Monday, February 10, 2014

Exciting New Canvas Features!

As you may well know, Canvas runs on a 3-week update cycle... while many of these updates are "behind the scenes", the improvement is continuous!  This past weekend, Canvas put some helpful updates in place that should make your LMS experience even more enjoyable:



File Previewer (Scribd) Update
A new HTML5-based Scribd viewer in Canvas has been implemented. Formerly based in flash, the new viewer should improve overall performance in Scribd and will display HTML content, File previews, and SpeedGrader previews. Viewer controls are now located at the bottom of the Scribd window and include an updated full-screen option.

    Gradebook Notes Column
    Instructors can use a Notes column in their Gradebook to keep track of extra information in their course.  This feature was the second-most-requested feature by Canvas users!  To use this feature, select "Show Notes Column" from the Gradebook settings menu and click into the field for the student you'd like to work with!

    There are also a few more updates that the most-Canvas among us will be interested in... if you count yourself as one of us, take a look at this video highlighting the most recent release:


    The details for these new features have been sourced from Canvas’ User Guides and Product Release Notes.  Please feel free to contact me (ptestori@baypath.edu) for any questions you may have about using Canvas for your Bay Path class.