Does the presence of https://xxxx.instructure.com/api/graphql indicate successful "submission" of video in Discussion Board?

[saustin]

Good morning, we have a student who claims to have submitted a video in the Discussion Board (Not as uploaded media but as embedded media).

We have found evidence that the student visited the assignment, and embedded a video. Here is a "sanitized" version of what we saw in the URL history:

https://xxxxx.instructure.com/media_attachments_iframe/0000000?type=video&embedded=tru... 

The student was using Safari 18.5 at the time of the embed.

However, none is present in the Discussion Board.   Comparing it to other students whose responses successfully showed up in the Discussion Board, we noticed the presence of the graphql URL afterwards, with a little checkmark after it.

https://xxxxx.instructure.com/api/graphql 

There are no submissions viewable in the SpeedGrader for any of the student's videos.

So many questions

1. Does ?type=video&embedded=true mean that the video has actually been embedded?

2. Is an "embed" considered an act of "submission" when it comes to Video recordings?

3. If Canvas asks for an embed, is there anything further a student can do on their end to ensure a submission?  

4. On Canvas's end, if there is no "https://xxxxx.instructure.com/api/graphql"  in the URL history, does that mean that the record of the video never got up to Canvas cloud to be recorded?

At the end of the day, we can trace the student's actions and see that the student was in the Discussion Board, embedding a video.  What we don't know is if he took any further actions to submit, or even needed to.   Does the graphql indicate "submission" for videos in the Discussion Board?

[chriscas · Accepted solution]

Hi @saustin,

I think this is going to be a pretty hard question to answer definitively, unless someone from Instructure actually chimes in.  I'll give my opinion at least...

1. Does ?type=video&embedded=true mean that the video has actually been embedded?

I would take that to indicate that a video was likely successfully recorded/uploaded to the media server.  This would basically be the first thing that would need to happen for a video post.

2. Is an "embed" considered an act of "submission" when it comes to Video recordings?

I believe the "embedded" part is just indicating to the video system what kind of url to give back to the discussion/assignment.  In the case of embedded being true, I think it's going to deliver some type of iframe.

3. If Canvas asks for an embed, is there anything further a student can do on their end to ensure a submission?  

My guess is that the student recorded the video, but didn't actually hit the post button after that to add their reply to the discussion.  It may be a good idea for teachers to clarify the process for students in the discussion instructions.  With that being said, a vast majority of students do seem to have mo problem figuring this out on their own.

4. On Canvas's end, if there is no "https://xxxxx.instructure.com/api/graphql"  in the URL history, does that mean that the record of the video never got up to Canvas cloud to be recorded?

I would say that url may be more related to the discussion than the video, but I could be wrong.  I think that url appears as part of the discussion post process, but not the video part.  With this being said, the graphql endpoint can be used for numerous API calls, just one of which would be discussions.

I hope this helps a bit!

-Chris

[saustin]

Good afternoon Chris, thank you so much for your insights on this.   I just got back from InstructureCon, where I visited this question again at Hack night.  The developer agreed with all you said, just so you know, but also confirmed -- as I understand it -- that the reference to the graphql url is indeed evidence of submission.  Lack of the graphql url meant lack of submission.   I just ran through another series of tests before coming back to this Discussion Board, just to be sure that what I was telling you was true and correct.   Again, thank you, I am so appreciative of your insights. 

Hmmm... It does look like I have to familiarize myself with graphql though....

Have a great day!

[saustin]

@chriscas Thank you so much -- your answers make a lot of sense, and I think your insight about the embed=true being an indication to set up an iframe is a particularly valuable insight.   

Someone else on the team thought that the student may have recorded the video but did not hit the Post button, but when I tested, if I did not hit the Post button, there would be no record of a video embed url at all.   That said, I am going to test that again.  Maybe I missed something.  

I'm really thankful for your input.  If you have any recommendations as to additional resources I could pursue as it applies to the use of the graphql API and its association with the Media Recorder, by all means, please feel free to pass it down.  Again, thank you so much!

--Sharon