File Uploads on iPads (2.5.1)??

File Uploads on iPads (2.5.1)??

by Chris Chapman -
Number of replies: 16

Hi all is there a work around to be able to upload files (not just photos or videos) as feedback for an assignment?

My only thinking is use a repository e.g. download student's work annotate on pages or whatever- save to a dropbox/google drive, and choose that repo on moodle instead of browsing ipad?

 

I know PDF marker is in 2.6 but we have just released production (2.5) in september with training all last year, and its very different so cant upgrade just yet! looks like we're on a 2 year release plan so probably be 2.7/8 lol

 

any ideas?

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In reply to Chris Chapman

Re: File Uploads on iPads (2.5.1)??

by AL Rachels -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers

Hi Chris,

An iPad is about the only toy I haven't bought for myself. big grin But I have REALLY had to resist the urge to get one more than once. Last year, my school secretary and principal both let me borrow theirs long enough to convince me not to get one and try to use it with Moodle. The main drawback was just what you have discovered. But, since it has been a while, is there an alternate source file manager available for iPads?

The reason I ask, is that I recently got a used Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 that behaved the same way at first. I finally figured out that if I could get something into my drop box or private file folder, then I could upload it. Eventually it dawned on me there was NO file manager on the tablet. I went to the play store and installed a free file manager, and now the tablet lets me do file uploads just like my desktop does, without having to use drop box or a Moodle private file folder.

Now if it would just start up as fast as my MS Surface Pro does. thoughtful (6 seconds!)

AL

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Re: File Uploads on iPads (2.5.1)??

by Rob Johnson -

The Apple rep for my school district claims that not allowing access to files is a security feature.  He says they will never approve of an app like you can find for Android.  For that reason, we just purchased 3000+ Chromebooks instead of ipads for student use with Moodle and for the new online standardized tests rolling out in the U.S.

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In reply to Rob Johnson

Re: File Uploads on iPads (2.5.1)??

by AL Rachels -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers

Hi Rob,

Maybe you can save me some money, and a little grief from my wife. big grin I have been conniving planning to try and get her to get me a Chrome Book for my birthday next week, just so I can see how they do with Moodle. She is resisting because I already have too many computers/laptops/tablets/smartphones/etc, around the house. (Truthfully, I've lost count.) If they work as well as Android tablets and phones do, I plan to get some for my lab, but with the limited budget I have, it would be nice to know before I spend any school money.

Have you had a chance to try them out yet?

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In reply to AL Rachels

Re: File Uploads on iPads (2.5.1)??

by john owen-jones -

file uploading is a real pain in android and ipad

I ran into this issue last year on a gardening forum, it was impossible to upload photo's directly to the gardening website forum. within the web browser, about the best that could be done was to upload images to a third party website like flickr which has an app or facebook and post a link from that site to the forum.

That in itself was tricky for many users they generally could link to the page holding the image where what was really needed was a link to the image location.

I've not thought about it till I saw this thread about the implications for moodle.  I would be very interested to hear what was used   to upload to moodle from android.

The implications for students is pretty disasterous as a lot will have tablets and will want to be able to submit homework from them. 

The security aspect of android and ipad, I kinda of understand the reasoning behind keeping the browser sandboxed from the rest of the operating system. Since it would make it quite easy to share copyrighted content if access was easy. it's all part of the drm that the entertainment industry insists on.

The usual method used for many websites is to release an app but how would that work for individual moodle sites?  Is google docs an answer let the users do homework using googledocs could they submit from there maybe?

One work around I used was to run ubuntu from my android tablet I hacked it to dualboot but its not an option for everybody. I don't think typing a long assignment into moodle directly is a realistic alternative either.

It looks like this could be a very interesting thread.

 

 

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In reply to john owen-jones

Re: File Uploads on iPads (2.5.1)??

by AL Rachels -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers

Hi John,

Basically, when I went to try and upload a file using my Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and clicked on the Moodle File picker windows, Upload a file Choose file button, my only options available were Camera, Camcorder, Sound Recorder, Choose Music, Dropbox, Gallery, Music player, Photos, and Samsung Link. It took me a few minutes to realize there was no file manager option, which is the default when doing the same thing from a desktop computer.

I went to the Android Play Store and searched for free file managers, and literally just picked the first one in the list,  File Manager by Rhythm Software. After that I was able to upload any type of file I wanted to,  and I was also able to search through all the tablets folders.

I have installed the same file manager on my seven inch Samsung tablet and my Samsung S4 phone. Works like a champ on all three devices.

By the way, I tried uploading with the supplied Android file manager that came on my 7 inch tablet...would not upload the file to the file picker, but the Rhythm Software file manager fixed it right up.

This file manager coupled with Kingsoft Office, and all of the PoodLL add-ons, makes it possible to do an awful lot of fun stuff from a tablet, and turn them in as Moodle assignments.

AL

 

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In reply to AL Rachels

Re: File Uploads on iPads (2.5.1)??

by Rob Johnson -

Hi Al,

I am writing this reply on a Samsung Chromebook.  It is my daily driver.  I find it more functional with Moodle than Android and especially iOS.  Imagine your experience using Chrome on Windows or Mac or Linux, but without the rest of the OS.  The integration with Google Docs takes care of office needs.  It will run the GDocs side offline if you don't have an Internet connection.   It handles both Flash and HTML 5 just fine.  Because no data is stored on the device, it is great when shared by multiple students in a school environment. 

I think you deserve to get one.  ;)

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In reply to Rob Johnson

Re: File Uploads on iPads (2.5.1)??

by AL Rachels -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the info. Sounds good enough for me to probably spend some school money, instead of my own, on a couple of them at least.

Just a couple more questions. Have you, by any chance tried using a Chromebook with the PoodLL Filter and other PoodLL add-ons? How do they do on recording audio and video, or can they?

I ask because I am planning/needing to set up at least two stations in my lab for students to do audio and/or video podcasts. I figure some sort of tablet, netbook, etc., or a Chromebook, would be easiest and maybe one of these would work.

Thanks,

AL

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In reply to AL Rachels

Re: File Uploads on iPads (2.5.1)??

by Rob Johnson -

Al,

I have not tried the Chromebook with Poodll.  I did test Poodll on a site last year, but it broke streaming of existing MP3's.  I did not have time to troubleshoot, and uninstalled it.  I have used it to record audio and video with the Capture repository.  This is Flash based, so it is not an exact comparison with Poodll's HTML5.  My hunch is it would handle it just fine.  The Chromebook has a built in mic and webcam like most laptops/netbooks.

Rob

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Re: File Uploads on iPads (2.5.1)??

by AL Rachels -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers

Sounds good. If you want to try a Chromebook with PoodLL without having to install it, I can give you access to my moodle2Xdev site via email. You can try as student or teacher. Justin has really made some nice changes to it. Just last month he even developed TinyMCE HTML toolbuttons so you can add pictures, audio, video, or drawings into anyplace in Moodle with an editor window.

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In reply to AL Rachels

Re: File Uploads on iPads (2.5.1)??

by Rob Johnson -

I would like to try it.  Please email log in information to me.

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In reply to AL Rachels

Re: File Uploads on iPads (2.5.1)??

by Rob Johnson -

Hi Al,

I submitted two Poodll audio and one video assignment using one of the student account you sent me for your dev site.  It worked just fine.  I had to grant permission to access the camera and mic and then proceeded to record.

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In reply to Rob Johnson

Re: File Uploads on iPads (2.5.1)??

by AL Rachels -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers

Hi Rob,

Yeah, the grant permission stuff started with one of the Java updates a month or two ago. Minor annoyance with a mouse. Pain in the butt with my Surface Pro pen. Couldn't get it to work. Had to bring up the full keyboard, then tab and space bar to get the radio button and checkbox filled in. No problem with a Chromebook, right?

Your audio recordings both sound good and the video looks about like I expect for the settings I have in the PoodLL filter right now. It is a trade off to get reasonable load times.

You are welcome to try other stuff. The whole PoodLL Kaboodle is installed, plus the recently released PoodLL Anywhere that puts buttons right on the TinyMCE editor tool bar. I also have a couple of other recorders available as repository's if you open a file picker window.

 

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In reply to Rob Johnson

Re: File Uploads on iPads (2.5.1)??

by AL Rachels -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers

Hey again Rob,

This morning it suddenly occurred to me that using the PoodLL quiz question type and a tablet, that I might have a way for students to give a "written" answer to a math question. It works pretty well using my MS Surface Pro and Samsung Note 10.1 as long as I use the Chrome browser. It even works on my seven inch Samsung tablet just using my finger...not as neat as a stylus/pen though. It also will work using a mouse.

If you are interested in trying it with one of your Chromebooks, it is in the site I gave you the link to, in the Math Fun Zone course. It's the second item on the page, Longhand Multiplication Quiz. Only two questions and they have to be graded by the teacher like essay questions.

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In reply to AL Rachels

Re: File Uploads on iPads (2.5.1)??

by Rob Johnson -

HI Al,

I will test it in a Chromebook, but it may not be until after the long weekend.  I will post back when I have finished.

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Re: File Uploads on iPads (2.5.1)??

by Chris Chapman -

Thanks for the replies, good to know I'm not the only one struggling with IOS and iPads,  our head of IT, seems to be set on iPads as the college standard (easier for security and charging facilities).

I inherited mine from a collegue, I must say its awkward to get it to do what I want with it, just a toy! Its even a job trying to sync notes from sharepoint to onenote and vice versa- maybe its because I've got too used to Windows 8 Mobile!

I have managed to install a 'file manager' on the Pad though, which I can send documents to skydrive (I have a windows phone) and dropbox, so assuming I setup the repositories on moodle it would work ok? anyone used an Ipad and moodle with Google docs/Drive or any repository for that matter.

 

Cheers

Chris Chapman

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Re: File Uploads on iPads (2.5.1)??

by john owen-jones -

not used an iPad but have used gdrive with android so it should be fairly similar

you need to register with google to get oauth set up there are plenty of instructions around for this

once that is set up a file upload requester should have an extra item gdrive

selecting that will show a button labeled  login

on android I got a list of various apps i could upload from i chose google drive.

it then got access to my files which i was able to select and upload to the site.

So essentially there are two parts set up your server so it will work with gdrive and installing the gdrive app on your portable device.

hope that helps.

 

 

 

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