eleanortf Bugs & Maintenance, Canvas Updates

Update on Canvas Disruption

The Courseware Team is resharing the message below from Russ Composto, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Kelly Jordan-Sciutto, Vice Provost for Graduate Education:

“As of this morning, access to Canvas was restored for the Penn community. We ask that all instructors consider the following:

  • For any courses with final exams or assignments due between Thursday, May 7 at 4:00pm through end of day Friday, May 8, we ask instructors to be flexible as needed. In addition to the flexibility that is always available to instructors, please consider these options due to the Canvas disruption:
    • Approving students to take make-up exams during the University’s postponed exam period
      • Postponed exam dates for graduating seniors only are Wednesday, May 13th through Thursday, May 14th, 2026
      • Postponed examinations for all other students will be Tuesday, August 25th, 2026 through Monday, August 31st, 2026
    • Extending deadlines for take-home exams and assignments
    • Offering alternate forms of assessment
  • If you use Canvas for grading, download a copy of the grades now so you have access to it in the event of any further disruptions. Grades should be stored in a secure location such as PennBox.
  • Have backup copies of any materials in Canvas so that they can be shared with students outside of Canvas if needed through a cloud sharing tool like PennBox.
  • The grading deadline currently remains 12pm EST on Friday, May 15, to ensure that grades are submitted in time for commencement.

Instructors are encouraged to be proactive in communicating with their students about any impacts of the Canvas disruption on their courses and contact their schools with any questions.”

Kate Rojas Bugs & Maintenance, Canvas Updates

RESOLVED Outage – Canvas Down (5/7/26)

UPDATE: As of 8am Penn Canvas is accessible again. Please report any continuing issues to canvas@pobox.upenn.edu

UPDATE: As of 7:14 am Penn Canvas is still inaccessible this morning due to problems with authentication. We are working with ISC and Instructure to resolve this as soon as soon as possible. 

UPDATE – This issue is still ongoing as of 12am on Friday May 8. We will provide an update once service is restored.

Canvas is currently down across many institutions. This issue is not limited to Penn.

Our team has notified the Canvas vendor, Instructure, and they are working to restore functionality.

Please visit CETLI’s Resources for Teaching During a Canvas Disruption for solutions to continue teaching during this time.

We will let you know once service is restored, and we apologize for the inconvenience. To check for updates, visit https://status.instructure.com/.

eleanortf Bugs & Maintenance, Canvas Features

RESOLVED -Turnitin Similarity Reports Not Generating (5/4/26)

UPDATE 5/4/26 at 7pm: This issue has been resolved. Please note that Canvas will resubmit the affected submissions; it is worth noting that this may take a while to complete. Please direct any continuing issues to canvas@pobox.upenn.edu

Users may encounter errors accessing or generating reports in Turnitin for newly submitted assignments

Reports for previously submitted assignments do not appear to be affected and are still accessible.

For updates please see the vendor’s status page.

Canvas and all other integrated tools are available and working normally.

Please direct any questions to canvas@pobox.upenn.edu.

Kate Rojas Support

Canvas Workshops in June 2026 (On Zoom!)

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

Assignment & Quiz Basics

Tuesday, June 2 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

Friday, June 5 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.

Canvas Office Hours

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

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. 

eleanortf Bugs & Maintenance, Canvas Features

RESOLVED – Speedgrader Bug – 4/22

UPDATE 4/23/26 – This bug has been fixed. Please contact canvas@pobox.upenn.edu if you encounter any ongoing issues.

The Courseware Team has received multiple reports of a Speedgrader bug where a student’s submission only displays in a small strip at the top, making it difficult for instructors to grade and provide feedback.

We have put in a ticket with the vendor, and we will provide an update once the issue is solved.

As a workaround, drag the little grey triangle to the bottom of the page to resize the window. Arrow copy.png

All other Canvas tools are available and working normally. 

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

eleanortf Third Party Tools (LTIs)

Panopto Archive Deletion Reminder

Beginning November 2nd, 2026, Panopto recordings that have remained untouched in the stale archive for 26 months are scheduled for deletion under our retention policy. This retention policy will then continue to apply going forward, so that any unviewed content sitting untouched in the stale content archive will be deleted after 26 months, on a rolling basis.

If you need to keep an archived recording, please take action before November 2nd.

To keep an archived recording:

  1. Turn on the option to include archived content in your search results.
  2. Open Panopto and search for the recording.
  3. Select Restore from Archive for the recording you want to keep.
  4. After the recording is restored, open it and play it briefly.

Panopto’s documentation explains that restored videos receive a 30-day grace period, and continued viewing or modification postpones future retention actions. Restoration can take from a few minutes up to 48 hours, and in some cases longer depending on the system load. If you want to keep a recording outside Panopto, you may also download it as an MP4, provided downloads are enabled for that video, and save it to an approved cloud storage platform such as PennBox, OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox.

A few storage notes:

  • PennBox supports individual file uploads up to 50GB, with this limit defined by our contract plan.
  • OneDrive supports uploads up to 250 GB per file via the web.
  • Google Drive supports files up to 5 TB, with a 750 GB per-user upload/copy limit within 24 hours.
  • Dropbox supports files up to 2 TB, though uploads larger than 375 GB are more reliable through the desktop app than through a web browser.

Please review any archived recordings you may need and restore or download them before November 2026.

If you have questions or would like help identifying important recordings, please contact ISC.

eleanortf Canvas Updates

Canvas Production Release Notes: April 18, 2026

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.

April 18, 2026 Production Release Highlights

Feature Options

  • Enhanced Accessibility Reporting – Admin, Instructor (Course Accessibility Checker) An Account-level accessibility dashboard is available in the account navigation, and the course-level accessibility report includes additional features:
    • At the course level, the report includes Announcements, Syllabi, and Discussions.A close remediation feature allows users to mark a resource as complete, removing any remaining issues from the total counts and statistics.

    For more details, please see the release notes.

The feature above is currently opt-in. Local Service Providers (LSPs) should contact canvas@pobox.upenn.edu to enable this feature in their subaccounts. Instructors should contact their LSP to see if the feature is available for their courses.

Other Notes

For a complete production release update, please see:

Canvas Production Release Notes: April 18, 2026

eleanortf Third Party Tools (LTIs)

Gradescope Upgrade

Penn is upgrading from the Gradescope LTI 1.1 to the LTI 1.3 integration and we wanted to share some important information about this transition.

Why are we making this change?

  • The LTI 1.3 integration improves assignment linking, provides easier access to Gradescope in Canvas, and has improved authentication and security protocols. New features and enhancements will only be available to customers on LTI 1.3.

What Steps Do I need to take in my courses?

  • Spring 2026 courses should continue using the LTI 1.1 integration for the duration of the Spring term. When syncing rosters, use the “Sync Canvas Roster” option.
  • Summer 2026 and Fall 2026 courses should use the LTI 1.3 integration. If you wish to reuse Gradescope assignments from a previous course, please use these instructions. When syncing rosters, use the “Sync Canvas (LTI 1.3) Roster” option.

What happens to Gradescope content from Spring 2026 and earlier terms?

  • Previous Gradescope assignments will be accessible via Gradescope.com and can be copied over to future courses. Grades from Gradescope assignments will persist in the Canvas Gradebook.

Please contact canvas@pobox.upenn.edu with questions or for assistance with this transition.