[ARCHIVED] Question about Full Profiles

[snugent]

We have not enabled the full profile as explained in this guide.

How do I edit my Profile?

I tested this about two years ago and found that students could change/edit their name in all three fields. This was deemed unacceptable since this would also change students' names in the gradebook. We feared this would cause confusion for faculty. I created a feature idea about this subject but it got archived.

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I would love to enable the full profile and need some evidence this would not be an issue.  So my questions are:

• Has your institution enabled the full profile?
• If so, have any students put crazy information in these fields?
• Has this caused any confusion for faculty?

Thanks so much.

[RobDitto · Accepted solution]

snugent​, we use the full profile at UPenn, but our account level also has the "Users can edit their name" setting Unchecked. Our students can add information to their profiles, but they can't change their names.  (I voted for your feature idea, by the way -- we'd love to let students change only their Display Name.)

To date, I haven't heard of any crazy-information incidents.  I do think profiles would get more use if were available.

[kona]

snugent​, we have the full profile turned on, but similar to Rob we have the "Users can edit their name" global setting unchecked. I just double-checked and logged in as a student they can add information to their profile - Bio, links, etc, but can't change their name. So far no reports of anything crazy and we've had it turned on for at least a year or so.

[snugent]

Thanks Kona and Rob for your feedback. It is helpful!

[canvas_admin]

We've had the full profile enabled for about 4 months (did it so CanvaBadges would show up better) and we DO allow our students to edit their name.  We do that so students can change their display name in case they go by a middle name or nickname (names are automatically brought over from our SIS). 

So far, nothing crazy or inappropriate has been input and some students have edited their display name to show their nickname or middle name.  We actually had professors who WANTED students to be able to do this.  Students were constantly introducing themselves by the name by which they go which sometimes is not their full name brought over from the SIS.  Professors wanted to be able to address students by the name they go by and not get confused on the professor end of things.