2024 Discussion redesign: EXPAND/COLLAPSE needs to be at the COURSE level

[wills004]

Three weeks into teaching with this new version,and I HATE the new discussions!  They force me, EVERY time, to go back to the top to re-expand threads.... and in all the years I've been teaching in Canvas and Blackboard, I have almost never needed to see a collapsed set of threads. If the goal of a discussion is to get students to engage with each other throughout the period... forcing the instructor (or students) to hunt for the NEW posts is inconsiderate.

One more set of changes to encourage me to recommend "other than Canvas discussions" to my production teams...

[leblume]

I agree.

This is not user friendly. I am missing student replies and prefer to see the discussion as a whole. Is there a way to go back to the previous version?

[JeanneDigel]

I absolutely agree.  I use discussions in my online class for students to post clarifying questions about their assignments but they are not even noticing that the questions have been answered. Having the replies constantly default to collapsed threads is making it very difficult to use this tool in the way I intend it to be used.

[gregtew]

Yes, the new discussions design is a disaster on so many levels. The collapsed threads means students will not read replies. The smaller font for replies instead on the old indented format for replies even makes the expanded threads hard to follow. And for me, the loss of Sort by Likes is a disaster. Now every post is treated equally, and they are not. I need the cream to rise to a top in my classes with more than 1,000 students.

[JohnEMcDonough]

Ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto.  Have I made myself clear?  John McDonough