Content reverted back to an early date of course development without prompting

[misty_guthrie]

This is my 3rd year using Canvas and I have never heard of anything like this happening to anyone.

One of the Courses that I created this year reverted back to an old version and I don't know why or how.  The other two courses did not change.  The only thing different about the set up of this course is that in the beginning our data manager accidentally set it to a full year course rather than a semester course. When she fixed that problem I had to start over with building my course and lost the progress that I had already started.

I rebuilt it and checked it thoroughly before I went to bed last night.  However, when I went to teach the class virtually on Zoom and show them how to access resources, most of the resources were gone and the links to the resources present were not what they were supposed to be.

The actual course ID changed, and the announcement, quiz, and several resources disappeared and most of the work done in a module was lost. This happened overnight without anyone doing anything that I am aware of.  The link to the Canvas course that worked last night no longer works.  

I have reset up the course and content and backed up to the Commons in case it happens again, but does anyone know why it may have happened?  I was very embarrassed on this first day of classes with my 6th graders when my course was not working. I know it was working last night before I went to bed.  I am a bit worried that it may happen again, but most of all I would just like to know WHY it happened in the first place so that I can prevent it in the future.

Thanks!

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

Good evening, @misty_guthrie ...

Sorry to read that you were having troubles with your course and that things seemed to disappear overnight.  I've never heard of something like that before.  As I read through your posting, you mentioned that the Course ID number (found in the URL of your course) changed.  The only time that I am aware this would happen is if someone were to reset your course.  How do I reset course content?  When a course is reset, what actually happens is a new, empty course shell is created, and all enrollments are moved over to that new course.  That's why you would see a brand new Course ID number.  The original Course ID number (and the content in it) can usually be restored by your school's local Canvas admin: How do I restore a deleted course in an account?.

Of course, the above is all speculation on my part.  It's probably best to talk with your school's local Canvas administrator or someone from your school's Online Learning/eLearning department a.s.a.p. to see if they can pin-point anything for you.

I hope this will be of some help to you, Misty.  Sing out if you have any other questions about this...thanks!

[misty_guthrie]

Thank you for sharing your insight and ideas.  I agree that I think it was something done at the district and/or school level inadvertently. At this point, I have already recreated the content, and I am backing up to the Commons for a while just in case someone accidentally does something that causes the course to change again.  Had this happened further into the school year, I would have really been upset. As it was, I still lost hours of my time redoing it (for the 3rd time).  I wish I had known to back it up before the PowerSchool person had corrected my course from Full Year to Semester, and then backed up again when my setup was ready for class to start on Monday.