Course materials: External tools
About external or LTI tools
Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) is a sign-on standard developed by IMS Global that allows web-based resources to be accessed from within a learning platform. LTI integration provides a secure way to use a wide range of publisher content from a single place, such as Schoology. The content, or tools, ranges from a single piece of content to an interactive website including search tools, assessments, and more.
Refer to the How-To Guide for Schoology's LTI Integration for more information.
Prepare for the integration
If you are an instructor at an enterprise school and your system administrator has already configured LTI tools at the system level, skip to Add LTI tools to your course.
To integrate LTI content into Schoology, gather the following information from the tool provider to ensure effective integration.
Is the content compliant with LTI versions 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3? Schoology supports all listed versions.
Do I need a Consumer Key and Shared Secret? If yes, what are they?
Is the content delivered via the tool provider’s website or a separate URL/XML code?
If via the website, what is the URL or domain?
If via URL/XML, what is the code?
What personal information is required when launching an external tool? For example:
User’s name
Email or username
Both the user’s name and their email or username
No information required
Are there any custom parameters that must be defined? If yes, what are they?
The tool provider should provide the information needed to set up external tools in Schoology. If you have questions, contact the tool provider.
Set up LTI external tool providers in Schoology
LTI integrations are called external tools. To set up external tools in Schoology, first, add the tool provider. System administrators can install the tool provider at the course or district level.
The course admin will need to install the LTI Integration at the course level if one of the following is true.
You have a Schoology Basic account.
Your system administrator does not plan to configure the external tool at the system level.
Course-level integration
Navigate to a course.
Select Course Options and choose External Tool Providers from the list.
Click Add External Tool Provider.
Enter the information. Refer to the External tool provider data table for more information.
Click Submit.
External tool provider data
Field | Description |
|---|---|
Tool Name | The name that appears to educators when adding external tools to their courses |
Consumer Key | Provided by the content publisher if they require it |
Shared Secret | Provided by the content publisher if they require it |
Privacy | The information sent to the publisher upon the tool’s launch |
Configuration Type | How the tool provider is configured in Schoology Choose Manual unless the provider uses XML to deliver content. |
Configuration URL/XML (only when Configuration Type is URL/XML) | The configuration URL/XML code to complete the setup |
Match By (only when Configuration Type is Manual) | Designates which information will automatically populate when an educator adds an external tool to a course
|
Domain/URL (only when Configuration Type is Manual) | The domain or URL of the publisher, depending on which you choose in the Match By section. |
Custom Parameters (only when Configuration Type is Manual) | These may be required by the content publisher. Each parameter must be on its line and formatted as name=value. |
Add LTI tools to your course
After the course or system-level configuration is complete, return to your Resources or Materials page. Then, add the tool to your course.
From Resources, you can update many external tool providers to materials from one page.
Add multiple LTI materials to a course
From Resources, select the LTI materials to add to the course.
Select the course to which you want to add the materials, and then select Advance options to display the external tool provider selector.
Optionally, enable grading.
Click Import.
Add a single LTI material to a course
From Resources, select the material’s gear icon, and choose Add to Course.
Optionally, enable grading.
Select the course to which you want to add the LTI material.
Update the Tool Provider selector, and then click Add.
Add LTI materials from a course
From a course, click Add Materials.
Select Add File/Link/External Tool.
Select External Tool.
Enter the information.
Optionally, click Enable Grading to add a due date and other grading information.
Grade external tools
Enable grading on external tool items to add the material to your gradebook, allowing you to assign a grade for each student who completes the activity or assignment launched via the external tool.
Schoology does not trigger submission notifications, grading reminders, or overdue notifications for LTI and External Tool materials with grading enabled. Schooly cannot automatically detect submissions from these tools.