How do I create and manage Differentiation Tags as an instructor?
This guide applies to institutions that have opted-in to the Differentiation Tags feature preview. If your user interface displays differently, the feature has not been enabled at your institution. To learn more about the feature preview, ask questions, or comment on functionality, navigate to the Differentiation Tags user group.
A Canvas admin needs to enable Differentiation Tags setting at the account or sub-account level. This setting can also be locked for sub-accounts.
You can use differentiation tags to assign specific content to customized sets of students. These sets are not visible to students. Additionally, admins can access differentiation tags through Canvas Data for reporting and analysis.
Notes:
- If the Differentiation Tags feature option is enabled and locked at the root account, the sub-account setting will display. However, if the feature option is enabled and unlocked at the root account but disabled in the sub-account, the sub-account setting will not be displayed.
- Both the Differentiation Tags Feature Option and Account setting must be enabled.
- Differentiation tags are not retained during course exports or imports.
- Each course is limited to 40 tags total and 10 variants per tag set.
- There is no limit to the total number of tags a student can have; however, a student can only be assigned one tag per tag set.
Open People
In Global Navigation, click the People link.
Create Tag
In the People page of a course, click the Manage Tags button [1]. If you have not created tags yet, an introductory message displays in the Manage Tags tray.
To create a tag, click Get Started button [2].
To import tags, click the Upload CSV link [3].
Note: Due to permission caching, changes may take up to an hour to appear unless a user's cache is manually cleared in Canvas.
In the Create tag window, enter a tag name [1] and a tag set [2]. Then, click the Save button [3].
Manage Tags
If you previously created tags, the Manage Tags tray display a list of existing tags.
To add a new tag, click the Add Tag button [1].
To edit a tag, click the Edit icon [2].
To import tags, click the Upload CSV button [3].
To delete a tag, click the Delete icon [4].
When editing a differentiation tag, you can change from a single tag to multiple tags and vice versa [1]. You can also change the Tag Name [2].
If you selected Multiple Tags, you can add or edit the Tag Set Name [3] and add another tag [4].
To apply the changes, click the Save button [5].
Import Tags
In the Import Tags tray, you can download a tag template file [1].
To learn more about import instructions, click the Read Tag Import Instructions link [2].
To import tags, drag and drop a file or click the Or choose a file to upload link [3].
Assign Tag As
To filter by roles and differentiation tags, click the Role drop-down menu [1]. To add tags to students, click the checkbox of the desired student(s) [2]. Then, click the Tag As button [3]. You can either select an existing tag [4] or create a new tag [5].
Once a tag is assigned to a student, a tag icon displays. To view the assigned tags, click the icon [6].
Note: Creating a new tag using the Tag As button does not automatically apply the tag to previously selected users. Additionally, you can bulk select users via Shift+Click.
View Student Tag
All tags assigned to a student display in a modal.
Note: Students can have multiple tags. However, if the tags are part of the same tag set, a student can only be assigned one tag from that set.
You can also view student tags in the Student Details tray.
Bulk Untag
To bulk untag students, select the students with the same tag you wish to remove [1]. Then, select the Untag option [2].
Note: Only one tag can be removed at a time.
View Assign To
When creating or editing Assignments, Discussions, Quizzes, New Quizzes, or Pages, you can assign items to students with specific tags.
Assignments assigned to tags display as Tag(s) in the For column instead of Groups.
Notes:
- For more information, visit the Order of Precedence and Due Dates for Assignments and Modules resource document.
- When a student belongs to multiple tags or sections with conflicting due dates for the same assignment, the assignment with the latest due date will apply. However, if there's an individual override set for the student, that due date will take precedence over all others.
- Tags are not supported for Group Assignments and will not appear as an option when creating them.
