Canvas Discussion Board Checkpoints

  A Great Way to Reduce Last Minute Posting

 Faculty, rejoice (or at least politely nod)! Canvas has rolled out a new feature called Discussion Board Checkpoints. Think of them as friendly mile markers to keep students on track with their online learning.

 What does it mean? Instead of waiting until Sunday night at 11:59 p.m. to see a flood of “I agree” posts, you can now set due dates for different parts of a discussion.

For example:

• Post your original response by Wednesday.
• Reply thoughtfully to two classmates by Saturday.
• Sit back, sip coffee, and watch as students pace themselves, with a little guidance.

How to Setup Checkpoints in Canvas:

1. Go to your course Discussions page
2. Create a new discussion or edit an existing one
3. Scroll down to the Options area
4. Click on the Graded
5. Then click on Assign graded checkpoints
6. Add multiple due dates (e.g., one for the initial post, one for replies)
7. Publish, and voilà! No more last-minute post-a-thons. 

This new feature will help students engage and create a more meaningful discussion.  In short, Discussion Board Checkpoints = Less procrastination, more conversation. So go ahead, give them a try. Your students (and your grading sanity) might thank you.