YouTube Ads in Canvas: What’s Changing and How to Keep Your Courses Ad-Free 

On Friday, October 3, 2025 (note: originally September 22nd), any existing or newly added YouTube videos embedded in Canvas may begin showing advertisements and video recommendations, potentially disrupting the learning experience. This change comes as part of YouTube’s updated integration policies, and it’s important for educators and instructional designers to prepare accordingly. Please note that these ads are controlled by YouTube and cannot be disabled within Canvas. 

What’s Changing?

YouTube videos embedded directly in Canvas will no longer be ad-free. This means: 

Viewers may see ads, suggested videos, and links back to YouTube. The viewing experience may become less focused and more distracting. 

On October 3, 2025, there will be a message overlay displayed on YouTube videos in Canvas to alert viewers that ads may be displayed. This message will display before playing the video on the browser.  On the Canvas mobile apps, the message will be displayed at the top of the page. 

Why Kaltura Helps?

To provide a cleaner, ad-free viewing experience for students, we recommend using Kaltura to embed YouTube videos in Canvas.  See the help articles below:  

If You Choose to Use Direct YouTube Links…

If you prefer to continue using direct YouTube links or embeds, please consider adding a disclaimer to your course: 

“Some videos may display advertisements. These ads are not affiliated with or endorsed by Georgia Institute of Technology.” 

This helps to clarify with students that any ads shown are outside of Georgia Tech’s control. 

If you have any questions, please contact the Digital Learning Team at canvas@gatech.edu.  

Kaltura Capture Not Compatible with macOS Tahoe

Dark blue backgroud with an alert and video symbol displaying the text "Kaltura Capture Not Compatible with macOS Tahoe"

Please note that upgrading to macOS Tahoe currently causes all new Kaltura Capture recordings to produce corrupted video files. Playback freezes both in Kaltura MediaSpace and when viewed locally on the device. Upgrading to macOS Tahoe at this time will render Kaltura Capture unusable until a fix is released. We are actively monitoring the situation and will provide updates as soon as the vendor releases a resolution.

Please contact the Digital Learning Team at canvas@gatech.edu, if there are any further questions.

    Padlet Workspace URL Update

    Colorful Padlet Logo

    We are very excited to announce improvements to GT’s Padlet account access URL. It is moving from gatech.padlet.org to padlet.com/gatech on September 17, 2025.

    Please note that once the migration to the “.com” domain happens, the old URL will be redirected to the new URL, and the integration with Canvas will not be impacted. 

    🛠️ What’s changing 

    • Users can sign up or log in with SAML by going to padlet.com/gatech
    • Improved safety permissions to restrict access for students to only use and share Padlets within the Gatech account. Read more here

    📝 What you need to do 

    • Bookmark your new school URL: padlet.com/gatech
    • Read the migration resources below. 

    📚 Migration resources 

    To help your team get up to speed, we’ve created three quick-start guides: 

    1. From Backpack to Padlet for Schools: Explains the migration taking place. 
    2. Teacher Quick Guide: Walks teachers through where to find their padlets, how to share them, and what’s new. 

    ❓Questions 

    📢 Deprecation of Qualtrics Contact List Triggers

    Laptop displaying a warning about the deprecation of Qualtrics Contact List Triggers

    Effective December 1, 2025, Qualtrics will officially deprecate Contact List Triggers. This means: Existing triggers will stop functioning. Contacts will no longer be added to lists via triggers. No new triggers can be created.

    🔄 What’s Replacing Triggers?

    Qualtrics is transitioning to a more robust and flexible system called Contact List Workflows, available in the Actions tab. These workflows offer:

    • Enhanced automation capabilities
    • Better integration with survey distributions
    • Improved reliability and reporting features

    ✅ Required Action

    To avoid disruption:

    • Review your current surveys and workflows.
    • Replace all Contact List Triggers with the new Workflow Tasks before December 1, 2025.

    🛠 Resources & Support

    • Step-by-step guides are available in the Qualtrics Experience Community
    • For assistance, contact the Customer Success Hub Contact List Triggers.

    College of Lifetime Learning’s 2025 EdTech Showcase

    Edtech Showcase student on laptop with blue background

    September 17, 12-1 p.m. Virtual via Zoom

    Join the College of Lifetime Learning’s Learning Systems team as they showcase H5P, a user-friendly web tool that empowers instructors to create interactive experiences. With H5P, instructors can easily create and publish more than 50 content types including games, quizzes, and interactive videos directly from a Canvas course.

    Following a demo by H5P, Lifetime Learning’s Peter Graening will share his experiences using H5P in the FlexStack program.

    🗓️ Add to Calendar

    If you have any questions, feel free to contact Desmond Gardfrey.

    Calling All Faculty and TAs!

    Georgia Tech Tower in the background with a computer in the bottom right corner and a symbol of Canvas.

    Join us for the Digital Learning Team’s Faculty Training this August and September—an energizing kickoff to the new academic year! Whether you’re a seasoned instructor or a brand-new TA, these sessions are designed to inspire, connect, and equip you with the latest tools and insights for digital learning success. 

    Don’t miss out—add the sessions to your calendar today! 🗓️

    All faculty and TAs are welcome to attend the Digital Learning Team Faculty Training in August and September. Please add the sessions to your calendar.  

    * Please note that all times listed are for Eastern Time (ET). 

    August 2025 Trainings

    Thursday, Aug. 14  

    • 11:00 am – Noon, Using Course Templates in Canvas 
    • 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm, New Quizzes: Lessons Learned from Faculty 

    Friday, Aug. 15  

    • 10:00 am – 11:00 am, Creating Accessible Canvas Courses with Ally and TidyUp 
    • 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm, Using Gradescope in Canvas 
    September 2025 Trainings

    Monday, Sept. 8  

    • 9:00 am – 10:00 am, Ed Discussion 
    • 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm, PointSolutions in Canvas 

    Tuesday, Sept. 9 

    • 10:00 am – 11:00 am, Using Qualtrics in Canvas 

    Wednesday, Sept. 10 

    • 10:00 am – 11:00 am, Using Perusall in Canvas 
    • 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm, Vocareum 

    Thursday, Sept. 11 

    • 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm, Advanced PointSolutions in Canvas 

    Friday, Sept. 12

    • 10:00 am – 11:00 am, Creating Accessible Canvas Courses with Ally and TidyUp

    Respondus 4 Exam Authoring + Canvas New Quizzes

    New feature alert! 🚨💻 The Respondus 4 Exam Authoring tool now supports the publishing of assessments directly to Canvas New Quizzes. Previously, you could publish an assessment to Classic Quizzes and manually convert it to a New Quiz.

    How to Update

    To update to the latest version of Respondus 4, go to the Help menu and select “Check for Update”. The application will additionally prompt users to update in the coming weeks. 

    Respondus 4 application showing how to check for updates

    How it Works

    To update to the latest version of Respondus 4, go to the Help menu and select “Check for Update”. The application will additionally prompt users to update in the coming weeks. 

    Menu options from the Preview and Publish Tab. Options to select are New Quizzes and Classic Quizzes.

    If you have any questions, please email us at canvas@gatech.edu.

    VoiceThread Subdomains Update

    Voicethread logo

    Happy Friday, DLT Blog Subscribers! 💛 💻

    Please note that after June 30, 2025, VoiceThread will be retiring our custom subdomain (http://gatech.voicethread.com/). You will now be redirected to https://voicethread.com.

    To access VoiceThread from outside of Canvas:

    • Go to https://voicethread.com
    • Click “Sign in.” 
    • Click “Sign in via institution.” 
    • Search for ‘Georgia Tech’. 
    • Click Sign In to be redirected to the GT login page. 

    Will the Canvas LTI integration be affected? 

    Since GT has VoiceThread integrated using LTI 1.3, we are good to go! Everything should continue to work seamlessly. 

    Will any work or accounts be lost? 

    Not at all! This simply changes the page where users will go to sign in if they aren’t accessing Canvas. 

    Please contact canvas@gatech.edu if you have any questions! 

    🚀Boost Your Canvas Skills Anytime, Anywhere!

    Are you looking for flexible, comprehensive training for you and your team? Look no further! 😁 Instructure’s On-Demand Training Portal delivers exactly that—putting knowledge at your fingertips when you need it most, ensuring maximized impact and efficiency. 

    What Can You Do in the On-Demand Training Portal? 

    In the On-Demand Training Portal, you can: 

    • Access training courses and videos that go beyond the guides. 
    • Attend live trainings and webinars and interact with Canvas Experts. 
    • Earn badges and certificates for successfully completing courses and pathways. 

    How to Access the On-Demand Training Portal? 

    • Sign into Canvas at https://canvas.gatech.edu/.  
    • Open the HELP MENU found on the bottom left of the global navigate pane. Select “Training Services Portal” from the list. 
    • On the next screen, you may be prompted to “Authorize”. If so, please authorize and the portal will load!  
    • Review the Training Services Portal Guide to learn more!  

    New Course Updates and Partnership Courses 

    To learn more about new course updates and partnerships courses, check out Instructure’s blog post here.  

    Support 

    For personalized support and answers to any questions you may have, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Digital Learning Team at canvas@gatech.edu.  

    Hide Your Canvas Files

    ‼️If you have not been advised by our team yet, please hide your Course Files section from students.

    It is ideal to place all material intended for student use in modules and then disable the Files link in the course navigation menu. This ensures that students will not be able to view any files that are not in a module. Unfortunately, Canvas’s default setting automatically allows students to have access to ALL the items put in Course Files. Therefore, we recommend that instructors manually hide the Course Files section in their course. If you want a separate place to store course files, please consider using Microsoft OneDrive