eleanortf Canvas Updates

Canvas Production Release Notes: December 13, 2025

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 relevant content to Canvas Info @ Penn a few days before the production release, which usually occurs on Saturdays. Please contact Courseware Support at canvas@pobox.upenn.edu if you have any questions about an upcoming production release.

December 13, 2025 Production Release Highlights

New Features

  • Scheduled Feedback In the Gradebook, instructors can manage the visibility of grades and feedback for individual assignments. For details, see the release notes.

New Quizzes Updates

  • Survey Support New Quizzes supports Survey-type quizzes, allowing instructors to collect anonymous or non-anonymous feedback, with graded or ungraded options. Instructors can view survey data in the Reports tab. For details, please see the release notes.

    Please note – CSV export of results/reporting is not available for New Quizzes surveys yet. This feature is estimated to release in early 2026. If you will need a downloadable Excel file of student responses, we recommend creating a Classic Quizzes survey for now.

Other Changes

For a complete production release update, please see:

Canvas Production Release Notes: December 13, 2025.

Kate Rojas Support

Canvas Workshops in Spring 2026 (On Zoom!)

Register using the links below the flyer. Workshops will be recorded and sent to all registered participants.

Canvas 101 for Faculty & Staff

Monday, January 5 from 12:00-12:45 PM Eastern – Register
Tuesday, January 13 from 12:00-12:45 PM Eastern – Register
This workshop will introduce basic Canvas functions that will allow participants to do the following: set profile and notifications; navigate the Canvas interface; create content for a Canvas site; and post files, images, and videos.

Assignment & Quiz Basics

Monday, January 26 from 12:00-12:45 PM Eastern – Register
This workshop will focus on using Assignments and Quizzes in Canvas. Topics covered include creating assignments with various submission types, creating quizzes with multiple question types, configuring quiz and assignment settings, and using Assignment Groups.

Setting Up Your Gradebook

Thursday, January 29 from 12:00-12:45 PM Eastern – Register
This workshop will provide step-by-step guidance on how to set up the Canvas Gradebook. Faculty and staff will learn how to configure a grade posting policy, select late policies, apply a grading scheme, and weigh their gradebook by points or by percentages using Assignment Groups.

What’s New in Canvas for Spring 2026?

Thursday, February 12 from 12:00-12:45 PM Eastern – Register
A new semester means new tools, features, and updates in Canvas. This workshop will introduce and explore the notable changes in Canvas for Spring 2026.

Kate Rojas Start/End of Term

Take a Virtual Study Break with Penn Libraries!

Staying up late studying? Performing last-minute research? Then, it’s time for a study break! Taking breaks can help reduce stress and improve your ability to focus on a task. 

Visit the Virtual Study Break Canvas site for a collection of stress-relieving activities from Penn Libraries leading up to and during Reading Days and Finals. Activities include games, puzzles, coloring, and more! Discover free in-person events hosted by Penn Libraries. There are also resources to help with research, studying, and stress management. 

Enjoy some mindful downtime so you can return to studying feeling refreshed, focused, and energized. Whether you have been studying for five minutes or five hours, Penn Libraries has you covered. 

Questions, concerns, or difficulties? Email canvas@pobox.upenn.edu. 

Kate Rojas Support

Canvas Workshops in December 2025 (On Zoom!)

Register using the links below the flyer. Workshops will be recorded and sent to all registered participants.

Canvas 101 for Faculty & Staff

Thursday, December 18 from 12:00-12:45 PM Eastern – Register
This workshop will introduce basic Canvas functions that will allow participants to do the following: set profile and notifications; navigate the Canvas interface; create content for a Canvas site; and post files, images, and videos.

Canvas Office Hours on Wednesdays

Visit our LibCal calendar to register for a 30-minute session.

eleanortf Bugs & Maintenance

New Quizzes Maintenance – 11/13 (3-4 AM Eastern)

On Thursday November 13 from 3am to 4am EST New Quizzes may be unavailable in Canvas due to scheduled maintenance by the vendor.

This maintenance will only impact assessments created in New Quizzes.

  • To avoid issues, instructors are encouraged to set due dates for New Quizzes outside of the scheduled maintenance window.
  • Students are encouraged to submit New Quizzes in advance of affected due dates.

Canvas and all other integrated tools (including Classic Quizzes) will be available and unaffected by this maintenance.

Please direct questions or concerns to: canvas@pobox.upenn.edu.

eleanortf Bugs & Maintenance, Canvas Updates, Third Party Tools (LTIs)

Outage – Canvas, Gradescope, Turnitin, PollEverywhere Down (10/20/25)

UPDATE 11:37 AM ET

Gradescope, iThenticate, Turnitin, and PollEverywhere are now working. Canvas is still experiencing an outage.

While Canvas is inaccessible, you can access these tools directly at Gradescope.com, iThenticate.com, Turnitin.com, and Polleverywhere.com.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

10:00 AM ET

Unfortunately, several of our tools (including Canvas) are currently impacted by an ongoing Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage this morning. 

You may be unable to login or encounter significant performance issues for Canvas, Gradescope, Poll Everywhere, and Turnitin until this is fixed by Amazon. You can follow the progress below for specific tools, and we will update you once we hear that service has been restored.

If you have any questions, please email canvas@pobox.upenn.edu.

eleanortf Canvas Features, Canvas Updates, Start/End of Term

What’s New in Canvas? Fall 2025

The following information will introduce you to notable changes in Canvas for Fall 2025. If you haven’t used Canvas in the past year, we recommend reviewing What’s New in Canvas Spring 2025.

Assignments & Grading

Want to learn more about Assignments and Grading in Canvas? See our upcoming Canvas Workshops in September.

New Canvas Features & Updates

New Features

  • Redesigned Files Page The Files page is redesigned. A temporary button allows users to switch between the new and original interface. For a complete list of how the look and feel of the Files page has changed, please see the release notes.
  • Dyslexia Friendly Font When the Use Dyslexia Friendly Font feature option is enabled in User Settings, the Canvas interface and the Rich Content Editor display text using the OpenDyslexic font by default. If the feature is disabled, both OpenDyslexic and OpenDyslexic Mono are available as font options within the Rich Content Editor. For details, see the release notes.
  • Discussions Default View Settings When creating or editing a discussion, instructors can configure the default view settings, including thread collapse/expansion and sorting options for students, with the ability to lock these preferences if needed.

Feature Updates

  • Media Player with Improved Accessibility and Usability The media player playback experience has been improved with enhanced accessibility, adaptive streaming, and privacy features. For details, please see the release notes.

    Please note – these are changes to the built-in media player in Canvas and do not effect Panopto/Class Recordings.

New Quizzes Updates

  • Text Block In New Quizzes, instructors are able to provide students additional context with standalone text or prompts that are not tied to questions on a New Quiz. For more details, please see the release notes.
  • Question Bank Migration on Course Copy Instructors can migrate Classic Quiz question banks to New Quiz item banks by using the Convert content to New Quizzes checkbox, previously labeled Import existing quizzes on the Course Copy and Import Course Content pages.

    New Quizzes is currently an opt-in feature. Contact canvas@pobox.upenn.edu if you’re interested in enabling it.

Third Party Tools

Pilots

  • Wooclap A tool for student engagement through in-class polling and checks for understanding. Wooclap has similar functionality to Poll Everywhere. Poll Everywhere remains available for those not participating in the pilot.

    If you’re interested in joining the pilot, contact your LSP.

Updates

Questions?

For additional help and support, please email canvas@pobox.upenn.edu.

eleanortf Canvas Updates

Canvas Production Release Notes: July 19, 2025

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 relevant content to Canvas Info @ Penn a few days before the production release, which usually occurs on Saturdays. Please contact Courseware Support at canvas@pobox.upenn.edu if you have any questions about an upcoming production release.

July 19, 2025 Production Release Highlights

New Features

  • Manage Threaded Replies in Legacy Type Discussions In Discussions, a banner displays with a Manage Discussions button allowing instructors to enable or disable threaded replies in bulk. Individual discussion settings can be adjusted using a drop-down menu. This update replaces the previous temporary Make all Discussions Threaded button.
  • Redesigned Files Page The Files page is redesigned. A temporary button allows users to switch between the new and original interface. For a complete list of how the look and feel of the Files page has changed, please see the release notes.
  • Dyslexia Friendly Font When the Use Dyslexia Friendly Font feature option is enabled in User Settings, the Canvas interface and the Rich Content Editor display text using the OpenDyslexic font by default. If the feature is disabled, both OpenDyslexic and OpenDyslexic Mono are available as font options within the Rich Content Editor. For details, see the release notes.

Other Updates

  • Accessibility Updates Over the coming months, a series of updates will be introduced to enhance Canvas’s accessibility and intuitiveness, with a focus on improving usability for assistive technology users. For details, please see the release notes.

For a complete production release update, please see:

Canvas Production Release Notes: July 19, 2025.