New Discussions Features in Canvas!
If you use discussions in your Canvas courses (and according to our recent data usage report, most of you are), then this post is one that you’ll want to read. Discussions has consistently been an area where users provide feedback and want to see improvement in Canvas. Well, we agreed with you and have been awaiting Canvas to release new features here for quite a few years.
….and that time has finally come!
Starting on January 2nd, the Canvas New Discussions upgrade will be released within our FSCJ Canvas instance for all users to explore. While available, we are going to give time for our users to understand how to use the New Discussions features before we fully enforce them, so please refer to our release timeline and details below.
New Discussions Timeline
Spring 2024 - All new features are scheduled to be at parity with current Discussions. At this point, we will recommend to transition to New Discussions, however both versions will still be available.
Summer 2024 - New Discussions will be enforced and turned on in all courses.
New Discussions Features
The big looming question about New Discussions is what big new features are coming to Canvas? Below are some of the big improvements that have been widely requested by our faculty. You can also check out Canvas’s website here to see the full release details.
Interface Modifications
For individual discussion and announcement topics, the interface has been expanded for maximum space and to ensure responsive views.
The following modifications have been made to individual topics:
The toolbar has been moved to the top of the discussion and announcement thread.
The newest replies are displayed at the top of the first page instead of the bottom of the last page.
Users can sort replies from newest to oldest, or oldest to newest.
Users can also quickly move to the top of the discussion or announcement at any time.
Role Labels
Discussion and announcement threads display a label for users with TA roles and Teacher (Instructor) roles. This feature helps students more quickly identify users with instructor-based roles in the course.
Threads also include a label indicating the discussion or announcement author.
Mentions
Users can mention other users in discussion replies by using the @ symbol. All available users in the course are displayed in the drop-down menu.
Quotes
Users can quote other replies as part of their discussion reply.
But Wait, There’s More!
These Features Look Great, but Where is Multiple Due Dates for Posts?!
This is by far our most widely requested feature and something we can expect to be released in the Summer of 2024! No longer will you just have to tell students that their original post has to be done on one date and replies on another and then manually investigate post dates. You will be able to make due dates for the original post and replies, very, very, soon! When it is officially released, we will be communicating this feature as soon as possible.
Are There Any Plans for TurnItIn in Discussions?
There are! and currently this is in the design step between Canvas and TurnItIn, but when two tools are working together to merge into one location that takes time to develop. Rest assured though, it is being worked on as we speak. We do not have an ETA from Canvas at this time, but will communicate the date as soon as it is released.
Thanks for your attention! Questions about this or any other facet of Canvas? Please email EdTech@fscj.edu.