Uploading Image Files

[Emmanuel Schanzer]

We take teacher feedback seriously here at Bootstrap, and over the years one of the biggest headaches for teachers has been "getting images into student games". We added the ability to grab any image on the internet back in 2010, but it still doesn't help for these all-too-common use cases:

1. A school has blocked most clipart sites, making searching for images impossible
2. A teacher wants to avoid having students search for images on the web, which can be a time-suck and potentially send kids to inappropriate websites
3. A student finds an image that is almost perfect...if only it were transparent, a little less orange, or had a mustache.

In each of these situations, a teacher is faced with the challenge of uploading image files so they are easily-accessible for students.

As of today, image uploading is now enabled for WeScheme. Students who log in and open a program will find a new button in their toolbar: "Images". Clicking this button will bring up a menu of all images that have been uploaded to the Google Drive account that's connected to their login email. They can select any image, click "select", and the code to properly-insert that image will appear right in their editor! They can also click "upload", and drag any image file into the picker. A few moments later, the image will be ready for use in their programs.

This is the #1 most-requested feature teachers have asked for, and we're thrilled to finally have it in place for you! A huge thank-you to Jake Wood, the undergraduate at Northeastern University who implemented it!

Happy Hacking,

The Bootstrap Team