Adjust all assignment and quiz dates on a single page

[harris60]

The Problem:

Managing dates one item at a time is tedious when you are planning an entire semester. This is true for new classes, but also for existing classes since the ability to globally adjust imported dates never works for the way my institution designs new semesters.

I would like a spreadsheet format that shows all date related events on one page. I could then set up all events and synchronize them where necessary. This could be an online form, or the ability to download a csv template and reupload the dates.

I have attached a simplified snapshot of this kind of spreadsheet.

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

Please read through the Ready Release Notes (2020-04-18) 

[sherri_hitz]

Agreed!  It is SOOOOO frustrating to have to take HOURS to change dates for a whole term's assignments by doing them one edit screen at a time.  Pearson has such a better system, which lists all assignments and allows you to click "EDIT" to make ALL dates for ALL assignments editable in one place (availability dates and due dates).  Here is a screenshot of what you get when you click "EDIT:"

[carrie]

Click and drag in Calendar only works for users enrolled in a course w associated permissions.

Admins don't have Course Calendar view to do that.

If an Admin could go to a single page (like the Assignments tab) and have a way to efficiently manage due dates it would be awesome, rather than having to open each Assignment or Quiz to tweak the date.

[jgrenier]

Another helpful thing to have on this single page would be a way to change all of the assignments from published to unpublished versus having to do each individually.

[James]

 @jgrenier ​,

The Google Sheets work-around (while we wait on Canvas) that I mentioned earlier in this feature request has that capability. You can also change the name of the assignments from the page as well. I didn't know what use it would be at the time, but I put it in there. I was thinking about taking it out when I added the ability to delete (and hopefully copy) assignments instead because I wasn't sure how useful it would be and Canvas does a much better job with publishing/unpublishing now than it did when it first got developed.

[sherri_hitz]

James--
  You are FABULOUS for making and sharing this wonderful tool... which makes me think I should learn some code myself.  Biology degrees: less useful than I had imagined since 1993.
 
  Sherri

[James]

 @sherri_hitz ​, Glad the program helped, sad the biology degree didn't.

[sbenjamin1]

It would also be helpful to be able to assign a variable for the time an assignment is due.  For example, almost all of the assignments in my class are due at the start of class, but the class is actually offered at different times in different quarters.  If we could define “Start of Class” within Settings, then when the course is imported into the next quarter, we could put the correct time in “Start of Class” and all of the assignment times would update without having to manually change each one. The students would still see an actual time for each assignment rather than the phrase “start of class.”

[shmurray]

Stacy, this is brilliant! This would save me so much time, as essentially all of my assignments are due at the "start of class", and of course our classes begin at odd times (45 minutes past the hour, 25 minutes past the hour, and so on). Entering these odd times manually for every assignment is time consuming.

[estambaugh]

Carrie, as an admin, I add myself to the course as a course designer and then it shows up on my calendar. I use the click and drag for the majority of the assignments, except any differentiated assignments. Then, I remove myself from the course when finished. This has worked well the last three semesters. I would like to see the available from and until dates as a simple option in the calendar for those assignments that need them, though. That's the major drawback to doing it this way.

[jsparks]

As a former faculty member, I can understand the pain points you're describing.  It seems to me this is beyond quizzes and assignments, and may be related to adjusting availability as a whole. My questions would be this: How does date adjustment during the course import process not meet these needs? Are you looking for a tool to bulk edit in one course or multiple courses? I would have concerns over the user experience if there was a tool built to bulk-edit all courses based on a course role. Are there other options required in this tool: mute, publish/unpublish, copy, delete, rename, differentiated assignment, attempts limits, grading settings, etc.?  The list could get quite extensive; as such, it seems there may be a desire for a much larger tool.  I will defer to my colleague, Deactivated user, for additional comment.