[ARCHIVED] Replying to a post

[jmerriam]

Not sound snarky, but why, oh why should it be so darned complicated to respond to a student's post in a Discussion Board??

First, you click on the submission in Speed Grader...but then you need to click on "View the full discussion"...then enter the student's name in the "search entries or author"...then click on "Reply" once the student's post appears. 

Four steps just to reply? Or am I missing something???

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

Hello there, @jmerriam ...

I'm not sure I completely understand the workflow you describe to respond to discussion postings from your students.  Are you using that method for grading purposes?  Would it not be easier just to go to the discussion topic in question via your "Discussions" index page and then read the response(s) there?  You could use the search box (described in this Guide) to search for a specific student and read their response(s).  How do I view and sort discussion replies as an in... - Canvas Community  I'm sure I'm probably missing something, but if you could provide a bit more detail on your workflow, that would be great...thanks!

[jmerriam]

OK, Chris, here's the process:

• A student submits a response to that week's discussion question
• I got to my Dashboard and look at the "To Do"--usually there are several assignments there, since I don't do the as they come in, but wait 'til the end of the day

I click on the assignment (see below)

3 submissions need grading

Grade Week 13 Question: Inclusivity

COMM-0001 - 47989

10 points • May 1 at 11:59pm

• That takes me to the Discussion Board, and the 1st student's submission
• Then to respond to their submission, I need to click "View the full discussion," which takes me to the main panel for that week's discussion
• I enter the student's name in the "Search entries or Author"
• That takes me to the student's response, BUT I need to click "view in discussion" in order to respond
• After I do that, I have to click on "Reply" in order to post an actual reply to the student's post

I tried clicking on the student's name after doing the "search entries or author," but it takes me right back to where I have to click on "view in discussion" and the "reply" to actually respond.

I've not been able to find any shortcuts to this convoluted process.

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi @jmerriam ...

Thanks for sharing your process.  I can see why this would be a bit frustrating.  This is all going to be speculation on my part, but when you click on the discussion topic from your "To Do" list on the Dashboard, it takes you to the SpeedGrader for the topic and the student.  In that first view, it's kind of "read only" because it's within SpeedGrader ... not an actual interface to reply to a discussion topic.  But, as you've described, you can click on the link to "view the full discussion", and it will bring up the topic and all responses.  One thing I noticed...before you even start typing in a student's name in the "Search entries or authors" text box...  all replies have the "Reply" arrow below them.  So, technically, you should be able to post a reply to anyone right from there.  It is when you start typing in someone's name to search that this "Reply" option magically disappears for some reason.  You might be able to eliminate one step from your list by instead using the Ctrl+F (or I believe it's Cmd+F on a Mac) option on your keyboard.  You'd use this keyboard shortcut to search for the student's name instead of using the "Search entries or authors" text box.  Then, you could cycle through any/all replies based on the words or names that you are searching for.  This would keep the "Reply" button visible instead of having it hidden when using the "Search entries or authors" text box.

Also, while I understand that doing your grading for these topics is probably easiest and most helpful via the SpeedGrader, do you ever just go to the actual discussion topic itself and reply to your student there?  In theory, I suppose you could have one tab open that contains the actual discussion topic with all replies, and then you could have another tab open for doing your grading within SpeedGrader.  But, that might not be the most ideal situation.

Anyway...hope this helps a bit???

[jmerriam]

Thanks, Chris...I never even though of using the Ctrl+F function. That would eliminate at least one step.

In terms of going directly to the DB, the problem with that is that there's no way for me to tell whose response I've graded and whose I haven't (I have 80+ students in 3 sections, and there's NO way I could possibly remember which one I've graded!). I even tried clicking the 3 vertical dots to see if there's anything there, but the only options are "Go to topic," "Edit," "Delete," and "Open in Speed Grader"...and if I use the Speed Grader option, I'm right back where I started!

This seems to be a strange quirk with Canvas, since with every other type of assignment I can click on my "To Do" and it takes me directly to the specific assignment. Wonder if it would be worth me putting in a Feature Request?

Thanks again!
Joan

I could try opening 2 tabs...I've done that with other assignments