How do I assign an assignment to everyone, individual students, or sections?
By default, assignments you create in your course are assigned to everyone. You can specify a due date and availability dates that apply to everyone. You can also assign an assignment to an individual student or a course section.
You can also assign an assignment to a course group.
When Multiple Grading Periods are enabled in a course, assignments are also respected against closed grading periods.
Only assigned students can view the assignment.
Notes:
- If multiple due dates apply to a student, Canvas assigns the latest due date to the student. For example, if a student's individual due date is November 18 and the section due date is November 20, the student is assigned a due date of November 20.
- If you unassign a student or section to a differentiated assignment you have previously graded, the grade and submission are removed from the assignment. You can restore the submission by reassigning the assignment to the student.
- When using differentiated assignments with the Gradebook, the assignment appears as a column for all students, but grade cells are grayed out for students who have not been included in the assignment. Grades cannot be assigned for students who have not been included in the assignment, and assignments that are not assigned to a student are not factored into overall grades.
Open Assignments
In Course Navigation, click the Assignments link.
Add Assignment
Click the Add Assignment button.
Assign Access
In the Assign Access section, you can manage assignees [1], the due date [2], and availability dates [3]. You can also add additional assignment details [4].
Select Assignees
By default, assignments are assigned to everyone in the course. However, you can differentiate the assignments.
To assign an assignment to an individual student, section, or Mastery Path, remove Everyone by clicking the Remove icon [1].
To change the assignees, click the Assign To field. Then, select one or more assignees. You can assign to a course section [2] or an individual student [3].
Notes:
- You can include more than one student or section in the To field as long as the students are to be assigned the same due and availability dates.
- If your course is using Mastery Paths, you do not have to manually assign assignments to individual students. Learn how to assign an assignment using Mastery Paths.
- If you unassign a student or section to a differentiated assignment you have previously graded, the grade and submission are removed from the assignment. You can restore the submission by reassigning the assignment to the student.
- You can also assign an assignment to a course group.
Find Student or Section
To find a student or section more easily, enter a few letters of the name [1] and select the name from a filtered list [2].
To remove an assignee, click the assignee Remove icon [3].
Note: The list is not scrollable.
Enter Due and Availability Dates
In the date fields, add your preferred date(s) with the following options:
- Due Date [1]: Set the date and time that the assignment is due. The due date is already populated for you if you created an assignment shell, but you can change it if necessary.
- Available From [2]: Set the date and time when the assignment is unlocked and becomes available.
- Until [3]: Set the date and time when the assignment is locked and no longer available.
Notes:
- Due dates assigned to specific students override group or section due dates.
- If you have set section override dates in your course, you may need to assign to a course section and set due and availability dates that fall within the section override dates.
- After you enter due dates or availability dates, Canvas displays the time zone date and time according to context. If you manage courses in a time zone other than your local time zone and create or edit a due date for an assignment, the course and local times are displayed for reference.
Add Additional Assignments
To add another student or section with a different due date and availability dates, click the Add Assign To button. Then enter a new set of assignees, due dates, and availability dates.
Remove Assignment
You can delete entire assignments by clicking the Remove icon in the appropriate assignment section [1].
To remove the dates and times in the Due Date, Available from, or Until fields, click the Clear link [2].
View Date Error
If you enter invalid dates, Canvas displays error messages. Invalid entries include not unlocking the discussion before it is due, not placing the due date inside the range of availability dates, or assigning a date that is outside the course or term dates.
Correct the dates as needed.
Notes:
- If the course does not include specified course start and end dates, Canvas validates the graded discussion against the term date set for the course.
- If your course is using Multiple Grading Periods, the Assign field validates the due date against the closed grading period and requires the discussion due date to be past the date of the closed grading period.
Save and Publish
If you are ready to publish the assignment, click the Save & Publish button [1]. If you want to create a draft of your assignment and publish it later, click the Save button [2].
View Warning
If you do not add all students through course sections or individual assignments, a warning message displays.
If you don't want to add any others to the assignment, click the Continue button [1]. Alternatively, to go back and add additional sections or students, click the Go Back button [2].
Note: This warning message does not display if Everyone, Everyone Else, or all course sections or students in the course are assigned to the assignment.
View Assignment Dates
View the assignees and dates assigned to the assignment [1].
To quickly view details or make changes to assignments, click the Assign To button [2].
View Assignments Page
On the Assignments Index Page, a published assignment shows the assignment dates.
When multiple availability dates or due dates exist, you can view details from the Assignments Page. Hover the cursor over the Multiple Dates link [1] and view the date details [2].
