Project Summary
Following the 2025 announcement of its IgniteAI suite, Instructure offered several Canvas IgniteAI feature options for trial through June 30, 2026, enabling partner institutions to test them prior to potential adoption.
After internal review, OIT conducted its own preview of select IgniteAI feature options during the spring 2026 semester, inviting faculty to opt in and provide feedback on their experiences. The goal of the preview was to evaluate the extent to which these features options support faculty workflows and enhance student engagement.
The following feature options were made available to faculty and staff during the preview period, which ran from March 2, 2026 to June 1, 2026.
- Generator for Rubrics
- Insights for Discussions
- Summaries for Discussions
- Question Authoring Assistance for New Quizzes
- Translations for Discussions and Announcements
- Search for Courses
Except for Translations for Discussions and Announcements and Search for Courses, feature options were available only to users with Instructor permissions.
Additional tools such as Grading Assistance for Speedgrader and Accessibility Remediation were also available as part of Canvas’s broader IgniteAI trial, but they were not included in the CU campus preview.
Approach
The Canvas IgniteAI Preview was publicized through the OIT website and newsletter, the AI Community of Practice, and targeted emails to select departments and programs that might have particular interest in the translation feature options. At the beginning of the preview period, the project team hosted two virtual informational sessions to demonstrate how to enable and use the feature options. The project team also established Canvas Feature Preview, a Microsoft Team where participants could ask questions and share feedback and other information about their experience using the IgniteAI suite.
Findings
Approximately 50 unique users participated in the campus preview of IgniteAI features, including faculty and learning designers. By the end of the preview, Generator for Rubrics and Search for Courses were the most frequently enabled feature options.
Based on limited survey feedback from faculty and campus partners, no IgniteAI feature appears to meaningfully change or improve how faculty experience Canvas. The Generator for Rubrics and Search for Courses options were viewed as useful but largely as incremental additions to existing workflows. Feedback on Question Authoring Assistance for New Quizzes was generally unfavorable, with participants noting that the tool required significant effort yet produced low-quality questions. Instructure has indicated that it continues to refine IgniteAI features in response to user feedback, and future iterations may address some of the concerns identified during the preview.
Conclusion
In accordance with CU Boulder's Commitments for AI in Canvas, OIT will continue to make available opt-in feature options covered under CU’s current Canvas license. These include:
- Summaries for Discussions
- Search for Courses
- Translations for Discussions and Announcements
- Question Authoring Assistance for New Quizzes
Options can be enabled in Canvas on a per-course basis, under Feature Options in Settings. More information on how to enable Canvas features can be found at Canvas Feature Options.
Given concerns raised in preview feedback, faculty exploring Question Authoring Assistance are encouraged to consult the CU Boulder Center for Teaching and Learning’s guidance on effective practices for online assessment.
The project team anticipates future Canvas feature preview initiatives as Instructure enhances and expands its suite of Canvas tools. For ongoing updates, consider joining the Canvas Feature Preview Microsoft Team.
Project Participants and Roles
- Jessica George, Academic Technology Professional
- Raj Singh, LMS Administrator
- Luke Prather, Assistant Director of Academic Technology Applications
- Rebecca Kallemeyn, Program Manager for Academic Technology Initiatives, Consulting & Training
The project team welcomes questions and ongoing feedback on Canvas IgniteAI features as faculty continue to explore their use. For more information, email Jessica George (jessica.george-1@colorado.edu).
