Canvas has a few features that allow you to assign different Assignments, Quizzes, Discussions, or even entire Modules to students. This article will describe those features in greater detail so you can understand how and when to use them.
Groups and Sections Features
The Groups feature in Canvas can be used to assign differentiated content to students in Canvas, but it is not the recommended solution for differentiation. When a Group is created, a stripped down Canvas course is created for that group. All members of that group can open that course and view a list of every other member of the Group. Group names are also visible to students and parents. The only time that Groups are the right choice is if you have a project that one student will be submitting on behalf of the entire group.
Now that Differentiation Tags exist, Sections are no longer the method we recommend for assigning differentiated content as they are more time-consuming to create and they prevent students from being dropped automatically from a Canvas course when they have a schedule change.
“Assign To” Feature: Assign anything to a specific student, section, or tag
You can assign anything in Canvas (including Modules) to a specific student, a section, a tag, or everyone in your class. By default, assignments are assigned to Everyone. You can delete “Everyone” and then assign to either a section (class period), a tag (see directions below), or individual student names. If you don't see a student's name in the list, simply start typing a few characters of their name and it will appear.
Differentiation Tags: Great for meeting IEP/504/ML accommodations and modifications
Differentiation Tags allow teachers to “tag” students and then use those tags to assign differentiated content to them. This is a great feature to utilize if you frequently assign modified or adapted content to students with IEP/504/ML accommodations. Tags are not visible to students or parents. Watch the video below to learn how to create them.
MasteryPaths (Advanced): Automated differentiation for all students in your class
MasteryPaths is an advanced Canvas feature that allows teacher to automatically assign content to students based on how they performed on a graded activity at the beginning of a Module (such as a pre-assessment). A teacher creates one graded item at the start of a module and then can create up to three batches of content that get assigned to students automatically based on how they performed on that graded item.
Additional Information: