What's New in Canvas, Summer-Fall 2024

Southwestern College’s Online Learning Center has collected the latest and greatest updates for you, along with screenshots and resources. Need some help? We’re here for you:

Phone: (619) 482-6595
Email: onlinelearning@swccd.edu
In-Person: Library, 3rd floor, Rm. 64-344

Discussions/Announcements Redesign

Some new and exciting changes have arrived for Discussions and Announcements, effective July 20, 2024. Modifications include:

The toolbar moves to the top of the discussion and announcement thread.
Newest replies display at the top of the first page instead of the bottom of the last page.
Users can sort replies from newest to oldest, or oldest to newest.
Users can also quickly move to the top of the discussion or announcement at any time.
An auto-save feature means students don’t lose their work if the page times out.
Split view or in-line view

For more information, please check out the following:

Assign To

Canvas introduced more options to assign content to students. Previously, instructors were able to assign quizzes, graded discussions, and assignments. This "assign to" option has now been extended to modules and pages. Additionally, the "assign to" user interface in assignments has been redesigned as a system tray. Check out the Canvas Release Notes below to learn more about these options:

New Quizzes

You may have heard about this feature before. Perhaps you’re already using it in your courses at Southwestern College or elsewhere. There are A LOT of features in New Quizzes that aren’t available in Classic Quizzes, such as:

New question types: stimulus, ordering, categories, and hot spot
The ability to set accommodations once for a student, that will apply to all quizzes for the entire course.
The ability to shuffle questions, along with answer choices.
The ability to reopen a quiz for a student, allowing them to pick up where they left off.
The ability to require a waiting period between attempts.
The ability to “build on last attempt,” so a student only needs to redo the questions that they answered incorrectly.

There are too many features to mention, so please look for our workshop during HOW TO Academy during Flex Day. In the meantime, you can learn all about New Quizzes through the Training Services Portal.

Go to the the Help icon on the Canvas Global Navigation Menu
Authorize your account.
Select "New Quizzes Essentials"

Changes to the Rich Content Editor

Two important changes:

We've added the Studio icon to the RCE for your convenience. You can now easily embed videos that you’ve created or uploaded to Studio.
We've disabled the media uploader in Canvas. If you require students to record videos, please direct them to Canvas Studio. The reason that we’re disabling the media uploader is because there is no captioning capability, and therefore does not meet accessibility standards.

Canvas Studio Updates

If you are a regular Studio user, you may have noticed some recent updates such as a new navigation design. Studio created content is now automatically captioned for user convenience while still allowing for easy editing of captions.

Studio Capture is a new native screen capture application from Canvas. This is a browser-based application which eliminates the need to download and install any plugins. If you use Chrome or Edge browsers, you may have already seen the “Studio Capture” button when creating a new video. Feel free to try it out or continue to use the traditional “Screencast-o-Matic” option as before. The choice is yours.

Starting June 15th, Studio Capture will also be available in the SpeedGrader. You will be able to record video and screen capture feedback for your students. Auto generated closed captions will also be available. Lastly, you will also be able to use the new “speech to text” option to add feedback in the form of text.

Comments in Speedgrader

Lucid Integration

The Lucid integration offers real time collaboration options to enhance student interactions in Canvas and can be accessed from the dedicated RCE icon, or from the external tools options in assignments.

Rich Content Editor

External Tools

Canvas and Lucid initial launch guide

Submit Assignment on Behalf of Student

Have you ever had a student ask if they can email you their assignment because they were having technical difficulties? Next time that it happens, you can submit the assignment on behalf of your student. Having the assignment in Canvas allows you to utilize the SpeedGrader, as well as leave comments for your student.

Canvas Article: How do I submit an assignment on behalf of a student as an instructor?

Assignments Enhancement

Assignments Enhancement is a feature option that you can choose to turn on in your courses. Although it won’t look different to you when create an assignment, there are benefits for your students.

Students will have the ability to see your annotations in SpeedGrader for every attempt, not just the most recent.
An updated submission interface for students that allows the ability to drag and drop files.
Students can expand and collapse sections with assignment details and your rubric, and comments are now added in a slideout tray.

Canvas article: How do I submit an online assignment in a course using Assignment Enhancements?

New VoiceThread

VoiceThread received a big redesign, making it easier to navigate and access your assignments. Additionally, you will find several added setting options such as “one conversation view,” “bulk comment moderation,” and the ability to pan and zoom while commenting on slides. The New VoiceThread is fully accessible right out of the box. If you are a current VT user, you can get all of the latest updates in our VoiceThread Training Resource Site. If you haven't used VoiceThread before, you can read more about it in Canvas Essentials or sign up for our next training session when it’s available.

Canvas Videos Repository

Welcome to the SWC Captioned Videos Repository. The perfect video for your class may already exist! The Captioned Videos Repository can be accessed through the Faculty Resource Hub.

Faculty Hub

Select the school you're interested in and see what videos are available. Videos are organized by course, listed alphabetically. If you're interested in having a video captioned, fill out the Video Captioning Request Form. If it's a video you created, we will not post it in the repository without your approval.

Studio & Zoom Integration

Do you use Zoom to record your instructional videos? Integrate your SWC Zoom account with Canvas Studio for a seamless experience. Anything that you record to your Zoom cloud will appear in Studio. Studio offers auto-captioning (editing needed), and videos can easily be embedded across multiple courses, with analytics.

How to Link Your SWC Zoom Account to Canvas Studio