[Discussions] Export Discussions

[CindiKerns]

Please consider a feature that will allow students to export discussions and related threads. This can be a helpful resource at the end of the course. Professors will want the ability to release discussions for export so a release date option would be needed.

[pjs2153]

Adding my 2 cents at Libby K's request:

Yesterday I had a faculty member come to the support lab to set up his weekly discussions. After creating a topic and some sample reply threads he asked me how he can print out the discussion for a related topic so he can then mark up the responses on paper.

I directed him to click file >> print in the browser. The result was a print of the discussion thread that did not match what we saw on the screen. URLs were printed out rather than appearing as a link and usernames were hard to read.

Ideally, when we click on file >> print the print screen should match what we see in the discussion thread. We can then decide to print or save as PDF. I think any tool in Canvas should look the same when viewing or printing from the browser. 

If export is a solution, I recommend making sure it is in a format that follows accessibility standards.

Thanks for your consideration.

Paul

[dolce]

Another ¢.02 post:
Our University is fairly new to Canvas. An 'export discussion forum option' is the one request I've heard from my faculty most. Two faculty are seeking external options for hosting discussion forums simply for this functionality. As support staff I'd like to keep them within the Canvas-sphere as much as possible: this would be a needless reason to expand beyond the LMS.

[dhulsey]

Hey,  @dolce ‌! I would like the export functionality as well. Being curious, could you share the use cases with us? That is, why do your faculty want to export discussions? Thatnks!

[dolce]

Hi,

 @dhulsey ‌ the professor from our School of Education wants to be able to, 'analyze the threads of conversation that took place during the semester to.' To better meet expectations for future classes. The prof from physics didn't elaborate... and didn't seem inclined to explain himself. In his case I suspect it's primarily for archival purposes.
Yes, I know that the course can be preserved within Canvas... and so does he. But, the heart wants what the heart wants. 😉
Be well,

--JD

[dhulsey]

Fair enough! Strong use cases help make sure that the feature gets good consideration by Instructure. Thanks, Joe!

[rochowd]

Let me add another case. For accreditation there is often a requirement

for sample work. This includes discussions. It would be good if these

could be exported in a way that would allow annotation so that they can

be presented to the evaluation team. The current work arounds produce

rather sloppy results and are not easily annotated.

[dhulsey]

That is a good one, rochowd‌! 

[nancy_lachance]

In our world, we have multiple use cases for exporting discussions --

• students often wish to export discussions for future reference and study, particularly when the course is in the student's area of study and the discussion provides great reference points (including helpful URLs);  
• we use discussions for Q&A - so being able to export and compile the discussions from multiple class sections gives us a reference for improving the course and avoiding having students repeating the same questions;
• we have discussions with over 900 posts - being able to extract the posts and analyze them gives a great amount of insight into repeated themes and topics that need to be addressed.  

I am certain there are more, and I will continue adding to this topic as we get more feedback. We are in our first semester of active Canvas usage, so I am sure there will be plenty more to come.

[aconsalvo]

I study (as in do research on) many of my own classes and in doing so, collect all the student work. Discussions have always been a part of my teaching and, in Bb, I could generate a preview of the ENTIRE discussion and save as a pdf. I’m not seeing how to do this in Canvas. It’s pretty important to my life as a researcher.

I would like to be able to SORT according to person so that all of the posts in any forum are in one pdf, sorted according to person (should I so choose to), or at the very least, save the whole discussion as a pdf in temporal order. ideally both.

Thanks.

[aconsalvo]

Research!!!  Many of us, especially in Teacher Education study our own classes as bonafide research sites. Thus, many of collect all student work. Structured discussions, across time, are one way to show student uptake (or not) and growth (or not). Very important to me. I'm going to be looking for another option if this isn't available soon.

I would like to be able to SORT according to person so that all of the posts in any forum are in one pdf, sorted according to person (should I so choose to), or at the very least, save the whole discussion as a pdf in temporal order. Ideally both.

All the best!