April 2025 technology updates
27 March 2025Image: Mohamed Hassan on Pxhere
In our technology updates we announce the latest developments in UoA supported tools for teaching and learning.
Canvas
Canvas Assessment Training – April 2025
As assessment season approaches, now is the perfect time to get confident with setting up and managing assessments in Canvas. Join our in-house expert, Karl McGuirk, for Canvas Assessment, a practical session designed to help you prepare and streamline your assessment processes.
Whether you’re new to Canvas or looking for a refresher, this session will walk you through the essentials of assessment configuration so you can feel well-equipped and ready to support your students.
New Quizzes: Multiple Selections in Hot Spot Questions
You can now define multiple correct hot spot areas in New Quizzes. Students may select several areas in response to a quiz, and auto-grading will evaluate responses based on correct answers. Regrading is supported, and student attempts are limited to the number of correct hotspots.
This offers more flexible assessment of visual or location-based knowledge.
See: Canvas release notes.
Figure 1: Hot Spot Question Type Edit Page.
SpeedGrader: Enhanced Usability for Discussion Checkpoints
For Graded Discussions, there are now several enhancements which improve the experience when grading a Discussion activity.
Checkpoints corresponding to the screenshot are:
- Sticky headers remain visible while scrolling
- Instructors can switch to view individual posts
- Navigation includes First, Last, Previous, and Next buttons
- Instructors can track number of replies added compared to the required number of replies
By default, replies display without discussion context.
Figure 2: SpeedGrader View of Discussion Checkpoints.
SpeedGrader Options now also allow setting a default discussion view. This improves usability and efficiency when grading discussion-based assessments.
See: Canvas release notes.
Figure 3: SpeedGrader Options Default Discussion View.
Library Resources App
The Library resources app (LibGuides) allows you to embed Library subject guides into your course. The app has been fully integrated within Canvas, enabling you to embed full guides, parts of guides (i.e., tabs within a guide) or specific content (e.g., lists of key resources or databases). You can add this content via Canvas modules.
Visit Add a subject guide to your course to learn more.
Inspera
Audio Record question type
The Audio Record question type is now generally available. Candidates can record and re-record audio responses before submitting, with only the final version submitted. This is ideal for oral assessments.
Figure 4: Candidate view of an audio record question type in Inspera.
We hope these feature improvements will help you improve student engagement and gain insights into your cohort’s progress.
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 27 March 2025. 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.
See also
Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) monthly forum
All staff at the University are invited to join the monthly forum. See the details for the Zoom link, agenda, and past recordings.