The Conference I Missed, the Tools I Rediscovered

The Conference I Missed, the Tools I Rediscovered

August 31st, 2026

By Jennifer Mansfield, Learning Experience Designer Sr.

In July, I had planned to attend InstructureCon, the annual conference for the Canvas LMS, and expected to write this post about the new ideas and features shared there. For various reasons, I was unable to attend the in-person conference, which left me wondering what to write about instead.

As I thought about it, I kept returning to one idea: while it is exciting to learn what is new and upcoming, there is also real value in looking closely at the tools already available in Canvas. Many of these features can help faculty create more active, engaging, and manageable learning experiences, especially in large or complex courses.

So instead of hearing about future capabilities in a conference hall, I found myself looking more carefully at the tools already available in every course shell, including some that may be underutilized. This is especially relevant in engineering courses, where faculty are often managing large enrollments, complex problem-solving activities, labs, projects, and students with varied levels of preparation. In that context, small design choices in Canvas can make expectations clearer, feedback more timely, and student support more manageable.

With that in mind, consider a few Canvas features that can create more intentional engagement opportunities for you and your students.

• Gradebook “Message Students Who…” – Send targeted nudges or resources to students who have not submitted, scored below/above a threshold, or haven’t been graded yet.
• New Analytics / Course Analytics – Notice patterns in student participation, activity, and course access for early outreach. 
• Announcements with Delayed Posting – Schedule weekly “start here” messages, exam reminders, or encouragement notes. Just add display dates when you create or edit an announcement.
• SpeedGrader Media Comments – Record short audio or video feedback to make instructor presence feel more personal.
• Student View – Preview the course as students see it to catch confusing navigation, unpublished items, or missing instructions.
• To-Do Dates – Add dates/reminders to students’ calendars, dashboards, and to-do lists. 
• Module Requirements and Prerequisites – Guide students through content in sequence and help them track completion.
• Canvas Help – the question mark icon near the bottom of your account-level navigation, Canvas Guides (instructor and student), ASU Live Chat tech support, ASU Help, Tutoring, Canvas release notes and more. 

In each case, the feature matters because it supports a larger instructional purpose. It helps make the engagement more intentional, more visible, and more manageable. None of these tools automatically guarantees good teaching and learning. However, they can enable it when used intentionally and appropriately. As you consider these resources, several design decisions are worth thinking through. 

• What are the expectations for student interaction in the class? 
• How can you enable and encourage students to interact with the content, you as the instructor, and especially one another? 
• How will you know who may need support? How should that support be given?
• When and how will feedback be shared throughout the course? 
• How can students engage with content before, during, and after class in ways that are informative for you as the instructor and useful for them as students?

Canvas cannot answer those questions for us, but it can help us design for them ahead of time.

For example, a large course might use a short pre-class quiz to surface misconceptions before lecture so the instructor can clarify them during the class. A faculty member might use “Message Students Who” to reach out to students who missed an assignment before one missed deadline becomes a pattern. Course analytics might help an instructor identify when students are not accessing key materials and adjust communication or support accordingly.

That, in the end, is what my missed conference clarified for me. The most useful frontier may not always be the next feature announcement. Sometimes it is learning how to better leverage the platform we already open every day, with more intention, as it continues to evolve.

_{Author’s Note: This article was drafted with the assistance of a generative AI tool to support wording and formatting; content generated by AI has been reviewed and approved by the author}.