[ARCHIVED] Canvas logging students out with strange message

[clovis]

Howdy, y'all. This semester (which is my first semester using Canvas) is almost at an end. During the semester, on three occasions (to different students in different courses) students have told me that Canvas stopped working in the middle of a timed quiz that they were taking. The usual Canvas quiz screen was suddenly replaced by a blank screen with a strange message (HTML code?) at the top.

Luckily, each of the students took a screen shot of the message and sent it to me. The three messages are almost identical (except for the date and time within the message). Here is one of these messages:

{"backup": false, "end_at": "20-11-10T20:09:24Z", "end_at_without_time_limit":"20-11-11T07:59:00Z", "time_left":93}

Because all three messages mention a time limit I assume that this message is coming from Canvas.

Because it only happened three times during the semester it has not been a major problem. But I would rather it not happen at all (especially on the upcoming final exam).

Does anyone have any insight as to what is causing this bug and how to stop it from happening?

Thank you,

Clovis

[kathrynmccullou]

I asked a Canvas person.. they said the time-outs are most likely an "internet issue" not a Canvas problem.

I'm having my students clear out their cache to see if that helps with any technical glitches... If you'd like them to try that too here is the information link:

community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Basics-Guide/How-do-I-clear-my-browser-cache-on-a-PC/ta-p/48

[clovis]

Hi, Surveyor II. Thank you for your quick response.

I am far from being an expert on internet issues versus Canvas issues, but the problem occurred during a timed Canvas quiz and the message does mention a "time limit" and "time left". That really sounds like a message coming from Canvas during a timed quiz, not a message from the student's browser or from some non-Canvas source on the internet.

Take care,

Clovis