Canvas Updates – October 2015

This month we have been busy integrating external tools into Canvas that faculty and students may find useful.  Most notable is the integration with Turnitin.  Currently there are two different ways to make an assignment a Turnitin assignment in Canvas.  If you are mostly just interested in the Originality Check, then simply checking off the “Enable Turnitin Submissions” when the assignment submission type is “Online” will give you what you need.  However, if you are interested in using the GradeMark or Peer Review features of Turnitin, then you will want to add Turnitin as an External Tool.  Canvas and Turnitin have been enhancing the integration over the past month, so look for more functionality to come from that external tool option.

One update you did not see this month was changing to the new Canvas user interface.  We had been planning to switch on October 25th, but have decided to wait until January 2nd so that we don’t switch mid-semester.  The interface change is not going to change the way you work with Canvas within a course at all, but will make accessing course content even faster.  If you want to see the new “Canvas UI” be sure to check out this video: http://community.canvaslms.com/videos/1682.

As always, if you have questions or need professional development on Canvas, be sure to contact Linda Macaulay (x1554 or macaulayl@etown.edu).