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Request a New Canvas Site

All Canvas sites are created upon request by faculty teaching courses at the University of Pennsylvania or by their TAs or support staff. PLEASE NOTE: It is recommended that Canvas sites be requested two months before the start of the semester, but sites can be requested at any time near…Continue reading “Request a New Canvas Site”

18May 202015 May 2020

End of Semester Checklist

Course End Date/Concluding a Course The end date for your course is automatically set according to the term in which…

13May 202011 May 2020

Canvas Production Release: May 16, 2020

Canvas operates on a monthly release cycle through which features are added or updated. Courseware Support posts highlights from Canvas’s…

End of Term Grading with Canvas New Gradebook

Download and save the current version of the Canvas Gradebook It is suggested that you download and save your course’s…

New to Canvas?

Check out Canvas 101: Using Canvas at Penn for instructions, ideas, inspiration, and more!

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Turnitin Maintenance 5/2

27 Apr 202024 Apr 2020

Turnitin may be unavailable on Saturday May 2nd from 11am-3pm EST due to emergency maintenance by the vendor. Instructors are encouraged to set assignment due dates that avoid scheduled maintenance…

Best Practices…

Canvas Quizzes: Capabilities, Limitations, and Best Practices for Remote Testing

24 Apr 202023 Apr 2020

Capabilities Canvas quizzes provide the following options: The ability to create a range of question types, including, but not limited to: multiple choice, short answer, fill-in-the-blank, matching, numerical answer, formula,…

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Safari 13.1 Cross-site Tracking & Canvas

22 Apr 202022 Apr 2020

There have been some updates to Safari that could cause access issues for Canvas and for third party tools (LTIs) in Canvas. With the recent updates to Safari (version 13.1+),…

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Canvas Maintenance 4/27

20 Apr 202023 Apr 2020

Canvas may be unavailable on Monday April 27th from 2:30am-3am EST due to scheduled maintenance by the vendor. Users may not be able to access Canvas for approximately 5 minutes…

Canvas Grade Display Features: Hiding Grade Distribution Graphs and Totals in Students’ Grade Summaries

One lesser known Canvas feature is the grade distribution whisker plot which is visible to both instructors and students by default. Since the feature is not visible in “Student View”…

Feature Highlight…

Canvas Production Release Notes: April 18, 2020

15 Apr 202014 Apr 2020

Canvas operates on a monthly release cycle through which features are added or updated. Courseware Support posts highlights from Canvas’s production release notes, a link to these notes, and other…

Adding Extra Time and Additional Attempts to Timed Quizzes in Canvas

Using Canvas-based quizzes and exams during our current era of virtual instruction requires flexibility in the administration of assessments since illness, technological challenges, or poor internet connections may make it…

Setting Deadlines and Due Dates Across Multiple Time Zones

With the continuation of virtual instruction, students scattered across the globe, and time changes due to daylight savings, setting up a scheduled class event or assessment can seem confusing. Start…

Canvas Production Release Notes: March 21, 2020

17 Mar 202016 Mar 2020

Canvas operates on a monthly release cycle through which features are added or updated. Courseware Support posts highlights from Canvas’s production release notes, a link to these notes, and other…

Resources and Strategies for Teaching Remotely

In response to growing concerns about the transmissibility of COVID-19 on campus, the University of Pennsylvania has made the decision to move all classes to a virtual environment beginning March…