[To Do] Student assignment comments should appear in Teacher activity To-Do stream

[lisa_ragland]

I would like to see this idea open for voting again. Our organization is new to Canvas 2015-16. We are just now figuring this out.

When a student makes a comment on an assignment, it does not appear in the "To-Do" stream unless the student resubmits. I would like to see student comments in the "To-Do" stream so that I don't miss feedback opportunities with students.

I do not want to have to search notifications for something I need to do.

======Student assignment comments should appear in Teacher activity To-Do stream

Here is the original idea from Melody:

Student assignment comments should appear in Teacher activity To-Do stream,

• just like student responses to conversations & discussions, and
• just like instructor comments display for students in their stream.

Consistency across tools in one system is important so users can appropriately anticipate functionality. Any returning comments by the student should be presented in like fashion to the Teacher’s To-Do Stream.

• Instructors should not have to go looking for student comments daily, just in case.
• When Teachers miss a student’s return comment/question, it can cause confusion, hurt, and trust issues between student/teacher.

• By default, teachers need to see comment notices in the same place as students – in their right side To-Do stream.

• I’d like to try again, because Comments are an extremely important tool.

Melody Brake

Colorado State University

[yjhenebu]

SO  Canvas Feature Ideas  or   Deactivated user  Do we know if this had enough votes? If not how do we reopen it so that it can be added to our home pages? I do not care if it is under "to do" or under the "Recent Feedback", I just want to have it on that home page in order to be better able to stay in touch with my students, attentive to their needs and to make my life as a teacher a bit easier where it can be!!

[Jeff_F]

Nice Elf (doggy) icon! 

[Jeff_F]

Hello Deactivated user​ - Submission Comment is already on the course activities notifications.  While this is nice and all, what I've been reading is instructors are requesting a visual indicator in a course that when clicked brings us to a list of comments that are replies to our feedback.

Currently with the notification we get an email (I chose to get a daily digest), and we then need to click each link to see the content.  Often times it is just a comment a student entered to a newly submitted file vs. a reply to feedback I had made earlier.  There is a difference in these.  For example, I wish to prioritize so I can respond more quickly to student comments to my feedback.  As is, comments to new submissions are intermingled.  Granted it takes me just a few seconds to open and scan each to determine priority, but as you are asking for ideas, this is a distinction that should be made.

[yjhenebu]

Thank you..She is my baby girl Yours is cute as well !

[jordan]

Hi Yvette! (I'm with you and Jeff, both! cute dog pics!!! Looks like your pups are ready for the holidays!)

As for this feature idea, it is still in the "Gathering Info" phase which means it's hit over 100 votes. You can learn more about the gathering info phase and others, here: How does the voting process work for feature ideas?

You might also want to review this document - What is the feature development process for Canvas?​ Here you can learn more about how we develop Canvas and integrate community ideas into the development cycles!

I hope this helps!

[cward]

We're still looking into this one, and I'm waiting for a response from our engineering team.

[yjhenebu]

It would just make everything much more merry and bright :smileylaugh:

[sbrown3]

This is probably my #1 Canvas Pet Peeve as an instructor.  I get a notification that a student has commented and I cannot link directly to the comment to reply.  I feel the lack of this functionality diminishes the dialogue that could be happening around feedback.  Moreover, my students often ask important questions about their assignment this way and it's awkward to go answer them.  PLEASE address this. 

[stevec]

Why does this even have to be discussed? It's absolutely infuriating. Three days ago, a student notified me that she was unable to turn in an assignment. That notification, because it was made in the "Assignment Comments" field, did not come into my inbox. She received an "F" on the assignment. Students have a freaking RIGHT to KNOW that their communication with an instructor is brought to that instructor's attention!! This is demoralizing for students, and there is absolutely no justification for it. You're asking for a vote on whether students should be able to expect that their communication with instructors ends up in the instructor's email inbox?!?!?

[don_quick]

Steve, try changing your Notifications to get it to come to your "email inbox?!?!?" Submission Comment should have a check mark in the email column. If it's not set that should help you some, but not perfect. I tried that also early on last year and that’s what I was told the solution was: turn my notifications on for assignment comments. That’s why it’s not a bug, there is a work around. I like using the Teacher activity To-Do stream on the home page. If it worked then you wouldn’t need it to come to your inbox it would show there. I had to change my grading process because the To-Do stream didn’t work and even with the notifications On I sometimes miss a comment like you did. I don’t like cluttering my email inbox with class stuff. “What happens in Vagas should stay in Vagas.” And I agree, just because there is an unreliable work around doesn't mean it's not a bug and shouldn't be fixed. 

Don Q.