Student Likes To-Do List: The Way it Used to Be...

Discussion created by Timothy Lampley

on Sep 4, 2018
Latest reply on Nov 21, 2018 by Andrew Taylor

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Greetings Fellow Canvasphiles!

We received a request from one of our students regarding the new To-Do Lists in Canvas. I encouraged the student to make an inquiry here at the Community. However, I thought I'd do a little "recon" to see if how this perspective would be received. The student has offered to provide screenshots, but I will wait to post their name until I receive some acknowledgement from them.

Here it is:

Hi,
I was given your email address so I could let you know a problem I am having with canvas. For years I have relied on the TO DO list on the right-hand upper side of the page. It actually told me what I have to do and when it was due. The only problem I had was when instructors had a discussion board assignment that was actually due on Thursday and then replies due on Sunday the instructor would say it was due Sunday. Not your fault the instructors should be more clear on when their assignments are due.

What has happened this semester? The TO DO list has assignments that I have already done still in the list. If I delete them (little X in the top right corner) they magically reappear. Assignments that were due the first week are popping up. Are all my instuctors messing up their posts? Some of them have used Canvas for years.

Was there a major change in Canvas over the summer? If so I plead with you to roll it back and take a look at the results of this "upgrade". Without this feature working properly, I will have to work much harder to get any use from Canvas. This is not the LMS you want.

Thank you for your time, Feel free to contact me for screenshots, etc.

So let's start a conversation...what say you?

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Sarah Kinne Sep 17, 2018 9:55 AM

Hi Tim,

I completely feel your pain (or your student's pain) re: the discussion board due dates. This is actually a topic open for vote in the Canvas Studio. I'd encourage you and the student in question to up-vote it!

Multiple Due Dates (checkpoints) for Discussions

Sadly, I don't have a solution for the "To Do" list issue. I've experienced the same problem as a student; although. the To Do list is pretty clear about whether you have actually submitted an assignment or not (it shows a checkmark next to the name). I do wonder: Has this student tried out the List View dashboard? This might be a more user-friendly substitute for the To Do list.

1 person found this helpful

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Timothy Lampley

@ Sarah Kinne on Sep 20, 2018 11:51 AM

Greetings Sarah!

I appreciate your response, and perspective! I am not at all sure, whether the student has used the "List View" dashboard. I will reconnect with them to see.

Again, thank you!

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Timothy Lampley

@ Timothy Lampley on Sep 20, 2018 11:57 AM

Oh! I almost forgot...thank you for the link. I voted up!

Please don't hesitate to reconnect with me!

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Andrew Taylor Sep 17, 2018 11:12 AM

We are just rolling out Canvas this semester with a portion of our classes, but we are experiencing the same thing. It took us a while to realize this, though, because most of our users just thought this was normal. But I have emulated several students and the To-Do list really seems to mostly show old assignments that have been graded or have received feedback... which seems like not the sort of thing you want in your To-Do list. A faculty member has also commented that items that need grading and have been graded are showing up on the To-Do list. The only way currently to get rid of these old items is to manually X off of them, so as a result most of our students are just ignoring the To-Do list and are complaining about how cluttered everything feels with all of these To-Dos for old items.

The list view is better for students in these cases, but it seems like the advertised To-Do functionality of a list that actually shows what your actionable items are is gone.

I did submit a support ticket on this because it seemed like odd behavior, but I was informed that this is the way the To-Do list functions now and students are going to manually have to check off old items instead of them being removed automatically once their deliverable tasks are complete.

Not really the functionality we were hoping for, and it's left the To-Do list mostly ignored by students and faculty.

2 people found this helpful

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Timothy Lampley

@ Andrew Taylor on Sep 20, 2018 12:15 PM

Greetings Andrew,

Nice to make your acquaintance. I'm excited for you, and the institution you work for, regarding your recent implementation of Canvas! Moreover, thank you for taking the time to share your experience and engagement the refinement process, via support ticket.

Both institutions and users have a varying learning-curve tolerance. Of course, the point is whether the issue is a "condition of the growing process" or an actual impediment to student success. Should the matter "gain traction" within the community, then the Canvas Team will become aware as it tops the priority charts.

The best way to ensure this, is to maintain--and increase--its visibility.

I provided this vantage point to the student, however, they did not want to be associated with further discussion. However, if students were to "weigh-in" on the matter...that could change things.

Again, nice to meet you Sir, and have a SUPER Day!

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Andrew Taylor @ Timothy Lampley on Sep 20, 2018 12:30 PM

I agree, and great to meet you as well! I should add, actually, that my conversation with support eventually led to support realizing that there was a bug at play in our institution, and they said they rolled out a quick hotfix for it. Specifically, it was old, graded assignments that were reappearing on the To-Do list, and supposedly going forward that won't happen again. I am going to be working with a student today to do some testing, and will update here with my findings. Hopefully, though, the behavior will improve in your instance as well!

3 people found this helpful

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kathy.ehmann@westernsem.edu @ Andrew Taylor on Oct 8, 2018 10:01 AM

Andrew, Do you have any update on this issue? Our students are reporting a similar problem and I'd love to know if the hotfix solved your problem before contacting support.

1 person found this helpful

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Andrew Taylor @ kathy.ehmann@westernsem.edu on Oct 8, 2018 10:23 AM

Hi Kathy, it looked like it was acting better, but now that I'm going back and looking, I'm seeing some of the same behavior in our instance. Like before, I'm seeing online submissions still on students' to-do lists even after they've been submitted, graded, and commented upon. I'll be contacting support... thank you for the poke!

2 people found this helpful

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Timothy Lampley

@ Andrew Taylor on Nov 7, 2018 5:55 PM

Indeed Andrew...thank you!

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Cara Gurysh Nov 20, 2018 5:14 PM

I also have students and parents complaining about items that students have removed from their To-do List reappearing. This has been frustrating to us. Anyone find any solutions? I have put in a support ticket.

1 person found this helpful

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Andrew Taylor @ Cara Gurysh on Nov 21, 2018 12:50 PM

Unfortunately, the only "solution" that I have so far is just to try to educate students on how to manage their own to-do lists and manually remove redundant notifications, or just switch to using the List View. I've had a ticket in for a while but no extra info has been forthcoming.

1 person found this helpful

Actions

12 Replies

Sarah Kinne Sep 17, 2018 9:55 AM
Hi Tim,

I completely feel your pain (or your student's pain) re: the discussion board due dates. This is actually a topic open for vote in the Canvas Studio. I'd encourage you and the student in question to up-vote it!

Multiple Due Dates (checkpoints) for Discussions

Sadly, I don't have a solution for the "To Do" list issue. I've experienced the same problem as a student; although. the To Do list is pretty clear about whether you have actually submitted an assignment or not (it shows a checkmark next to the name). I do wonder: Has this student tried out the List View dashboard? This might be a more user-friendly substitute for the To Do list.
1 person found this helpful
Like • Show 1 Like1
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- Timothy Lampley @ Sarah Kinne on Sep 20, 2018 11:51 AM
  Greetings Sarah!
  
  I appreciate your response, and perspective! I am not at all sure, whether the student has used the "List View" dashboard. I will reconnect with them to see.
  
  Again, thank you!
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
  Actions
  - Timothy Lampley @ Timothy Lampley on Sep 20, 2018 11:57 AM
    Oh! I almost forgot...thank you for the link. I voted up!
    
    Please don't hesitate to reconnect with me!
    Like • Show 0 Likes0
    Actions
Andrew Taylor Sep 17, 2018 11:12 AM
We are just rolling out Canvas this semester with a portion of our classes, but we are experiencing the same thing. It took us a while to realize this, though, because most of our users just thought this was normal. But I have emulated several students and the To-Do list really seems to mostly show old assignments that have been graded or have received feedback... which seems like not the sort of thing you want in your To-Do list. A faculty member has also commented that items that need grading and have been graded are showing up on the To-Do list. The only way currently to get rid of these old items is to manually X off of them, so as a result most of our students are just ignoring the To-Do list and are complaining about how cluttered everything feels with all of these To-Dos for old items.

The list view is better for students in these cases, but it seems like the advertised To-Do functionality of a list that actually shows what your actionable items are is gone.

I did submit a support ticket on this because it seemed like odd behavior, but I was informed that this is the way the To-Do list functions now and students are going to manually have to check off old items instead of them being removed automatically once their deliverable tasks are complete.

Not really the functionality we were hoping for, and it's left the To-Do list mostly ignored by students and faculty.
2 people found this helpful
Like • Show 1 Like1
Actions
- Timothy Lampley @ Andrew Taylor on Sep 20, 2018 12:15 PM
  Greetings Andrew,
  
  Nice to make your acquaintance. I'm excited for you, and the institution you work for, regarding your recent implementation of Canvas! Moreover, thank you for taking the time to share your experience and engagement the refinement process, via support ticket.
  
  Both institutions and users have a varying learning-curve tolerance. Of course, the point is whether the issue is a "condition of the growing process" or an actual impediment to student success. Should the matter "gain traction" within the community, then the Canvas Team will become aware as it tops the priority charts.
  
  The best way to ensure this, is to maintain--and increase--its visibility.
  
  I provided this vantage point to the student, however, they did not want to be associated with further discussion. However, if students were to "weigh-in" on the matter...that could change things.
  
  Again, nice to meet you Sir, and have a SUPER Day!
  Like • Show 1 Like1
  Actions
  - Andrew Taylor @ Timothy Lampley on Sep 20, 2018 12:30 PM
    I agree, and great to meet you as well! I should add, actually, that my conversation with support eventually led to support realizing that there was a bug at play in our institution, and they said they rolled out a quick hotfix for it. Specifically, it was old, graded assignments that were reappearing on the To-Do list, and supposedly going forward that won't happen again. I am going to be working with a student today to do some testing, and will update here with my findings. Hopefully, though, the behavior will improve in your instance as well!
    3 people found this helpful
    Like • Show 2 Likes2
    Actions
    - kathy.ehmann@westernsem.edu @ Andrew Taylor on Oct 8, 2018 10:01 AM
      Andrew, Do you have any update on this issue? Our students are reporting a similar problem and I'd love to know if the hotfix solved your problem before contacting support.
      1 person found this helpful
      Like • Show 2 Likes2
      Actions
      - Andrew Taylor @ kathy.ehmann@westernsem.edu on Oct 8, 2018 10:23 AM
        Hi Kathy, it looked like it was acting better, but now that I'm going back and looking, I'm seeing some of the same behavior in our instance. Like before, I'm seeing online submissions still on students' to-do lists even after they've been submitted, graded, and commented upon. I'll be contacting support... thank you for the poke!
        2 people found this helpful
        Like • Show 1 Like1
        Actions
        kathy.ehmann@westernsem.edu @ Andrew Taylor on Oct 9, 2018 9:28 AM
        Thanks Andrew!
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        Timothy Lampley @ Andrew Taylor on Nov 7, 2018 5:55 PM
        Indeed Andrew...thank you!
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Cara Gurysh Nov 20, 2018 5:14 PM
I also have students and parents complaining about items that students have removed from their To-do List reappearing. This has been frustrating to us. Anyone find any solutions? I have put in a support ticket.
1 person found this helpful
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions
- Andrew Taylor @ Cara Gurysh on Nov 21, 2018 12:50 PM
  Unfortunately, the only "solution" that I have so far is just to try to educate students on how to manage their own to-do lists and manually remove redundant notifications, or just switch to using the List View. I've had a ticket in for a while but no extra info has been forthcoming.
  1 person found this helpful
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
  Actions

Student Likes To-Do List: The Way it Used to Be...

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