Dive into the Discussion Redesign with Our New Video!

[SamGarza1]

Hello Discussion/Announcement Redesign User Group! We've got some fantastic news to share – we've just finished a brand new video resource that provides an overview of the Discussion Redesign in Canvas! 

In this short but informative video, we'll walk you through all the exciting changes and highlight the new features that come with the Discussion Redesign. Whether you're a teacher, student, or admin, this overview will help you navigate and make the most of the redesigned experience.

We hope this video provides a better understanding of what the Discussion Redesign is and what changes to expect with the enforcement on July 20, 2024. This has also been posted in the Product Blog to ensure visibility. Users can also check out our two-page overview which can be accessed here. 

Embed Code below and the video link can be found below. 

Happy watching!

Discussion Redesign Video Link

<iframe width="560px" height="320px" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay *" title="Discussions Redesign Q1 2024" src="https://productmarketing.instructuremedia.com/embed/849316b3-c04b-4c43-8026-7b65dc99b644" frameborder="0"></iframe>

[llamm2]

Hello, @SamGarza1, the quick overview video and handout are both helpful resources that we can share with faculty to help them transition to the new UI, so thanks to you and the Instructure team for creating these!

You mentioned in a previous post that checkpoints would be added to Redesigned Discussions by Q1, but I don't see any mention of it in either resource. Are checkpoints still on track for release/deploy by the end of the month (even if it's just in Beta), or has that been delayed? -Lia

[jenn_stevens]

Hi! Will this be captioned? I'd like to share it to my faculty, but my Deaf faculty won't be able to access it.

[SamGarza1]

Hi @llamm2, I'm glad to hear that you're finding the resources helpful. We'll have an update on checkpoints out soon with more information, but we are expecting it to be released in Q2 now. 

[SamGarza1]

Hi @jenn_stevens, so sorry about that! I accidentally published the wrong version of the video. It's been updated and captions are now available. 

[kda106]

This video is not done very well. What is shown on the screen does not always match what is being discussed on the audio. This does not showcase the tool in a clear manner.

[vanzandt]

I greatly appreciate the effort put into getting this video together as a resource for us to share, but I have to agree with @kda106. It's an odd experience when features are being explained in the video, but you aren't getting to see it demonstrated, and then when the discussion comes back to what is being displayed, you feel a bit lost in how you got there, since you were working hard to focus on and process the previous audio explanation. In general, this doesn't seem as well organized as other Canvas overview videos. I'll offer some thoughts, which I hope will be taken as constructive criticism...

• A number of things that instructors might really connect with were totally glossed over and never shown. 
  • Showing the ability to sort New->Old , Old->New (as simple as it is) would be something that would really hit home for instructors.
  • Giving a visual of an @ mention (along with the notification the student receives) would help some instructors better understand this new terminology and the value of the feature.
  • Offer a bit more detail on the Anonymous feature would be helpful since they will always ask if it's fully anonymous, or if it is anonymous to students but the instructor still knows.
• I think some of the language used is fine for talking to admins and for marketing purposes, but doesn't really hit home for many instructors.
  • "@ mention" as noted above isn't part of many instructors common vocabulary
  • For highlighting things like "fully responsive" design, you might have to instead say that it adapts better to changing window sizes (maybe while showing that, or even showing an example of the deficiency in the current Discussions that you're improving from). You do explain the mobile experience here, but showing it may help connect the dots. 
  • The version history explanation and visual I think was done well.

Anyway, I hope this feedback is helpful. 

[hesspe]

It's refreshing to read such cogent, lucid, and on-the-mark comments as those made in the post from @vanzandt.. I hope the Discussion Redesign team will take them in the spirit offered, and not feel the need to defend their initial well-intended, but imperfect, effort.  How we message our user community can be the difference  between their viewing the new design as beneficial as opposed to (as is often the case with change) threatening.

[DanBurgess]

Agree with @vanzandt. The video seems like a good promotion tool but not suitable for showing how to use the various functions. 

There are a lot of nice updates in Discussion Redesign and we want instructors to be able to clearly see it all so they can leverage it. To fully showcase those features, it would be great to have a chaptered video (or series of videos) that captures all the goodness in step-by-step action.

[SamGarza1]

Hi @vanzandt @hesspe @DanBurgess, 

Thank you for your feedback on the video. I am sorry to hear that it's not what you expected. The intention for this video was to be a short overview for users who are either not familiar with the redesign or are refamiliarizing themselves with it. Our intention was not for this to be a comprehensive guide to each feature in the redesign. If you're looking for detailed information on each feature that information can be found in our guides. 

[hesspe]

I think you did an admirable job of covering a great deal of territory in 3 minutes, and I'm not sure it could have been much better within that time constraint.  The second time I watched the video, I listed all of the features that were mentioned and counted 12 (probably missed a few), which if divided by total time would allot less that 15 seconds to each of the 12, though in reality they got much less time than that.  The result is that there is much more "tell" than "show," because obviously it takes a lot more time to show something than enumerate it.  I understand that this is the age of the short attention span, and many, perhaps most, people wouldn't have the patience to sit through a 15 minute video.  However, it seems to me that the Discussions Redesign is much more dynamic than most Canvas features, and would be well served by videos supplementing documentation.  As someone who has to cheerlead for the redesign - which really looks like a major change, especially at first glance -  I'm grateful for anything we can offer to smooth the way.  What I'm saying is that in addition to the overview video, it would be nice if there were some longer videos that took the time to show the feature being highlighted.

[vanzandt]

@SamGarza1  When you originally mentioned creating videos in December 2023, you noted "Our team is also working on overview and comparison videos".  Maybe what we're all really waiting for is the comparison video. When do you expect that one to be completed?