[Commons] Highlighting or Default Selection of Current Course in Canvas Commons Import Process

[DecoyLex]

Problem statement:

When educators use Canvas Commons, a common scenario involves importing course materials into a specific course. Currently, when a teacher initiates the import process by clicking on the "Import from Commons" button within a course, they are presented with a list of all their courses in the "Import into Canvas" section. This list does not distinguish the course from which the teacher launched the Commons. This can create confusion and inefficiency, as educators often have to sift through multiple courses to find the one they originally intended to import content into.

Use Case Example:

Consider a scenario where an instructor, Ms. Smith, is teaching five different courses in a semester and has sandboxes for all of the courses she teaches. She finds a valuable resource in Canvas Commons that she wants to incorporate into her "Introduction to Biology" course. Ms. Smith clicks on the "Import from Commons" button from within this specific course. However, when she reaches the import stage, she sees a list of dozens of her courses without any indication of the "Introduction to Biology" course she was initially in. In haste or due to a momentary lapse of attention, she might accidentally select the wrong course, leading to an unnecessary and time-consuming correction process.

Proposed solution:

Highlighting or Default Selection of the Origin Course: To streamline this process and reduce the potential for error, we propose that the course from which the teacher launched Canvas Commons should be either highlighted or selected by default in the "Import into Canvas" list.

Implementation Details:

• When an educator launches Canvas Commons from within a course, the system should automatically track and remember this origin course.
• In the "Import into Canvas" list, this origin course should be distinctly highlighted, perhaps with a different color or a visual marker such as a star icon--something to distinguish the current course from the instructor's other courses.
• Alternatively, the system could auto-select this origin course by default. However, educators would still have the option to change the selection if they wish to import content into a different course or more courses than the current one.

Rationale:

• Enhanced Efficiency: This feature will save educators time by reducing the need to search through a possibly ever-growing list of courses, especially if they are managing several courses simultaneously.
• Reduced Error: By making the intended course more prominent or selected by default, the likelihood of importing content into the wrong course is significantly minimized.
• User-Centric Design: This improvement aligns with intuitive user experience practices. When a teacher initiates an action from within a specific course, it is reasonable to assume that this course is the intended target for that action.

User role(s):

instructor,designer

[KataKeri]

hi @DecoyLex Thank you for submitting this idea and providing a detailed description on the matter. We've identified the team and added this idea.