Canvas Insider

From the Admin side of the desk. Practical writing for Canvas LMS administrators and the people who manage them, published since 2022. This is the canonical archive; the publication continues at canvasinsider.blog.

Students Can't Click the Submit Assignment Button?

“One email pertaining to a Canvas issue = An anomaly Two emails pertaining to a Canvas issue = A curiosity Three emails pertaining to a Canvas issue = A trend” Chris Powell, your Canvas Insider A recent trend I’ve noticed pertains to assignment submissions …and the students can’t click the Submit Assignment button. If you (the teacher) have Plagiarism Review enabled in an assignment with the submission as a file upload, and your school has Assignment Enhancements for Students enabled, your students might not see a required box to check at the bottom of the page in order to click the Submit Assignment box… This quick video shows what I’m seeing from the student’s perspective. ...

Peer Review Assignments From a Student Perspective

In my Canvas Admin work, I receive a number of emails from my clients who state their students don’t know where to provide peer reviewed feedback for their classmates’ assignment submissions. Student View can provide only so much information for teachers. What if teachers could see an actual student’s perspective without looking over their shoulder? Do keep in mind: this is a straightforward, basic peer review assignment without a lot of options and contingencies enabled. My main intention is to use my Canvas Admin superpowers to masquerade as a student so teachers can see what their students see…in a low-stakes demonstration! ...

Adjusting Course Content to Embrace Canvas' Dark Side

Instructure introduced Dark Mode on Mobile Apps this summer read more about it here - https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Idea-Conversations/Dark-Theme-Dark-Mode-for-Canvas/idi-p/364079 Should you have students contact you stating they can’t read some text in your course content? It might be due to a text color or a background color setting that obfuscates your text in the black background. Check out the video to learn more! Disclaimer Time This randomly-occurring issue, and wacky path to fixing things, isn’t formally sanctioned by Instructure. Neither is the Chrome extension I’m using to demonstrate a mobile text issue on a desktop browser. Your online mileage DEFINITELY will vary. ...

Old Courses Still in Your Dashboards?

Hey teachers! In case you receive emails from students asking your course from the past be removed from their dashboard, check this video out! Also, Instructure has a great online guide that articulates the steps much better than I ever could… Important information I forgot to include in the video because I was too excited to hit to Publish button Teachers can specify an end date ONLY when their course is active. If the course has already concluded… a friendly Canvas Admin like me can conclude that course for you. ...

Where Can Students Locate Assignment Comments and Feedback?

Teachers of Canvas courses dedicate a great deal of time in providing thoughtful, insightful, and wise feedback for student assignment submissions. It would be a shame if students didn’t know that these comments were availble to them. And it would be doubly-disappointing if students didn’t know where to look for their teacher’s feedback… Legacy Student Assignment Feedback Documentation This extensive online guide by Instructure walks students through the steps needed to view assignment comments and feedback with the (legacy?) student assignment workflow: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-view-annotation-feedback-comments-from-my-instructor/ta-p/523 ...

To see, or not to See (Quiz Responses), that is the question

For teachers of Canvas courses, the Student View feature is helpful, but it doesn’t give you the full enrolled student perspective. Recently I’ve received a couple of requests from my professor clients who wanted to learn more about that box in your quiz settings that says, “Let students see their quiz responses (Incorrect questions will be marked in student feedback)” Made a four-minute video about it for your reference… Humble Request for Feedback After viewing this screencast (thank you for checking it out, by the way!) if you would like to see more of these screencast-style tips in the future, shoot me a quick email? If you think I should hang up my screencast gear and stick to written tips and tricks in the Canvas Insider newsletter moving forward, shoot me a quick email! ...

Students Can't Access a Published Assignment?

In my June newsletter, I shared a tip that addresses a rare occurence where published assignments aren’t accessible by students. Thought it might be helpful to show what might be going on in a more visual manner. After viewing this screencast (thank you for checking it out, by the way!) if you would like to see more of these screencast-style tips in the future, shoot me a quick email? If you think I should hang up my screencast gear and stick to written tips and tricks in the Canvas Insider newsletter moving forward, shoot me a quick email! ...