Did You Know? — Canvas Outcomes

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Tired of grades that feel more like a punishment than a reflection of learning? You’re not alone. Traditional grading practices often focus on points and compliance rather than mastery. But what if we could shift our focus to student growth and create a more equitable learning environment?

Enter Canvas Outcomes. This powerful feature within Canvas LMS allows teachers to define clear learning objectives, track student progress, and ensure that every child has the opportunity to demonstrate what they know.

Why Use Canvas Outcomes?

Canvas Outcomes provides a framework for aligning your instruction and assessment with specific learning goals. Here’s how it works:

  1. Define Learning Outcomes: Instead of just assigning points to assignments, identify the specific skills or knowledge you want students to acquire. These outcomes should be clear, measurable, and aligned with your standards.
    • Example: “Students will be able to analyze the main idea of a text and support it with evidence.”
  2. Align Assessments: Link your assignments, quizzes, and rubrics to these outcomes. This ensures that your assessments are directly measuring what students should be learning.
    • When creating a rubric, you can align specific criteria with an outcome, clearly showing students what they need to demonstrate.
  3. Track Student Progress: Canvas provides tools to monitor student progress toward mastery of each outcome. This data can inform your instruction and help you identify students who need additional support.
    • The Learning Mastery Gradebook provides a visual representation of student achievement for each outcome.
  4. Focus on Learning, Not Just Points: By aligning your grading with outcomes, you shift the focus from point accumulation to demonstrating mastery. This helps students see the purpose of their work and encourages them to take ownership of their learning.

Getting Started

Ready to give it a try? Here’s a step-by-step guide:

  1. Define Your Outcomes:
    • Go to the “Outcomes” section in your course.
    • Create your desired outcomes, ensuring they are specific and measurable.
  2. Align Outcomes with Assessments:
    • When creating or editing an assignment, quiz, or rubric, you can align it with the outcomes you’ve defined.
  3. Use the Learning Mastery Gradebook:
    • Enable the Learning Mastery Gradebook in your course settings.
    • Use this gradebook to monitor student progress on each outcome.
  4. Communicate with Students: Clearly explain the outcomes to your students and how their work will be assessed in relation to those outcomes.

Benefits

  • Increased Transparency: Outcomes make learning goals clear to both students and parents.
  • Improved Student Motivation: When students understand what they are working towards, they are more likely to be engaged.
  • Data-Driven Instruction: Canvas provides valuable data on student progress, allowing you to tailor your instruction to meet their needs.
  • More Equitable Grading: By focusing on mastery, you create a system that is more fair and less susceptible to bias.

Did You Know?

  • Canvas Outcomes can be aligned not only to individual assignments but also to entire rubrics, allowing for a more holistic assessment of student learning.
  • The Learning Mastery Gradebook can be customized to display different levels of achievement, such as “Exceeds Expectations,” “Meets Expectations,” and “Does Not Meet Expectations,” providing a more nuanced view of student progress.
  • Outcomes can be shared across courses and departments, promoting consistency and alignment in learning goals across the institution. Reach out to a TIS for more information on how we can support Outcome sharing.

Take the First Step

Integrating Canvas Outcomes into your classroom may seem daunting at first, but the shift towards focusing on learning objectives is well worth the effort. Start small, focus on one or two key outcomes, and gradually expand your use of this powerful tool.

P-CCS Tech Status issues with NWEA again

It appears both some of our district’s test takers and other school districts’ test takers are again experiencing dififculties accessing NWEA for their testing this morning. Those planning to NWEA test today may want to pause their testing OR proceed cautiously and periodically review the NWEA status page for guidance https://status.nwea.org/ (note there often is a time lag in its reporting) to minimize what might otherwise be a bad testing experience for some students.

P-CCS Tech Status UPDATE: NWEA is again accessible

UPDATE: NWEA reporting they are back up
https://status.nwea.org/

On Tue, May 6, 2025 at 10:01 AM Technology Communications <technology.communications> wrote:

We have heard several reports of issues when accessing NWEA. These reports have come from both internal staff and other districts across the state. We are investigating the issue and do not have an ETA of when access will be restored.

P-CCS Tech Status NWEA appears to be down

We have heard several reports of issues when accessing NWEA. These reports have come from both internal staff and other districts across the state. We are investigating the issue and do not have an ETA of when access will be restored.

Cybersecurity Notice: Fake CAPTCHA Attacks Targeting Trusted Websites

CAPTCHA examples

Many websites use CAPTCHA prompts (those small prompts asking you to confirm you’re not a robot) as a security measure. Unfortunately, malicious actors are now mimicking these prompts in a new method of attack that can compromise your computer with just a few keystrokes.

These fake CAPTCHA attacks are becoming more common and are quite effective because they often appear on websites that users trust, such as news and educational websites. The goal is to trick users into unknowingly run commands that install malicious software.

How the attack works

A user visits a legitimate website that has unknowingly allowed a malicious advertisement to be displayed through a 3rd party ad server. When the ad appears, the user is redirected to a maliciou site displaying a fake CAPTCHA. After a user clicks the CAPTCHA checkbox, a prompt appears asking them to press a combination of keys like WIN+R, CTRL+V and Enter (example below). 

fake captcha

These inputs launch a script on the user’s machine that silently downloads and installs malware. Because this attack mimics routine behavior and comes from sites that we normally trust, it can be quite deceptive. 

What should you do?

If a CAPTCHA prompt ever asks you to press keyboard shortcuts like WIN+R or CTRL+V, DO NOT follow these instructions. A legitimate CAPTCHA will never require keyboard input beyond clicking a checkbox, selecting images, typing characters or sliding

If you encounter any unusual prompts or website behavior, report it to technology right away. Quick reporting allows us to take immediate action and helps protect our staff, students, and community from these malicious actors.

In case you were wondering, (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart).

Teaching in the Age of AI: AI-Proofing Your Assignments

Teaching in Age of AI graphic

AI chatbots are here, and while they offer exciting possibilities, they also challenge how we assess student learning. It’s time to shift our focus to what AI can’t replicate: the unique human element. Let’s adapt our assessments to celebrate student thinking, not just AI output.

Here are some practical, quick strategies to assess student authorship in this new era:

  • Why This, Not That?” Reflections: Ask students to explain their choices. Why this word? What else did you consider? Uncover their reasoning.
  • “Behind the Scenes” Explanations: When presenting, students share their process: What challenges did you face? How did your ideas evolve?
  • Source Analysis: Go beyond citations. Ask how sources shaped their thinking.
  • Personalized Prompts: Connect assignments to their lives. How does X relate to your understanding of Y? AI can’t replicate personal experience.
  • Process-Based Assessment: Break down projects (outlines, drafts). Last-minute AI use becomes obvious.
  • “My Thinking Journey” Journals: Encourage reflection on their process through notes and visuals. This is a personal artifact.
  • “Explain Your Thinking” Annotations: Ask students to justify their choices directly in their work.
  • Audio/Video Explanations: Have students verbally explain their work for a personal touch.

Keep in mind that AI is getting better at explaining its output, so you may want to be careful about holding these reflection sessions during the school day. Below is one example of how AI explained its thought process.

AI thought process

We’re always seeking ways to engage our students. Here are some helpful tips we’ve gathered:

  • Know Their Voices: Familiarize yourself with individual student writing.
  • In-Class Writing: Observe their real-time writing process (be mindful of limitations).
  • Formative Assessment: Track progress over time, not just final products.
  • Thoughtful Prompts: As one teacher said, “If you don’t want generic answers, don’t ask generic questions.” Focus on emotional intelligence and experience.
  • Explore AI Together: Understand its limitations with your students.

These strategies offer a path forward in the age of AI, ensuring our students continue to develop the critical human skills necessary for their growth and success.

Spring Canvas Updates

This week Canvas released a few updates, mostly regarding Canvas New Quizzes.

new quiz moderate enhancements

  • In the Activity Log, instructors can view the Client IP address, Browser Session ID, for each question of a quiz. This update provides instructors with greater visibility into quiz activity, helping them verify student engagement and identify potential irregularities during quiz attempts.

new quizzes breadcrumbs

  • When building a quiz in New Quizzes the Course Navigation and breadcrumbs display. Additionally, the Moderate tab and Reports tab are switched in the Quiz Menu. This update improves navigation and streamlines the quiz-building experience by providing consistent access to key tools.

student accommodations update

  • Several updates to the New Quizzes Moderate Page enhance the instructor’s ability to manage accommodations during active quiz attempts:
    • Instructors can add time to an active quiz attempt when moderating a New Quiz.
    • In the New Quizzes Moderate Page:
      • The modal is renamed to Student Accommodation.
      • The student’s name is relocated to the body text.
      • A checkbox is added to apply changes to the current quiz attempt.
    • The Moderation tray is renamed to In Progress Accommodation and includes the student’s name in the body text.

    Note: The Apply these changes to the current Quiz and attempts as well checkbox is enabled by default.

 

Enhanced Rubrics

Canvas has been working on improving the rubric experience. They have added some functionality to make building and adjusting rubric easier. We have not yet turned on this updated functionality and are looking for feedback from heavy Canvas Rubric users about what they think and when we should turn it on in our district. One exciting reason to enable it is that students can now self-asses with the rubrics added to an assignment.

Please reach out to your TIS if you have an opinion about turning it on and if you would like a preview of the new experience.

Teaching in the Age of AI: Tools for In-Class Writing Practice

Write beyond limits promo

In today’s educational landscape, particularly with the increasing presence of AI writing tools, the value of short, focused writing activities (across the curriculum) conducted within the classroom and accompanied by immediate feedback cannot be overstated. These brief in-class exercises provide a crucial opportunity for students to practice and internalize writing skills in a controlled environment, allowing teachers to offer timely guidance and address misconceptions before they solidify.

There are many ways to integrate frequent, short writing reps with quick feedback. In many cases this can be achieved in Google tools or Canvas. However, the timely feedback part can be tricky. Luckily, there are some tech tools on the scene to help incorporate peer feedback and AI feedback, often in a gamified way. These three options are freemium products, they offer many core features for free and some paid upgrade options.

Bonus: Class Companion has M-STEP and AP test practice that may be helpful this time of year.

Feature WeWillWrite Short Answer Class Companion
Core Functionality Gamified, collaborative writing Short-answer writing with gamified, peer feedback AI-powered feedback and tutoring on assignments
Writing Approach Short bursts, team-based, anonymous Open-ended questions, justification Varies by assignment type (short answer, essay, etc.)
Feedback Mechanism Peer voting (think of a writing bracket) Peer feedback based on customizable criteria Instant AI feedback, AI tutoring, optional teacher feedback
Gamification Strong emphasis through team challenges and competition Present through activity modes (Pair It, All In, Battle Royale) Less direct gamification, focus on engagement through AI support
AI Capabilities Analysis of literary techniques, grammar, structure–available in the premium version None explicitly mentioned for writing analysis Strong focus on AI for feedback, tutoring, content generation, and integrity checks
Teacher Role Facilitator of challenges, guides discussion based on AI insights, moderation Creates questions, customizes feedback criteria, facilitates discussion of results Creates/selects assignments, monitors AI feedback, provides additional guidance
Content Creation Teacher-created or modified challenges Teacher-created questions AI-generated assignments, teacher uploads, built-in content library
Assessment Focus Formative, emphasis on participation and peer learning Formative, emphasis on peer evaluation and understanding of criteria Formative and summative, emphasis on understanding and application with AI support
Reporting/Insights Premium version offers student reports Results page with peer feedback percentages, confidence ratings Detailed insights on student strengths, weaknesses, engagement, and potential dishonesty (paid plans)

Reach out to a TIS for more information on how to get these up and running.

Alternative to Revision History Extension

We’ve recently learned that the Revision History extension has now moved to a paid subscription model.

We understand that free and accessible tools are crucial for educators, so we’ve been exploring alternatives. We recommend the Brisk Teaching extension as a potential replacement.

How to install brisk

Brisk Teaching’s free model currently includes the “Inspect Writing” tool. This feature allows you to gain valuable insights into a student’s writing process and can be a helpful tool in verifying authorship.

Beyond the Inspect Writing tool, Brisk Teaching offers a range of other features that you might find beneficial in your teaching. 5 Ways to Use Brisk

If you’re interested in learning more about Brisk Teaching and exploring its capabilities, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your TIS.

Classwize Update: Add and Remove Individual Students from a Focus & Pause a Focus

location to select specific students to a focus session

Our digital classroom management, software has introduced a few updates.

Apply Focus to Individual Students

You now have even more flexibility when working with Focus in Classwize. When applying a Focus, teachers can now select if they would like to apply it to the whole class or just individual students.

Teachers can also add or remove individual students to a Focus while their class is in progress, with just one click.

Has one student finished a test? They can be quickly removed from the Focus so they can switch to a different activity, ensuring they stay engaged while the rest of the students finish up.

Select users for Focus

Pause a Focus

Students in a Focus can also now be paused and unpaused, giving even more granular control during classes.

Would you like more information about Classwize? Check out the Classwize Tech Guide.