What's New in Canvas?

August 22, 2025

Differentiation Tags

Differentiation Tags is a new Canvas feature that allows instructors to create custom sets of students within a course, for the purpose of differentiated instruction. These tags are hidden from students and can be used for various organizational and instructional purposes. There are times you've wanted to assign modules, assignments or quizzes to just one set of students, or just keep a closer eye on a particular group such as student athletes. Using "Groups" was a clunky solution, and was visible to the students (they knew when they were in a Group). Sections required administrative oversight. Differentiation Tags is a simple, clean solution that instructors can manage on their own. 

• Canvas Guide: How do I create and manage Differentiation Tags as an instructor?
• Differentiation Tags: FAQ
• Blog: Introducing Differentiation Tags: Personalized Learning Just Got Easier
• Blog: Understanding Sections, Groups, and Differentiation Tags: What’s the Difference?

More Improvements to New Quizzes

• Text Block: In New Quizzes, instructors can now add standalone text or prompts that are not tied to a question, at any point in the quiz. This replicates the "Text No Question" question type in Classic Quizzes

• Prevent File Uploads for Essay Questions: Instructors can set a quiz setting to "Disable Document Uploads", which will prevent students from using the Insert Media and Insert Document option in the Rich Content Editor for essay questions. This could be especially important during timed exams using Lockdown Browser, when you don't want students to be able to submit (or view) anything written ahead of time. Don't want students to use the Rich Content Editor at all? You can uncheck the "Rich Content Editor" box in Question Options for the individual question, but you'll have to do that on a per-question basis. 

• The Road to Feature Parity: anonymous surveys has officially been added to the Instructure Roadmap for Q4 2025, bringing us even closer to 100% feature parity between New Quizzes and Classic Quizzes. For a full comparison, see: Classic Quizzes/New Quizzes Comparison Document.

Reminder: Fundamentals of Accessible Digital Content in Canvas: Free Course Through Canvas Training Services Portal

Beginning in April 2026, all web content, including digital course material,must meet particular technical standards for accessibility that have been recently clarified under the Americans with Disabilities Act (see DOJ fact sheet below for more information).

It is now every instructor's responsibility to ensure that their online course material is ADA-compliant. Instructure (Canvas) is offering a free course designed to guide all Canvas educators in making their learning content accessible to every student. This course is available through the Training Services Portal, which can be found in the Canvas "Help and Information Menu" located at the bottom of the Global Navigation Menu (far left of every Canvas page). For a detailed description, with screenshots, of how to access this resources, see How to Access the Fundamentals of Accessible Digital Content in Canvas course in the Canvas Training Services Portal.

The course will take about 1 hour to complete and there is an opportunity to earn a digital badge upon completion.

Caveat: in this course, users will find occasional references to "Canvas Studio," a video management solution not available at FSU. However, our current video management solution, Panopto Video, offers the same accessibility features including the ability to add easily add captions to all videos. 

• Fact Sheet: Department of Justice (DOJ) Final Rule on the Accessibility of Web Content and Mobile Apps for State and Local Governments

More Information

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What's New in Canvas? is a semesterly article that showcases the latest features and enhancements in FSU's Canvas learning management system and highlights existing features you may not be leveraging to their fullest potential. Brought to you by the Education Technology Office (ETO).