Upload an image directly to a discussion as a student

[seth]

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

As a student, I want to be able to upload an image directly to a discussion. I can only do this today using a cludgy, two-step workaround: (1) upload the image to my personal files, then (2) use the content-picker in the discussion-response window to select the image from my files. Instructors can upload images directly to discussions. Students can upload images directly to other parts of Canvas. Seems odd that this use case requires a workaround.

transferred from the old Community
Originally posted by: Sunny Washington
Thank you especially for contributions by: T Beasley, Stefanie Sanders

Comments from Instructure

This is now completed for mobile and web.

For more information, please read through the following release notes:

Canvas Student Release Notes (iOS 6.3) 

Canvas Student Release Notes (Android 6.3) 

https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-15857-canvas-release-notes-2018-11-17 

[baldwinl]

Canvas is a very user-friendly interface, the process to upload a photo is one glitch that is critical to the user experience. (Even the WYSIWYG options for this 'comment' I am submitting is better than the Assignment functionality.)

I teach a class on the Digital Genre and Selfie Culture and, for many of my assignments, students submit their work from their phone. This is my second year teaching this course in Canvas and I have had to think of alternative ways for students to upload their work. 

[monica_a]

Yes, please!  Having an attached image is better than nothing, but I really want to embed images into my messages.  That way people will actually look at them. For instance, I take screen shots to help students navigate Canvas.

Right now, it takes me 5-10 minutes to embed an image, which I do nearly five times per week. That means I'm losing over seven hours of productivity per quarter to this. This is especially frustrating when I upload an image to Canvas, and then I cannot access that image from the particular discussion group I am in.  So I end up spending a lot of time trying to embed this image, and then I  give up on the image all together.

Thank you for making this a high priority!

- Monica

[monica_a]

Yes, I have wondered why the "from your computer" option is not available on Canvas.

[Stef_retired]

 @monica_a ​, are you a student? Teachers are already able to embed images directly into their discussion posts using the Insert Content into the Page panel on the right side of the screen; students don't have the same features on the content selector. This feature idea is meant to remedy the deficit for students. Please clarify...we'd like to help you save time.

(I ask because of this--"For instance, I take screen shots to help students navigate Canvas"--which makes it sound like you might be a teacher.)

[Stef_retired]

Yes,  @monica_a , your screenshot shows how students currently have to embed images into their discussion posts (by clicking on the Canvas tab, which brings up their personal files). But if you're a teacher, you don't have to use that method, and teachers can upload images directly from their computers.

By the way, in case it isn't obvious from my comments, I am strongly in favor of this feature idea; as you can see in the description, I was the originator of the idea (it was submitted in the old Community by Sunny Washington, who was the equivalent of our CSM at the time).

[dschober]

I really hope this goes through as an enhancement.  The link is already there for the instructor, so I don't see how it's hard to turn it on for a student.  The fact that someone has written a how to, How students upload images into their discussion posts​, on something that is common in every social media platform and that this thread has been going on for over a year should be an indication as to the desire to have this on.  Canvas should be easy to use, by everyone, so that it can be embraced for what it is capable of being.  From a support perspective, an instructor should be able to easily show a student with a 'this is how I do it' screenshot if there's confusion...but the process is so click heavy, it's like the system doesn't want to support multimedia. 

Because there was confusion on the original request that delayed this a bit, here's an image on my take of what is the difference between instructor and student options.

 

Wow, that was easy to upload.  What a novel idea.

[alex_white]

I just want to add my voice to this. In running a course this year this one issue cause a lot of hold ups, confusion and I think contributes to students disengaging from a course because something that should be intuitive - like it is on almost every other platform instead requires a 4 step process. I don't understand how a development workshop in 2015 failed to understand the issue and for it it still to be unresolved at the end of 2016. Would it be possible to have an update from Canvas as to whether this issue is planned to be resolved?

[momillard]

Hi  @jlvaughn ​,

Yes, that is true that this community system runs on the Jive platform.  I guess my original point is that seemingly every forum and discussion system available to human-kind has the basic functionality to upload/embed and image as a given.  So it perplexes me that Canvas did not have this built-in to begin with. 

My hope is that if we keep posting in this thread, that Canvas will finally address this lacking and glaring shortcoming of their discussion tool.

Cheers,

~Mark

[sherri_hitz]

What happened to this idea/initiative?!  The last update I see from Instructure is well over a year old (October 2015) and indicated that this CRITICAL FEATURE could take a "few days to make it happen"... so why hasn't it happened?  Or has it?!

[dschober]

Sherri,

I agree. Let's see what tagging some people does for your message/this thread. 

Deactivated user​ &  @Renee_Carney ​, thoughts?