[Discussions] Multiple Due Dates (checkpoints) for Discussions

[chriswhite]

This idea has been developed and is On Canvas Beta •  How do I access the Canvas beta environment?

For more information, please read through the Canvas Release Notes (2025-01-18) 

---

With the way that many schools set up forum discussions and require "check-ins" to the forum throughout the week, it would be great if we could include multiple due dates in the discussion activities. For instance, I have classes that require everyone respond to the prompt by Thursday night and respond to at least 2 peers by the following Sunday. Being able to remind students that they have responses due, especially if we could scatter responses over multiple days, would likely increase participation.

[Stef_retired]

@k_m_schwartz   Here's the timeline for development:  Discussions Redesign Early Access.  "Checkpoints" is currently slated to be included in the third release.

Updates are posted to the   Discussions/Announcements Redesign  group. If you'd like, you can join the group to participate in the ongoing product manager-led discussions and requests for feedback.

[dawng]

This would be helpful

[kholt12]

How is this STILL not addressed, despite requests from 6 years ago? 

[aod]

Yes please

[jfisler]

This would make the assignment parts and due dates much clearer for students. 

[eesmith]

Yes please!  This is something that causes headaches for me to grade as I have to check dates individually on every. single. comment.

[lshved]

YES!  I will echo so many of the posts here and say that this feature is very much needed.  Currently, I have to use the due date as the deadline for students to make their first submission to a discussion prompt and the "available until" date as the due date for responses to their classmates.  It is not ideal but is better than only one due date.  Students still forget to respond to their classmates because the "available until" date does not show up on their calendar as a due date.  It can be confusing.

[jbielecki]

Yes! This would be great.

[huffmanro]

It would be very helpful to have two due dates for discussions, one for the initial reply, and one when the discussion closes.

Please prioritize this addition!

[LeslieLopez2]

Adding to the comment thread to underscore the importance of this. I'm really surprised this isn't already a feature, since the whole point of Graded Discussion Forums is to evaluate written interactions, which typically require at least two sequenced contributions. The Chat Tech just suggested I use a Calendar reminder as a proxy for the second deadline (response).  Adding more complexities and dimensions is exactly what I don't want to do.