Use of Stylus with DOCViewer

[GideonWilliams]

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

This idea is applicable to any 2-in-1 / hybrid device with stylus capacity eg Chromebook, Surface Pro 4, Yoga, ASUS etc.

Microsoft's recent education event (May 2017) highlighted the increasing opportunities for schools to invest in low cost 2-in-1 hybrids running Windows 10. Since then at least 5 new devices have been released - 5 Budget Windows Hybrids 2-in-1 Tablets and Laptops for Schools – Colour My Learning . Many schools, including our own, are now looking at these as viable alternatives to 1-1 iPads.

The potential of inking is huge, not just in the hands of students but for teachers and marking.

Canvas has just released DOCViewer in Beta. As yet it is not possible to annotate work inline using the stylus (at least on my Surface Pro).

We would love to see inking/hand-written/stylus based annotations being available for those using Canvas via the browser.

This idea has been added to our product plan for Q1 2019 and will influence development within Canvas. Follow this idea to receive updates as they are available.

:smileyinfo: Adding this idea to our product plan means we will be working on it, but it does not guarantee that it will be developed exactly as defined by the idea, or that it will be added to the production environment.

Read more about the feature idea process:

• Adaptation: Feature Idea Process Changes‌
• How does the feature idea process work in the Canvas Community?
• What is the feature development process for Canvas? ‌

Comments from Instructure

For more information, please read through the https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-16291-canvas-release-notes-2019-02-16 .

[jlloyd]

This is great news Erin, I have many colleagues at Oneschool global that will be very grateful! 

[gharbor]

Is there a time frame for this or a link to a feature update that I can follow?

[kbuckland_condo]

The ability to use a stylus would make commenting on Maths work much more efficient. Most maths is not very easy to type in comment boxes!

[GideonWilliams]

Good to know

[boneill2]

A thousand yeses on this one! While Speedgrader allows significant choice in comment types, being able to use a stylus for free-form comments in the doc viewer would be magical, helpful, beneficial, effective, etc. 

[jfenton]

Thanks everyone for your input! We hear you and agree wholeheartedly. We're currently exploring the scope of this project and will post updates here. Stay tuned! 

[GideonWilliams]

Thank you for the update.

[saqib_safdar]

I think there is an urgent need to get the same level of writing using a Surface Pro pen as there currently is for an Apple iPad pen. As a college, we are investing heavily in Surface Pros partly for its writing functionality and Microsoft software

[lcoleman]

I would appreciate improved functionality with DocViewer annotations in Speedgrader using a sylus or digital pen, but I don't have a Surface Pro. I am working from my office HP touchscreen computer. My campus tech support tried two HP digital pens with no success since they are really designed to work in the Windows Ink Workspace--which saves markups on the screen of my computer, not within DocViewer.
I can't highlight, mark out or draw precisely using my finger on my computer's touchscreen in DocViewer from my browser.

I don't know if the current Instructure project with the stylus functionality in DocViewer will make work for my situation. I might be limited by my hardware.
Has anyone found a digital pen that annotates in DocViewer on an HP touchscreen computer from the browser?touchscreen speedgrader touchscreen docviewer speedgrader docviewer tools

[cc_armidale]

This is a platform-independent issue with DocViewer in SpeedGrade and as far as I know, no-one can effectively use a finger or stylus to create freehand annotations. It is, though, an issue on which Instructure is working. As far as I can see, there haven't been any progress reports since 28 September, but we're all pleased that this is on the radar for Canvas. Many of us are waiting for the glorious day when we can hand-annotate documents in SpeedGrader. As they say in the classics, watch this space!