I am hearing a lot of complaints from students about the redesign for the discussion. Is there a student forum for feedback?
Hi, @jcrozier2
I empathize! One of my students expressed significant frustration with the new layout just yesterday when I Zoomed with her, particularly noting the increased number of clicks required to navigate. This design appears to be hindering participation, as students are finding it challenging to follow conversations and view responses efficiently.
I've observed a noticeable decrease in engagement in my class discussions this semester, which I believe may be attributed to these interface changes. While I understand that redesigns often aim to improve user experience, in this case, it seems to have had an unintended negative impact on student participation - at least in my experience.
I hope our feedback can be considered for future improvements. It's critical that our digital tools facilitate, rather than impede, student engagement and learning. In the current iteration of the Discussions Redesign, student participation is low for me.
Thank you for sharing your experience.
Cheryl
As an instructor, I am profoundly frustrated by the redesign! It is so difficult to follow the thread. I have students referring back to previous parts of the thread and I can't find what they are referring to. I long to go back to the previous design.
AND, there is less engagement which is VERY frustrating! How can we make sure Canvas hears us?
Hi all, I'd like to hear more of your feedback. What are the exact pain points you and your students face?
Hi Tamas,
I am an instructor who has been using canvas for over ten years. I depend on the discussion forums for my student contact and engagement. The redesign has undermined my work considerably. I wish I could talk to someone and show you what I mean as the redesign makes things very complicated and hard to describe. But I will try. My request is that you reinstate the previous discussion forum and give teachers the option of which to use. I truly HATE the new design and it makes me want to leave canvas altogether.
1. A student posts and I respond, often with further questions. I then mark the thread as "read" so I know I have responded. Then the student responds to my question. I go to the forum and filter for "unread" posts to find the unread ones. When I click on the new response post, the original 'read' post does not show up if the thread gets too long. To respond, I need the whole thread but it's not there. Given that I have hundreds of posts in a discussion forum, searching for the original is very labor intensive. It used to just be there.
2. The split screen is not helpful. It just makes things busier.
3. When I filter for "unread" posts, I see them all. When I click on one and reply and mark the thread as "read," the unread posts are gone. I have to go back to the filter and click "all" and then click "unread" again to have the unread show up again. This adds more steps.
4. To mark something "read" I now have to go to the three dots dropdown and select "mark thread as read." I used to be able to just click a circle.
5. This is also very frustrating and difficult for my students. They do not want to post as much.
The whole thing is complex, labor-intensive, clunky, and flawed. I really, really miss the simplicity of the previous design.
Please give me the option of the old design ASAP! My livelihood depends on it, and I'm not exaggerating.
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