(Additional updates will be added throughout the quarter. Newest updates at the top.)
- Roster Photos Upgrade
- Winter 2027 Canvas Course Creation
- Enhanced Rubrics Coming Winter 2027
- Group Assignment Excusing
- Course Navigation - LTI Visibility for Students
- Hypothesis Available in all Courses
- aPlus+ Attendance Pilot
- Fall 2026 Canvas Courses Available
Roster Photos Upgrade
As of October 13, 2026, Roster Photos got a major upgrade to the backend and front-end. The tool now loads much quicker and is more secure. As for the front-end, there is a clearer sense of progress while the tool loads, enhanced visual focus and user control, easier navigation, cleaner print view, and more! The Roster Photos tool is also now fully accessible and includes quizzing functionality, which allows teaching teams to test themselves on student names and pronouns at the start of the quarter. For more information on all the updates, please see our Roster Photos Improvements news article. We also have a Tutorial Video of the new feature.
Winter 2027 Canvas Course Creation
Canvas course creation for Winter 2027 will begin on Monday, October 19, 2026. Courses will be available by Tuesday, October 20, 2026. If you do not see your course on Canvas on October 20, please check Axess to confirm you're listed as the instructor of record. If so, contact us at canvashelp@stanford.edu.
Enhanced Rubrics Coming Winter 2027
All Winter 2027 Canvas courses will have Enhanced Rubrics when starting off the quarter. Instructure will be enforcing enhanced rubrics on December 19, 2026. This upgrade will include a more modern user interface, new rubric views (Horizontal and Vertical), self-assessments, drag & drop, and easier rubric creation and management workflows.
For more information, please refer to Instructure's resources below:
Group Assignment Excusing
Starting October 7, 2026, group assignments where students are excused from the assignment via SpeedGrader will excuse all group members; excusing from the Gradebook will excuse individual students only. This will be a change from existing behavior where excusing a group assignment from the Gradebook now (before 10/7/26) excuses only the individual student.
Course Navigation - LTI Visibility for Students
Starting October 7, 2026, an improvement will be added where enabled LTI tools available only to instructors (e.g. Roster Photos) display a slash eye icon in the course navigation menu to let instructor know students can’t see or access the tool. Unfortunately, non-LTI tools students can’t access (e.g. Accessibility) continue to not display the slash eye icon.
Hypothesis Available in all Courses
Hypothesis, the collaborative annotation tool, is now available by default in all Canvas courses. Hypothesis content can be added to a Canvas Module or to a Canvas Assignment.
aPlus+ Attendance Tool Pilot
If you are interested in piloting the aPlus+ Attendance tool in your Fall 2026 Canvas course, let us know at canvashelp@stanford.edu.
Fall 2026 Canvas Courses Available
If you do not see your Fall 2026 course on Canvas, please check Axess to make sure you're listed as the official instructor of record. If so, contact canvashelp@stanford.edu for assistance.