New in Canvas: IgniteAI

• IgniteAI Search: an AI-enhanced course search in Canvas that lets students and instructors find content using natural, “meaning-based” queries, not just exact keywords.
• Ignite AI Translations (for Discussions and Announcements): allows faculty and students to translate Canvas text in place, supporting multilingual participation without leaving Canvas.
• IgniteAI Translations (for Canvas Inbox): translates private Canvas Inbox messages in place, available for both faculty and students.
• IgniteAI Summaries for Discussions: lets an instructor generate a quick AI-written recap of a discussion thread right inside Canvas.
• IgniteAI Insights for Discussions: uses AI to scan individual student replies and flag how relevant and substantive they are compared to the original prompt.
  Feature Preview (free through 6/30/2026 and may incur additional cost in the future)
• IgniteAI Generator for Rubrics: within an Assignment, instructors can generate a draft rubric based on the assignment description, then edit and refine it before publishing. Enhanced Rubrics must be enabled to use this feature.
  Feature Preview (free through 6/30/2026 and may incur additional cost in the future)

These AI features are made available in all Canvas courses starting Spring 2026. Faculty have the option to enable or disable these features in their own courses via Settings > Feature Options. With the exception of Translations for Canvas Inbox, all tools must be enabled by faculty on the course level if they opt in to use them. For assistance, please visit ITDS’ Canvas Ignite website or contact ITDS at itds@montclair.edu.

We encourage faculty to explore and use these IgniteAI tools this spring. Your experience will help guide our next steps. At the end of the Spring term, we’ll send a brief survey to gather your feedback on which features are most helpful and whether we should continue offering them moving forward.