Set Assignment Default Due Time

[mwade]

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

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We are a K-12 school. One of the biggest negative feedback items we receive on Canvas has to do with assignments being due at midnight (11:59). Parents are concerned that we effectively asking them to stay up until midnight to turn in their homework. This is especially important for our middle school and junior high students.

We would like to be able to set assignment due time to default to a time that can be set in our school's account settings.

Yes, it is true that teachers can change the time, but we are relying on them doing the extra steps all the time to match our school's assignment policy - and it requires a lot of clicks to make this simple change.

[jeremy_winn]

Speaking as a teacher, I don't think any instructor wants an extra box to tick, especially if the value never changes.  Most campuses K-HE have an effectively consistent due time, and most instructors do not change the default time (making midnight the campus due time).  Midnight as a default time is not "as good as any."  Midnight as a due time ensures that if you have an issue with your submission, there is no one who will be available to assist you.  It encourages procrastination and discourages healthy sleep habits.  Any time between 12PM-9PM would be a vastly better default due time. 

Conversely, there is no sensible way to set a default date (everything due on the same day?  That makes no sense, not even if you want it to be "Fridays")

 
Teachers should be able to adjust their own defaults also, but the due times for assignments should generally be a data-based institutional decision unless there are exceptions for individuals/courses.  If admin can change it then they can get it close enough to what teachers prefer while reducing work for the largest number of teachers possible.  Right now if a campus wants work due at 5:00, that means every teacher has to configure it manually for every assignment.

I don't think the question is who should be able to change the default due time, but that somebody should be able to.

[jeremy_winn]

Thanks for adding to it-- there is much more I'd like to say about this matter than I did in my terseness.  And yes, I completely agree.  The current default is purely arbitrary in any terms relevant to social science.  As educators we have to be more acutely aware of how these seemingly minor policy pieces contribute to the actual development and wellbeing of our students.  We have to be realistic about how these decisions affect actual student and teacher behaviors, and this one is such a no-brainer to me I'm legitimately upset that it's languished on the radar for so long.

[ebonakdarian]

I can't believe we are still discussing this 2 years later - let the teachers manage their classes as best as they see fit. Technology is supposed to help us do our jobs, not create artificial hurdles. Yes, we can find work-arounds for this, but why create extra work for us? 

I teach three different U classes, and each class has a different due time, e.g.,9:30 AM,  11:30 AM and maybe 12:30 PM .. I have to change this from the silly 11:59 PM default manually many times each semester for each and every assignment. It is tedious and should not be necessary.

I do not understand (esp as a computer scientist) why this can not be implemented, so I believe it's a non-technical policy decision that has been made clearly by people who do not teach that costs everyone who does teach extra unnecessary time. Sad, really.

[richard-jerz]

Okay, I see that I and others have stimulated this discussion.

Let's see if I have this right.  Jeremy thinks that the default should be at the Teacher level, but then also supports a School-level policy, so I am not sure exactly where he stands, teacher or university. He also has his own preference of between 12PM and 9PM (or that this should match normal "support" hours.)

You, Esmail, seem to support a "class" or "course-level" default.  You also have suggested two or three times that you like.

I would like the default to be at the "teacher-level" because I use the same due time for all my assignments and courses, 11:55 PM.

I think we all agree that we would like to have a default time, but we cannot agree at which level it should be at.  So Esmail, what you describe as a simple computer programming issue may not be so, meaning that it is not so simple.  However, if we take a simple-minded approach, we have two votes for teacher-level, and one vote for the other levels, meaning that teacher-level defaults wins!

Well, I hope that you are now seeing the bigger scope of the problem.  It is not so simple.  If we could decide where the default should be, then maybe it is a simple programming modification.

Oh, here is one more solution. Why not two defaults: one to pick the default level (at the system-level,) and one to pick the default time once the level is picked.  Good solution, right?  Well, if so, the programming task gets much more difficult.  Or, we might want all three levels supported, meaning that the school (or system) comes first, the teacher can override this with their own default, and the teacher can override their own default at the course-level.  More complex programming, but doable.  Hmmm, what happens when you have three or more teachers assigned to the same course?

For the time being, I think we are left with the current solution "When you set an assignment you must set the due date and time."

I did just review my Teacher settings, and I do see "Feature Options."  This seems to be a logical place to add "Default due time."  In my system, these seem to be on/off settings, but maybe a textbox can be added for "Default Due Time."

[jeremy_winn]

I also have a programming background, and even with those complications it's not that difficult a problem.  Canvas already has at least a dozen settings that can be configured by the teacher or at the administrative level (with administrative override, obviously) and software design patterns for this type of feature are numerous.  I'm sure with their code base they could cut and paste three things together and make it happen.

But the short answer is that any solution is better than none.  It's just a default setting, so literally changing a variable is all that would be required for a stopgap solution (by the way 12-9 is not a matter of personal preference, rather a matter of times that work well for most students-- mine would ideally be 5PM based on the campus I work at and it would be different if I worked else).  Giving the power to administrators OR teachers is the simplest to implement; both still allow teachers to make the same custom changes.  Would it be easier for almost everyone for me as the admin to set the default time for the entire campus?  Yes, probably.  But it also offers less granular control, and it's not that much harder to show faculty how to change their default due time and even make policies regarding what those should be.  Both would be ideal, sure.  If you only have one, it really depends on the campus which would be better, but at the teacher level would generally satisfy the most institutions needs.

[richard-jerz]

Hmmm, 12-9?  Many of my courses are , and many students don't work from 12-9, nor do they work only M-F.  And some of my students are in different time zones, like China, Europe, and Japan.  So how does one count 12-9?  Also, I teach  and face-to-face graduate-level courses.  These students usually have normal jobs, so they don't always do course assignments between 12-9.

But the real point is that time frames, and due times will vary from teacher to teacher, from course to course, and from school to school.  This is why I support teacher-level defaults for times.  Yep, much better than what we have right now.  I agree with you that "any solution is better than none" and support that Canvas should make this improvement.

[ebonakdarian]

" I also have a programming background, and even with those complications it's not that difficult a problem.  Canvas already has at least a dozen settings that can be configured by the teacher or at the administrative level (with administrative override, obviously) and software design patterns for this type of feature are numerous.  I'm sure with their code base they could cut and paste three things together and make it happen."

Exactly, as Jeremy says, it's not like we are inventing some new ground breaking technology here by having a few more settings/options.

I.e., no need to confuse this by making it appear more complex than it is Rick. Minimally have it remember what time was used for the last assignment for the class as that's likely to stay the same (and if not, well, then you manually change it like you have to do it now).

As a teacher I can already configure a number of things. For instance when my course materials on Canvas become available to my students at the start of the semester and when they become unavailable at the end by changing the system defaults for each of my courses I have on Canvas. Likewise I should be able to do the same for the default due time for my assignments. If someone likes all of their assignments in their classes to be due at 11:55 PM - great - then let them set their default up that way for all their classes, if I want three different times for three different courses, i.e., assignments are due at the start of class, I'll set it up that way - simple. Obfuscating this straight forward feature doesn't serve anyone. And for Canvas to decide what's best for all of us is not the right approach, let those teaching decide what's best for their students. 

[richard-jerz]

Okay, you have convinced me.  

Let's see if any Canvas representatives voice their ideas.  Have you considered making this a "feature request?"  I would vote for it!

(Opps, sorry, I now see that we have been talking about this issue as a "feature request."  I also see that it has acquired the more than 100 votes, in fact, 240 votes, and that it has been in development for quite some time, 2 years, with no progress! So the ball is on Canvas' court, there seems to be nothing else we can do as users.  Maybe someone from Canvas can summarize the progress being made on this feature request, and tell us when it will be implemented.)

[Renee_Carney]

The Radar idea stage has been removed from the Feature Idea Process.  You can read more about why in the blog post Adaptation: Feature Idea Process Changes.

This change will only impact the stage sort of this idea and will not change how it is voted on or how it is considered during prioritization activities.  This change will streamline the list of ideas 'open for voting', making it easier for you to see the true top voted ideas in one sort, here.

[richard-jerz]

Hi Renee, thanks for your update.

Well, I am still a little confused.  For this particular feature request, when I look at it, I have no clue where it stands.

I still suggest that a "Status: " show somewhere under its title.

You tell me, in which category is it, and why?

• Yes, this idea has been prioritized for development during this cycle
• No, this idea has not been prioritized, but will be considered in future rounds if it remains in the overall top 10% of voted ideas.
• No, we will likely not do this (and why)