Set Assignment Default Due Time

[mwade]

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

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We are a K-12 school. One of the biggest negative feedback items we receive on Canvas has to do with assignments being due at midnight (11:59). Parents are concerned that we effectively asking them to stay up until midnight to turn in their homework. This is especially important for our middle school and junior high students.

We would like to be able to set assignment due time to default to a time that can be set in our school's account settings.

Yes, it is true that teachers can change the time, but we are relying on them doing the extra steps all the time to match our school's assignment policy - and it requires a lot of clicks to make this simple change.

[msanders]

We desperately need a solution like this!  Our students really start using Canvas in the 4th grade.  It is so confusing to them to have assignments due at midnight. It also makes assignments difficult for parents to track when they are looking at a calendar based on time (like a standard Outlook view).  And it is frustrating to all users who stream the Calendar Feed to their phones to have reminders going off in the middle of the night. 

I would like to see this feature implemented in a hierarchy similar to the terms and start/end dates.  Basically a default time could be set at the root account.  If a time is also set at the subaccount level, then it overrides the root account setting.  If an instructor sets a time at the course level, then it overrides the subaccount setting.  And lastly, if the teacher sets the time on an individual assignment then it overrides the course setting.  This would give us a baseline starting time, then our Middle School (which starts at 😎 could have a different default time than our Upper School (which starts at 8:20).  It would also give our teachers the flexibility to override those times either at the course or assignment level since all of our classes (K-12) are on a rotating schedule. 

[mwade]

Thanks for the input. I definitely see the advantages of the layered approach you recommend. Please encourage others for vote for this idea!

[fisher1]

Would this feature idea also allow teachers to set the default time for each section? Having to input multiple due times for multiple sections in one assignment is tedious in the assignment edit settings.

If it was possible to set the default time for each section in the course settings, then teachers could select one due date for multiple sections that meet on that day, with a unique start time tied to each section (eliminating the need to enter in multiple times).

[mwade]

This would definitely make this feature more flexible and useful for more teachers.

[mwade]

We would love to have this idea promoted in Canvas Higher Ed discussion area! Anything you can do would be appreciated. We are 2/3s of the way there!

[tbunag]

I sent it out to everyone on my team.

[cdlee]

It would also be nice to be able to set the due date time as "in class".  That way, it is clear that assignments with paper submission are due at classtime, regardless of what actual time of day that is.

Or perhaps paper submission assignments could have just the date and NO time associated with it?

[jspringer]

I always just change it to 8 AM as it should be done when they come in in the morning to school. That would be a great default time, not midnight.

[richard-jerz]

I didn't see the previous comment about where this idea should be implemented, but I thought I would add my 2 cents.

I can see that this setting should occur at multiple levels.  First, is at the system level (which is likely the school level).  The school might want to set this default to 9PM.  Then, an instructor should be able to override this setting somewhere in instructor settings, such as "I want all my due times to default to xx:xxPM".  Then (and in this order) the course should have a setting that say "For this course, set all due times to xx:xxPM".  (You get the idea.)

[fisher1]

Another idea relating to this feature request was suggested by  @cherry1 ​, where Canvas would give an option to hide the due date time in the Calendar so teachers can tell students "it's due at the beginning of class." If Canvas would implement a default due time, maybe a "hide" due time could also be possible.

Here is the idea: