Canvas Discussions Redesign multiple due dates — HOW?

[johnmartin]

I can't figure out how to assign multiple due dates (1st for post, 2nd for responses) in the 8/18/21 release of Canvas Discussions Redesign. Will there be directions or a breakdown on how to do this? 

[Stef_retired · Accepted solution]

@johnmartin  The feature released in the 8/21 release is that multiple dates display on a discussion that has differentiated due dates for different users and sections. The checkpoints feature is currently slated for the third release of the project. Please read through   Discussions Redesign Early Access  for details.

[kmeeusen]

Hi @johnmartin 

I just read the Release note, then enabled the new feature in one of my sandboxes. I do not see a multiple due-date option. So then I checked the Instructor Guides, and see no instructions for this capability; although, the guide does seem to be updated for this new beta!

Hopefully, some clarification will come!

Kelley

[kmeeusen]

Hi again @johnmartin 

In looking more closely at the release notes back through the first mention of the Discussions/Announcements Redesign, I can find nothing that states that dual due dates have been implemented. I see that it is coming, but I do not think it is  yet here.

Kelley

[johnmartin]

The more I think about the wording, the more I am bracing myself for disappointment.

While it appears that it's added, I wonder if what Instructure considers "multiple due dates" = different due dates for different students or sections rather than what I'm hoping for — the ability to set multiple dates within a single discussion thread (1st for Post, 2nd for Response, 3rd for Counterargument, etc.)

(from release notes)

Discussions Parity

Added classic Discussions parity functionality:

• Users must post before seeing replies
• Reply posts can be marked as read or unread
• Discussion time stamp edit display
• Multiple Due Dates
  • Addition: Individual student names are displayed instead of the total number of students
• Previous/Next buttons for Modules
• Group Discussions
• Peer Reviews
• Add to student to-do list

Alas, foiled again.

[Stef_retired · Accepted solution]

@johnmartin  The feature released in the 8/21 release is that multiple dates display on a discussion that has differentiated due dates for different users and sections. The checkpoints feature is currently slated for the third release of the project. Please read through   Discussions Redesign Early Access  for details.

[johnmartin]

Thanks for the reply, @Stef_retired !! "Checkpoints!" — that's a good name for them! 

• Teachers can create "checkpoints" per Discussion Topic (ie. Students must read by X date, Students must submit 1st reply by Y date, Students must submit 2nd reply by Z date)

Is there any more current info or rough timeline (since the June 07th post) on the 3rd release?

I'm so excited (er, impatient?) for checkpoints! We've had instructors clamoring for it forever!

[Stef_retired]

I haven't seen anything more definitive, @johnmartin , and by all means feel free to post questions about the features and timelines to the Discussions Redesign group! The product manager is actively engaging in that group.

[sbarhoum]

People have been requesting this feature since 2015 and it is still not solved? @johnmartin Am I missing something? I still do not see a way to add multiple due dates to one discussion? You posted that this was solved in 2021 but it's two years after this and it still hasn't been from what I have seen?

[Chris_Hofer]

@sbarhoum ...

Stefanie has retired, so you won't be seeing any further postings from her here in the Canvas Community.  At the time, her post indicated that "multiple dates display on a discussion that has differentiated due dates for different users and sections".  (highlighting is my own)  This doesn't mean that there's a way to currently set two different due dates for all class members for a discussion topic...if they are all in the same section of the course.  The "checkpoints" feature listed in the 3rd+ Release of Discussions Redesign Early Access - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com) details what this might look like.  Unfortunately, I'm not really sure on which phase of the discussions redesign they are currently on.  You might want to follow the Instructure Roadmap - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com) so that you can see what projects Instructure is currently working on and what was released earlier this year.

[sbarhoum]

Thanks for the response @Chris_Hofer . I see that release feature list and that post was created in 2021, and most of the posts are from two years ago. Only a few are from other users more recently and they are all saying that the features that were talked about as "Redesign" from two years ago still have not been updated. I don't think we are asking for something that is terribly difficult to implement. Do you know who I would ask to get this done? People, me included, have been asking for this for over 8 years.

[Chris_Hofer]

@sbarhoum ...

I completely understand the frustration with having to wait for what seems like a really long time.  I've been there right with you on some features of Canvas.  In fact, some of the Feature Ideas I've submitted here in the Community have taken years to implement.  By the same token, there were a few (what I would call very minor that most people wouldn't notice) suggestions I submitted that did get implemented as the core part of Canvas.  Why those were chosen?  Beats me.  But again, I get it.  We have to realize that, like with almost every business, Instructure has a budget.  And, some of the things that we think are easy to develop might not necessarily be so.  In my experience, I've seen where Instructure has scheduled to release a certain feature...and then once the feature was released in the "beta" environment and people started testing it out, people found that other things weren't working as they had in the past.  And in some cases, I've seen where new features were delayed because other things came up that needed to be addressed.

As to who to ask?  Well, you certainly could talk with your campus Canvas administrators, and they in turn could bring up your concerns to their assigned Customer Success Team at Instructure.  But, Instructure has other ways to gather information from us (the end users) about what we want to see implemented in Canvas.  One of those ways is submitting suggestions (Ideas) here in the Community.  The process for Ideas recently changed (formerly Feature Ideas) to now what is called Ideas and Themes.

Canvas Ideas and Themes - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

The links under the heading "Ideas and Themes" in this document are good reads:

Community - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

In particular, this document details other ways that Instructure gathers feedback from us (not just us submitting Ideas here in the Community):

What is the feature development process for Instru... - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

Hopefully this additional information will be helpful for you in some way...and it will help to clarify Instructure's process for developing features we want to see in Canvas.

[johnmartin]

Hi @sbarhoum 

I see it's on the "Improve the user experience with discussions to provide for more meaningful discourse among course p..." page that @jsailor wrote back in February 2023.

Before that, tom_gibbons asked about it in "Is anything on the horizon for the discussions redesign?" (Nov 2022). Before that, I was told it'd be in the "next release" (now "3rd release") which erinhmcmillan suggested would be in 2022 (see https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Discussions-Announcements/Next-Release/m-p/493438).

Frankly, after seeing this feature kicked down the road, promised, stalled, and ignored since 2015, I do not think Canvas intends to help its users out with it 😞 

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

@johnmartin and @sbarhoum ...

One of the Instructure Community Managers provided a link for me that I think you'd be interested in taking a look at...if you haven't already.

Improve the user experience with discussions to provide for more meaningful discourse among course p...

Under the "Referenced Ideas" heading, you'll find that [Discussions] Multiple Due Dates (checkpoints) for... - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com) is on the list (currently at the very bottom).

I'd encourage you to follow these links and participate in the discussion under Jody's information.

Hope this will help in some way.