Instructure has redesigned Canvas announcements and discussions to include new features and options, including a new interface for viewing discussion replies, anonymous discussions, and the ability to mention or quote another student in a post.
This Discussion Redesign is an option that faculty may enable in their courses. On July 20, 2024, the Discussion Redesign will be enforced by Instructure, and the current discussion feature will no longer be available.
Note: At this time, not all features are available in the Canvas Mobile apps, i.e., students using the app will not have access to some features like "Mentions" or "Quotes."
For an overview of all new features, check out the Discussions Redesign Video (2:54 min)
The new format requires an extra click to view replies. To see the replies, users must click the 1) number of replies under a discussion reply. Then, 2) the replies will appear below. You can also use 3) the options button to mark a thread as read or unread, edit, or quote.
- The toolbar has been moved to the top of the discussion and announcement thread.
- Newest replies display 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 expand all existing threads.
Users can mention other users in discussion replies by using the @ symbol. All available users in the course display in the drop-down menu.
- Add your reply, links, files, and other media in the Rich Content Editor [1].
- To mention a user in your reply, type the @ symbol [2] and select a user from the list [3].
- To post your reply, click the "Reply" button [4].
Users can quote other replies as part of their discussion reply. A quoted reply will @mention the post's author and quote the first line of the original post.
- Click on the Options menu.
- Select Quote Reply.
Teachers can now choose to create anonymous discussions. This option is displayed when creating a new discussion for a course. By default, this option is set to off.
When anonymity is turned on for a discussion, grading and groups are not supported.
When an anonymous discussion exists in the course, the Discussions page indicates anonymous discussions before a student opens the discussion. Users with a teacher, TA, or designer role in the course will never be anonymous. However, student names and profile pictures are hidden from other course members, including teachers.
To choose an Anonymous Discussion, edit the settings for your discussion and choose either
- Off: The default option
- Partial: Students can choose whether to reveal their name and profile picture
- Full: Student names and profile pictures will be hidden
- Navigate to "Settings" in the Course Menu.
- Click the "Feature Options" tab.
- Enable Discussions/Announcement Redesign by clicking the red circle to the right so that it changes to a checkmark.
Resources
View the complete guide to Using the Canvas Discussions/Announcement Redesign in the Canvas Community.