Summaries for Canvas Discussions

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Feature Preview

Summaries for Canvas Discussions is currently a Feature Preview. This means there may be ongoing updates outside of the regular release schedule.

This is an INSTRUCTOR ONLY feature. Students do not have access to this and cannot generate discussion summaries.

Canvas Discussions allow instructors to generate a summary of a given discussion topic using IgniteAI. Instructors can ask IgniteAI to focus on a specific area or topic within the discussion post. Instructors can also generate a more general summary without any focus on an area or topic. The maximum number of summary generations allowed per user per day is 25.

Enabling Summaries for Discussions

In order to utilize Summaries for Discussions:

  1. Navigate to your Canvas course.
  2. Click on the Settings course navigation link on the bottom left-hand side of your screen.
  3. Click on the Feature Options tab at the top of the screen.
  4. Find the IgniteAI Summaries for Discussions Feature Option row.
    • Optional: Click on the > icon to expand and read the description.
  5. Click on the red ❌ icon, and select Enabled. A green ✅ checkmark icon will display indicating that the Feature Option has been enabled.
    • There is no Save button on this screen. Any Feature Options you enable or disable here are updated immediately.
A screenshot of the feature options page within the Canvas LMS settings. The first item listed is "IgniteAI Summaries for Discussions" with the description "Summarize discussions using AI" and a "Feature Preview" label. A purple arrow points to this feature title. To the right, a dropdown menu is open, showing the "Enabled" option highlighted in purple and the "Disabled" option checked. A red 'X' icon is visible next to the dropdown, indicating the current disabled state before the change.

Viewing Summaries for Discussions

These instructions assume that you have at least one discussion topic created in your Canvas course and have replies from your students. If you do not have any discussion topics created in your course, refer to How do I create a discussion as an instructor? or How do I create a graded discussion?.

In your Canvas course, click on the Discussions course navigation link on the left-hand side of your screen.

Click on a discussion topic in your course.

Click on the ✨ Open Summary button located at the bottom right-hand corner of your discussion prompt.

A screenshot of a discussion board within the Canvas LMS featuring a teacher's post titled "Module 3: Creative Art Project - Concept Share." The instructor's prompt asks students to troubleshoot roadblocks for the project due on January 31st by posting a brief description of their chosen medium, their central theme, and one challenge they are currently facing. At the bottom right corner of the post, a purple arrow points to a button labeled "Open Summary" with a sparkle icon, which is used to activate the IgniteAI tool.

The Discussion Summary dialog box will appear.

Optional: In the Topics to focus on (optional) text box, add any areas or topics you would like IgniteAI to focus on.

Click on the ✨ Summarize button to generate a summary.

  • Clicking on the ✨ Summarize button without any Topics to focus on will generate a more general summary of all replies for the topic.
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AI Accuracy

Keep in mind the translation is generated by AI. Please note that the output may not always be accurate.

A screenshot of a pop-up window in the Canvas LMS titled "Discussion Summary." Below the title, a disclaimer reads, "This summary is generated by AI and reflects the latest contributions to the discussion. Please note that the output may not always be accurate. Summaries are only visible to instructors." Under the heading "Topics to focus on (optional)," there is a text input field with the placeholder "Enter the areas or topics you want the summary to focus on." To the right of this field is a purple "Summarize" button with a white sparkle icon. An "X" close button is in the top right corner of the window.

After a summary has been generated by IgniteAI, there are three areas of note:

  • Generated Summary displays a green pill icon with a number (out of 25) indicating how many summaries can be generated per user per day. In the screenshot below, the instructor has used one of his/her allotted 25 (1/25) summary generations for the day.
  • The generated summary in italicized text (highlighted in yellow in this guide to indicate where a summary will be shown)
  • Click the 👍 Like (Thumbs Up) or 👎 Dislike (Thumbs Down) icons next to Do you like this summary? at the bottom right-hand corner of the summary to provide feedback to Instructure.
A screenshot of a "Discussion Summary" pop-up window within the Canvas LMS. The window contains a disclaimer stating the summary is AI-generated and only visible to instructors. Below this is an optional input field for "Topics to focus on" and a "Summarize" button. The main content is under the heading "Generated Summary," next to which is a green oval indicator showing "1/25" with an arrow pointing to it, indicating that one summary out of a daily limit of twenty-five has been generated. The summary itself is highlighted in yellow and reads: "The course discussion focused on the progress and challenges related to the upcoming Creative Art Project. A student shared their struggle with the fixative process while working on a charcoal piece with the theme of 'Urban Isolation.' The instructor provided helpful tips, suggesting the use of a lighter mist from a greater distance and the application of a white medium to restore the highlights, which the student plans to try on a practice piece before finalizing the project." At the bottom, the question "Do you like this summary?" is followed by a thumbs up icon (pointed to by another arrow) and a thumbs down icon.

Hover your mouse over the green pill icon (Example: 1/25) to read a short description. As mentioned above, “The maximum number of summary generations allowed per user per day is 25.”

A close-up view of a section of the IgniteAI interface within the Canvas LMS, showing a dark grey tooltip box that has appeared upon hovering over the green "1 / 25" indicator. The tooltip text reads, "The maximum number of summary generations allowed per user per day is 25." Below the tooltip, the label "Generated Summary" is positioned next to the green oval indicator containing the text "1 / 25", which is pointed to by a purple arrow from the right. A portion of the generated summary text is visible below this, beginning with "The course discussion focused on the progress and challenges rela...". The text "Topics to focus on (optional)" is partially visible above the tooltip.

Additional Resources

What are IgniteAI Summaries
Use IgniteAI Summaries for Discussions
Related Link

IgniteAI Nutrition Facts: Summaries for Discussions