Changes to Canvas Interface on May 16

  • Faculty & Staff
  • Students & Alumni

A major design update will affect all Canvas sites at Penn. To minimize disruption, the change took place on May 16 (between Commencement and Summer Session I).

Canvas looks different around the periphery, but its functionality and main content areas did not change. For example, menu items that we've been accustomed to find at the top of the window now appear at the left. The updated user interface will also reshape itself responsively to fit on mobile devices. The new interface also offers "course cards" as a quick way to get from the dashboard to the course sites.

For a quick introduction, visit the library's blog post, "New Canvas User Interface Coming May 16, 2016".

Many people will find the Library's six-minute video tour of the changes very useful, because it demonstrates use of the new interface.

The library has also created a written version (in PDF) of the information in this video.

For further information, visit the documentation provided by Canvas, "What is the New Canvas User Interface?"

Please contact Courseware Support at if you have questions or need assistance.