Speedgrader changed with Checkpoints feature

[Nancy_Webb_CCSF]

We were so excited to have Checkpoints, and indeed those work really well; points, calendar, grading and more. We turned the feature on immediately on Jan 18.  Thank you Instructure!  Teachers love it.  Canvas Canvas Release Notes (2025-01-18) - Instructure Community - Discussion Checkpoints

But, the change to Speedgrader for all graded discussions, whether or not they use checkpoints, is causing distress. 

• Instead of seeing all the posts from the student on one screen by default, it can only show the full discussion with Next reply and Previous reply buttons necessary to scroll between the one student's posts.  Teachers report this has more than doubled grading time, especially with large classes.  
• If posts are on different pages, it has to load the entire new page to highlight the student's next post.  All the posts scroll by while it moves the focus. 
• Even if all the discussion's posts are on one page, there's a significant delay while it loads, especially if there are images or videos. 
• There is no indication of how many posts the student made, so you need to keep moving to next (or previous) reply until you return to the first one.  If there are more than 2 or 3 posts it's hard to keep track of which ones you've seen so one rotates around again. 
• If there is only one post, we waste time trying to go to the next one.
• Currently, the discussion search box doesn't work properly in speedgrader, stops with an error on each letter you enter before searching for it.  That is a bug and will get fixed I'm sure; hopefully soon.
• One benefit is that you always see the post in context, but the slowness makes the benefit less useful unless it's a short discussion.

Are others trying out this new feature?

[mwolfenstein · Accepted solution]

This is actually the biggest problem with this rollout. It is only available at the root account level as a feature option. That means you can't make it an option at the course level or even the sub-account level. Instead, having it on at all enforces it across the entire instance. The best short term fix I can recommend to Instructure is, if possible, make it function like a regular feature option that can be controlled at the course level. That way, while the kinks are being worked out, faculty who want the checkpoints feature and are willing to deal with any bugs and an interface in SpeedGrader that they consider sub-optimal can have checkpoints, and since it's otherwise obviously not ready for prime time everyone else can turn it off in their courses.

[DavidChampoux · Accepted solution]

Hi - You wrote, "I tested in Beta and found that enabling the Feature Option introduces new elements to the instructor UI in a Discussion's SpeedGrader entry for *all* Discussions, while Disabling it returns the UI to the prior experience."

 

Are you saying there's a way I can turn off this feature and go back to the way Speedgrader operated last semester? If so, can explain how to do that? Thank you.

[Renee_Carney]

Greetings all 

I want to assure you that your feedback has not gone unnoticed. This morning, the product team came together to review this thread and incorporated additional insights from the Instructure New and Next: Product Updates session. They're actively working on a plan and communication, which will be shared with you very soon.

[KristinL · Accepted solution]

Hello Everyone - Thank you for your patience today!

I wanted to share that Sam recently posted  Addressing Your Feedback on Recent Discussion Checkpoints in the Product Blog. She outlines Instructure's next steps and provides opportunities to provide feedback. I hope you participate in the Maze survey included in the blog and follow or contribute to the developing conversation.

[mdthomas]

I reached out to our CSM as well because this affected our faculty teaching online in our Winter session. I was provided the following information:

We're aware of the issue with the Discussions Checkpoint feature release impacting Canvas' Speed Grader, and I apologize for the inconvenience this may have already caused. I am following that community thread as well.  Our product and technical support teams are working on a resolution, and we'll keep you updated as soon as we have more information. In the meantime, as you mentioned, a Support case is helpful in getting things fixed too.

If you can get the faculty who are struggling to share their experiences directly with Instructure through a Case. While we can communicate in the community, the support tickets might have more merit based on volume. Just a thought.

[ar3183]

CRYING. The option to turn it off is not available in my course. This feature is significantly increasing my workload and negatively impacting my workflow. Please restore the previous SpeedGrader discussion view, which allows me to see one student at a time.  😰

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi @ar3183 ...

The Feature Option for Discussion Checkpoints is only available at the Canvas administrative level.  At least in the Canvas "beta" environment where I was able to test it out, it is a toggle switch to turn it on/off for everyone.  There is no option to turn it on/off per course.  I'd encourage you and others in this thread to review the information that Kristin provided in her response (see her response in the green outlined box at the top of this page).

[LindaNeuman]

I reported this issue to our tech department and was told I could see all posts by each student in Speed Grader by copy pasting the name of the student into the search box at the top of the page. That worked. However, I had two discussions to grade and that means I had to do that 28 times for a class of 14 students. I don't understand this "upgrade," as the previous Canvas version automatically placed all of a student's posts in Speed Grader. A discussion by nature includes replies, so all teachers will need to see these in order to grade them. Why you would add an extra step to this process makes no sense to me.  If a teacher doesn't want to see the replies, which would be unusual, they can simply ignore them. Now it seems we will all have an extra step to perform whenever we grade discussions. Who asked for this? Not teachers, I'm guessing. What is the advantage of this new setup (for teachers)? Actually, I don't need to hear the answer. I just want it back to the way it used to be, where Speed Grader showed me all posts made by each student so that I could grade Discussions easily.