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By Barb Stephens, February 18, 2021 5:57 pm

Canvas, the application better known as BlueLine, operates on a monthly release cycle through which features are added or updated. Some highlights from the most recent release notes follow. For further clarification, check out the full release notes site.

MathJax Equation Enhancements: LaTeX equations can be added in any text field in Canvas and are typeset or processed by MathJax. Equations can be added through manual entry, or through the Equation editor as supported in the Rich Content Editor. Equations can be added manually in any Canvas area that includes a text field, such as the title of an assignment or in a calendar event. Manual entries must be formatted according to LaTeX specifications. For help using the LaTeX Editor, please see the Canvas Equation Editor Advanced PDF.

Gradebook – View Ungraded as Zero: The Gradebook View menu includes the View Ungraded as 0 option, which is a visual change only and does not affect any grades. This change aligns parity with the Individual View Gradebook and provides instructors with a visual change in identifying grading calculations for ungraded assignments.

Rich Content Editor – Pretty HTML Editor: The Rich Content Editor includes a pretty HTML editor in addition to the raw HTML editor. This change provides an enhanced HTML experience for users. By default, the HTML editor displays an improved, pretty version of the HTML. Users can switch to the existing (raw) HTML editor by clicking the Raw HTML Editor link. Only the Raw HTML Editor is currently accessible to screen reader users.

Rich Content Editor – Content Auto-Save: When a user enters content in a Rich Content Editor window then navigates away from the page or refreshes the page, the user can return to the same page, and Canvas will notify the user if any saved content is different from the existing content. The user can preview the autosaved content and select the Yes button to load the autosaved content. Selecting the No button will discard the autosaved content. The New Rich Content Editor Auto-Save recovery period is 1 day.

For a complete production release update, please see: Canvas Productions Release Notes: Feb. 20, 2021.

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By Barb Stephens, January 29, 2021 10:14 pm

Canvas, the application better known as BlueLine, operates on a monthly release cycle through which features are added or updated. Some highlights from the most recent release notes follow. For further clarification, check out the full release notes site.

Bounced Emails: Admin Tools includes a Bounced Notifications tab for admins who can view notifications for the account. Users can request a Canvas Admin to view notifications about emails that have bounced for specific users.

New Rich Content Editor: The New Rich Content Editor includes an improved user experience across Canvas courses. This change brings an enhanced version of the Rich Content Editor to all Canvas users.

Push Notification Types End of Life: Multiple notification types are not supported for Push notifications. Additional notification types can be enabled through other communication channels. This change streamlines communication for all user roles. Additional details about supported notifications for Push notifications can be found in the Canvas Notifications PDF.

Feature Video

For a complete production release update, please see: Canvas Productions Release Notes: Jan. 16, 2021.

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By Barb Stephens, January 29, 2021 10:12 pm

Canvas, the application better known as BlueLine, operates on a monthly release cycle through which features are added or updated. Some highlights from the most recent release notes follow. For further clarification, check out the full release notes site.

Uploaded Media File Placement: Newly recorded media and uploaded media via the Upload/Record Media link in the New Rich Content Editor is stored in the Course, Groups, or User Files folder, respectively. This change ensures users can reuse media created or added to a course.

Individual Page Student View: The Student View button displays in supported individual Canvas pages, allowing instructors to view individual pages using the Test Student more quickly.

For a complete production release update, please see: Canvas Productions Release Notes: Dec. 19, 2020.

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By Barb Stephens, January 29, 2021 10:11 pm

Canvas, the application better known as BlueLine, operates on a monthly release cycle through which features are added or updated. Some highlights from the most recent release notes follow. For further clarification, check out the full release notes site.

Grade Change Activity Search Field Enhancements: The Grade Change Activity log supports multi-parameter search fields, providing more granular search functionality. At the request of an instructor, a Canvas Admin can search by grader, student, course ID, and assignment ID.

Uploaded Media File Placement: Newly recorded media and uploaded media is stored in the Course Files folder. Previously, newly recorded and uploaded media could not be repurposed without being exported as part of course content. Please note, this feature is only available for the New Rich Content Editor

For a complete production release update, please see: Canvas Productions Release Notes: Nov. 21, 2020.

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By Barb Stephens, October 19, 2020 7:22 pm

Canvas, the application better known as BlueLine, operates on a monthly release cycle through which features are added or updated. Some highlights from the most recent release notes follow. For further clarification, check out the full release notes site.

Global Navigation – Recent History

The Global Navigation Menu includes a Recent History link, which displays recently visited pages in Canvas, up to the last three weeks. This change helps users remember what page they last viewed in one or multiple courses.

Notifications – Notification Preferences Interface Updates

The user-level Notifications page has been updated to match the design of the course-level Notifications page. Additional enhancements have been added to clarify notifications between each level. These changes align the user interface for consistency, remind users about notification overrides at either the course or user levels, and improve navigation.

Courses – MathJax Equation Improvements

The MathJax JS library has been improved to render equations in a more accessible format and promote ease of use. Math equations created anywhere in Canvas will be rendered as MathML. This change improves accessibility for equations throughout Canvas. Previously, equations were treated as an image and included title attributes and alternative text and were not available to keyboard users.

Coming!  Assignments – Student Enhancements Production Availability

The Student Enhancements project supports student assignments to display an improved interface and submission workflow. Additional updates about Student Enhancements will be posted in the New Student Enhancements User Group.

For a complete production release update, please see: Canvas Productions Release Notes: Oct. 17, 2020.

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By Barb Stephens, September 17, 2020 9:01 pm

Canvas, the application better known as BlueLine, operates on a monthly release cycle through which features are added or updated. Some highlights from the most recent release notes follow. For further clarification, check out the full release notes site.

New Analytics – CSV Reports

New Analytics provides downloadable CSV files for missing assignments, late assignments, excused assignments, the class roster, and course activity data. Using APIs, all reports provide real-time data except for the Course Activity report, which includes data that may be delayed up to 24 hours. Additionally, all report data is verified against user permissions. This change provides instructors with table visualizations of essential course information via Canvas APIs into a consumable format.

Browsers – TLS Protocols

TLS Protocols 1.0 and 1.1 are not supported in Canvas. Institutions must update to TLS 1.2 by 19 September or switch their API URLs to a legacy endpoint. This change ensures all customers are using the highest encryption protocols to protect user interactions with Canvas. TLS 1.0 and 1.1 protocols support usage of ciphers that do not meet modern security standards.

Faculty: All vendors who are listed as a partner with Canvas have been notified about the TLS upgrade. Some of them may be affected and may need to update their applications. It may be good to confirm with your vendor that they’re actively working to upgrade to TLS 1.2.

For a complete production release update, please see: Canvas Productions Release Notes: Sept. 19, 2020.

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By Barb Stephens, August 31, 2020 4:27 pm

Mobile Apps

You can access BlueLine (aka Canvas) from any browser on your Android or iOS device. However, for the best user experience, you should access Canvas via the mobile app.

To access Canvas mobile apps, you need to know Creighton’s URL: blueline.instructure.com

Mobile Guides

The Teacher app provides quick access to grading, communicating, and updating – three of the most frequent course facilitation tasks for teachers through Announcements, Assignments, Discussions and Quizzes.

Canvas Teacher Android Guide

Canvas Teacher iOS Guide

The Canvas by Instructure app is the mobile version of Canvas that helps you stay current with your courses anywhere you go.

Canvas Student Android Guide

Canvas Student iOS Guide

You may access the latest release notes for all of the mobile apps, as well.

For assistance with any of these apps or documentation, please contact Canvas Support.

Canvas Release August 15, 2020

Canvas, the application better known as BlueLine, operates on a monthly release cycle through which features are added or updated. Some highlights from the most recent release notes follow. For further clarification, check out the full release notes site.

Pages – Bulk Page Delete

Multiple pages can be deleted at one time in the Pages Index page. This change allows outdated content to be removed more quickly. Previously pages could only be deleted one at a time. The Pages Index page (View All Pages button) allows for multiple pages to be deleted at one time. Pages can be multi-selected by selecting a checkbox next to the pages. Note: To delete the page used as the Front Page, a new Front Page must be set.

People – Course Section Column Student Visibility

The Section column can be hidden from students in the People page when more than one section exists in the course. This change prevents students from viewing sections for other students when they have access to view the People page. When a course includes more than one section, the Course Settings Details page includes an option to hide sections on the People page from students. Instructors can select this option for the course.

User Navigation – Global Announcements Page

The User Navigation Menu includes a link to Global Announcements, which displays current and recent announcements for the institution. This change allows users to view announcements that were previously dismissed from the Dashboard.

TLS Protocol Changes

TLS stands for Transport Layer Security and relates to the data being accessed via open Canvas APIs. TLS Protocols 1.0 and 1.1 are not supported in Canvas.

On Sept. 19, only TLS 1.2 will work. DoIT has done testing to ensure SIS Imports & Publish Grades will work. Users should ensure they are using the latest version of each supported Canvas browser. For more information, please see the Customer TLS Protocols FAQ.

Faculty: All vendors who are listed as a partner with Canvas have been notified about the TLS upgrade. Some of them may be affected and may need to update their applications. It may be good to confirm with your vendor that they’re actively working to upgrade to TLS 1.2.

For a complete production release update, please see: Canvas Productions Release Notes: August 15, 2020.

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By Barb Stephens, July 21, 2020 2:33 am

Canvas, the application better known as BlueLine, operates on a monthly release cycle through which features are added or updated. Some highlights from the most recent release notes follow. For further clarification, check out the full release notes site.

The following item are new and/or updated features that were introduced via (accelerated) “Ready Releases” between March and May, have been turned on by the vendor.

Assignments – Direct Share                                                                           ON

Users can copy individual course items to another course and share individual items with other users. This change allows users to copy and share content directly in Canvas without having to use a secondary repository like Commons.

Assignments – Due and Availability Date Bulk Edit                                     ON

The Assignments page supports editing all assignment, discussion, and quiz dates in a single page. This change allows assignment dates to be adjusted at one time in the same location.

Assignments – Limited Submission Attempts                                              ON

Submission attempts can be limited in Canvas assignments. This feature allows instructors to limit submission attempts for students.

Courses – Instructor Publishing Improvements                                           ON

The Dashboard, Courses menu, and All Courses page display both published and unpublished courses. This change helps instructors see what courses are unpublished in various Canvas locations.

Modules – File Upload Enhancements                                                         ON

Instructors can add multiple module content from the Course Home Page or the Modules page. Additionally, the Course Home Page has received small design modifications. This change helps instructors build module content with multiple files at one time, using the same functionality supported in Course Files.

Notifications – Course Notifications                                                             ON

Users can mute all notifications for a course where the user is enrolled. The Course Notification Settings page allows users to mute all notifications for a course where the user is enrolled. Additionally, users can enable or disable specific course notifications. This change allows users to manage notification preferences within an individual course.

Rubrics – Course Navigation Rubrics Link                                                     ON

The Manage Rubrics button has been removed from the course-level Outcomes page and added to the Course Navigation Menu. This change allows course rubrics to be accessed more quickly. Additionally, the workflow is more intuitive as outcomes are not required within a rubric.

Here is the status of the new/updated features released between March and May that can be turned on/off by each institution:

Account/Course Feature Setting:                                                                   STATUS

Assignments: Confetti for On-Time Submissions                                            OFF

Canvas generates a virtual celebration when students submit assignments on time. We felt students would find these “confetti celebrations” a nuisance and have turned it off.

Course Settings: Confetti for Valid Links                                                         OFF

Canvas generates a virtual celebration when instructors run the link validator and no issues are found. Creighton actually offers, and our instructional designers make extensive use of, the UDOIT, a third party tool that audits course accessibility, including links, suggested fixes, color contrast checks, and much more.

Courses: New Instructor Tutorial                                                                     ON

New Instructor Canvas tutorials have been updated with revised content and links. Make sure to turn on “Course Set-up Tutorial” (Account -> Settings -> Feature Options -> turn on Course Set-up Tutorial). To access the tutorials:

1. Go into a course
2. Click one of the Course Navigation items (People, Grades, Discussions, Pages, etc.)
3. Initially, a pop-up should appear on the far right with the tutorial. There will be a “collapse” arrow at the top right. If you click that collapse arrow, the next time you click on that course item (e.g. Discussions), the pop-up will be collapsed but there will be a reverse arrow (e.g. expand) that you can click on to re-open that item’s tutorial.

Courses: Product Tour                                                                                      OFF

Canvas provides a welcome tour for instructors that guides them through setting up an online course. Instead, Creighton faculty are encouraged to click the Help link inside Canvas (aka BlueLine) and search for specific Canvas topic via the Search the Canvas Guides, or click the Faculty Guides link in the Help menu to learn about several academic integrations, such as BlueCast, Canon Grader Services, Zoom and Secure Exams.

For a complete production release update, please see: Canvas Productions Release Notes: July, 18, 2020.

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By Barb Stephens, July 6, 2020 4:06 pm

Canvas, the application better known as BlueLine, operates on a monthly release cycle through which features are added or updated. Some highlights from the most recent release notes follow. For further clarification, check out the full release notes site.

Assignments: Bulk Editing Enhancements

The Edit Assignment Dates page supports enhancements to select multiple assignments, batch edit dates, and improve date validation. These changes provide faster management of assignment dates in a course. The Edit Assignment Dates page includes additional enhancements to help instructors manage assignment dates more quickly.

Bulk Editing Enhancements video

Courses: Course-Level Notification Preferences

The Course Notification Settings page supports granular notifications for the course. This change allows users to specify notification preferences within an individual course. The Notification Preferences page for a user’s account specifies the user’s notification preferences and communication channels for all courses, and preferences are automatically passed down to each course in the Course Notification Settings page.

Course-Level Notification Preferences video

For a complete production release update, please see: Canvas Productions Release Notes: June 20, 2020.

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By Barb Stephens, May 28, 2020 7:56 pm

Canvas, the application better known as BlueLine, operates on a monthly release cycle through which features are added or updated. Some highlights from the most recent release notes follow. For further clarification, check out the full release notes site.

Canvas Mobile Apps

Canvas Mobile Apps are updated as needed. Check Google Play or the Apple App Store for the latest update.  Check here for links to the appropriate Release Notes for the associated version.

Canvas Release May 16, 2020

Course Settings: Link Validator Celebration

Canvas generates a virtual celebration when instructors run the link validator and no issues are found. This change provides validation to instructors after they’ve verified and resolved course links. Celebrations take place in Canvas when the Link Validator finds no errors. This User Settings feature option is included for all users and defaults to off. Instructors only need to adjust this feature option if they are seeing celebrations in the link validator page and they want to opt-out of the animations.

Notifications: SMS Notification Types Deprecation

On 2 May, all SMS notification types are deprecated except Announcements and Grading notification types. Remaining notification types can be enabled through other communication channels. This change provides a better communication experience for all user roles. Other notification types are more consistent and reliable for Canvas users. When users open their Notification Preferences page, all SMS options are disabled except announcements and grading notification types.

For a complete production release update, please see: Canvas Productions Release Notes: May 16, 2020.