Multiple IU sites, including Canvas, Gradescope and Qualtrics were down early Monday morning, causing disruptions to classes and assignments. Canvas access was restored at 7:16 p.m., according to the company’s parent site Instructure.
Around 4 a.m. Monday, Amazon Web Services confirmed the company was experiencing a worldwide operational issue.
The AWS outage was resolved with “services returning to normal operations” around 6 p.m. Websites that use its services are gradually returning. Multiple IU sites including Canvas, Gradescope and Qualtrics are hosted on AWS and were impacted by the outage, University Information Technology Services Support Center reported in an email to students.
Students use Canvas to view grades, access class materials and contact students and instructors, making it a crucial part of many classes.
“I just logged in this morning, and I realized it was down, and all my classes got canceled because of it,” sophomore Hannah Schultz said.
Schultz was scheduled to start an eight-week course Monday, but the first class got canceled because of the outage.
Senior Allie Myers, on the other hand, only has one class Mondays, and it wasn’t impacted by the disruption.
“I don't have homework due tonight,” Myers said. “It did impact me in that there were assignments I wanted to start, and I couldn't start them.”
Some instructors also use Top Hat — a system integrated with Canvas — to take attendance for class credit. Because of the issues, Top Hat was also down.
“Top Hat, that was, like, a huge problem, and my teacher was like, ‘I don't know what to do about it,’” sophomore Emily Monteleone said. “For a second, she thought it was, like, a Wi-Fi issue, and then was like, ‘I'll just give everyone points.’ I'm like ‘Okay? I guess that works.’”
Monteleone has an exam Wednesday and had to email her teacher for notes she had not yet downloaded to study. Other students were not as lucky.
Sophomore biology majors Anthony Brace and Gaby Rosa have an organic chemistry exam Tuesday. Rosa said the two could not email their instructor for study material or questions because their professor’s email is on Canvas.
“We're using only the stuff that we have downloaded right now, and we also can't access the answer keys,” Brace said.
Brace’s issues with Canvas were not just related to future exams; he had a calculus assignment due within an hour of being interviewed.
“I didn't start it,” Brace said. “I had forgotten over the weekend, and I have to find the problems on the Canvas, which I can't do...I'm hoping she gives grace. I really am. Because, like, it's also supposed to be turned in on Canvas. So, like, there's no way I'm the only one.”
The outage was international and not just for Canvas, but IU students still felt frustrated by it.
“Get it together,” Rosa said. “For me, like, all of my assignments are due tomorrow, so I was just gonna get them done today, spend tomorrow studying for my exam. And so, if it doesn't get back up today, I have to do literally everything tomorrow. And I really don't have time for that.”
Brace agreed with Rosa, adding that the outage was “kind of day ruining, life ruining, week ruining, month ruining.”
UPDATE: This story has been updated following Canvas access being restored.
