Random distribution of students within a tag set

[ProfessorBeyrer]

I would like to randomly tag students within a tag set similar to how we can randomly assign students to groups. I currently use groups to break up my large classes so that our discussions are more manageable for students. They've shared with me that they prefer a discussion with 20 other participants instead of one with 90. I create the groups before the semester begins and appreciate that Canvas can randomly distribute the students among the groups within the set I create. I do not use groups otherwise, and neither do I mention nor do students use the "mini course" that is created for each group. 

Instead of groups, I think that differentiation tags would help me achieve a similar interest. I would have to create a separate discussion for each of my tags, but that would have the added benefit of making those discussions subscribable and show at a glance how many discussions have unread messages on the Discussions page. (Group discussions have to be opened before I can see how many unread messages are in each group.)

So why not use tags now? I'm dependent on random distribution that Canvas provides for groups. I could create a CSV file with the students distributed among tags within a set. That would require me to download the list of students, randomly sort and tag them, and then upload that file with those tags. It would be easier if that could happen within Canvas.

[leward]

Great idea.  I think many faculty would prefer using tags to groups, but still want the ability to randomly distribute students.

Lynn

[Maeve_McCooey]

Great suggestion, another use case for the random allocation would be if tags are being used to randomly allocate grading to staff.