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 

[momillard]

Some potential good news for this long awaited feature idea request!  I just read a this canvas post by  @johnmartin ‌, a colleague of mine uw-madison‌.  It discusses "Project Khaki 2.0", which appears to layout the next 6 months or so of development priorities for some of the Instructure development team.  On searching the canvas community, I also found this post, which discusses what went into creating this list of development priorities during an event held at Instructure headquarters.

There are some very exciting and needed features on this list. Most importantly, item #7 on the priority list is to develop this feature/idea request, with an estimate of about 6 sprints of work (in agile/scrum programming parlance).  This is excellent news, and I'm hopefully we could be seeing this feature in the near future...fingers crossed!

[khirschmann1]

Laura,

There are two ways a student can add an image to a discussion.  One is the most straightforward which is to use the Embed Image button and paste a URL for an image.  But if they want to upload an image from their computer they must first upload the image into their personal files, then they can access their personal files from the embed image button.  

The other way is to attach a file to a discussion post.  The problem with this method is that first the faculty member must know to allow this in the course options.  Second, only one file can be attached to a discussion, so no multiple images.  Third, the image is not embedded, it shows up as a link that others have to click on to download the image making it difficult to place the image in the context of the written post.

Teachers can simply use the insert content sidebar to upload images directly while editing a post without the extra step adding it to their personal files first.  All we want is to provide students with a similar workflow.

Drag and drop of images from the desktop or the web would be like gravy on top.

[johnmartin]

Hi  @momillard , laurakgibbs, and  @steve_simpson 

I did a quick scan of the above and want to note that while I wish Canvas images were as simple as it is in Google Docs (copy/paste anyone?), I did recently find out from mortonanngernsbacher‌ that in Group spaces students have the same image importing options as instructors. 

Now, does this work in Group Discussions? I dunno. But it's worth checking out.

This actually brings up another issue — that of being able to see what students see. Without looking over their shoulders, it seems we'll never really know. sadpanda‌

[laurakgibbs]

Encouraging students to remote link by URL is not very good web practice (there are plenty of sites that still do not even allow remote linking). The attached file option is also a very poor choice for the reasons you have described.

Here is the information I share with my students about why remote linking is not a good idea (the context is their own blogs, but the same principle applies). 

Online Course Wiki: Uploading Images

The problem is that the image upload process in Canvas is unnecessarily convoluted. I see no need for drag-and drop... instead, I would expect something like what we have here in the Jive space; the WYSIWYG editor should facilitate file uploads as part of creating the post. That is what students expect, and I think it is a reasonable expectation.

[mortonanngernsb]

Hi John. Yes, if Discussions are assigned to Groups (and students are assigned to Groups), then students can embed images into their Discussion Board posts the same way instructors do (using the Rich Content Editor). The process still requires an upload (not a simple drag and drop, which would be nice), but the process doesn’t require exiting the Discussion Board (or opening Canvas in another browser tab), uploading the file to the student’s (personal) Canvas Files, and then returning to the Discussion Board.

The ease with with students can embed images into Discussion Board posts if the Discussion Board and the students are assigned to Groups is worth putting an entire class into one Group — just to get access to that feature. Indeed, I wished that more instructors were using Groups so that we could get some traction on the request to allow instructors to modify the Group menu.

Morton Ann Gernsbacher, Ph.D.

Vilas Research Professor and Sir Frederic Bartlett Professor

University of Wisconsin-Madison

www.Gernsbacherlab.org<http://www.Gernsbacherlab.org>; @GernsbacherLab

pronouns: she/her

[laurakgibbs]

Now THAT is a very elegant work-around, mortonanngernsbacher‌ ... I've been toying with the idea of moving the commenting/discussion part of my students' blog network off to the Canvas Discussion Board space... but the limitations in the Discussion Boards have made me reluctant to do that. Your idea here about the class all as one Group sounds like it would solve one of my dilemmas... thanks for sharing that information here! 

[khirschmann1]

Laura,

I actually meant copy and paste, not drag and drop.  But, while convenient, neither are as critical as having a simple way of uploading images into general discussions.  I don't think I should have to create a group, which itself can be confusing because how it changes the navigation.

[laurakgibbs]

Aha, I see what you mean. Copy-and-paste as an upload shortcut. 

And yes, I don't think we should have to use workarounds, but I'll do whatever it takes to get things ready for my classes. If I waited for LMS software to catch up, that would be a long wait. 🙂

[Jeff_F]

Being a primary source as a Khaki 2017 participant, I can confirm this to be an accurate depiction.   Image drag and drop into the Rich Content Editor was selected as a development priority.  

[momillard]

Excellent!  Thanks for confirming Jeff.  And for being part of the group that prioritized this feature