delete |
Affects User Interface |
Yes |
Affected User Roles |
Instructors |
Related Idea Conversation |
|
Feature Video |
Summary
New Quizzes can be created as part of adding a quiz to a module.
Change Benefit
This change allows instructors to create quizzes using the New Quizzes LTI in modules.
Affected User Roles
Instructors
When an instructor adds an item to a module and selects a quiz, the Create Quiz option displays both the New Quizzes and Classic Quizzes quiz engines. New Quizzes is the default, but instructors can switch to Classic Quizzes and create a name for the quiz.
Existing quizzes in the module are also identified as a classic quiz if created with the Classic Quizzes quiz engine.
Workflow Change Note: For instructors, clicking a New Quizzes title will now always open the Assignment Details page for the quiz, so that availability adjustments can be made faster.
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.
Location to Enable Feature |
Learning Mastery Gradebook |
Feature Functionality Details |
|
Affected Canvas Areas |
Learning Mastery Gradebook |
Affects User Interface |
Yes |
Affected User Roles |
Instructors |
Feature Video |
Learning Mastery Gradebook: Student Filters (2021-03-20 Canvas Release) |
Summary
The Learning Mastery Gradebook includes filters for inactive and concluded enrollments.
Change Benefit
This change allows instructors to view outcomes data in the Learning Mastery Gradebook for students who no longer have an active enrollment in their course.
Affected User Roles & Behaviors
Instructors
In the Students menu, instructors can show or hide outcomes data for students with inactive and/or concluded enrollments, along with all active enrollments. By default, data is not shown for inactive and concluded enrollments.
Location to Enable Feature |
N/A |
Affected Canvas Areas |
Permissions |
Affects User Interface |
Yes |
Affected User Roles |
Admins |
Community Idea Contributions |
In Permissions, Separate "Manage (add/edit/delete) course files" into 3 permissions |
Feature Video |
Permissions: Course Files and Users (2021-03-20 Canvas Release) |
Summary
The Course Files - add / edit / delete permission has been grouped into three separate permissions.
Change Benefit
This change provides granularity among the three options to manage course files. This update does not affect Canvas APIs.
Affected User Roles
Admins
The Course Files add, edit, and delete permissions are grouped in the permissions list as the Manage Course Files permission.
As with other permissions, the row displays icons that represent the permission status for the user role. All three permissions within the group can be managed together by clicking the main icon for the user role.
To manage individual permissions within the group, the group can be expanded. Each granular permission that is enabled includes a check mark. Individual permissions for the group can be managed by selecting or deselecting the relevant permission. When the permission includes a mix of enabled and disabled permissions, the main permission status indicates the permission is partially enabled, using a half-filled green circle as the icon.
Course Files - add: add course files
Course Files - delete: delete course files
Course Files - edit: edit course files
Individual permissions for a user role can be changed to the full enabled or disabled state at any time by changing the status for the main permission.
Location to Enable Feature |
N/A |
Affected Canvas Areas |
Permissions |
Affects User Interface |
Yes |
Affected User Roles |
Admins |
Community Idea Contributions |
|
Feature Video |
Permissions: Course Files and Users (2021-03-20 Canvas Release) |
Summary
The Add/Remove Teachers, Designers, TAs permission and the Add/Remove Students permission have been reorganized into individual user permissions.
Change Benefit
This change provides granularity among the options to manage users. This update does not affect Canvas APIs.
Affected User Roles
Admins
Note: The beta environment does not reflect how permissions will be updated in the production environment. As part of the production deploy, Canvas engineers will generate a backend migration to match existing user permissions with the granular permissions. This migration was not done in the beta environment.
The Add/Remove Teachers, Designers, TAs permission and the Add/Remove Students permission have been renamed as Users - Allow Administrative Actions and Users - Manage Students in Course, respectively.
Additionally, the functionality to add and remove users has been reorganized into individual user permissions:
Users - Designers
Users - Observers
Users - Students
Users - TAs
Users - Teachers
Note: For account roles, the Users - add / remove observers permission is not affected by this change, as that permission manages observer enrollments at the account level.
As with other permissions, the row displays icons that represent the permission status for the user role. All permissions within the group can be managed together by clicking the main icon for the user role.
Users Permissions
To manage individual permissions within the group, the group can be expanded. Each granular permission that is enabled includes a check mark. Individual permissions for the group can be managed by selecting or deselecting the relevant permission. When the permission includes a mix of enabled and disabled permissions, the main permission status indicates the permission is partially enabled, using a half-filled green circle as the icon.
Users - Designers: Add / Remove in courses
Users - Observers: Add / Remove in courses
Users - Students: Add / Remove in courses
Users - TAs: Add / Remove in courses
Users - Teachers: Add / Remove in courses
Individual permissions for a user role can be changed to the full enabled or disabled state at any time by changing the status for the main permission.
Users - Allow Administrative Actions
The Add / Remove Teachers, Designers, and TAs permission has been renamed to Users - allow administrative actions in courses. This permission manages administrative functionality for all user roles except students. By default, the Teacher and Student TA roles can manage this permission.
This permission includes all existing functionality except for adding or removing users:
Users - Manage Students in Courses
The Users - add / remove students permission has been renamed to Users - manage students in courses. This permission manages administrative functionality for students. By default, the Teacher and Student TA roles can manage this permission.
This permission includes all existing functionality except for adding or removing students:
Location to Enable Feature |
N/A |
Feature Functionality Details |
N/A |
Affected Canvas Areas |
Rich Content Editor |
Affects User Interface |
Yes |
Affected User Roles |
All Users |
Feature Video |
Rich Content Editor: File Preview Enhancements (2021-03-20 Canvas Release) |
Summary
Files linked in the Rich Content Editor can be previewed in an overlay or inline.
Change Benefit
This change allows users to control the display of the file preview. Previously all file previews opened in a new browser tab.
Affected User Roles
All Users
Users who link a file can open the File Options menu and indicate a preview type.
Location to Enable Feature |
SpeedGrader |
Feature Functionality Details |
N/A |
Affected Canvas Areas |
SpeedGrader |
Affects User Interface |
Yes |
Affected User Roles |
Instructors |
Related Idea Conversations |
|
Feature Video |
SpeedGrader: Submission Reassignments (2021-03-20 Canvas Release) |
Summary
In SpeedGrader, instructors can reassign an assignment with a due date to an individual student and ask them to redo their submission.
Change Benefit
This change allows instructors to provide feedback and reassign an assignment to an individual student, which places the assignment back in the List View Dashboard as another assignment to complete.
Affected User Roles & Behaviors
Instructors
For online assignments with a due date, instructors can view a Reassign button in SpeedGrader. If they require a student to redo an assignment, they can reassign the assignment directly to the student from within their grading workflow in SpeedGrader. The instructor must first provide feedback regarding the assignment, which will enable the button. The reassignment does not change the original due date for the student.
Notes
Students
When an assignment is reassigned, students see the assignment in the List View Dashboard with the instructor’s feedback. Students can resubmit the assignment and submit for additional feedback from their instructor.
Change Log |
2021-03-16 2021-03-05
2021-03-03
2021-02-24 |
Changed—Course Settings: Course Availability Date Enhancements
Added Feature Videos Added note at top of document announcing release notes comment changes |
2021-02-22 | Published Release Notes |
Release Resources |
User Summaries
Release features are summarized for individual roles in the User Summaries page.
Canvas Chat
Want to chat with other customers about any of these features? Sign up to view and join our Collaborative Release Chats in the CanvasLIVE Calendar. Chats take place ten days after these notes are published.
New Feature Screencast
View a screencast of all the updates included in this release in the New Feature Screencast page.
tl;dr Podcast & Blogs
Features in this release may be included in product blogs and our product podcast, the Canvas tl;dr. For related links, check the Canvas Release Archive for this release date.
Feature Enhancements
The release notes indicate available functionality for a feature. If you want to see any future development planned for any features included in these notes, please visit the Roadmap. Have an idea you don't see prioritized in the next three months? Visit the Idea Conversations page.
Feature Support
All items listed in the release notes are immediately available for testing in the Canvas beta environment, unless otherwise indicated. If functionality in the beta environment does not match the functionality shown in the release notes, please submit a support case through your institution's preferred method as shown in your Global Navigation Help Menu. The Canvas Support Team can help escalate behaviors that may need to be resolved before they are deployed to the production environment, which takes place on the date of these release notes. When submitting a case, please indicate that the behavior is occurring in the beta environment.
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