February 2026 technology updates
29 January 2026Image by Mohamed Hassan on Pxhere
In our technology updates we announce the latest developments in UoA supported tools for teaching and learning.
Canvas training: preparing for Semester One
Start the new teaching year with confidence with a range of Canvas training sessions that will run through January–April 2026. These repeat sessions are offered across multiple dates and times to fit your schedule. Whether you’re getting started, refreshing the basics, or refining your course design, come along, there’s something for everyone.
Introduction to Canvas Baseline Practices
This session is ideal for teachers and teaching support staff looking to create more consistent, accessible, and inclusive course designs across their programmes.
Multiple sessions are held January–March 2026
Canvas Essentials
This session is aimed at teachers who are new to Canvas, or anyone who wants a refresher.
Multiple sessions are held January–March 2026
Canvas Design Blocks
This session will demonstrate Design Blocks for Canvas, tailored to anyone involved in developing course content at our University.
Multiple sessions are held January–April 2026
Canvas Gradebook: scheduled feedback release
Canvas now offers greater flexibility in how grades and feedback are released to students. Teachers can manage the visibility of grades and comments for individual assignments, choosing to release them together or on separate schedules.
By default, grades and comments are released at the same time. With this update, you can schedule feedback to be released first, followed by grades at a later time, supporting review sessions, staged feedback, or instructional pacing.
Please note:
- When using separate schedules, comments must be released before grades.
- Scheduled feedback dates are not currently preserved during course copy or import.
- Manually releasing grades will override and cancel any scheduled release.
This feature gives teachers more control over when students receive feedback, helping ensure comments are timely, meaningful, and actionable before final grades are visible.
Further information available in the Canvas release notes.
Figure 1: Accessing Grade Posting Policy for an individual assignment in the Gradebook. Click the desired assignment ‘Options‘ [1], then click ‘Grade Posting Policy‘ [2].
Figure 2: Assignment Grading Policy Modal. Click the ’Manually‘ radio button [1], then select the ’Schedule Release Dates‘ checkbox [2]. Choose whether to release ’Grades and Comments Together‘ or on ’Separate Schedules‘ [3] and set the ’Release Date‘ [4] and ’Time‘ [5].
Canvas Gradebook: status icons for accessibility
A new ‘View status for colourblindness’ option is available in the Gradebook Settings. When enabled, symbols appear alongside status colours in the Gradebook, providing an additional visual cue that does not rely on colour alone.
This update improves accessibility by making Gradebook statuses easier to interpret.
Further information available in the Canvas release notes.
Figure 3: In the Gradebook settings, click the View status for colorblindness checkbox.
Figure 4: The gradebook status icons display in the gradebook.
Perusall
Perusall has released the following improvements. Details are available in the Perusall release notes.
1. Interface enhancements
The interface has been updated with a simplified sidebar, reorganised settings, and revised editors for assignments and scoring templates. These changes aim to support clearer navigation and more straightforward management of courses, assignments and rubrics.
For students, the content view has been adjusted to reduce visual complexity, with commenting tools consolidated to support reading and discussion.
2. Grouping options
Grouping functionality has been updated to provide additional flexibility. Instructors can now select from four grouping approaches: no groups, fixed groups across a course, assignment-based groups, or library content-based groups. Group sets can be created manually, randomly, or imported from Canvas or a spreadsheet, with configurable behaviour for new enrolments. Existing courses will be migrated to an appropriate grouping model.
3. Assessment features
Gated assignments allow teachers to create multi-part activities where students must complete quizzes before progressing.
Italian language support has been added to Perusall’s automatic scoring, alongside existing support for English, Spanish, Dutch, and French.
Overall, these updates introduce additional configuration options and refinements to support a range of teaching and assessment approaches.
Perusall Academy: interactive training sessions
Perusall Academy offers a series of interactive, hands-on training sessions designed to help teaching staff get started with Perusall, explore advanced features and design engaging learning activities for students. Sessions are led by Perusall’s Learning and Engagement team and participants are given access to an interactive course to follow along during each session.
Attend all three sessions to receive a Certificate of Attendance. Sessions are recorded, so you can catch up if you’re unable to attend live.
Perusall level 1: Activate
Perusall introductory webinars designed specifically for new users.
Three sessions are scheduled for January–February 2026.
Perusall level 2: Innovate
Ready to take your Perusall skills to the next level?
Three sessions are scheduled for January–February 2026.
Perusall level 3: Elevate
Register today and seize the chance to become a Perusall virtuoso!
Three sessions are scheduled for January–February 2026.
See also
Be part of the conversation on technology-led innovations in teaching and learning. At our TEL Monthly Forum we describe new developments within our university’s suite of enterprise tools for teaching, and the Learning Futures CoI is an network of enthusiastic practitioners who meet regularly via Zoom to share best practice in course and assessment design and delivery.
Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) Monthly Forum
All staff at the University are invited to this monthly online meeting to learn about the latest installments to our suite of enterprise tools for teaching and learning.
Next session: Monday 2 March 2026
Learning Futures Community of Interest
We welcome all staff at the University to join the discussion and share experiences, expertise, and ideas about learning and teaching.
Next session: Thursday 19 March 2026.
Should you have any questions or require assistance, seek support from IT Connect and the Learning and Teaching Design Team at Ranga Auaha Ako. We’re here to help.
Disclaimer: The information in this blog post is accurate as of 29 January 2026. 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.