[ARCHIVED] How do you change the settings on all Discussions (or other assignments) at one time?

[lglen]

I've decided, based on some excellent advice, that I want to make my ungraded discussions graded, but with a value of 0 points to make them show up in my list of things I need to grade. But I have three classes and 20-30 discussions for each class. How do I change them all at once, at least within one class?

[Allie_Dilts]

Hi  @lglen 

Thanks for posting your question! Unfortunately there's not a way to bulk update all of your discussions from ungraded to graded. You'll have to edit each discussion (see How do I create a discussion as an instructor? for information about updating your discussions to graded). If your courses all share the same discussions, you can update the discussions in one course, and then import the discussions into your other two courses. 

I know this wasn't the quick update you wanted, but hopefully it helps answer your question! Please let me know if you have any further questions or if there's anything else I can help clarify. 

Thanks, 
Allie 

[lglen]

I can't say I'm surprised. Just one more thing that Canvas can't do. For all its shiny exterior and all the money they put into making it do new things, it can't do simple things; things that would make its USERS' lives easier. 

Thanks for your reply Allison. 

I think I'll just quit asking. I've never asked a "how do you..."question that's had an actual answer; I have - every time - been met with "nope; Canvas can't do that"...

[Allie_Dilts]

Hi  @lglen  

I'm sorry to hear that you feel like you keep running into roadblocks with Canvas. I believe that Discussions were designed this way because changing a discussion from "ungraded" to "graded" can fundamentally change the gradebook and grades calculation in your course—even if you exclude the discussions from student grades. Because of this, creating a graded discussion ought to be a deliberate choice made by the instructor prior to posting the discussion. Now, don't get me wrong. As a former English teacher, I understand that instructors are only human and as such, can change their mind at any point. However, I also know that adding 20-30 discussions to the gradebook overnight would cause no small amount of alarm for students. So, even though it's an inconvenience, there is some best practice methodology behind the feature's design. 

Hopefully this helps clarify the "why" behind Discussions functionality. If there's anything else we can further clarify, please let us know. 

Thanks, 

Allie 

[JeredBorup1]

This would be a super helpful feature. When the grading approach changes, it's incredibly tedious to change each discussion. Whenever, an instructor needs to do the same thing 100 times it feels like a huge time waster.