Picture Perfect: Using a Video Tutorial To Improve Students Ability To Embed Pictures In Canvas

Every semester my students start class (both face to face and online) with the Getting Started Module.  One of the assignments is the "Meet Your Class" assignment.  This assignment is standard in Canvas and requires that students embed a picture into their discussion post.  Embedding a picture in Canvas is not the simple cut and paste or upload that the students are used to.  When I first started using this assignment (Spring  2013) the average score on this assignment was 16.44/20 due to an unsuccefully embedded photo. To help, I created a video tutorial on how to embed a picture in a Canvas discussion and placed it in the directions for the "Meet Your Class" assignment.  After the implementation of the tutorial, the average score on this assignment increased to 19.59/20.  Note: I am not a computer expert so there might be a better way to embed a photo in a discussion board, but the method I use in the video seemed to work well.  As Canvas changes I plan to revisit the process and update the video as necessary.