July 2025 technology updates

Canvas Impact

A new feature called Canvas Impact will be introduced this July, initially for staff with a student rollout planned for the start of Semester Two. This tool enhances the Canvas environment by providing:

There are three main components of Impact for staff and students:

1. Tier Zero Support: A context-sensitive in-app support centre offering role-specific help articles right within Canvas. Staff and students will see relevant guidance based on the page they are using and their actions, enabling just-in-time assistance without leaving the platform. Over 1,500 curated and regularly updated articles will be available, including University of Auckland-specific content.

2. LTI Usage Insights: Canvas Impact provides detailed analytics on usage of learning tools such as H5P and FeedbackFruits. This helps the University understand adoption rates and drive effective use of digital learning resources.
3. Targeted Communications: The tool allows targeted messaging to specific Canvas user groups for defined periods, improving communication effectiveness beyond global announcements. For example, staff may receive tailored prompts encouraging best practices such as Canvas Baseline Practices.

Staff will begin seeing a new support button in their Canvas environment from 1 July 2025, with contextual support articles accessible through it. The rollout will be gradual and carefully managed to ensure judicious use, avoiding message overload.

If you’re interested in early testing please register your interest and a member of the Learning and Teaching team will be in touch. To find out more:

Watch the presentation on Canvas Impact by Nissa Anderson at the June TEL monthly forum.

Explore the official Canvas Impact support guide

Canvas Training Opportunities in July

Whether you’re new to teaching or want to sharpen your digital skills, our tailored sessions will help you navigate Canvas as you prepare for Semester Two or a new teaching term. 

Canvas Essentials

Canvas Essentials is suitable for anyone who is new to teaching at the University and those who want a Canvas refresher. Familiarise yourself with the basic features such as navigation, announcements, modules, and assignments.

Topics covered:

• Access and navigation in Canvas
• Curating content with the Rich Content Editor
• Creating and managing modules, pages and assignments
• Communication tools
• Where to go to find further support and useful resources
• The sessions are held in Zoom. Upon registering you will receive a calendar reminder.

Register for upcoming sessions: Canvas Essentials (TeachWell Digital)

Canvas Assessment

This session is designed for staff who want to confidently set up and manage assessments in Canvas. You will learn how to create and configure assignments effectively, use rubrics for consistent grading, enable the Turnitin CPF integration for plagiarism checks, and organise assessments using assignment groups.

Topics covered:

• Creating assignments in Canvas
• Configuring assignment options and attaching rubrics
• Enabling the Turnitin CPF integration
• Using assignment groups
• The sessions are held in Zoom. Upon registering you will receive a calendar reminder.

Register for upcoming sessions here: Canvas Assessment (TeachWell Digital)

Canvas Design Blocks Scheduled Maintenance

On Tuesday 1 July 5–6pm, a minor update will be deployed to Design Blocks. Staff are advised to avoid using Design Blocks during this maintenance window to prevent any potential loss of content.

Review Canvas Inbox information in your courses

Staff are encouraged to review any Canvas course pages or templates that include information about student-to-student messaging via the Canvas Inbox. Due to phishing risks, student-to-student communication through Inbox has been disabled since last year, and the feature now supports only teacher-to-student messaging.

If your course includes outdated references to student-to-student messaging via Inbox, please remove or update this information to avoid confusion. As there are currently no automated tools in Canvas to manage spam or phishing messages proactively, this functionality is unlikely to be restored.

Thank you for helping maintain clear and accurate communications with students.

Game Map – new features and enhancements

The latest H5P update introduces several improvements to the Game Map content type. Authors can now use a plain background colour instead of an image and add a new special stage type that links directly to web pages. Paths between stages are fully customisable with individual colours, styles, and widths, and multiple sub-contents can be grouped within a stage with combined scoring.

Access restrictions have become more flexible, allowing stages to be limited based on total scores, progress or scores from other stages, date and time, or any combination of these. Success and failure sounds now respond to all subcontent results, and authors can add stars to indicate scores achieved. Volume controls for background music and sound effects are now available separately, and access restrictions apply even in free roaming mode. Additionally, dependencies have been updated to current versions to ensure compatibility.

Read the full release notes here