[Rich Content Editor] Paste Images into Canvas

[blomas]

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

---

I want the ability to paste images directly into Canvas from the clipboard. An example: I want to use Windows Snipping tool (or any other screenshot tool) to create an image. I then want to CTL-C to copy it and CTL-V to paste it into a quiz or assignment or content page in Canvas. Another example would be Copy-Pasting from a Word document into Canvas. This site is able to do it! I just did it below! Let's get this implemented in Canvas!

[swb_in_ut]

I agree with Mr. Lomas that this feature is used successfully just about everywhere I look (and on every web platform I use). Our students are learning and communicating via internet. They are impeded not by the speed of loading images but the fact that there is no image at all because the instructors don't have time to stop what they are doing, save a hard file of a screenshot, upload that file to their Canvas files, then insert (what is often for me) a quick screengrab of an example I'm trying to demonstrate.  I don't mean to be a jerk. I'm just really tired of wasting time saving and uploading screenshots when I know it can be more efficient. 

[swb_in_ut]

These are all thoughtful limitations to a simple copy and paste but they don't defend the inaction to make the C&P possible.

I agree that there are a lot of considerations that would make adding images and/or other files easier, more complete and robust. But they are separate issues.

So many times a day I need to share with a student something that is specific to them. I grab a screenshot that I will never use again for anyone else ever. And now it is a hard file on my computer that I have to clean up and it gets uploaded to Canvas where it will sit in a folder getting copied forward as I copy course content forward and create a bigger mess to manage. 

[laurav_gomez]

Thank you for this idea. I depend a lot on my windows snipping tool and I use it to help my assignments become more accessible to students. This tool helps me create easy and quick presentations, assignments, and assessments students can use in my class. If canvas adds this feature, I could easily transition to using canvas as my preference to embed images/visuals that will help further learning in an assignment. It would save us, teachers, a lot of planning time which nowadays is very precious being that we have numerous PLC meetings that only focus on data analysis and not on lesson planning. 

[stelpstra]

I copied and pasted this part from the top of this feature idea:

See highlighted text, does "...not expected to influencing development..." mean it is left out from the development cycle? That is what I get from the other highlighted text that it will be reconsidered.

Here is a question to consider, is "usability" or "easy of use" a static concept or could you say that usability in 2007 has changed a lot in 2019?

[GideonWilliams]

Interesting. I think usability is a critical feature of any (digital) tool especially when considering change management. Usability supports engagement and whilst engagement is not learning, it makes things a whole lot easier.

The challenges come when expectations are not met. I read many comments in the Community whereby a move from one digital product to another has disappointed in some regard because there was an expectation that a similar process/feature would work in the same way. This effect is multiplied when you are the person leading the change and responsible for support/training in that you are often reminded of the features that are not present.

That said, if you have no experience of the patform working the way you expect it to then often you simply accept it is something that the platform cannot do! I guess it possibly becomes more frustrating the more you come across the feature?

The challenge for Canvas is the benchmark for usability is definitely much higher in 2019 particularly as regards integration with other products. There is also increasing competition from the big TWO: Microsoft and Google with their Teams, OneNote and Classroom. I wonder how many people noticed that in their initial launch of Teams that Microsoft had a link to Canvas (well the icon was there) and lo and behold, the announcement at BETT this year showed the first LTI on Teams to a learning platform was to Moodle! Microsoft Teams and Moodle - Microsoft in Education  

[bplotzker]

Hello all.

I am new to Canvas and was aiming to move my quizzes over from 'klickers' in PowerPoint to Canvas. My present quizzes in PowerPoint have diagrams and images. I assumed it would be easy to just copy each image and paste them into the quiz, but it seems that this is not possible to do. I dont know the tech side, but I would assume that this would be a basic feature that is so useful to so many. To have to re-find all the images, the links, or to save each one, even if I was starting from scratch, is very very tedious! What puzzles me is that this initial thread, requesting this rather obvious feature, began in October of 2015, over 3 years ago, has over 400 Up votes, yet still has not been incorporated.

Perhaps there is a way, that I do not know about. If it is still not, when this feature will be implemented?

Thanks.

[davidrcrockett]

These are the small things that keep my teachers from wanting to use things like Canvas Quizzes. They can copy their text from Google Drive really quick, but then when I tell them they have to save all their pictures and upload them to Canvas, then add them to each question, they're like... Nope, don't have time for that.

[pfau]

I just wanted to say that I'm very sad that this feature hasn't been implemented yet....and appears to not be on the plan for implementation. The clunkiness of having to upload to a directory then select the uploaded file wastes a lot of my time and makes it very unlikely that I'll post images that would otherwise help students.

[rebyers]

Just trying to keep this feature request on the Instructure radar.  Something that makes our lives much easier and is widely implemented elsewhere seems like it should move up the priority queue.

[rpayne4]

This feature would be so useful. We're currently moving from moodle where teachers would do the copy pasting of images in moodle, but the catch was that its file path was the original place they copied it from (I noticed this is what happens if I try and copy paste an image from another page into this message too). As a result, when that image path changes on the original site, teachers start getting broken images throughout their course.

How many more up votes does this feature need to make it happen? Is it gaming the system if I prompt our school's teachers to all come and vote? :smileysilly: