If you use the Canvas Gradebook here’s how you can change your grade posting policy from “automatic” to “manual.”

By default, Canvas sets an “automatic” grade posting policy for all courses. This means grades are automatically visible to students when they are entered. When the posting policy is changed to “manual,” grades are hidden and must be manually posted to students using the “Post grades” option in the Gradebook before they can be viewed. Hidden grades are visible to instructors, but students cannot see them.

Posting policies can be set for an entire course or for individual assignments. Assignment-level posting policies will override the course-level posting policy for that assignment. Posted grades can also be hidden using the Hide grades option. The Hide grades option only hides grades that are currently visible to students. In order to ensure all future assignment grades are hidden, you will need to use a manual posting policy for the assignment or course.

If you want to change your grade posting policy please reach out to Educational Technology or follow the steps below: 

• In Course Navigation, click the Grades link.
• Click the Settings gear icon in the upper right.
• Click the Grade Posting Policy tab.
• To manually post grades for students to view, select the Manually Post Grades option. When the Manually Post Grades option is selected, grades will be hidden from student view until you post them. See here for how to post grades. https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-post-grades-for-an-assignment-in-the-Gradebook/ta-p/576

More information about Grade Posting Policies can be found here:

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-select-a-grade-posting-policy-for-a-course-in-the/ta-p/588

Canvas has a feature called Immersive Reader that can enhance users’ reading experience by improving accessibility and boosting reading comprehension. Immersive Reader lets users change font size, adjust text spacing and background color, and read text aloud. 

Once enabled, the course Home Page, Assignments, Pages, and Syllabus will display an Immersive Reader button in the upper right. The button is not visible in Quizzes or with attachments such as PDFs. 

Immersive Reader is a user-controlled setting. If you enable it for yourself it does not become enabled for the students in your class. 

To enable Immersive Reader reach out to Educational Technology or follow the steps below.  

• Click Account on the upper left, then Settings from the menu. Note: this area of Settings is not the same as Course Settings.
• Scroll down to Feature Options and enable Microsoft Immersive Reader. 

More information about Immersive Reader can be found here:

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-use-the-Microsoft-Immersive-Reader-in-a-course-as-a/ta-p/446

After receiving faculty requests, and following discussion with the LMIS (Library, Media, Information Services) committee, a change has been made to the end date for Canvas courses. Students will now be able to access Canvas courses 28 days past the end of the semester, instead of 14 days.

 This change will resolve a problem that had occurred between semesters where some students were not able to view feedback on their assignments. For example, student access for Fall 2022 courses ended on December 29 yet grades were due on January 2. 

If you want courses to end earlier please reach out to Educational Technology or follow the steps below: 

• Click Settings in the course
• Remain on the “Course Details” tab, and scroll down to the “Ends” section
• Enter the date you would like the course to end for students 
• Scroll down and click “Update Course Details” to save your changes 

More information can be found here: 

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-change-the-start-and-end-dates-for-a-course/ta-p/452354

A default setting in Canvas is the student visibility of Grade Distribution Graphs. The distribution graphs show the mean score, the high score, and the low score. Personally identifiable information is never provided to students. However, this type of data may not be useful information for all courses, especially in small classes.

Canvas sets the default global setting for grade distribution for all courses to be Enabled/ON. We cannot turn off the feature at the campus level, but it can be turned off at the course level by an instructor.

When the grade distribution graph is hidden, students can view their scores, but cannot view the mean, high, or low scores.

To hide the graphs contact Educational Technology or follow the steps below:

• Click Settings in the course
• Remain on the “Course Details” tab, scroll down, and click the “more options” link towards the bottom of the settings page.
• Under “more options,” click the box next to “Hide grade distribution graphs from students.”
• Scroll down and click “Update Course Details” to save your changes so the graphs will no longer be visible to students.

More information can be found here: 

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-hide-grade-distribution-scoring-details-from-students/ta-p/674

As the new term begins, you may find this resource useful when creating or copying your Canvas courses. This resource was developed by Canvas and edited by the Educational Technologists. It can be accessed via this link or seen embedded below. Please contact your Educational Technologist with any questions.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRODR16Gw2MIfdyK5W-lsTItHwGWtsAhEtV2WjSXysUlO7faHGasiCdBrrKmss0ZFBmX8Iv8AN3_Scn/pub