This post is an abridged version of the full Canvas Production Release Notes for March 30th and April 20th, 2019. For the full version of the notes, click on one of the following links: March 30th; April 20th.

Below is a screencast for the March 30th notes.

 

March 30th

In this Canvas release (March 30), the beta label has been removed from the New Gradebook in addition to other feature options in Canvas. In Notifications, SMS notifications have been shortened to distribute one message about the related content, and instructors can enable a notification to be notified of link errors in their courses.

Feature Options

• For institutions using the New Gradebook, the Final Grade Override column retains all percentages entered for grade overrides.

Updated Features

Final Grade Override Percentage Scores

Summary

Percentages added as an override grade are displayed as the entered percentage and the grade associated with the grading scheme. The lower bound of the grading scheme is not factored into the percentage display.

 

Change Benefit

This change allows instructors to adjust the final grade using a specific percentage and have that percentage apply for the grade.

 

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

Instructors

When the Final Grade Override feature option is enabled for a course, instructors can enter a specific percentage and have that percentage apply for the grade. Previously the percentage adjusted to the lower bound of the grading scheme.

For instance, if an instructor added a grade override as 97%, and the grade range for A was from 94% to 100%, the student would be shown the grade of A with 97%. Previously the A grade would have shown a 94%.

Notifications

Content Link Error

Summary

The Notifications page includes a new alert for instructors to be notified about broken links in a course.

 

Change Benefit

This change allows instructors to be notified about broken links via notifications when they are accessed by students in the course.

 

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

Instructors

If instructors want to be notified of broken links in their course, instructors can visit their Notification Preferences page and select the Content Link Error notification. Instructors are notified with both the location and content of the link error. The Notification default is set to daily delivery.

 

This notification is triggered in the following conditions:

• The link cannot be accessed by students because of a permission error
• The link is broken
• The link is unpublished

 

Deleted links are not included in this notification and can be validated using the Validate Links in Content option in Course settings.

 

SMS Message Content

Summary

Cellular (SMS) Notifications have been shortened to distribute one message about the related content. Additionally, content no longer includes direct URLs to access the content within the course.

 

Change Benefit

This change minimizes the number of text messages sent to a subscribed user.

 

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

All Users

Any user can select text messages as an option for receiving notification updates. However, notifications sent via text message have been shortened to minimize the number of messages a user receives.

 

Depending on the notification type, text messages include the following minimized content:

 

• Submission Graded: assignment name and score (if score is included in the notification)
• Assignment Created: course name and due date (if the assignment includes multiple due dates)
• New Discussion Entry: discussion topic and user name who posted the discussion reply
• New Announcement: announcement title
• Conversation Message: user name who sent the message
• Assignment Due Date Changed: assignment name and new due date

 

Users who prefer accessing the content directly should consider accessing the Canvas apps and enabling push notifications.

 

Quizzes.Next

Item Bank Tags

Summary

Quizzes.Next supports adding tags to item bank items.

 

Change Benefit

This feature allows instructors to easily categorize similar items within item banks.

 

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

Instructors

Instructors can add tags when editing an item bank item. From the Tags and Metadata field, instructors can enter text to create a new tag. After a tag is created, it can be selected as a tag in any item bank associated with the user who created the tag.

 

 

Tags display as part of the item in the item bank and in any assessment where the item has been added.

 

 

Item Bank Search

 

Summary

Quizzes.Next supports searching item banks and filtering item bank results by tags or item type.

 

Change Benefit

This feature allows instructors to quickly find items in an item bank.

 

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

Instructors

Instructors can search for items within any item bank by using the Search field. Search results will display items with matching results in question titles, question stems, and answer choices.

 

 

Instructors can also use the Add Filter button to filter search results by tags or item type.

 

 

Groups

Group Membership Edit Message Clarification

 

Summary

The group membership edit message has been reworded for functionality clarity.

 

Change Benefit

This commit makes the warning message stronger about data loss that may occur when editing group memberships for existing group submissions.

 

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

Instructors

When an instructor has previously created a group assignment that has received group submissions, adding or removing any student within the group triggers a group membership warning. The previous message did not warn instructors about the loss of data within SpeedGrader that may occur.

 

 

April 20th

Feature Options

• For institutions using the New Gradebook, the Final Grade Override option is treated as a course setting and is persistent for all graders in the course.

Updated Features

New Gradebook

Final Grade Override Setting Persistence

 

Summary

The Final Grade Override option in the New Gradebook is treated as a course setting and is persistent for all graders in the course. When enabled in the New Gradebook, the Override column displays for all other instructors who view the New Gradebook or the Individual View Gradebook.

 

Change Benefit

This change provides viewing consistency for all graders in the Gradebook.

 

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

Graders

When a grader such as an instructor or TA enables the Final Grade Override option in the New Gradebook Settings Menu, the setting is applied for all graders in the course. All other graders who view the New Gradebook will see the Override column if it has been enabled by another instructor. Likewise, the Override column will be hidden if disabled as an option by another instructor.

 

Course Import

Pages Terminology

 

Summary

In the Course Import Tool, Wiki Pages terminology has been changed to Pages.

 

Change Benefit

This change aligns consistency with Pages terminology throughout Canvas.

 

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

Instructors, Admins

When an instructor or admin uses the Course Import Tool and selects specific content to import or copy, the Wiki Pages section heading has been renamed to Pages.

 

Fixed Bugs

Accessibility

Course Import

The Content Import page error text and error report link can be read by screen readers.

 

Dashboard

Dashboard View menu items are read to screen readers according to their menu position.

 

Course Import

Copy a Canvas Course Option and Future Restricted Courses

The Copy a Canvas Course option uses active term dates to display available courses in the drop-down list.

 

Explanation: When a course was copied using the Course Import Tool, future courses displayed in the drop-down list. Attempting to import content from a future course caused the import to fail. Canvas code has been updated to use active term dates to display available courses and disregard future courses.

Files

Google LTI Upload State

The workflow state for uploaded Google LTI files update once they are available for download.

 

Explanation: When a Google LTI file was uploaded to Canvas, the workflow state of the file remained as pending_upload or processing indefinitely. Canvas code has been updated to change the workflow state once files are available for download.

Rubrics

Edge Page Jumps

In the Edge browser, scrolling down a page with a rubric open retains the location of the page scroll.

 

Explanation: When a user was viewing a rubric and scrolled down the page using the Edge browser, the page jumped back to the top every five seconds. This behavior affected Edge version 42. Canvas code has been updated to retain the location of a page scroll when viewing a rubric.