Make the "New" Media Tool as Good as the Old One

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A couple of months ago, early in 2021, Canvas changed the media embedding tool in the Rich Content Editor. The new tool has introduced *multiple* problems to those of us who use audio files in Canvas Quizzes:

1) If there are multiple audio files in a quiz, the new tool allows them to play back simultaneously. (The old tool would automatically stop one audio file when the next one was launched.) 

2) The new tool embeds audio files that are downloadable!  (This was not the case with the old tool.) This is a *very* unfortunate capability in a test environment, especially if there are multiple sections of a course and students would be tempted to "share" the musical examples with classmates who have yet to take the exam.

3) The new tool does not allow instructors to "rename" the musical example when embedding it in the quiz. Therefore, unless the file has been "anonymized" before it is uploaded, a student can right-click the file and find the name of the audio track within the HTML. When a goal of the quiz is listening identification, this unfortunate capability turns the exam into a series of "What color is the white horse?" questions.

Please make the new media tool as "test-friendly" as the old tool had been.

10 Comments
Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni
Status changed to: In Development
 
Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni
Status changed to: Moderating
 
Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

@amclamor This sounds like a change your local Canvas admin or eLearning department has implemented for your university. Have you contacted them directly to ask what media recording tool is now being used in the RCE? This link might be a good starting point for the inquiry: Home - Information Technology Services (ITS) - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo 

amclamor
Community Explorer

Thank you, Stefanie. I did start with my university's Canvas folks, and they say that this change is part of the new text editor that Canvas (not my campus) rolled out. I then discussed the issues with Canvas Support, and -- after looking into the problem -- this was the advice I got: "This would be consider[ed] a feature request to change the behavior. You can add a feature request to our idea board for further review."  (Hence, my initial post.) I hope that Canvas can take steps to improve the security of these audio files in Canvas Quizzes.

Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

@amclamor  Before we move this forward, we'd like to take another look at the support case that resulted in this idea. Would you please provide the case number for the ticket along with a screenshot of the Rich Content Editor (RCE) in Edit mode so we can see what the Media/Audio comment tool looks like in your instance? It would ordinarily display as a musical notes icon on the RCE toolbar ribbon (see the screenshots in  How do I upload and embed a media file from my com... )

Thanks!

amclamor
Community Explorer

Hello, Stefanie -- here's the support discussion: Canvas case 07511556. The media tool is gone from our text editor; we are told to use the "Insert" option to add our audio files.  Thank you.

Screen Shot 2021-04-12 at 3.20.49 PM.pngScreen Shot 2021-04-12 at 3.21.30 PM.png

Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

@amclamor Thanks for the case number. We've asked our support supervisor to review the case.

Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni
Status changed to: Moderating
 
Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

@amclamor 

Our support supervisor has reviewed the case interaction and is going to reopen the case to ask for additional information, so you can expect to receive an update soon—and after that's resolved, we can discuss the points in the description that might still need to move forward as new, separate ideas. Thanks for your patience.

Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni
Status changed to: Archived