@Chris_Hofer wrote:
Hi @SeanQuallen ...
Out of curiosity...is there a reason why you wouldn't want to store course files directly in the "Files" area of your course and then link to those files for your students to access? This would eliminate the reliance on a third-party to store files in another location other than Canvas.
Faculty love to click buttons--I'm sure you're all aware of that. As an instructional designer I encourage it, especially as our University is transitioning to Canvas in the upcoming semester. We're a Microsoft university and many of our faculty use OneDrive extensively; many are excited about the integration and direct access to their file--including me. The initial hope was to produce static links in Canvas to dynamic documents in OneDrive such that instructors can, for example, change the current semester dates on their syllabus, hit save, and the docs on Canvas will automatically update as well. This is an IMMENSE timesaver and something I was really hoping to promote.
I'm also, considering our transition and the fragility of many faculty members, looking to avoid the words "don't use" and "caveat" and "not fully functional yet." I want to present this as a robust integration, ready to handle all of their options and needs. The option to at least allow downloading seems like a gimme considering this application, yet doesn't exist.
The individual faculty member I'm working with and I have simply circumvented it by linking directly with OneDrive Online shareable links--edit permissions, copy link, paste to Canvas, repeat. This seems like several more steps than necessary considering an integrated service, but does provide the initial ask--dynamic docs behind static links.
