Questionable students

I ponder this question every term-how can my students be so stupid? I don't mean stupid as in learning disabled or not smart. I mean it in the sense that Unit 1 is the easiest unit to score 150 points. They have 3 assignments, each worth 50 points. The first thing they need to do is post an introduction to their peers and reply to 2 others. That is the most stenuous and tedious one. It should take them half an hour tops over a couple days if they are that nervous. The second assignment is opening a document, signing and dating it, and then saving it using a naming convention and then submitting it (there are step by step directions in the class with pictures, I sent them more detailed screenshots, and we covered it in seminar). The final assignment is a review (10 multiple choice questions that they can take multiple times during the unit).

Now, they have a week to complete it, I send reminders to the stragglers and yet, over half the class didn't finish all of them! Arghh!!! My brain just can't comprehend how people work that way.

The good news is that most that actually did their work, did it well. So, there is hope for some. So far, they are a great group of interesting students. Only those two I mentioned earlier are in for pure failure. I need to do some outreach and suggest they visit the writing center asap.