LMS

Canvas Updates Tutorials, Dashboard, People and SIS Report Features

• By Sri Ravipati
• 05/02/17

In its most recent production release notes, learning management system (LMS) Canvas by Instructure updated its student information system (SIS) integration, dashboard, people and report features.  

First, the company has added “instructor tutorials” that are designed to improve the learning experience for instructors who may be new or need a refresher using the LMS to build module-based courses, according to a video presentation. Canvas administrators can manage this new feature in account settings. “In new courses, the course home page defaults to the modules layout. Instructors can still choose any homepage for the course, but this change replaces the recent activity stream as the homepage default,” the video said. The modules page displays two links that allow users to “create a new module” and “add existing content.”

The existing courses setup checklist has been replaced with a courses setup tutorial series that “shows the purpose of the page and what to do next, complete with a checklist of to-do items,” according to the video. Tutorials can be collapsed from view in the top-right corner of Canvas pages. Users can end the tutorial series in any page, but doing so will also end tutorials for all other courses. (Course setup tutorials can be turned on again in the user settings page.)

Additionally, Canvas has added a new SIS integration LTI tool that increases interoperability, streamlining the SIS experience in Canvas regardless of the provider. Institutions can now manage SIS validations and assignment sync settings for all sub accounts and courses. Customers can contact their customer success manager for more information.

Next, the platform’s dashboard toggle has been updated to a settings dropdown menu that enables users to switch between their recent activity stream and course cards.

The people page now only displays a pending a user’s name, section and role. When the pending user accepts, the platform displays the rest of his/her information, such as email, login ID and SIS ID, which previously showed up in the pending state.

Finally, in the SIS export report for admins, the enrollments.csv file now shows whether or not a user can interact with other users in that section.

As always, features in release notes are subject to change. A video explaining the new features can be found on the Canvas site.