LTI setting for Canvas and Moodle

The necessity of the LMS integration was addressed in my paper. You can download it from here.

For the integration of Moodle with Canvas, follow the process below.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to setting up Canvas LTI for accessing Moodle courses:

1. Moodle Admin Sets Up LTI Keys:

In Moodle, there’s a capability to make Moodle act as an LTI provider. The Moodle admin has to:

a. Enable the LTI provider feature:

• • • Navigate to Site administration > Plugins > Activity modules > External tool > Manage tools.
    • Add a new tool configuration.

If you’re on the page to configure LTI tools in Moodle, and you’re seeing options like “configure a tool manually,” “Manage preconfigured tools,” and “Manage external tool registrations,” then you should select:

“configure a tool manually”

This option allows you to set up Moodle as an LTI provider manually. Here’s how you can proceed:

Tool Name: Provide a name for this tool configuration (e.g., “Canvas Integration”).

Tool URL: This should be the general endpoint URL for LTI services in Moodle. It typically looks something like this:

Replace yourmoodlesite.com with the actual domain of your Moodle instance.

Consumer Key and Shared Secret: As mentioned previously, these are essential for the secure communication between Moodle and Canvas. If Moodle does not auto-generate them, you can create your own or use an external tool to generate a random pair. Ensure you keep these safe, and share them securely with the Canvas admin.

Complete the rest of the required fields and save the configuration.

Once this general LTI provider setup is done in Moodle, individual courses in Canvas can be linked to specific courses in Moodle by instructors. The instructors will set the Moodle course URL on the Canvas side during their course-specific LTI setup.

Save Changes: Once all the necessary information is filled in and options are set, save the tool configuration.

After these steps, you should have Moodle set up as an LTI provider for Canvas. Remember to share the “Consumer Key” and “Shared Secret” with the Canvas admin or instructors to ensure they can properly set up the LTI tool on the Canvas side.

b. Generate LTI Keys:

When setting up Moodle as an LTI provider, the system will generate a Consumer Key and Shared Secret for the tool. These are vital for securing the connection between Moodle and any other system (in this case, Canvas).

c. Send LTI Keys to Canvas Admin:

Once generated, the Moodle admin should securely communicate the Consumer Key and Shared Secret to the Canvas admin. This can be done via secure email or in-person.

2. Canvas Admin Sets Up LTI Environment in Canvas:

With the keys received from the Moodle admin, the Canvas admin will:

a. Navigate to Canvas Admin Settings:

From the Canvas dashboard, go to Admin and select the account you want to manage.

b. Add New LTI Configuration:

• • Go to Settings > Apps > +App.
  • Select By URL or Manual Entry to configure the LTI tool.
  • Input the necessary details:
    • Name: Name for the LTI tool (like “Moodle Integration”).
    • Consumer Key & Shared Secret: Provided by the Moodle admin.
    • Launch URL: This might be a generic Moodle URL for now, as instructors will specify their course URLs later.

3. Instructor Creates Moodle Course & Secures Information for Canvas Connection:

Each instructor will:

a. Create their Moodle course as usual.

b. Get the Specific URL:

Navigate to the course in Moodle and copy the URL. It’s typically of the format: https://yourmoodlesite.com/course/view.php?id=XYZ.

c. Optional (based on Moodle settings):

Generate course-specific LTI keys if the Moodle setup allows or requires it. Some institutions might use a single set of keys for all integrations, while others might opt for course-specific keys.

4. Instructor Connects Canvas Course to Moodle Course:

In Canvas, the instructor will:

a. Navigate to their Course Settings.

b. Add the LTI Tool:

• • Go to Settings > Apps > +App in their course.
  • If the Canvas admin set up a generic Moodle LTI tool, the instructor might just need to modify the Launch URL. If not, the instructor will input:
    • Name: A name for the tool, likely course-specific (like “Moodle: Biology 101”).
    • Consumer Key & Shared Secret: Either the ones provided by the Moodle admin or course-specific ones, if applicable.
    • Launch URL: The specific URL of their Moodle course.

c. Test the Integration:

• • Ensure that when the LTI link in Canvas is clicked, it redirects correctly to their specific Moodle course.

The steps provided should create a seamless integration, allowing students in a Canvas course to directly access the linked Moodle course without needing an additional login.