This is the latest information on changes to UWM’s Digital Learning Environment which includes changes to Canvas, Proctorio, Zoom, and other services available in Canvas.
Updates are made regularly to bring new features, improve the user experience, and fix bugs. For each item, the change date is provided. Release Summaries are used to communicate planned updates for the given month and may include updates which occurred after the previous update.
Service Maintenance
No maintenance is planned for these changes.
Major Changes
- Canvas LMS
- March 16, 2023: Instructure-Provided Training Portal No Longer Available
- March 19, 2023: Submit on Behalf of Students
Canvas LMS
March 16, 2023: Instructure-Provided Training Portal No Longer Available
The link to the Canvas Training Service Portal was removed from the Help menu by UW System Administration. The existing agreement with Instructure, the maker of Canvas, no longer includes on-demand training led by Instructure. As such, the link to the Canvas Training Service Portal was no longer required.
- Before the change: Users had access to the Canvas Training Service Portal, which provided on-demand training led by Instructure.
- After the change: The Canvas Training Service Portal link was removed from the Canvas Help menu. Consequently, users no longer have direct access to this particular training resource within the Canvas platform.
- Impact on teaching and learning: While removal of the link may impact some, UWM has well-established alternatives for student and instructor training. For students, online training and video tutorials are available. Instructors can receive in-person, virtual, and on-demand training from the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL). This change is unlikely to have a significant long-term impact.
Instructure-led training was originally negotiated as part of the UW System contract with Instructure to support instructors during the transition from D2L Brightspace to Canvas.
March 19, 2023: Submit on Behalf of Students
The “Submit on Behalf of Student” feature allows instructors to submit a file upload assignment on behalf of a student in the Gradebook. This is helpful for supporting students in situations that need an alternative means of submission. The submission will include the timestamp and who submitted the assignment.
- Before the change: instructors did not have the option to submit assignments on behalf of students in the Gradebook. This limited instructors’ ability to support students who required alternative means of submission, such as those facing technical difficulties or needing to submit evidence captured in a live setting through file uploads.
- After the change: Instructors can now submit file upload assignments on behalf of their students. This feature records the timestamp and the person who submitted the assignment, providing transparency and accountability for both instructors and students.
- How this change affects teaching and learning: Instructors can better support students who need alternative means of submission or face technical issues that prevent them from submitting their assignments on time. By allowing instructors to submit on behalf of students in specific situations, it encourages students to communicate with their instructors and take responsibility for their learning and submissions.
The timestamp and the person who submitted the assignment on behalf of the student will be displayed when viewing Grade Details, SpeedGrader, and Assignment Details for students. Note: this feature is only available when the File Upload submission type is allowed.
Additional Changes
- Canvas Commons
- January 23, 2023: Unsplash is removed as a source for images when posting or editing assets.
- Canvas LMS
- February 15, 2023: In the Rich Content Editor, the keyboard shortcuts information box has a new keyboard icon, and is designed to be easier to read.
- March 21, 2023: (Administrators Only) Submit on Behalf of Student is enabled for Canvas Institutional Admins. If your business role requires this permission, contact canvas-admins-group@uwm.edu.
- March 29, 2023: When uploading multiple files to a course, filenames are included in the notification summary.
- March 29, 2023: (New Quizzes, Outcomes) When a quiz question is attached to an outcome, the Outcome Report generated in the quiz Build > Reports tab can be exported as a CSV.
- March 29, 2023: (Administrators Only) A new Analytics dashboard preview is available for some sub-accounts. For more information or to gain access, contact canvas-admins-group@uwm.edu.
- Canvas Mobile Apps
- February 8, 2023: (iOS Student and Teacher Apps) On first use, or when the Acceptable Use Policy changes, a pop-up is presented prompting users to accept the Acceptable Use Policy.
- February 8, 2023: (iOS Student and Teacher Apps) The apps have different names. The student app is changed to “Canvas Student”. The teacher app is changed to “Canvas Teacher”.
- February 8, 2023: (iOS Student and Teacher Apps) Light mode/dark mode toggle is added.
- Zoom
- March 20, 2023: (Windows, macOS, Linux) When meeting invites are declined, the invitee can leave a message to appear in chat.
- March 20, 2023: (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS) Out-of-office is available as a status.
- March 20, 2023: (Windows, macOS, Linux) Meeting attendants can change their accessibility settings to enable captions. Once enabled, joining the meeting will auto-start the display of captions if available. Additionally, Size, color and font style of captions are adjustable.
- March 20, 2023: (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS) When a meeting participant raises their hand, a notification is shown to the host. The notification has a button to open the Participants p
- March 20, 2023: (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS) Hosts can configure cloud recordings to capture sign language interpreters in a separate video file.
- March 20, 2023: (Android, iOS) Human avatars can be created on mobile devices, along with animal avatars.
- March 20, 2023: (Windows, macOS, Android, iOS) Names are included when viewing in Immersive View.
- March 20, 2023: (Windows, macOS, Android, iOS) Immersive View re-arranges itself to accommodate for screen sharing.
- March 20, 2023: (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS) Whiteboards can be encrypted to protect information. NOTE: this feature has not been reviewed for use in storing FERPA or HIPAA-protected information.
- March 20, 2023: Zoom Apps for Android is now available.
Learn More
To learn more about updates, and to see how the changes may affect instructors’ and students’ work, refer to the release note links. Remember that some features may not be enabled for UWM or the UW System.
Editor’s note: ChatGPT was used to draft portions of this article.