Upcoming Updates
CatCourses (Canvas) has a few updates rolling out. Below you will find brief overviews of each:
Pages Scheduling
Canvas Pages now have the option to schedule their publication, allowing instructors to prepare and schedule pages in advance. The option to do this can be found in the details tray under the page content.
More information on this feature can be found in Pages Schedule Publication documentation.
Rich Content Editor (RCE) Icon Maker
Canvas has released an icon maker within the Rich content editor that allows instructors to upload images and create icons quickly and with minimal requirements.
Instructors can access the Rich Content Editor Icon Maker from Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, Pages, Classic Quizzes, and the Syllabus.
There is the option to add your own image (1), an Instructure predefined single-color image (2), an Instructure predefined multi-color image (3), or an image from your course files (4). Note HEIC images cannot be uploaded to create an icon. Further information on acceptable file types can be found at What types of media files can I upload to Canvas as an instructor?
For tips and tricks on creating icons, please visit The Do’s and Don’ts of Icon Maker.
Lastly, information on how to use various Icon Maker features can be found in the following guides:
- Icon Maker Overview
- How do I create an icon using the Rich Content Editor Icon Maker?
- How do I edit an icon made using the Rich Content Icon Maker?
- How do I delete an icon made using the Rich Content Icon Maker?
Previous Updates
Enhanced Gradebook Filter
Filters will stay applied until you clear them. To remove an applied filter, click the Remove (x) icon. More information on how to do this can be found in the Canvas guide How do I use Enhanced Gradebook Filters?
Canvas grade book now has enhanced filter options. Instructors can choose to add or remove condition types to a grade book filter. Multiple conditions can be applied to create specific filters for the grade book.
Because of the new filter's options, a few of the grade book tools have moved. The current filters being used in grade book can be found next to Applied Filters (1). Import (2) and Export (3) tools can be found in the upper right corner, while View Options (4) can be found under grade book settings.
More information on using enhanced grade book filters can be found in the following Canvas guides.
- How do I use Enhanced Gradebook Filters?
- How do I create a filter in Enhanced Gradebook Filters?
- How do I edit a filter in Enhanced Gradebook Filters?
Assignments Bulk Editor Includes Times for Due Date
To save instructors time, the Bulk Assignment Editor has been updated to allow assignment submission times to be changed as well as dates. To change the assignment submission time, open Assignments, then click Edit Assignment Dates.
This will display a list of course assignments. Click Due At for the corresponding assignment, and then click on the time option to edit it.
More information on bulk editing can be found at: How do I bulk update due dates and availability dates as an instructor?
Assignments Default Due Time
Instructors now have the option to set a default time for assignments to be due at the course level. Previously the default time for submitting assignments was 11:59 pm and could only be changed for individual assignments.
The option to set a different default due time can be found in Course Settings.
Apply Score to Ungraded Assignments
Instructors can assign a grade for multiple ungraded assignments simultaneously in the Gradebook.
Caution: This tool can only be used to assign grades for ALL ungraded assignments or for ungraded assignments in a specific Assignment Group. It cannot be used at the individual assignment level. Because the grades are being applied to multiple assignments at once and because it cannot be undone once the scores are applied, we recommend only using for the following scenarios:
- At the end of the semester to assign unsubmitted assignments as a 0 so they are reflected in the Total Grade.
- To apply a grade to any past due and unsubmitted assignments.
To apply a score to all ungraded assignments, start by clicking Grades. Next, click the three dots at the head of an Assignment Group column or the Total column (1). Then click Apply Score to Ungraded (2).
Enter the desired grade and check the box if you want the Missing status label applied to those missing submissions. You can then choose to apply the grade to just past due assignments or to all ungraded assignments. To finish, click Apply Score.
SpeedGrader Submission Status Labels
Like Gradebook, an assignment’s submission status can now be set in SpeedGrader. This feature can be accessed via the Edit pencil icon added to the SpeedGrader sidebar. To set the status, click the Edit icon and choose a status (A). Once a status has been selected, click Submit (B) to save it.
The label will now be applied to the assignment.
The submission status options are as follows:
- Late – if a late submission policy has been enabled for the course setting the assignment’s submission status to late will apply said policy to the assignment. An additional text field allows the grader to enter a value for the late assignment days.
- Missing – if an assignment has not been turned in the Missing status can be used.
- Excused – if a student has received dispensation not to complete an assignment, the Excused status can be applied, and the assignment points will not be counted against the student.
- None – setting the status to None removes any previous labels displayed for an assignment.
Submission Status can be set for quizzes, discussions, and assignments turned in online or manually.
The Edit Status icon will not appear in the following:
- Previously submitted submissions (only the most recent submission is supported)
- Assignments with moderated grading
- Assignments in a closed grading period
More information on Gradebook submission status can be found at: How do I change the status of a submission in the Gradebook?
Gradebook Assignment Search
The Gradebook search has been split into two so that instructors can search by assignment name and student name. When searching for an assignment, you may need to scroll all the way to the left of the Gradebook to see it, depending on where you were in the Gradebook when you started the search.
Rich Content Editor Accessibility Checker Update
The Canvas Rich Content Editor (RCE) has an accessibility checker that can be run by clicking the Accessibility Checker Icon.
With the most recent Canvas update, the Accessibility Checker is enabled by default and will show instructors when accessibility concerns are detected.
To view flagged content, click the Accessibility Checker Icon (A). The problematic information will be highlighted within the Rich Content Editor (B) while a sidebar with an explanation of the issue will open on the right side of the RCE (C). Once reviewed the change can either be Applied, or you can move onto any further issues (D).
A congratulatory message will appear once all issues have been resolved.
Some common accessibility errors that may occur include missing alternate image text, headings that cannot be read by screen readers, and text low contrast in text colors or sizes. More information can be found at: How do I use the Accessibility Checker in the Rich Content Editor as an instructor?
Microsoft Teams Classes in CatCourses (August 2021)
Instructors can create a Microsoft Team Class for their course that will automatically add class members to the Team, allowing for collaboration in the class with Teams features.If you wish to use Teams in your course, there are a few steps to take to set it up:
- Enable Microsoft Class Teams in Course Navigation: Enabling Hidden LTI Tools
- Enable and Sync Your Course Roster: How do I sync course data in Canvas with Microsoft Teams?
- Active the Team to be visible to students: Active Class Team
Please note, Teachers and TAs are listed as course Team owners, while students are listed as Team members. This allows Teachers and TAs to manage the Team while students can participate.
SpeedGrader Comment Library (June 2021)
Instructors can now save frequently used comments in SpeedGrader to be reused for multiple students and future assignments. A feedback icon has been added to the comment box in SpeedGrader that will open a new Comment Library.
Comments from SpeedGrader can be added to, edited, or pulled from the comment library.
- Comments are saved per individual user regardless of course, so you can access the comments you’ve save in any course or term.
- The Comment Library can only be used in SpeedGrader and is unavailable from the assignment submission details page.
Annotate Assignments (June 2021)
A new assignment option has been added in CatCourses that allows students to mark up documents. When creating an assignment, instructors can choose the “Student Annotation” option after selecting “Online” for Submission Type. You can then choose a file from Course Files for the students to annotate or upload a new file. Students will then be able to use the DocViewer annotation tools (same that instructors can use in SpeedGrader) to annotate the file themselves. Instructors will then be able to see the submitted student annotations in SpeedGrader.
- Peer reviews are supported for student annotation submissions. However, Anonymous Peer Reviews are not supported for student annotation assignments, as students' names are not displayed anonymously in annotations.
- Student annotation assignments cannot be used for group assignments.
- Currently, this feature is not available to students using the Canvas mobile apps and students need to use a browser to access CatCourses for these types of assignments.
Additional information on the Annotate Assignments tool:
- Annotate Assignments tool details: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Releases/Canvas-Release-Notes-2021-05...
- Student Guide to Annotated Assignments: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-annotate-a-fil...
Financial Aid, Office of the Registrar, and Office of Information Technology are rolling out two new CatCourses features to assist with a mandate from the Department of Education to confirm student attendance in courses. These features are being piloted during the 2021 Summer Sessions for a full rollout in Fall 2021. A brief overview of each addition and where to find more information is included below:
Faculty Drop Tool (May 2021)
Faculty Drop is a new CatCourses tool visible in the course navigation that allows instructors to drop students who have not attended class or completed any academic activity such as submitting assignments and taking quizzes within the drop period at the beginning of each semester. When dropping a student, any activity the student has performed within CatCourses will display as well as activity faculty manually input in the Banner Academic Activity screen.
Mid/Final Grades Tool Date of Last Activity (May 2021)
An addition to the Mid/Final Grades Tool will allow instructors to provide a “Date of Last Activity” for students receiving a non-passing grade. Instructors can also indicate “No Activity” for any student who did not attend class or complete any coursework in the semester.
These new options will allow UC Merced to meet the federal auditing regulations. For information on the full scope of the project please visit: https://academicactivity.ucmerced.edu/
Guides and frequently asked questions can be found under our normal CatCourses support pages in our OIT Knowledge Base and CatCourses FAQs for Faculty & TAs.
Adding Observers and Designers to a course (March 2021)
Instructure, our Canvas vendors, has answered our pleas, and instructors can now add Course Designers and Observers to their courses whenever the need arises. No more opening a ticket and waiting; instructors find the +People button on the People page in each course to add Courses Designers and Observers. A UC Merced account is required to access CatCourses in any role. Please note these are the only two roles instructors can add; restricted roles of Student, TA, and Teacher are still generated from the Banner Student information system.
For more information on how to add an Observer or Designer, please visit: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-add-users-t...
More information on the Observer role can be found in our CatCourses FAQ under. “What are roles in CatCourses, and how do they work?” at https://it.ucmerced.edu/catcourses-faqs
Speedgrader Reassign Assignment (March 2021)
In SpeedGrader, instructors can reassign an assignment to an individual student and ask them to redo their submission. To use this option, the instructor must first provide feedback regarding the assignment which will enable the button. Please note, the reassignment does not change the original due date for the student.
- The Reassign Assignment button is only available for the Online option under Submission Types when creating an assignment in CatCourses.
- The Reassign Assignment button is only available for assignments with due dates.
- If an instructor returns to SpeedGrader after navigating away from the page, the Reassign Assignment button will indicate the assignment has been reassigned.
- If the assignment's settings do not allow students to make an additional attempt, the Reassign Assignment button will be grayed out and unusable.
When an assignment is reassigned, students see the assignment in the List View Dashboard with the instructor’s feedback. Students are then able to resubmit the assignment for instructor review.
RCE File Preview (March 2021)
Instructors can now control how file previews display for students. Previously all file previews opened in a new tab. Instructors now have additional choices on how file previews are displayed. Below are screenshots to show how you can make the choice and what each choice looks like to the students.
Preview Inline (file shows up as if embedded into the page):
Preview in Overlay (file shows up as a new overlay window):
New Rich Content Editor (January 2021)
The Rich Content Editor (RCE) in CatCourses is getting a facelift. The RCE is found in all areas of CatCourses in which you can add descriptive text and content, from Announcements to Assignments, Quizzes, Pages, and the like. The new editor has the same functionality as the old RCE and includes feature enhancements such as:
- The RCE expands to the full width of the browser and has a full screen mode.
- Images and media can be dragged and dropped into the RCE window. The images and media that are inserted will auto-scale depending on the size of the window students and instructors view it from.
- If content is longer than the browser window it is being viewed from, the RCE menu bar will stay visible no matter how far down one scrolls.
- The location of some of the buttons in the menu bar has changed. Below is an overview on how to add content from Files or other course material, or from a third party LTI such as Kaltura.
The new Rich Content Editor automatically saves content for up to one hour. If users navigate away from the page and come back within an hour, Canvas will notify the user of saved content and give the option to view it. Please note: Canvas can only recover autosaved content using the same browser on the same computer an hour within the last edit.
Complete guides to the New Rich Content Editor can be found at:
- Instructors: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/tkb-p/Instructor#NewRichContentEditor
- Students: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/tkb-p/student#NewRichContentEditor
Expanded Student View (January 2021)
Student View is a useful tool found on the Course Settings page that allows instructors to see the course site as if they were a student. Individual buttons that look like a pair of glasses have also been placed at the top of most course pages to provide quick access to this function.
The Student View button does not display in pages that are not visible to students, such as the Course Settings page.
Recent Global Announcements (January 2021)
Global Announcements can be reviewed up to four months after the end date of the announcement. The Announcements can be found under the user account information.
Resources & Policy (January 2021)
GC and UGC are pleased to announce that since October 21, 2020, Campus Resources, Policy and Student Expectations are auto-populated in every course. In CatCourses, this information appears as a tab named Resources & Policy in the course navigation menu. If desired, instructors can reorganize the tabs in their course settings on a per course level.
Please inform your students of the availability of this information in CatCourses. The policies and services contained in the CatCourses tab are relevant at any time, but particularly so during these challenging times. GC, UGC and campus administrative divisions have a process in place to update the information provided in CatCourses annually. Thank you, GC and UGC
Global Navigation History Tab (October 2020)
Canvas is updating the Global Navigation bar to include a History button. This button will expand a tray that displays the most recent pages viewed in Canvas up to the last three weeks.
MathJax Replacing LaTeX (October 2020)
MathJax is replacing LaTeX in CatCourses. Math equations created anywhere in CatCourses will be rendered as MathML. The MathJax library has been improved to make equations easier to use and more accessible for keyboard users and screen readers among other tools. MathJax offers a context-menu providing functions for interacting with the equation. For more information please visit the MathJax Canvas Release Notes.
Assignment Attempts (July 2020)
By default, students are allowed an unlimited number of attempts to submit an assignment. In this update, instructors are able to limit the amount of times a student can upload a submission to an assignment. If an assignment has a limited number of allowed attempts, students will see the number of attempts allowed and the number of times they have tried to submit.
Learn More:
Direct Share Assignments (July 2020)
Canvas Commons is a good way to share different types of course content but can be cumbersome when trying to quickly share assignments to other instructors. Assignments can now be shared to another instructor or copied to another instructor's courses directly from the Assignments page without going through Commons. This is found under the three vertical dots option next to each assignment.
Learn More:
Bulk Assignment Editing (July 2020)
It can be tricky to get assignment due dates correct when importing a course from a previous semester to an upcoming semester. Although the import tool allows instructors to shift all due dates at once, instructors then had to go and manually update the due dates of each assignment individually for any that needed adjustment. The Bulk Assignment Editing feature allows instructors to edit or enter due dates for all assignments at once.
Learn More:
Dashboard Display (July 2020)
The CatCourses Dashboard is being updated to quickly show instructors which courses are published and which are unpublished. This is also reflected within the Courses menu.
Notification Preferences by Course (July 2020)
Previously, any notification preferences made by instructors or students in their User Profile applied universally to all of their courses in CatCourses. In this update, instructors and students are able to mute notifications for individual courses. In an upcoming update, instructors and students will be able to change notification preferences per course. These setting can be found under "View Course Notifications" on the course homepage.
Rubrics and Outcomes Separation (July 2020)
Rubrics will now have it's own section in the course navigation to make it easier for instructors to find, add, and edit course rubrics. Outcomes will continue to reside in the Navigation menu, but the option to Manage Rubrics will no longer be found under the Outcomes section.
LockDown Browser and New Quizzes (July 2020)
Instructors who are using New Quizzes will now be able to use Respondus LockDown Browser, which was previously only supported in Classic Quizzes.
Learn More:
New Analytics (January 2020)
CatCourses has created a new analytics tool that allows instructors to track student data using an interactive chart or table. New Analytics allows instructors and TA to do the following:
- Compare a student’s grade with the rest of the class
- Send messages to struggling students based on specific criteria
- View the overall course grade
- Select shapes or colors to be used in graphs for better visibility
Notable changes:
- The graphs are more interactive and have more editing abilities
- New Analytics is currently updating once every 24 hours. The vendor is investigated making the updates more frequent.
- Student assignment status (indicates what is missing, late, or on time) is in development but not yet available.
Learn More:
o365 (Microsoft Office Online) Integration (January 2020)
o365 is a tool that may be enabled in any course to allow for greater integration between o365 (Microsoft Office Online) and CatCourses. Some much desired features of this integration include:
- Student Collaboration in o365 allows multiple students to work on a single document at a time
- Instructors can add o365 documents into Modules so students will see the document in CatCourses
- Links to any o365 documents can be created via the Rich Content Editor for things like pages and assignments
- Students can create and upload files directly from o365
- Cloud assignments allow instructors to provide students with a copy of a document which the students can open, edit, save and submit as their own without affecting the other students’ templates.
Learn More (Instructors):
- How do I create a hyperlink from Microsoft Office 365 in the Rich Content Editor as an instructor?
- How do I create a cloud assignment with a Microsoft Office 365 file?
- How do I create a Microsoft Office 365 collaboration as an instructor?
- How do I view my Microsoft Office 365 files in Canvas as an instructor?
Learn More (Students):
- How do I view my Microsoft Office 365 files in Canvas as a student?
- How do I upload a file from Microsoft Office 365 as an assignment submission?
- How do I submit a cloud assignment with Microsoft Office 365?
- How do I create a Microsoft Office 365 collaboration as a student?
- How do I create a hyperlink from Microsoft Office 365 in the Rich Content Editor as a student?
Zoom Integration (January 2020)
Zoom is a web conferencing platform that can now also be enabled in any course to allow for video conferencing within CatCourses itself. Instructors and TAs need to first request a Zoom Pro account to hold Zoom meetings via our Zoom request form: Zoom - Web Conferencing. Students can join meetings without a Zoom account.
- Ability to schedule Zoom meetings in CatCourses
- Scheduled meetings are shown on the course calendar
Learn More:
Navigation Toolbar (October 2019)
The Navigation toolbar is being updated to better meet accessibility needs. There are three changes to how the Navigation looks in courses:
- The currently selected item will change from being white text surrounded by a blue box to black text with a horizontal line to the left-hand side of the text.
- Items that are not visible to students will change from being greyed out text to being blue link text with a slashed eye icon to the right of the text.
- Items that are visible to students will change from black text to blue link text.
For more information on all the navigation UI changes, please visit this link: Canvas Recent Releases - October 2019: Navigation.
Gradebook Post Policies Indicators (October 2019)
Instructure, our Canvas vendor, is updating the iconography related to Post Polices in response to feedback from instructors on the confusing iconography surrounding Post Polices in the Gradebook. These changes are intended to more clearly convey what grades are visible to students.
If an instructor sets up an assignment to use a Manual Post Policy (in which grades are hidden from students until the set conditions are met), the word Manual will appear underneath the assignment title. If the assignment is set to the Automatic Post Policy (in which grades are visible to students immediately when entered), no text will appear underneath the assignment title.
If an instructor has changed the Posting Policy to Manual for the assignment, additional icons are available to help identify the state of entered grades.
If one or more entered grades are hidden from students, a slashed eye icon will appear next to the assignment title. To get further detail on which grades are hidden, hit the three vertical dots (1) followed by Post Grades (2). The orange dots (3) indicate hidden grades. Grades that are visible will have no dot. The number of grades currently hidden is indicated in the detail tray (4). You can safely choose to Post Grades from this tray or Close it to return later.
For more information on changes to the Post Policies iconography, please visit this link: Canvas Recent Releases - October 2019: New Gradebook.
New GradeBook (May 2019)
Upgrade Highlights:
- The new Grade Detail Tray allows instructors to assign grades, add comments, and set statuses from within the Gradebook.
- Late policies can be set to automatically assign a 0 or a percentage of points can be removed for each day an assignment is late.
- Statuses such as late, missing, and excused can be applied manually to individual student assignments as well as being automatically generated from online submissions.
- Grades can be entered as points or percentages.
- Cross-hair function makes it easy to see what cell is selected so you know you’re entering the grade for the right student and assignment.
- More options, customizations, and filters — sort students in multiple ways, apply filters to columns, or change default colors with a few clicks.
Notable Changes:
- The Mute Grades functionality has been replaced by Post Policies, which allows instructors to set course-wide policies for hiding grades, release grades to only specific sections, and more. Please see the New Gradebook Posting Policies FAQ below for details.
- Some functionality, such as the Import/Export Grades button have moved. Take a look at “How do I use the New Gradebook?” below for an overview.
Learn More:
- More information on Gradebook changes
- New Gradebook FAQ
- New Gradebook Posting Policies FAQ
- How do I use the New Gradebook?
- Functionality comparison of current versus new Gradebook
TurnItIn (May 2019)
Upgrade Highlights:
- Ability to use TurnItIn with group assignments and peer review assignments.
- Originality reports are generated for every file a student submits rather than just the most recent one.
- Due dates set or modified in CatCourses will automatically be adjusted in TurnItIn.
- Submissions and resubmissions can be changed in CatCourses rather than TurnItIn settings.
Notable Changes:
- SpeedGrader is the best way to review, give feedback, and assign grades to assignments submitted to TurnItIn (PeerMark and TurnItIn Feedback are not supported in CatCourses).
- Instructors can continue to view submissions and originality reports for assignments created with the previous TurnItIn LTI External Tool in CatCourses, but should not create any new assignments with the old TurnItIn LTI External Tool option.
Learn More:
- More information on the TurnItIn Plagiarism Framework for Instructors
- More information on TurnItIn for Students
TurningPoint (May 2019)
Upgrade Highlights:
- Conduct web polling that automatically pulls course roster information from CatCourses and can sync grades back without using the desktop program.
- See results from polling in the TurningPoint web interface instead of only on the computer used to run the polling session.
Learn More:
