Assignments & Turnitin
Canvas’s assignment tool is comparable to our current tool. The SpeedGrader tool (similar to our online marking interface) is also used when marking discussions and forums, giving you a common marking interface across the most used tools.
Canvas’s rubrics are superior and easier to use that what we currently have.
Turnitin will continue to be available in Canvas.
Quiz
Canvas is currently transitioning to a new quizzing platform. The newer platform, New Quizzes, has a comparable level of features to our current quizzing tool, except for the following:
- SpeedGrader can be used to manually mark questions where needed (e.g. essay question)
- The Cloze and description question types are not supported
- CodeRunner, used in assignments about coding, will be replaced with CodeGrade.
Use of the older quiz platform is not encouraged, to prevent needing to migrate quizzes in the future.
Forums & OU blog
The discussion tool in Canvas has less layout options that the current forum tool but has a similar range of features.
OU Blogs will not be available in Canvas.
Collaborate
Collaborate will be replaced with Microsoft Teams. Teams has all the features of Collaborate, but with better reliability, wider global coverage, and aligns more closely with industry working practices.
Announcements
The Announcements tool in Canvas has all the same features as the current tool, plus the ability for students to reply to posts (optional).
Both our current and new announcements tools allow you to send messages to cohorts of students in each topic, however in Canvas no additional setup is required to achieve this.
· How do I use the Announcements Index Page?
· How do I add an announcement in a course?
· How do I allow or disallow announcement replies in a course?
Gradebook
The Grades portal will continue to display all grade items, be automatically populated by graded activities, and facilitate filtering by individual student or by group.
You can apply penalties for late assignments.
In Canvas unmarked assessments do not contribute to the topic total so we will need to adjust our marking practices to accommodate.
Weightings operate differently, and the maximum score for the assessment will need to match the weighting in the SAM (formative assessments can be excluded from calculations). Formulae (used in complex gradebooks) are not available in Canvas, and alternatives will need to be investigated.
Further investigation will be required to determine the best way to implement the Fail or Holding grade column in Canvas.
Resources: page, book, file, folder, label, URL
Pages, Files, Folders and URLs all have comparable tool in Canvas. The book tool does not have a comparable tool, but many institutions use a sequence of pages with remarkable success.
Labels do not have a comparable tool, but a Text Header can be used when the label is simply a heading, and a Page can be used for larger labels.
Videos, video quizzes
Canvas Studio has all the features available in Kaltura/My Media, including recording/creation tools, quizzing, annotation, and captions. It also allows for student annotation of video, for collaborative learning.
Camtasia will continue to be available for complex video editing.
Flinders created tools: lecture recordings, extension requests, SAMs,
Lecture recordings, extension requests and SAMs will be updated to work in Canvas.
Third party tools: H5P, readings, Studiosity, Mahara, Möbius, RPNow, SCORM packages
These tools are compatible with Canvas and will continue to be available.
Groups, Groupings, Group self-selection
Groups and Group Sets (i.e. groupings) will be available in Canvas. When creating a group set, you can choose to allow students to sign up to groups in that set.
Reports
New analytics offer a similar level of reports, but with a greater focus on individual student activity.
Attendance
The Attendance tool has a similar set of features to our current tool in regard to recording attendance.
Students can view their attendance, but not record their own attendance.
Scheduler
An equivalent to the scheduler tool is built in to Canvas’ Calendar.
Feedback
For anonymous feedback, use the Discussion tool’s anonymous posting feature.
Activity completion, Completion tracking, Upcoming events
You can add completion Requirements to modules, and restrict access based to other activities, based on completing modules.
Activities with due dates appear in a To Do list, similar to the Upcoming events block in FLO.
Enhanced Self and Peer Assessment, Workshop (Self and Peer Assessment), Feedback fruits
Feedback Fruits, the newest tool added to FLO, is compatible with Canvas.
The Assignment tool facilitates peer review.
Badges, Custom certificates
Badgr, our current badging platform, is available in Canvas. Custom certificates are expected later in 2023.
Database, Glossary, Wiki, Active quiz, Choice, Lesson, Subtopics
No close substitute for these tools are available, and a Learning Designer will work with you to find a substitute for how you use the tool(s).
