Fall 2025 Canvas & Learning Technology Updates

Reading just got a little easier! You can now switch to a dyslexia-friendly font in Canvas:

1. Click Account on the Global Navigation.
2. Toggle on Use a Dyslexia Friendly Font.
3. Refresh your browser to see the change.

No more accidental quiz mishaps—this optional setting warns students if they try to open a quiz session in more than one window at the same time. This feature is only available for New Quiz style quizzes.

Not sure which type of quiz you’re using?

• Classic Quiz: Rocket outline icon.
• New Quiz: Solid green rocket icon.

The instructor view looks different, too:

• Classic Quizzes show quiz settings.
• New Quizzes display as an external tool submission type.

Choose how you want graded discussions to display in SpeedGrader:

• Individual Posts view: See only the student’s posts you’re grading.
• Full Discussion Context view: See their posts in the full conversation (with their replies highlighted in blue).

To change this, click the Gear icon in the SpeedGrader view, select Options, and set your preferred default view.

The revamped Discussion Checkpoints feature makes it easier to keep conversations active and spread student participation across the week.

With checkpoints, you can:

• Assign different due dates for initial posts and peer replies.
• Set separate point values for each part of the assignment.
• Give students clear expectations for when and how often to engage.

Good to know:

• Checkpoints are optional.
• They can only be enabled on graded discussions.

• Learn how to manage checkpoint settings and due dates in the Canvas Instructor Guide.

Finding and managing files just got easier with this redesign from Canvas:

• Paginated view for large folders.
• Sort by date or size.
• Bulk select files for download, move, or delete.
  Prefer the old view? You can still switch back for now.

The integration was removed in May. For now, schedule course meetings in the general channel of your Class Team.

Join us for Sync Up for Success: Using Canvas + Teams on August 13 at 2:00 p.m. (virtual).

Lucidchart and Lucidspark were disabled August 8, 2025 to meet accessibility requirements.

• Complete the required Accessibility Instructor Training in Vector by December 15, 2025.
• Explore hands-on resources at accessibility.uncg.edu.
• Consider taking the Web Accessibility for Instructors course — a recommended, asynchronous, hands-on training focused on the practical “how-tos” of accessible course design.
• Need help? Reach out to your Academic Technology Specialist or the ITS LT Instructional Design staff.

UNCG has formed a campus-wide Accessibility Task Force to address these new requirements and guide long-term planning. The Task Force will help identify additional resources and support for instructors whose courses may need significant updates. Contact Melanie Eley at mneley@uncg.edu for more information.

All active students now have access to Adobe Express—a creative, easy-to-use design tool perfect for projects and assignments. This is part of UNCG’s Adobe Creative Campus offering.

Resources:

• Teaching Resources for Educators (Adobe)
• Adobe Creative Campus: Student Guide
• Adobe Creative Campus: Faculty & Staff Guide

Panopto will be fully retired at UNCG on December 31, 2025.

We’re moving to Microsoft’s OneDrive and Clipchamp for video storage, playback, and editing.
Workshops for using M365 to create instructional videos start in August!

More information about this change is available on the Tech Initiatives website.

There’s still time to join one of six webinars this August — all designed to help you start the semester strong. Sessions are hosted by instructional designers and technology experts, and cover a range of teaching and tech topics.

Coming up next:

• September: Finding Flow in the Digital Space
• October: The Spartan Shield: Defend Our Digital Domain
• November: Creativity and Communications