Access to the STUDENT VIEW on an iPad or other tablet

[jim_jeffers]

I can access STUDENT VIEW on the computer, but not on the iPad App. I need to be able to see Student View on the iPad as my district is 1:1 with iPads.

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

For more information, please read through the https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-26725-canvas-teacher-release-notes-ios-111 .

[jfahs]

Ryan and Peyton Craighill Admin!

Yes, updates would be appreciated!

[rlbrown21]

I was at INSTCON17 and talked with the mobile team about this.  They seemed to not have even really thought about it.  During our conversation they through it would be a great idea.  Of course at this point they just release a new APP (teacher app), that did not include this feature either.

So again, an update would be nice.  Has the mobile team even seen this thread?

[rlbrown21]

When you say you demo with "student", do you mean the regular Canvas app?

To me the regular Canvas app is not "student" because when we as teachers log into it we still see everything regardless of publish status.  I want to view the app just like a student.  Partially so i can make videos to show them how to use it  

[KristinL]

When I say "demo" as a student, I think about all of the times that I walk students through a course or module or show them how to access a discussion or an assignment. If I could do this as my Test Student in the course from the Canvas by Instructure app, what they see would align with their own experience. This is especially important since I teach in a setting with 1:1 iPads!

[peytoncraighill]

This is something we'd like to do, and though we don't have a firm timeline on it yet, I can tell you that we plan on implementing it in much the same way that Canvas web has done it (i.e., you tap "Student View" button within the teacher app, we create an enrollment for "Test Student" and redirect you to the student app as Test Student).

I don't expect that we'll get to the aforementioned solution within the next few months, but if you're interested in a workaround today, you can create a test student enrollment yourself--or have an admin create one for you--and view your course as a student that way.

[jayoder]

Great tip! Thanks for the workaround idea!

[a_burgess4]

For me a way to preview and test content on mobile app is greatly needed.  

I am going backwards and forwards between web browser and IOS app a lot and am struggling to understand how and why certain pages render the way they do in mobile app.

Is there a particular framework that the app uses to render page layouts, e.g bootstrap ? 

Tried manually styling content using CSS and while my layouts scale-down properly in browser. App seems to render content in a way that is unpredictable to me and often highly problematic.    

Are there any guildlines on how to design content that renders well in app. 

Freaking out a bit as got loads of content that needs to be migrated from previous LMS to canvas and students have been promised a mobile friendly experience with the launch of Canvas. 

In need of some guidance on how to style content for the app. 

[peytoncraighill]

Hey  @a_burgess4 ‌!

There are dragons in these woods, and CSS dragons are particularly temperamental and crazy (which I imagine is why the guides on custom styles have about a million disclaimers), but I'll do my best:

The iOS apps render HTML content in embedded webviews (WKWebView specifically -- which Apple says renders identically to the Safari app), so the difference between what's displayed in Safari versus native app should be small. The exception to this is if your institution uses custom CSS/JS files in the Canvas theme editor:

The mobile apps (and any client consuming Canvas API) only use the mobile app CSS/JS files. If you want custom web styles to apply in the mobile apps, you'll need to copy/upload your CSS and JS files to the mobile fields in theme editor, highlighted in the screenshot above. Custom CSS/JS on sub-accounts can also create inconsistencies, so watch out for that.

Keep in mind that when you load Canvas in the Safari app, you're looking at Canvas web, which doesn't use the API or the mobile app CSS file, and that could help explain the difference.

• Video from  @rseilham ‌ on using custom styles in mobile: 
  This video is currently being processed. Please try again in a few minutes.
   
• Canvas guides on custom styles: How do I upload custom JavaScript and CSS files to an account or sub-account? 

On the native app front, we're in the process of adding more pull-to-refresh on detail views, which will help in testing this. For the time-being, I'd recommend testing your styles in assignment descriptions of the teacher app, because assignments in that app can be pulled-to-refresh today (so make a change, pull to refresh, make a change, pull to refresh, etc.). Once you get something that works there, it will work the same in every webview.

Hope this helps.

(Edited to reflect that Canvas API only provides information from mobile app CSS/JS files uploaded to theme editor.)

[a_burgess4]

Thank you for this reply it is very helpful. I have started using the method you describe (using assignment desc in teacher app) and finding this works well for me at the moment.  

[hesspe]

Hi Peyton,

I realize I'm digging around in some old material here, but I'm new to supporting the Canvas apps.  Regarding your suggestion:

"...a workaround today, you can create a test student enrollment yourself--or have an admin create one for you--and view your course as a student that way."

The problem I see with this, which seems kind of obvious to me, is that an instructor or designer wants to preview their site before it is published, so there is no access to it in the Student app.  If I'm missing something, please let me know. Otherwise count this as another vote for the great value of incorporating a student view in the Teacher App.  Most teachers construct their sites in a web browser.  We would like to encourage them to do QA for mobile users, but at present we can't give them instructions for how to do that.  (In addition to the unpublished access issue, we do not give Teachers the "Act as User" permission.)