Can students use Commons? If so, do they have the same search capabilities as a teacher?

[schneijs]

What functionality does Commons serve for the student user?

[kona · Accepted solution]

 @schneijs ​, as far as I'm aware students do not have access to Commons. This is a area for Instructor, Instructional Designer, & Admin to share course content and resources.

[MattHanes]

 @kona  is correct. If you masquerade as a student, that option doesn't appear. I logged as a test student account and tried the URL that the teachers and admins use to get to Commons. It gave an error and would not let me access it as a student.

[schneijs]

Thank you, Kona and Matthew. We were considering different ways to allow students to view course information, now we can eliminate Commons from that discussion. Thanks again for the quick reply!

[kona]

Happy to help!

[clong]

I've been testing some things out with commons and here's a few more things to consider that are related to your question about students being able to see and import stuff from Commons.

1) If you share something to commons that is public to all Canvas users then students can access that if they want to if they have signed up for a free for teachers account.

2) If students are enrolled as a TA to any course in your Canvas instance, they will also see the import into Commons option and this would allow them to search commons then import it into that course. This means they could potentially access information that they shouldn't be and they could delete what they imported to in the course to help cover their tracks.

[jsowalsk]

Hi  @kona ‌,  @clong ‌,  @MattHanes ‌,

We are currently testing Commons and it seems as if students do have access to Commons. However, we would like the ability for them to not have access. Is there a specific permission that we can use on Instructure's end? We are currently using Javascript to hide the tool from students. 

However, students can have multiple roles in Canvas such as a student in one course and a TA in another. Is there a way for Commons to appear if they have a TA role in a course and then not appear if they have a student role in a course?

Thank you in advance,

Jessica

[kona]

 @jsowalsk , I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. Are you saying that you would like them to have access to Commons in a course when they are a TA, but not when they are a student in a course?

[jsowalsk]

We will like students who have dual roles -- when they have a student role -- they do not have access to Commons. If they have a role of a TA they have access to Commons. But it is the same person. Also, to get rid of the Commons tool from the navigation for all students.

[kona]

 @jsowalsk , thank you for the clarification! Other than the Javascript to hide it from the left navigation, I can't think of anything else that would work. As for access to Commons - I'm assuming you mean through the specific course someone is in - I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter what your role is in different courses, the only thing that matters is your role in that specific course. For example, we have teachers who are students in some of our training courses. They have access to Commons - to download or upload content in the course they in as teachers - but they don't have access to Commons in the courses they are in as students. Does that help at all?

Kona