Get this error for some students: "Error while processing or retrieving the document"

[susan_oconnell]

I get this error for some students whenever they submit a Google Doc to an assignment: "Error while processing or retrieving the document"

It seems to happen to the same handful of students; they are not all enrolled in the same course. They use the same process as other students to submit their assignments.

[Jen_Charles]

I also have one teacher experiencing this right now. Only a few students, but the only way to view their docs in Speedgrader is by downloading them. This is happening on Google Cloud Assignments for this teacher.

[clgordie]

I also am experiencing this in the SpeedGrader for only 2 students uploading PDF files. I can download the files, but would like to view the files in SpeedGrader. Any suggestions?

[sharon_kitching]

@clgordie - our solution is to contact Canvas, escalate to level 2 and ask them to re-render the PDF to display in Speedgrader. 

[Ron_Bowman]

@susan_oconnell @clgordie @Jen_Charles 

This issue came up in the spring of last year.  I believe it had to do with drag and drop from google docs for submission.  There might also be an issue if the enhanced assignments (this is for students, and I think that is the name) is turned on by your school.

I will try to find the other question and edit it into this response, but in the meantime here is a work around for submitting a file if that issue comes up for a student:

1) Click on your profile on the left side and select the Files menu option
2) upload your assignment into your MyFiles folder
3) Go to the assignment page and click on submit/New attempt (new attempt if you had already submitted once before and are trying to update the file)
4) at the bottom where you upload the file , click on more options
5) select the my files folder and select your assignment that you uploaded and then click on upload, then click on submit

Ron

[Jen_Charles]

@Ron_Bowman Thank you so much for this info! I'm going to see if we can get this to work with one of the students whose submissions were showing this way. I appreciate your help!

[Steph_T]

Hello! @Jen_Charles 

The work around that @Ron_Bowman mentioned is what I would recommend starting with! If you continue to see issues, you may want to reach out to Canvas Support to see if there are other factors at play. 

Please don't hesitate to reach back out with any other questions! 

[sharon_kitching]

The workaround is not really suitable in a long term way  - why are the uploads not working? 

[Jen_Charles]

Good morning! This happened again, so I went in armed with these workaround steps and it turns out it was actually a cloud assignment. So, she did the work right there and hit the submit button. No uploads, no drag and drop, not even a sharing issue to be had. I know that Google Assignments are being updated. Do we know if cloud assignments are therefore being phased out and maybe getting glitchy?

Thanks!

[Businessprof]

I also have this problem, for 44 students, and I think the reason is that students are submitting password protected exam. So, the only way to work around it is to download each exam, use password to open the Word document and then grade it. I could not find any other solution. 

[karamwissing]

Good Morning,

I have started to have this problem as well when grading student assignments, and I also had another teacher reach out to me (I'm both a teacher and an instructional coach) because she was getting the same thing. What we have been able to figure out is this has started happening when the "Google Doc" option to submit was phased out so only "Google Drive" is an option for students.  In addition, it seems to be students who are BYOD in our school instead of using a school issued device (students have that option).  @Steph_T have you had any other teachers report issues recently?  The workaround mentioned above hasn't seemed to work for  us, but I can submit a help ticket or reach out to our Canvas rep for more assistance.

[sharon_kitching]

We are getting this error reported from students and teachers (who see the error in Speedgrader). Is this what you are seeing? For both students and teachers  - we also have Turnitin on our Canvas instance and it is working (generating a report from the student submission) but not rendering the assignment display in Speedgrader. Is that the same behaviour you are referring to? 

[karamwissing]

@sharon_kitching Yes, we are seeing it on the teacher's end in Speedgrader, we haven't had students report the issues (that I know of).  And you are correct that the workaround isn't a long term fix.  Did you submit a help ticket each time you get the error message? Or just one in general?  

[sharon_kitching]

@karamwissing We have submitted a few, but it's now more and more instances, so trying to make a lead case. Right now in fact 🙂 

[karamwissing]

I just submitted a help ticket and our Canvas rep is escalating it!  We will see what happens!

[alissaarcline]

This was helpful to see--we're having this issue with (at least) one class as well, so I also submitted a ticket. Thank you!

[sharon_kitching]

For anyone talking to Canvas support - our ticket was #08697906. Email response from Lvl2.

This is Chad with Canvas supports L2 team. I understand you have a students submission in speedgrader that is showing an error while processing. I have reviewed this assignment and I have corrected each of the submissions with this error by re-rendering the students submission. 

[karamwissing]

Here's what we got from our help ticket yesterday:

Our technicians are aware of this matter and are working towards resolving the issue of previewing documents in the Speedgrader. For now as a workaround, the teachers can download the submissions or request the students to re-submit. I will be attaching our internal ticket so that you can receive updates up to resolution.

Please do not hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions.

Best Regards,
Portia - L1 Canvas Support

So it looks like you received more of an answer than we did!  I will pass along to our Canvas rep what your response was. Hopefully they will see this is becoming more and more of an issue!!!

[ian10]

Just had a tutor hit me up with a similar issue, this with a PPTX file.  Resolved it by getting the student to save the pesentation file as a PDF and then uploading.

This worked perfectly, assessment showed up in Speedgrader and the tutor could mark it.

Might just work for others.

[NatalieCussell]

This still seems to be an issue, so no resolution from Canvas 🤔

[BrittanyTorres]

I just had an instructor complain about this issue as well. This is the first time I have had a complaint about it.