Canvas
Instructure's Security Incident
Instructure, the makers of Canvas, suffered a major security incident at a critical time at the end of spring term. The vendor continues to fortify their systems and provide regular updates. Take precautions against falling for a phishing attempt.
Enhanced Rubrics
Enhanced Rubrics is now enabled across the entire institution. The new layout is intuitive, clean, and a welcome improvement over the old view. Read Canvas Enhanced Rubrics feature review in Extra Points.
Assignment Enhancements
Students get a streamlined, modernized view when submitting assignments. The interface upgrades how students view, submit, and track assignments. Compare a screenshot of the legacy student-facing assignment submission page vs a screenshot of the new student-facing assignment submission page.
Peer Review Enhancements
Peer Review Enhancements streamline the setup and management of peer reviews, while providing clearer expectations and a more consistent, engaging experience for students. Familiarize yourself with Peer Review Enhancements before the feature locks on for all courses in January 2027. In your Canvas course, navigate to Settings > Feature Options tab. Enable "Peer Review Allocation and Grading." Highlights:
- Set due dates and point values for reviews
- Create pairings automatically or by flexible rules
- Manage grades in a dedicated column in the Gradebook
For students, peer review assignments can include a rubric, will display on To Do Lists, and appear in Modules as their own item. Read our deep dive on Peer Review Enhancements in Extra Points.
Enhanced Learning Mastery Gradebook
If you use the Learning Mastery Gradebook you will welcome recent improvements to search, sort and view student mastery data. Increased visibility allows instructors to identify issues and step in with targeted support.
Canvas Portfolios Is Live
The new Canvas Portfolios is here. Look for Showcase portfolios (equivalent to legacy ePortfolios) and Evaluation portfolios. Read our deep dive on Canvas Portfolios in Extra Points.
New: Custom Course Navigation Links
Now there is a more reliable way to add custom links directly to your course navigation. Custom Course Navigation Links replaces the functionality of the Redirect Tool with key improvements—when you copy a course, internal links update to point to the new course, and external links remain fully functional. Begin using the Custom Course Navigation Links because the Redirect Tool will be deprecated ahead of Spring 2027.
Simple Certificate Retired July 15, 2026
Simple Certificate retired on July 15, 2026. Instructors cannot issue new certificates and learners cannot reprint previously earned certificates. Instructors with courses using Simple Certificate were contacted directly about migrating to Parchment Digital Badges. If you did not respond to our previous outreach and believe your courses are impacted, contact canvas@umn.edu.
Course Works Transitioning to VitalSource for Fall 2026
As the Course Works provider transitions from RedShelf to VitalSource, you will notice updated labels in Canvas: the existing tool is now Course Works (Summer 2026), and the new deployment is labeled Course Works (Fall 2026). Both tools are available in course navigation throughout the fall term. Instructors can embed Course Works in Assignments, Modules, or the Rich Content Editor. Direct students with questions regarding course materials to courseworks@umn.edu.
Legacy ePortfolios Retires December 31, 2026
The Legacy ePortfolios will be unavailable after December 31, 2026. Follow the steps to download ePortfolios. There is no ability to migrate directly to new Canvas Portfolios — you'll need to create Showcase portfolios from scratch using pieces of your ePortfolio download. Join Academic Technology Support Services (ATSS) to explore Canvas Portfolios on October 6, 11:00 am-noon via a Zoom webinar.
Mandatory Token Expirations After 30 Days
Instructure implemented an abrupt security change enforcing lifespan limits on user-generated access tokens. As a result, your user-generated token may have expired and new tokens you create will expire after 30 days (students) and 90 days (teachers).
While this improves overall system security, we recognize it may disrupt custom scripts or homegrown workflows. If this change impacts your operations, reach out to canvas@umn.edu. We are happy to discuss your workflow and help you explore secure, supported alternatives.
Course and Media Content Deletion Begins October 1
Deletion of old Canvas courses and Kaltura media begins October 1, 2026.
- PeopleSoft-associated Canvas course sites will be deleted after five years.
- Kaltura MediaSpace files will be deleted after four years if they have nine plays or fewer.
As you review your courses or media that are scheduled for deletion, follow these guides for items you’d like to preserve.
Kaltura
Kaltura user interface upgrades
In Kaltura in Canvas and MediaSpace, on August 13, 2026, the following areas of the user interface were upgraded:
- In My Media (in both Canvas and MediaSpace): Edit page for a recording
- Note: After these changes, chapter editing is not currently available in Kaltura in Canvas or MediaSpace; read more about workarounds.
- In Canvas courses: Media Gallery media listing and configuration pages
- In MediaSpace: Channel media listing and configuration pages
These changes make the user interface simpler to use, more accessible, and offer new capabilities. We're updating our documentation to reflect these changes.