How To: Add a Resource To a Canvas Quiz

There are many situations where a supplemental resource must be given for a student to complete an assessment. Formula sheets, periodic tables, charts, graphs, tables; are only examples of resources a student could need on a quiz or exam.

Traditionally, these materials would have to be given to students physically as part of their paper-based assessments. However, evaluations delivered through Canvas benefit from being electronic – and so can your exam resources! They can be built right into your Canvas quiz.

Besides saving both time and paper, there are more benefits to adding your supplemental exam materials directly to the Quiz itself. With this feature, you will be able to know what your students are referencing for the assessment. This is especially important for proctored exams in online courses – using this feature, you will not need to relax your Proctorio settings to allow your students to access these resources!

This guide will offer step-by-step instructions for providing your students with text and image resources in your Canvas quizzes.

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Steps to Add a Resource       Method 1 of Embedding an Image Resource       Method 2 of Embedding an Image ResourceHow to Expand Document Preview by Default

Steps to Add a Resource

Please follow the steps below to add a resource within Canvas.

1. Editing your Quiz

Navigate to the Quiz you would like to add a resource to, and click the Edit button in the upper right.

2. Adding a new question

At the top of the Edit screen, you will want to select the Questions tab next. Then, click on the +New Question button.

Please note that the +New Question button will usually be at the bottom of the page, below any existing questions you have in the Quiz, so the above may not be what you see.

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3. Question options

Name the question appropriately depending on the resource you are providing [1], and from the drop-down list where you usually choose the type of question, select the “Text (no question)” option [2].

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4. Adding your resource

Now to add the resource itself!

Depending on what kind of resource you would like to add, this step may differ.

Click Adding a text resource if you’d like to give a text-based resource.

Click Method 1 of embedding an image resource if you’d like to give an image resource that you have already uploaded to your course.

Click Method 2 of embedding an image resource if you’d like to give an image resource that you haven’t uploaded to your course yet.

Adding a text resource

Any text resources can be added via copying and pasting or, if brief, by typing it into the rich content editor where you would typically write the question.

If you have finished adding resources, click 5—update question and organizing question order to go to the next step.

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Method 1 of embedding an image resource

If you have already uploaded the image you wish to use as a resource to your course’s Files, then you can embed the image into the rich content editor by clicking on the Embed Image icon among the options.

Click on the "Course Images" button. Then, a menu will open on the right side of the screen. 

(1) Make sure to select the Course Files.

(2) Next, select the file where the image is located in your course’s files.

(3) Then, select the image. Here we will be using an image of a Periodic Table as an example. Do not upload a file from the My Files folder, as students may not see those files due to their Canvas permissions.

You should see the rich content editor flash yellow for a moment as the image is embedded successfully. You will then see the image resource!

If you have finished adding resources, click 5—update question and organizing question order to go to the next step.

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Method 2 of embedding an image resource

If you have not yet uploaded the image you wish to use as a resource to your course’s Files, then this method will allow you to do so without having to navigate back and forth in your class.

Click on the Embed Image icon among the options and select the "Upload Image" button. 

(1) On the next window that pops up, click on the Upload Image icon and locate the image on your computer or drag and drop the image. If you click on the Upload Image icon, you will be prompted to choose the file you would like to use from your computer. Find it in your computer’s folders, select it by clicking once, and then click on the "Open" button to finalize the selection.

(2) Add an Alternative Text for your image upload for accessibility purposes. You can retype the name of the picture, or you can describe what the picture is. Bear in mind that students will be able to view the alternative text for the image.

(3) The "Embed Image" is selected by default, and you should keep it like this. 

Once you have uploaded the image, click on the "Submit" button. 

You should see the rich content editor flash yellow for a moment as the image is embedded successfully. You will then see the image resource!

If you have finished adding resources, click 5—update question and organizing question order to go to the next step.

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5. Update question and organizing question order

Once you have added your text or image resource to the rich content editor, you will want to save this placeholder question by clicking the Update Question button below the rich content editor.

This will add the “question” to your Quiz. However, all questions added will automatically go to the bottom of the Quiz by default. Luckily, the order of quiz questions can be easily organized as you like. You will need to click and hold the eight dots next to the question’s title and drag it wherever you would like it to be placed in your Quiz, usually at the top of the Quiz.

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6. Save your Quiz

Once you have created the resource “question” for your Quiz, updated it, and placed it in the desired order in the Quiz, you will need to click Save at the bottom of the page. This is the essential step, as it applies and saves everything you did in the above steps!

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How to Expand Document Preview by Default

Preview inline loads the preview directly in the Rich Content Editor window once the file is clicked. If the option to expand the preview by default is also selected as an option, the file is automatically expanded in the page and the user does not need to click the file to view it. Instead, the user can close the preview by clicking the Minimize Preview link that displays along with the image.

To have the preview of a resource expanded by default, please follow the steps below:

In the rich content editor, choose a document by:

1. Clicking on the "Insert" tab.

2. Clicking on "Document".

3. Selecting (a) "Upload Document" if you would like to upload the document from your computer or (b) "Course Documents" if you would like to search through the course files.

Once you select the document, and the link appears in the text box:

1. Click on the link.

2. Click on the "Link Options" button.

In the window that appears to the right:

1. Mark the bubble next to "Preview inline".

2. Check the box next to "Expand preview by Default".

3. Click on the green "Done" button.

Lastly, scroll down to the bottom of the page and select the "Save" button. (If you are adding this preview to a quiz question, please ensure that you click "Update Question" before saving the page).

When you go to preview the assignment/quiz/page, you should now see the document preview expanded by default.

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