We have students that are getting around the attachment limitations in the forums on 2.4.3 by using the insert image function in the rich text editor of their message. Is there a way to remove the editor or restrict the uploads via the insert image button on specific forums?
In reply to Benjamin St.Germain
Re: Can you restrict/remove the rich text editor in 2.4?
by Tim Hunt -
Why does it matter?
Your post reads like "Oh no! students are communicating more effectively than the teacher has allowed. We can't possibly allow that!" There must be more to it than that, but I don't understand.
In reply to Tim Hunt
Re: Can you restrict/remove the rich text editor in 2.4?
by Benjamin St.Germain -
It matters more in the size limitation than in the number of attachments, the goal is to keep posted images to a size/resolution that is reasonable for viewing on a monitor and/or having to download on a slow Internet connection. In this example, students uploaded raw images from their camera that are 4000x3000 and over 2MB in size, much larger than the attachment limit.
This does not make more for more effective communication than the teacher has allowed, as you can't even view them without resizing them or zooming way out, which then makes the related text unreadable. And zooming doesn't help with the bandwidth issue.
In reply to Benjamin St.Germain
Re: Can you restrict/remove the rich text editor in 2.4?
by Tim Hunt -
Well, there are two approaches to this:
One is the technical view-point that this thread started with. Moodle should make it impossible to do 'bad' things.
The other approach is to view this as a learning opportunity. Now, digital literacy may not be the primarly learning outcome of your course, but this is an opportunity to briefly explain to students about appropriate sizing of images for online discourse, the tools available to do that, and how their actions online affect everyone's learning. There are even ways you could handle this were you don't have to do all the work. This is a topic where students can help and police each other's behaviour.
In reply to Tim Hunt
Re: Can you restrict/remove the rich text editor in 2.4?
by Benjamin St.Germain -
The instructor of this class has posted instructions describing how to post the images, and was expecting the attachment size limitation to back up his instructions by not allowing the large images. It is an earth science class, so no, digital literacy is not a primary outcome, and I wouldn't expect it to be, but he also doesn't just leave the students in the dark to figure it out completely on their own.
I don't expect Moodle to prevent all "bad things", and I didn't present my question in that way. I merely pointed out that Moodle provides a way to circumvent a desired setting by our instructor, and am looking for a technical solution to his request as a Moodle administrator. If there is one, I will implement it, if not, then I will move on to the next request.
I agree with Benjamin here: removing the rich-text editor selectively is not just a "technical" solution. It would we very useful to have in lots of places in Moodle. In forums, for example, it would allow / encourage light-weight, short-form conversations, which may be pedagogically useful.