A way to save a draft for Text Entries

[emersoncall]

Text Entries are how most of my teachers do their assignments. If I want to start an assignment when I have a little time, and then continue working on it later, the only real way to do so is by writing it in an external application that I can copy and paste into the text box when it's finished. It would be incredibly convenient if I could start writing an assignment in Canvas, and save a draft of it if I have to go before I finish. This would save the trouble of needing to log into Google Docs or a similar application in order to save my draft, and then later needing to find what I've written again and the assignment it was for on Canvas. A way to save drafts could remove the hassle of using an outside application, allow me to work in as short of time periods as needed, and conveniently keep what I've written connected to the assignment that it is for.

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

For more information, please read through Canvas Release Notes (2020-03-21) 

[smbuthi]

It seems that many people embrace the idea.  I am just curious as to what the timeframe for implementation is - it has been more than 1 year now since the suggestion was made, but the feature hasn't been modified in canvas.  Some students enter the text directly, just to notice that they cannot save the text (especially if one has previously used Moodle or Blackboard).  It is absolutely a good practice to have the option of saving and editing submission for the entries.  Thank you.

[robchik_sk]

If this feature gets implemented, it should be easy to port it to the canvas mail system. It is annoying when you write down a mail to someone, and either accidentally press esc, or cancel button and the whole thing you wrote gets erased.

[Stef_retired]

While we're watching the progress of this feature idea, I wanted to call everyone's attention to a simple browser add-on I've been using for years, and it works everywhere on the web--not just in Canvas--so I haven't lost a text entry draft in, well, years. Check out Lazarus: Form Recovery - Chrome Web Store and Lazarus: Form Recovery :: Add-ons for Firefox. It's a free add-on/extension that allows you to recover your typed text with just a few clicks.

I understand that this is not the same as saving a draft, but some of the comments under this feature idea refer to the frustration of accidentally losing a typed entry mid-stream, and having Lazarus installed will mitigate that.

[bogardde]

This has become much, much less of an need, now that we have the option of the Google Cloud Assignment LTI. The student's work saves automatically in the Google Doc that the LTI creates, and is ready to access again the next time the student clicks on the assignment...or they can access it directly from their Google Drive as well. Woot!

[dputchio]

We don't use Google Doc that.  Any other suggestions?

[bogardde]

Danette, the only process I was able to come up with for our teachers, if google docs was not an option, was the submit/then resubmit process. Here is how I described it to them:

1. Have the students type "NOT FINISHED" at the end of their entry and submit it. (That way, the teacher can see in Speedgrader that it is not ready to be graded).

2. Then when the student is ready to work on it again, click on the assignment and click "Submission details" to see their work.

3. They must Highlight and Copy what they've already done, then click the Resubmit Assignment button.

4. Paste the previous work into the new text box, and continue on. Submit with the "NOT FINISHED" annotation again if it needs further work. This can be repeated as many times as necessary.

5. When the student is ready for the item to be graded, they should type "READY TO GRADE" at the bottom of their work before hitting the "Submit Assignment" button.

6. From Speedgrader, the instructor has access to every submission the student generates, with time stamps. This gives nice snapshots into how the student's drafts progressed.

It's somewhat cumbersome, I know, but it creates less pain for the student than losing the work you've put into it so far! I hope this helps.

[ronmarx]

Deactivated user‌, cool beanz on the news about this notes idea being accessible"... across the platform and the variety of interaction points in Canvas..."

[im0976569]

Just a simple "Save" button would be useful. Also a way to see previous versions and revert to them.

[mhiller]

This would be a great feature. Seems simple and quite beneficial to students. It makes no sense to me that a suggestion like this was made 2.5 years ago and no change has been made. Clearly there are teachers and students that would find this beneficial. While I can see how utilizing Google Docs as a way to save the draft until they are finished, that adds one more step for my students (and will end up in students sharing the Doc rather than putting in in Canvas). Why is it so difficult to add such a simple feature?

[smbuthi]

The "save" feature is available in blackboard for all assignments and exams; it is available in moodle rooms similarly; and same feature is in canvas but only for quiz (or exams).  It can be done at a full capacity in Canvas - we need to give students options.  The voting for this feature took 2 years to happen.  I hope the implementation of the feature could be expedited for a change much awaited for.  Thank you everyone.