Having an editable PDF form to complete an assignment

[MelissaParocai]

Ok.. I am trying to figure out the best way to create a form that students can fill out directly.  I have used Adobe Acrobat to create a fillable form but I am still having difficulty making it work in Canvas. Does any have any experience with this or any idea how to make something similar work?  Thanks in advance and I welcome all suggestions. 🙂 

[NoahBoswell]

Hi there @MelissaParocai ,

I'd recommend setting up an annotation assignment. You can learn more about annotation assignments here: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-annotate-a-file-as-an-assignment-submissio... 

Would this be a solution that works for you?

Best,
Noah

[MelissaParocai]

Hey Noah - We looked at that as an option but it didn't really work like we wanted it to - hence why I was trying the PDF route. Thank you so very much for the suggestion. 

[Gabriel33]

Can you explain what features you are looking for? What's missing on the annotations assignment, or why can't a normal quiz serve your purpose? That may help us find a solution.

While Adobe has an LTI, I couldn't find any evidence that it provides a PDF form filling assignment.

[MelissaParocai]

A quiz is a possible option but most of the questions are open ended reflection questions that require a connection to a pervious questions.  So think of selecting from a list of choices and then having to justify why you selected that one.   The quiz option can work but we have existing documents that we wanted to continue to use that could be completed without download/upload.   We have also considered the annotation option.  

In the past I have created embedded forms that could be filled out and considering the RCE environment - it seems like there should be a way to make this work but it is looking like there is not. Thank you guys for your help - I really do appreciate the suggestions.  

[Gabriel33]

That's definitely possible on Quizzes, with a mix of multiple choice questions followed by essay questions, but I understand you may not want to convert your existing files to quizzes.

In that case, the only option inside Canvas by default I know of is using annotations assignments.

Do you have access to Perusall? It's more for collaboration, but you could make groups of 1 student each for an assignment where they have to write comments on a PDF file you upload.

[oneilllj]

Hi @MelissaParocai 

Could you try a Microsoft Form and either provide the link or embed the form in the assignment/page?

Thanks

Jen