ARCHIVED: In Canvas, what capabilities are available?

The following is a partial list of tools and capabilities in Canvas that were not available in Oncourse. Where applicable, analogous Oncourse tools with differing names are listed in parentheses.

• Apps (External Tools)
  • Instructors can search for external learning tools and install them with a single click.
• Audio and video support
  • Audio and webcam video can be created and embedded in the WYSIWYG editor, or added as attachments throughout the application.
  • Uploaded audio and video files are automatically transcoded and optimized for online access.
• Announcements
  • Instructors can allow students to comment on announcements.
  • Instructors can add RSS feeds to the Announcements tool.
  • Announcements are searchable by title, body text, author, or unread status.
  • Announcements containing media can be configured as a podcast feed.
• Assignments
  • Assignments can be configured to accept submissions from groups instead of individuals. The instructor can opt to assign the same grade to all group members or grade members individually.
  • Instructors can require peer reviews on assignments. The instructor determines how many reviews are needed for each submission and whether the reviewers are assigned manually or randomly.
  • Instructors can annotate uploaded files online in SpeedGrader.
  • Instructors can restrict the file types that can be uploaded.
  • Assignment submissions can consist of text entered online, uploaded files, audio or video recordings, or a website URL.
  • The feedback area for assignment submissions in SpeedGrader supports two-way communication, including text, video, audio, and attachments.
  • Assignments can be graded with rubrics.
  • Students can conduct anonymous peer reviews.
  • Instructors can hide student names when grading in the SpeedGrader.
• Calendar
  • The Calendar is a global tool that aggregates due dates, events, tasks, and personal appointments into a color-coded unified view.
  • The unified calendar can be filtered by course.
  • All course due dates and undated tasks are automatically added to the calendar.
  • Graded tasks (assignments, quizzes, discussions) can be created or edited in the calendar.
  • The calendar generates an iCal feed which can be used to pull Canvas events into Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, or any other iCal-compatible calendar.
  • The Scheduler feature allows instructors to set up time slots for meetings with students. Students can sign up for available slots.
• Collaborations
  • Instructors and students can create documents in Google Docs and share them with the entire class, specific groups, or individuals.
• Course Analytics (Site Stats)
  • Activity, assignment submission, grade, and participation data for each student are aggregated and represented in colorful visualizations to help instructors see at a glance which students are performing well and which are at risk.
• Course and Global Activity Streams
  • The Course Activity Stream shows all of the recent activity from a single course, including announcements, assignment notifications, and discussion posts.
  • The Global Activity Stream, which aggregates recent activity across of all your courses, displays on the dashboard when you first log in.
• Course/Import/Export/Copy
  • Instructors can export course content to a .zip file.
  • Course content can be imported from another course or from a Canvas export file.
  • When importing course content, instructors can choose the specific items to be imported.
  • When importing course content, instructors can choose to automatically adjust the dates of imported content.
  • Courses can be copied to a new course shell.
• Discussions (Forums)
  • Discussions are searchable by title, body text, author, or unread status.
  • Discussions containing media can be configured as a podcast feed.
  • Important discussion topics can be pinned to the top of the discussion page.
  • Instructors can require peer review of discussion posts.
  • Discussion posts can be graded with a rubric.
• Files (Resources)
  • Individual files and groups of files (but not folders) can be uploaded via drag and drop.
  • Files and folders can be moved via drag and drop.
  • Files in many different formats can be previewed without downloading them.
  • Files can be hidden from students in the Files tool, but available as links or embedded content in other tools.
• Grades (Gradebook)
  • The gradebook includes a "Notes" column for each student.
  • Each gradebook entry links to the student submission with which it is associated.
  • The gradebook supports spreadsheet-style grade entry.
  • Instructors can send a message to all students who haven't submitted yet, haven't been graded, or received a score less than or greater than a specified amount.
  • Instructors can set a default grade for any gradebook item.
  • Instructors can opt to curve gradebook items automatically.
  • Grades can be displayed to students as points, letter grades, or percentages.
  • Grades for late submissions are highlighted by a pink background.
  • With the instructor's permission, students can see grade distribution graphs for each gradebook item.
  • Students can see how their course grades will be affected by certain hypothetical scores.
  • Students can receive grade notifications.
• Groups
  • Groups are organized in named sets to make them easy to manage.
  • The groups in a set can be populated manually, randomly, or via self-sign-up (with an optional cap on group size) assigned to a group via drag and drop or a drop-down menu.
  • Unassigned students in a group set are listed and can be added to any group in the set via drag and drop.
  • With the instructor's permission, students can create their own groups.
  • Each group gets its own workspace with tools for collaboration and communication.
• Home
  • Instructors can choose from the following content options for the course home page: the course activity stream, a page designed by the instructor, a list of course lessons or modules, the list of course assignments, or the syllabus.
• Inbox/Conversations (Messages)
  • Inbox/Conversations is a global tool that aggregates messages across all Canvas sites.
  • Messages can be starred for easy recall.
  • Messages can be archived.
  • Messages can be filtered by course.
• Mobile apps
  • Free, full-featured mobile apps are available for both iOS and Android.
  • A separate SpeedGrader app (iOS only) is available for instructors who wish to grade student work on an iPad.
• Modules (Lessons, Modules)
  • Instructors can view the progress of each student to see which module requirements have been met.
  • Modules and the elements within them can be easily rearranged via drag and drop.
• Notifications
  • Users can opt to receive notifications via email, SMS text message, or private messaging in Facebook or Twitter.
  • For each notification medium, users can choose to receive notifications immediately, daily, weekly, or not at all.
  • Users can opt in to a wide range of notification types, including changes in due dates, grades, peer review invitations and reminders, appointment sign-ups and cancellations, etc.
• Pages (Wiki)
  • Wiki pages use the same rich text editor available throughout Canvas.
  • Wiki pages can be published and unpublished (i.e., placed in a draft state).
  • Instructors can control which roles can edit each page.
  • Links to files and rich media can be previewed within a page.
• Outcomes
  • Learning outcomes can be defined at the campus, school, or course level.
  • Outcomes can be added to rubrics, evaluated, and tracked at the student, course, and program levels.
• Quizzes (Tests & Surveys)
  • Tests may include three new item types: multiple drop-downs, formulas, and inline text (i.e., text that is not part of a question).
  • Question banks can be created at the program level and shared with all courses in a program.
  • Questions for random draw sections can be drawn from a question bank or authored inline.
  • Student answers are autosaved at regular intervals to ensure that no data is lost.
  • Students can receive credit for taking a survey.
  • Time limit extensions can be given on a per-student basis.
• Rubrics
  • Rubrics can be created at the campus or program level and shared with all courses associated with that campus or program. They can also be created by instructors in courses.
  • Rubrics can be used to grade assignments, discussions, or quizzes.
  • Rubrics can include one or more learning outcomes as criteria in addition to other types of criteria.
• SpeedGrader
  • SpeedGrader is used to grade assignments, discussions, and quizzes in Canvas. The interface displays the submission, grade input box, feedback area, and optional rubric all on one screen.
  • Instructors can view and annotate student file submissions without downloading them.
  • Instructors can provide text, audio, and video feedback.
  • Instructors and students can have a two-way conversation in the feedback area of SpeedGrader.
• Settings (Site Setup)
  • Instructors can make the course content public without displaying student data.
  • Instructors can let students self-enroll by sharing a secret URL.
  • Instructions can create ad hoc sections in a course and assign course members to sections.
• Syllabus
  • The syllabus includes a list of graded activities (assignments, discussions, quizzes) sorted by due date.
  • Instructors can make the syllabus for the course public.
• WYSIWYG Editor (i.e., rich-text editor)
  • The WYSIWYG editor includes a tool for creating and embedding audio and webcam video files.
  • Links to any element in the course can be added via drag and drop.
  • Inline images can be added via drag and drop.
  • Links to files in supported formats can be previewed without downloading them first.
  • Instructors can install WYSIWYG plug-ins (e.g., Kahn Academy, Quizlet, etc.) to extend the capabilities of the WYSIWYG editor.