Solved: Remove text inadvertantly added as part of graded document by Canvas

[StefanWaner]

It often happens that when one adds a text comment to a student submission, one is not permitted to edit it or even select it; the comment instead becomes an integral part of the document itself. This is an annoying persistent bug in Canvas that apparently is not being addressed, so here is a work-around:

In the video shown in the link I below, all of my comments have become un-editable just after creating them, and so I could not change or even select any comments I had previously typed.

https://somup.com/cThQl8MFws

Since recording the video I have discovered a way of "deleting" a comment that has become part of the document: Briefly, just type over it using blank spaces on a white background!

1. Select the text tool.

2. Select  white as the background color

3. Type a sequence of spaces on top of the comment you are trying to erase, and voila, it is gone (along with anything else that the comment overlapped...)..

SW

[dbrace · Accepted solution]

Hi @StefanWaner,

Thank you for the video. I have attempted to duplicate your experience but I have not been able to.

I uploaded a Microsoft Word document into a sample assignment as the "Test Student" in the course. I then was able to go to SpeedGrader as a teacher and make text annotations and I could delete them after clicking on them and then the "trash can" icon.

Have you reported this to your Canvas team (you have "Admin" as a label for the question but I am not sure if that is what you are or who you are targeting for getting help) or Canvas Support directly?

-Doug

[dbrace · Accepted solution]

Hi @StefanWaner,

Thank you for the video. I have attempted to duplicate your experience but I have not been able to.

I uploaded a Microsoft Word document into a sample assignment as the "Test Student" in the course. I then was able to go to SpeedGrader as a teacher and make text annotations and I could delete them after clicking on them and then the "trash can" icon.

Have you reported this to your Canvas team (you have "Admin" as a label for the question but I am not sure if that is what you are or who you are targeting for getting help) or Canvas Support directly?

-Doug

[StefanWaner · Accepted solution]

Hi Doug and thanks for the quick response.

This issue is, for the most part, sporadic and therefore can not be reliably replicated.

Moreover, after reading your comments, I decided to go back to a previously graded assignment with which I had problems, and now found that a comment I could not select previously had become selectable once again so that I could now edit or remove it!  What this suggests is that somehow, closing out the item and then returning to it later resolves the issue. Knowing this may give me a better method of dealing with it in the future: perhaps jumping to another course or document reinitializes some things that may fix the issue.

I know this makes it difficult to troubleshoot as I have not found a way it can be reliably replicated. For instance, in today's grading session, it happened to several such items consecutively, and I was able to capture that on video.

(I included "admin" in the report just in case someone on the admin side at Hofstra noticed it.)

Stefan

[dbrace]

Thanks for following up, Stefan.

Yes, situations where what happens is random or cannot be duplicated are frustrating.

Glad that you were able to figure it out, at least to some degree.

-Doug