Canvas Release Notes (2019-05-11) - Canvas Skip to main content

Canvas Release Notes (2019-05-11)

In an effort to continually improve Canvas, Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, releases Canvas upgrades every three weeks along with Release Notes. Pertinent features and upgrades are listed below.

Upcoming Canvas Changes
Canvas periodically includes new functionality designed as opt-in features called feature options.
Internet Explorer 11: August 3

On August 3, Internet Explorer 11 will no longer be supported as a Canvas browser.

New Gradebook: January 4

On 4 January 2020, the existing Canvas Gradebook will be replaced with the New Gradebook. 

For more information, please see Upcoming Canvas Changes.

In this Canvas release (May 11), for course using the New Gradebook, the Final Grade Overrides are displayed in the Student Context Card. For quizzes created with using the Quizzes.Next LTI, the Canvas beta environment supports most Quizzes.Next features.

Release notes also include API updates and fixed bugs. This announcement lists pertinent updates that affect instructors and students and omits features that are not applicable for Rutgers Canvas. You may view the full Production Release Notes (May 11), and its accompanying screencast. The next release will be on June 1, 2019.

Updated Features

New Gradebook

Student Context Card and Final Grade Override

Final Grade Overrides are displayed in the Student Context Card. This change allows Final Grade Overrides to be included in the Student Context Card. When a course has enabled the Final Grade Override option in the New Gradebook Setting Menu, and the Student Context Card feature option is also enabled, clicking a student’s name in the New Gradebook (or any course location with a link to a student’s name) displays the override grade as the student’s grade. When an override is not set for a student, the Student Context Card displays the final grade.

Quizzes.Next

Beta Environment Support

The Canvas beta environment supports most Quizzes.Next features. However, reports, statistics, and item bank search and tagging are not supported. This feature allows users to view most Quizzes.Next features in the Canvas beta environment instead of waiting for production releases.

Instructors, admins, and other users with access can create, manage, and take Quizzes.Next assessments in the Canvas beta environment. The beta environment is refreshed every Saturday with data from the production environment.

If data changes are made directly in the beta environment, please be aware of the following exceptions:

  • Quizzes.Next reports, statistics, item bank search, and item bank tagging are not currently supported in the beta environment.
  • Outcomes added to Canvas in the beta environment after the beta refresh will not display in the Quizzes.Next beta environment. Outcomes must be added to the production environment to display in the beta environment.

Other Updates

Files

Restricted Access Permissions Interface

The Restricted Access files interface has been simplified in page design and includes individual icons for each permission type. However, no functionality has been affected. This change more clearly defines the two options offered for files set with restricted access.

When permissions for a file are modified, the Files menu displays the Permissions window and includes a simplified interface. The Restricted Access options have been streamlined into two separate options and include individual icons for each permission type.

The icon for the specified option is reflected in the Files list. Please see Canvas Release Notes: Restricted Access Permissions Interface for images.

Fixed Bugs

Please view the Canvas Release Notes for May 11, 2019 Fixed Bugs descriptions and its accompanying screencast for more information concerning accessibility improvements and other bug fixes. Some bugs that may have affected Rutgers users are stated here.

Assignments

External Tool (LTI) Submissions

When four or more external tools are enabled for a course, External Tool assignments can be submitted using the More tab. Explanation: When an assignment was submitted using an external tool (LTI), and four or more LTI tools were enabled for the course, submitting the assignment using the More tab would not submit the assignment. Canvas code has been updated to correct behavior when uploading an assignment using the More tab.

DocViewer

Stylus Action Button

In DocViewer, the stylus action button is not required for point, free draw, free text, or area annotation types. Explanation: When a user used a stylus in DocViewer, all annotation types required the action button, which did not align with typical stylus usage. DocViewer code has been updated to better align stylus usage with expected behavior. Note that users will still need to press the stylus action button to use the highlight or strikeout annotation types. When using a tool that does not require the action button, users can still scroll through pages using their finger.