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Canvas Release Notes (2020-12-19)

Canvas Release Notes (2020-12-19)

Upcoming Canvas Changes

2021-01-16

  • End-of-Life for Rich Content Editor—Enforcement of New Rich Content Editor
  • Deprecation of Multiple Push notification types

For more information, please see Upcoming Canvas Changes.


In this Canvas release (December 19), newly recorded media and uploaded media via the Upload/Record Media link is stored in the Course, Groups, or User Files folder, respectively.

For instructors, the Gradebook View menu includes the View Ungraded as 0 option, which is a visual change only and does not affect any grades. [DELAYED]

Additionally, the Student View button displays in supported individual Canvas pages.

Feature Options

  • A new Outcomes feature allows institutions to separate mastery scales and calculation methods for outcomes, replacing per-outcome criterion ratings and calculation methods.

 

 

For all resources and feedback information related to this release, see the Release Resources section at the end of this document.

Related Links

 

Updated Features

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Gradebook

View Ungraded as Zero

 

Production Feature Availability

DELAYED TO 2021-02-20

Location to Enable Feature

Gradebook

Feature Functionality Details

N/A

Affected Canvas Areas

Gradebook

Affects User Interface

Yes

Affected User Roles

Instructors

Related Idea Conversations

Allow Treat Ungraded as 0 in New Gradebook

Feature Video

Gradebook: View Ungraded as 0 (2020-12-19 Release)

 

Summary

The Gradebook View menu includes the View Ungraded as 0 option, which is a visual change only and does not affect any grades. 

Change Benefit

This change aligns parity with the Individual View Gradebook and provides instructors with a visual change in identifying grading calculations for ungraded assignments.

Affected User Roles

Instructors

The View menu includes the View Ungraded as 0 option, which allows instructors to view student grades as if all ungraded assignments were worth zero points. This setting also persists for the Individual View Gradebook.

GradebookGradebook


When the View Ungraded as 0 setting is enabled, Ungraded as 0 displays as a heading in all assignment group columns and the total column to indicate this feature is turned on in the Gradebook. This feature also includes grading periods, if used for a course. 

Canvas will not populate zeros in the Gradebook for student submissions within individual assignments. Only the assignment groups and total columns will automatically factor in all scores of zero into the overall percentages for each student. 

gradebook-zero.png


Enabling this option has no effect outside of the Gradebook; students cannot see any difference in their grade pages. Similarly, TAs or other instructors in the course will not see any change in their view of the Gradebook. Only the user who enables this option in the Gradebook will see the affected grades.  

Note: This feature affects the configuration of the Total Column in the Gradebook, which also applies to CSV Exports. The CSV file displays columns for the Current and Final scores: the Current score reflects the total while ignoring unsubmitted assignments (option disabled), and the Final score counts unsubmitted assignments as zero (option enabled).

New Rich Content Editor

Uploaded Media File Placement

 

Affected Canvas Areas

New Rich Content Editor

Beta/Test Environment Support

Yes

Affects User Interface

Yes

Affected User Roles

All Users

Related Idea Conversations

Canvas Media Recordings

Feature Video

New Rich Content Editor: Uploaded Media File Placement (2020-12-19 Release)

 

Summary

Newly recorded media and uploaded media via the Upload/Record Media link is stored in the Course, Groups, or User Files folder, respectively.

Change Benefit

This change ensures users can reuse media uploaded or recorded as media content. Previously, newly recorded and uploaded media could not be repurposed without being exported as part of course content.

Affected User Roles

All Users

When users record media or upload media using the Upload/Record Media link, the media file is stored in the Files folder for the media location (course or group). For students who record or upload media for an assignment submission, the media file is stored in the User Files folder.

These media files can be downloaded and shared like all other files in the Files page. Media files default to an unpublished state.

Notes:

  • This change does not affect institutions who are using their own media tool and have disabled the Upload/Record Media link.
  • This change only applies to media files created or uploaded after December 19.


Storage Quotas

This change to newly recorded or uploaded media via the Upload/Record Media link does not affect Canvas file quotas. However, media files uploaded via any other method (such as the Upload Files link) do affect the course, group, or user files quota, respectively. To learn more about available options for using media files in Canvas, view the Canvas Media Comparison PDF.

 

Outcomes

Account and Course Level Outcome Mastery Scale Management

 

This feature can be enabled in Canvas via a Customer Success Manager. Please view the content below for additional details.

 

Location to Enable Feature

Outcomes

Feature Functionality Details

Contact Customer Success Manager

Outcome Mastery Scale Feature Option

Affected Canvas Areas

Outcomes, Rubrics

Beta/Test Environment Support

Yes

Affects User Interface

Yes

Affected User Roles

Admins, Instructors

Feature Video

Outcomes: Account and Course Level Outcome Mastery Scale (2020-12-19 Release)

 

Summary

Mastery scales and calculation methods have been separated for outcomes, replacing per-outcome criterion ratings and calculation methods.

Change Benefit

This change allows mastery scales and calculation methods to be set individually at both the account and course levels. Admins can have more control over the mastery scale and default proficiency calculations used for their account.

For full details about this feature, please see Canvas Release: Account and Course Level Outcome Mastery Scales (2020-12-19).

learning-outcomes-course-mastery.png

 

Pages

Individual Page Student View

Affected Canvas Areas

Home Page, Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, Modules, People, Pages, Files, Syllabus, Outcomes, Quizzes

Beta/Test Environment Support

Yes

Affects User Interface

Yes

Affected User Roles

Instructors

Related Idea Conversation

Quick Toggle Student View

Feature Video

Pages: Individual Student View (2020-12-19 Release)


Summary

The Student View button displays in supported individual Canvas pages.

Change Benefit

This change allows instructors to view individual pages using the Test Student more quickly.

Affected User Roles

Instructors

The Course Settings page includes the Student View button, which allows users with instructor-based roles to view the course with the student perspective. Individual buttons have also been placed at the top of most course pages, which provides quick Student View access for the specific page.

In the Home Page, the Student View button has been removed from the sidebar and replaced with the smaller button at the top of the page, since the Home Page can be viewed by students.

student-view-quick-toggle.png


The Student View button does not display in pages that are not visible to students, such as the Course Settings page.

If an instructor clicks the Student View button from a page or other location that has been hidden to students, such as in Course Navigation, the page redirects back to the home page.

 

Change Log

Back to Table of Contents

 

2020-12-07

2020-12-02

Delayed release for Gradebook: View Ungraded as Zero

Added Feature Videos

2020-11-23

Release Notes Published

 

Release Resources

Back to Table of Contents

 

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 Release Notes Collaborative Chats. 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.

Change Log

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