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March 2024 technology updates

23 February 2024
Photo by Mohamed Hassan on Pxhere

In our technology updates we announce the latest developments in UoA supported tools for teaching and learning.

As we roll into Semester One, we thought you’d like to hear about a few enhancements and suggestions relating to Canvas, Inspera, and Turnitin.

Canvas

Unpublish module only

In Modules, instructors have the option to unpublish a module only. This option is available in the Publish All drop-down menu and individual module drop-down menus. This functionality allows instructors to unpublish the module while leaving items within the module still published.

One use case for this feature is if an assignment is in an unpublished module, it can still be accessed by students. Normally, if a module is unpublished along with all of its content, that content is no longer accessible for students. In the case of an assignment, if it is unpublished it can also affect the grade calculation in the gradebook.

View the Canvas release notes for unpublish module only.

Canvas unpublish module

Canvas screenshot showing the publish dropdown list. Unpublish module only option is highlighted.

New Quiz – Quiz and Item Analysis CSV download

In New Quizzes, the CSV format of the Quiz and Item Analysis report can now be downloaded, encompassing all metrics and Answer Frequency Summary tables accessible through the User Interface.

This functionality allows admins and instructors to easily download data via CSV for a comprehensive look at quiz effectiveness. This provides the data as needed to create custom reports and support learning outcomes.

Visit the Canvas release notes for Quiz and Item Analysis CSV download.

Canvas Quiz and Item Analysis bar chart

Screenshot of Canvas Quiz and Item Analysis bar chart. The Export CSV button is highlighted.

Canvas Quiz and Item Analysis export to CSV button

Canvas screenshot showing Quiz and Item Analysis data. The Export CSV button is highlighted.

New Quiz – Answer Frequency Summary statistics for additional question types

In the Item Analysis Report, the Answer Frequency Summary tables display the total number of correct responses, incorrect responses, and no responses for the following question types:

  • multiple choice
  • multiple answer
  • true or false
  • change benefit

This update provides additional information on specific question types for instructors to evaluate student responses and provide appropriate intervention.

Review the Canvas release notes for Answer Frequency Summary.

Canvas Answer Frequency Summary

Canvas Answer Frequency Summary chart for Multiple Choice question types. The number of respondents is 1 and the percentages for correct, incorrect and incorrect are all showing 1 each or 33%.

New Analytics – user interface update

The New Analytics page displays an updated user interface.

This update enhances coherence with the overall Canvas interface.

In the Analytics page, the page title [1] has changed, a course status (unpublished, published or concluded) icon [2] is added, and the Average Course Grade [3] data has now been shifted.

Read the Canvas release notes for New Analytics user interface update.

Canvas New Analytics user interface

Screenshot of Canvas New Analytics. The interface now includes a course status indicator (this example shows ‘concluded’), and the the average course grade percentage information has been moved to the Course Grade tab.

Inspera LTI 1.3

LTI means Learning Tools Interoperability. It allows two systems to share data with each other.

Inspera LTI 1.3 integration with Canvas has been enabled and is now working successfully. This update provides a number of improvements to the previous LTI 1.1.

 

New features:

  • Students are now automatically added as candidates when an assessment is created.
  • Teaching roles such as planner, author, grader, invigilator and are automatically added when an assessment is created.
  • Teachers can now add extra time for students for tests and quizzes.

Turnitin

Discontinuation of Turnitin LTI assignments in Canvas

 

LTI is Learning Tools Interoperability—a means to share data between systems. Due to unresolved technical issues with Turnitin LTI 1.3, we are discontinuing its use in Canvas and switching to Canvas Plagiarism Review, which utilises Turnitin through the Canvas interface, and is a more stable and reliable option. This change will take effect from Semester Two, 2024.

For Semester One, we have rolled back to Turnitin LTI 1.1 to give you time to update your assignment setup in Canvas. We encourage you to shift any assignments currently using the LTI onto the Canvas Plagiarism Review during Semester One in order to prepare for Semester Two, when the LTI will no longer be available. There is a dedicated resource on TeachWell regarding Canvas Plagiarism Review if you are unfamiliar with the setup process and there will be drop-in sessions for assistance around the Mid-semester break.

If you have been using Turnitin rubrics, these will need to be manually transferred over as rubrics in Canvas, as they will be stored and rolled over for future course iterations. Please refer to the Canvas instructor guides on rubrics for more information.

For more information on how to access the Turnitin similarity report via SpeedGrader, please refer to this guide from Turnitin: Accessing the Similarity Report.

There is also a video walkthrough available on how to set up and mark Turnitin assignments in SpeedGrader: Canvas tutorial on SpeedGrader.

Advice for students on how to access Similarity Reports can be found on the Turnitin website.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

May these enhancements continue to empower you as teachers in your commitment to fostering collaboration and engagement with your students.

As always, should you have any questions or require assistance, seek support from IT Connect and Ranga Auaha Ako, Learning and Teaching Design Team. We’re here to help.

Disclaimer: The information in this blog post is accurate as of 23 February 2024. Please note that the features and updates mentioned above are based on available information at the time of writing, and there may have been further developments since then.

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