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Differentiation tags in Canvas

Differentiation tags are a feature in Canvas that allow teachers to create their own flexible sets of students within a course. The tags can be used to target assignments, materials, and communication to selected students – without affecting the course sections and without being visible to students.

What are differentiation tags?

A differentiation tag is a label that you, as a teacher, assign to one or more students in a course. The tags can then be used to:

  • assign assignments, quizzes, or modules to a specific set of students

  • filter the Gradebook for overview and follow-up

  • send targeted communication via the Inbox

Differentiation tags make it possible to adapt teaching and assessment in Canvas with greater flexibility than groups and sections allow.

Sections, groups, and tags – What’s the difference?

Sections

Sections are often used for administrative grouping, for example based on registration in Ladok. As an instructor, you cannot edit sections yourself.

Sections are used when:

  • the grouping reflects registration or organizational structure

  • the division should remain stable over time

Groups

Groups are used when students are expected to work together. The teacher can either decide the groups or allow students to choose their own groups.

Groups are used when:

  • students are collaborating

  • the group should be visible to students

  • the assignment is a group assignment with a shared submission

Differentiation tags

Differentiation tags are entirely instructor-controlled and invisible to students. They are primarily used for assigning materials and activities.

Tags are used when:

  • you want to target content or assignments to specific students

  • you want to create groupings without changing the course structure

  • you do not need collaborative spaces

Create and manage tags

  1. Go to "People" in the course.
  2. Select "Manage Tags".
  3. Create one or more tags. You can
    • create individual tags
    • create a tag set with multiple variants. A student can have multiple tags, but only one variant per tag set.
  4. Assign a tag to a student by either
    • selecting students manually in the list and choosing "Tag as".
    • uploading a CSV file that includes differentiation tags

Read more about creating and managing differentiation tags in Canvas (community.instructure.com) .

Assign material using tags

When creating or editing an assignment, quiz, or module, use the "Assign To" field and select a tag. Only students with the selected tag will have access to the specified material. For assignments, submissions remain individual and are not considered group submissions.

Note: If you assign an activity using a differentiation tag and then change or remove the tag for a student, the student’s previous submission will no longer be visible. This applies unless the student is also included in another assignment rule for the same activity.

Important things to consider when working with tags

  • Tags are not included in course imports or exports. They are course-specific and must be recreated in each new course.
  • Students cannot see which tags they have been assigned.
  • Tags do not replace groups for collaborative or group assignments.
  • Be careful when changing or removing tags after assigning an activity, as previous submissions may no longer be visible.

Filter in SpeedGrader using tags

To filter by differentiation tags or groups in SpeedGrader, you must first enable the setting in the course settings.

  1. Go to Settings in the course.

  2. Under Course Details, check the box “Launch SpeedGrader Filtered by Student Group”

  3. Save the settings.

Once enabled, you can choose to filter by a specific tag (or group) before opening SpeedGrader. However, it is important to note that once inside SpeedGrader, it is not indicated which tag or group you are currently grading – the information is only shown at the filtering step before SpeedGrader opens.

Filter the Gradebook

You can filter Grades by differentiation tags to gain an overview of results for a specific set of students.

Communicate via the Inbox

In the Inbox, you can – just as with groups – select a differentiation tag as the recipient and send messages to that specific set of students.