Bulk Edit Assignment Due Times

[jasonappel]

When bulk editing assignment due dates (Assignments -> 3 dots -> Edit Assignment Dates) I would like to be able to add/edit the times in addition to changing the dates. My classes meet at different times on different days. I like to set my due times to be right at the beginning of class (i.e. as long as it is completed before class starts, then it is on time and not late). Bulk editing the due dates is useless to me because I need to edit the times along with the dates. As such, my only solution is to go through each assignment in the module, one by one, and edit this information. Very tedious!

[KristinL · Accepted solution]

Hi @jasonappel  -- This is a great request, and other Community members have wondered about this functionality as well! I encourage you to rate (star) and then add your comments to the discussion. Add time option to bulk assignment due date change... - Canvas Community 

[KristinL]

Hi @jasonappel - In my initial response, I completely forgot to share that @James has an awesome Canvasment available that you could try now! Adjust All Assignment Dates on One Page - Canvas Community  If you have any questions about the resource, feel free to comment there. 🙂

[Chris_Hofer]

Hello there, @jasonappel ...

It looks like folks can now include times of day when bulk editing assignment due dates.  Check out these deploy notes:

Canvas Deploy Notes (2022-03-30) - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

Also, check out the Canvas Release Notes (2022-04-16) - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com) ... because you'll soon be able to set a default time for all assignments in your course via your course "Settings" page.

[ebonakdarian]

Due times can only be set on the whole hour -  why?

My classes start on the half hour and that's when I have my assignments due. I have been a student, or taught at about 10 universities in the US, *all* of them started classes on the half hour - again, I'm mystified by some of the decisions Canvas makes, in this case restricting the default time to a single pre-determined value per hour. Why not let us choose, and if it's easier to provide the list, just provide more options.

[Chris_Hofer]

@ebonakdarian ...

I'm not exactly sure what you mean...and maybe I'm not understanding your question.  When I go to this screen:

How do I bulk update due dates and availability da... - Instructure Community

...I can select a due date and also type in any specific time of day I want for the assignment to be due.  Here's an example from my own sandbox course:

Does this help to answer your question?  If not, please let Community members know so we can be of further help.  Thanks!

[ebonakdarian]

Hi Chris

Yes, I've seen that screen, but I don't see a way to set the due time to e.g., 2:30 PM for all of the assignments in bulk, and in subsequent semesters change this to 10:30 AM  if the class time shifts. All my assignments are due at the start of class.

While I can manipulate dates in bulk, each time still needs to be entered individually for each assignment. That's about 120 individual changes for all of my classes I have to make each term and hope that I don't get the times mixed up.

Did I miss something in the settings? I would love to find out that this is easy to do.

Thanks.

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi there, @ebonakdarian ...

I think I'm better understanding what you are saying, but let me check to make sure.   Are you saying that when you go to edit a single assignment in your course, the "Due" date field includes both a place to enter a date and a time....such as this?

Is this where you are saying that you have to enter in the time for each assignment (of which it sounds you have many)?  When I go to the other screen (explained in the Guide I had linked earlier) which allows me to edit due dates in bulk, it doesn't give an option to add in a time.  Rather, I choose a date, and the default time of 11:59 PM is added to it...as shown here:

However, on this screen, I can manually change the time of 11:59 PM by just typing in the time that I want...for example, 2:35 PM.  Canvas will accept this time once I save the page.

I then tried to copy the text from one due date field to another on the page.  The strange thing was that even though I had a due date time of 2:35 PM, it switched it back to 11:59 PM on that same day.  Weird!  However, if I re-pasted the text over the top of the text that was in the due date field, the time of 2:35 PM "stuck" after I clicked away from that field.  That does seem a bit buggy to me, to be honest...and probably worth of a ticket to the Canvas Help Desk team.

Now...the other option that you could use is a "Canvancement" (Canvas Enhancement) created by @James Jones.  It works much like using this bulk due date page, but he does it via a script and using a Google Spreadsheet.  Adjust All Assignment Dates on One Page - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

I hope I have covered much of what you have tried...so please let me know if any of this is helpful to you...thanks!

[ebonakdarian]

Thanks Chris, I will take a look at those links.

So, the most concise way I can describe my scenario is that a previous semester my class was at 10:30 AM and all assignments were due at the start of class at 10:30 AM. The same class shifts to 1:30 PM this semester. Dates are adjusted mostly fine during the import of the class, however all due times are still 10:30 AM. I want them to default to 1:30 PM, the current time of the class.

I'm not sure if you were able to do the time change successfully after all on the bulk date page, I will give that a try. Again, I'm disappointed and puzzled why Canvas wouldn't allow us to set a default due time on that page, or provide at least more than 'on the hour' default times. Most universities I know of, in the US at least, start classes on the half-hour, at least I'm not aware of ones that start on the hour (there probably are). This just seems needlessly limiting. Technology ideally should help eliminate tedious work, i.e., I should not have to do this manually 120 times every semester (and hope I don't make a mistake) since it usually applies to 3 classes switching times. Hopefully at some point Canvas will let us choose our own times.

I appreciate the help.

Esmail

[Chris_Hofer]

@ebonakdarian ...

Thanks for posting back.  As I read through your most recent reply, I recalled that you actually can set a default time via your course "Settings" page, but it is at the top of each hour...as you've already suggested.  So, if you go to your course "Settings" page, you'll see a "Default Due Time" drop-down list near the top of the page, but it does not include times on the half hour.  😕  Not exactly what you wanted, I know, but maybe it's a start in the right direction.

[ebonakdarian]

Thanks .. yes, unfortunately top of the hour won't meet my requirements. I'm looking at a programmatic solution via a Python API and will give that a try in the hopes that Canvas will give instructors the interface to make these adjustments in bulk.