[SIS] Canvas Assignment description that syncs with Aeries description field
When syncing Canvas grades to an Aeries gradebook (through the "Sync with SIS" function in the Canvas Grades tab), the grades will auto-populate the new assignment into the Aeries gradebook. The new assignment in Aeries has all the information filled in (assignment name, formative/summative, assignment category, dates, points) — but Aeries has one more field for a "Description," which is not a synced field from the Canvas Assignment creation page. Currently, it is possible to manually enter a Description through Aeries by individually editing the assignment. However, when the gradebook is re-synced with the Canvas Grades, that Description field is cleared and replaced with [""].
It would be useful to be able to fill in an equivalent Canvas "Assignment Description" with notes about scoring/rubric or specifications of the assignment (turn in a paper in class, retake for half-credit, etc). This could be implemented as an expanding menu in the "Assignment Details" creation screen, to avoid cluttering up the page. The "Description" field in Aeries is visible to both parents and students when they are checking the gradebook, at a school where parents do not have Canvas access and students will usually default to checking their Aeries (before corroborating with Canvas). Having an auto-populating Description would help demystify many assignments for parents and students, and make it plainer for students to remember what they are missing (or need to redo) and then take action to complete the work. This could also make the scoring more transparent — if the Assignment Description was filled in with rubric notes, a student could at-a-glance understand their score, without needing to click through multiple levels of Aeries > Canvas > Assignment > find the rubric.
instructor,designer
