You may have noticed some recent changes to Canvas SpeedGrader. I will admit, I was not happy when I first saw the new interface. My first text to a colleague said, “It’s easy to figure out, but it looks really blocky/chunky.” Okay, so its aesthetic needs a little work. What about its functionality? According to Instructure, the new SpeedGrader has all kinds of improvements, including the following:
- efficiency improvements, correcting many of the errors that had been reported about it and increasing speed,
- upgraded underlying structure, so it is more compatible with modern technology and more accessible,
- a more visible no submission alert,
- an assignment status drop-down menu.
There are reasons not to want to use the newer version–it seems to have come with particular differences for commenting on multiple file submissions in the same assignment and adding points differently as we grade in the rubric. There may be other changes you notice that might interrupt your workflow. For those of us not wanting to move on to the newer version of SpeedGrader, there is a way to use the older version. You’ll need to be in an assignment in SpeedGrader, and then click on the gear icon. Select “options.” You’ll see a button there to “Show old Speedgrader UI” and then “save settings.” You should then return to the previous version of SpeedGrader.
Reach out to the CTLE if you have questions about the new SpeedGrader. We are experimenting with it right now and would like to hear your thoughts.