Initial Feedback from Faculty - Parity Questions

[jmerlenbach2]

We have begun demoing the new Portfolio to some faculty members, with a plan for initial pilot courses this Fall. Our focus currently is on the Showcase Portfolio functionality. While sentiments are overwhelmingly positive, a few needs have arisen that may not be matching the functionality of the previous portfolio tool(s)

• The text editors for the description fields do not use the full rich content editor, and do not appear to allow for images to be embedded. Many programs used the old home page of the original ePortfolio tool as a learners introduction page, and wished to require a portrait image. It does not appear that this functionality exists - instead those description/reflection fields are text only. In the case of "evidence", there is need for images beyond the files.
• There appears to be a delay between a file being submitted in a course, and it populating into the area where assignments can be imported into a portfolio. Is there some guidance available on when the submission should be available?
• This is the big one - when a showcase portfolio is shared via link and it contains an assignment submission, the linked page leaves a blank area indicating that "the course submission is not shared". This is a huge gap that makes this functionality undesirable. The benefit of being able to go back through courses and pull out submissions is lost if those submissions cannot be shared. If the concern is around sharing out instructor's assignment details publicly, then I would hope the submission itself could be isolated and shared as part of that share. An example can be found here. In many cases, students will be submitting a showcase portfolio as an assignment in a course - instructors do not have need to be so rigid as in the evaluation portfolio, and often these portfolios cross multiple semesters. If students share these links in a way that doesn't include their imported submissions, then it only creates confusion for the student. The PDF export isolates the submission - we would like to see that as part of the share link functionality as well.

[ProfessorBeyrer]

Thank you @jmerlenbach2 for sharing your testing experience and highlighting the lack of presence in a public link. Hopefully the concern around privacy rights can be met with clear language within Canvas that empowers students the option to choose to share their assignment submissions within a shared portfolio.