Ability to Save and Copy from Frequently Used Comments in Speedgrader/DocViewer

[jherron]

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

For more information, please read through the  Canvas Release Notes (2021-06-19).

We're aware that there are two parts to this idea. The "Speedgrader" piece of the request is complete; the idea remains open for DocViewer annotations comments.

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It would be a great timesaver for writing instructors and anyone else making many of the same comments to students on assignments to save and store comments in SpeedGrader/Crocodoc DocViewer as one is able to do in Turnitin's Grademark feature. This feature would help SpeedGrader really live up to its name, too.

This has been a request since August 2012: Ability to Save and Copy from Frequently Used Comments in Crocodoc : Help Center

[dcamilleri]

I appriciate your blog but i think this should be built into Speedgrader for several reasons. firstly, Canvas costs a lot of money so a basic function like this should be included. why should we have to pay for an additional program? secondly, student assignments may contain personal information of the students. allowing a third party to access this opens up possible security issues.

6. Security
We endeavor to keep your personal information safe and secure at all times. Our data is stored in the United States with robust physical, digital, and procedural safeguards in place to protect your personal information, including the use of SSL encryption. Passwords are required to access your personal information, so please remember to keep your password confidential. Even with the tightest security systems, no one can guarantee protection from hackers and unauthorized third parties who capture information provided over public networks.

thirdly, 11trees collects quite a lot of data as written in their privacy policy:

under 3. Tracking Technologies

Collecting Data
"As is true of most websites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information may include internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and/or clickstream data. We may combine this automatically collected log information with other information we collect about you. We do this to improve services we offer you and to improve site functionality."

Clickstream data: Clickstream data are a detailed log of how participants navigate through the Web site during a task. The log typically includes the pages visited, time spent on each page, how they arrived on the page, and where they went next.

Also, under Data integrity, they state: "We do not, and will not, use your intellectual property for any purpose other than to deliver, support, and develop our services, which are designed to protect and strengthen your copyright."

this sounds like they can use my intellectual property, comments i develop,  to develop theri own premade comments for their own profit. 

You can find their privacy policy here. 

11trees Privacy Policy - 11trees 

[mitchel_stimers]

Here's a little run-down on the top 10 requests, including this one (asc, up-votes):

Post Title	Opened	Time Open	Total Views	UP	DOWN	UP%
Printable / PDF-exportable quizzes	3/31/15	4 yrs, 11 mo, 30 d	35,608	2,461	29	98.84%
Allow folders in Pages	11/11/16	3 yrs, 4 mo, 10 d	27,822	2,250	82	96.48%
Multiple Due Dates (checkpoints) for Discussions	5/5/15	4 yrs, 10 mo, 4 d	30,246	2,201	14	99.37%
Create Question Banks from MSWord	5/17/15	4 yrs, 10 mo, 16 d	36,825	1,728	24	98.63%
Ability to Save and Copy from Frequently Used Comments in Speedgrader/DocViewer	5/15/15	4 yrs, 10 mo, 14 d	13,900	1,467	10	99.32%
Regrade quiz when deleting questions	9/1/15	4 yrs, 6 mo, 0 d	17,964	1,304	20	98.49%
Notifications by Course	10/27/15	4 yrs, 4 mo, 26 d	58,116	1,099	5	99.55%
Adjust all assignment and quiz dates on a single page	4/7/15	4 yrs, 11 mo, 6 d	19,681	1,076	9	99.17%
Submit an assignment on behalf of a student	4/14/15	4 yrs, 11 mo, 13 d	21,846	1,042	27	97.47%
Let us schedule a Publish Date / Time for Content Pages	11/16/15	4 yrs, 4 mo, 15 d	9,163	1,015	12	98.83%
		AVERAGE	27,117	1,564	23	98.54%
		MAX	58,116	2,461	82	99.55%
		MIN	9,163	1,015	5	96.48%

[ajmccann]

Hi Dave,

As the developer behind 11trees and Annotate PRO (AP) I appreciate your comments.

We don't steal our clients' intellectual property to create new libraries of comments. In fact, we look to partner with experts to help them share their content - see our contributing author program.

A very powerful version of AP is completely free to all educators. What we provide, for free, goes far beyond what a large company like Instructure will ever build as a core feature. Take a look at the feeble efforts from Google in Google Classroom. We charge for sharing libraries, advanced features like analytics and (coming soon) baked in Google Translate...

I do agree it's kind of a pain to have add additional software to get a core task done...but installing Chrome Extensions takes about 90 seconds.

Not trying to change your mind here:) Just want the record to reflect fact and our view of the situation.

[martha_phelps]

It is May of 2020 and I still think this is a great idea. I ended up here by googling to try and find if I could create standard comments or replies. 

[dcamilleri]

Hi Andrew,

Thank you for responding.

I am not saying that you 'steal' from clients. Developing your product based on client's data or their comments is not stealing if agreed to by the client when using your product. I am not willing to agree to this.

Secondly, I find clickstream data problematic. why do you collect this data? 

It is a great product and should be a basic function in Canvas. 

Kind regards

[dcamilleri]

Thanks for sharing that data Michael.

it is interesting to see what people request. 

I can see that the "Ability to Save and Copy from Frequently Used Comments in Speedgrader/DocViewer" is 5th on the list.

can you report on which of the top 5 requests have been resolved or are they all still being developed?

All of the dates are from 2015/6. does this mean that Canvas has known of these requests for 5 years and not developed the functions? 

a projected completion date for the requests would be very helpful.

all the best

[petern]

Google classroom now has this feature (comment bank).

It's overdue in Canvas.

[lee_coker]

So,...I get alerts to this thread and look at them occasionally--usually when I'm avoiding something else. Like now.

Is there a reason why people aren't utilizing  @ajmccann 's Annotate Pro? I can see where it doesn't work if you're using Canvas exclusively as an app--but if you can get to a laptop-size screen and access Canvas via Chrome, it's a god-send. 
I mention Annotate Pro again in case some of you have stumbled upon the thread and haven't looked back to see it's previous praise. 

[petern]

Annotate Pro is a great tool and I've started to use it.  However, I don't think it's enough.  As one of the people who trains staff how to use Canvas, this is where I think problems will arise:

1. There's a lot of hot-desking at my school, so for each computer that a member of staff uses they would need to log into Chrome (and get a Google account if they don't have one) and then log into Annotate Pro.  Time is precious and all this takes time and training.
2. It's not available in the app, as you've mentioned.  
3. It's only available on Chrome.  This means that when some staff try to open Canvas using Safari at home, they won't see it.  This can cause confusion.
4. Editing comments in Annotate Pro requires staff to navigate a new user interface.  Confusion again.

Ultimately, staff just want things to "work".  All the extra steps required to get this working create barriers.  Those barriers are easily overcome by some people, but not others.

What I think would be fantastic is the ability to take a comment that you've just written in speedgrader and feed that into a reusable comment bank.  

[ajmccann]

Peter, really appreciate your detailed feedback and thoughts here...

This is Andrew from 11trees, developers of Annotate PRO (AP).

Completely agree with your points...although will add some color below.

We wish Canvas would build a rudimentary system, like Google Docs has. Then more users are aware of the power of the approach then start asking for all the things big platforms probably won't do: elegant sharing, analytics, sub-groups, favorites, color-coding etc. There's usually a trade off to get advanced features vs. completely integrated solutions. Many are happy with the Mail app in iOS while many, many others choose to install an app of their choosing.

Our largest userbase is commenting on Google Docs. Plus, because AP works with Google Docs and Canvas and Word etc. etc. there is an argument for ubiquity.

Regarding the hot desking and friction of logging into yet another thing: this is a great use case for us to have in mind - thank you. We are adding Microsoft SSO (available in our public beta and soon to be released to production) to match Google SSO, which will cover most schools. But it's still an extra step, no doubt.

Microsoft Edge now supports Chrome Extensions natively - although we haven't even done this ourselves yet. Numbers I've seen have Chrome at roughly 67% of worldwide browser market share with Safari a strong second...so that is a gap.

Lots of room for multiple approaches...and agree that many faculty would benefit greatly from something simple and native to Canvas.

Appreciations for the dialog!