Adding and Maintaining Tools
This section describes how to add a learning tool to the portal. When you do this, essentially you are saving information about the tool so that it can be activated (made available to students or users).
After you add the tool, because as an administrator you have full privileges, the tool will be automatically activated in the current feature instance. If you don’t want the tool to be immediately available, you should add the tool in a feature instance that other users do not have access to, or else just remove it right away.
As you add a learning tool, note that some of the values you save may later be overridden when the tool is activated, assuming other users have permission to activate it. In this way the process of adding a tool is like creating a template—others can use the template and tweak their specific implementations of it, without changing the template itself.
To add a learning tool, a user must belong to a role that has the Can Add Tools global feature operation or the Can Manage All Tools global feature operation.
If a user has the Can Add Tools global feature operation, he or she can also edit and delete your own tools, but not tools created by other users.
If a user has the Can Manage All Tools global feature operation, he or she can edit or delete any tool in the system.
When you add a learning tool to the feature, you set values for several attributes. These values are sometimes referred to as the tool’s basic settings, or just its settings. This section details each of these fields. Note also that you can edit any of these choices later if needed.
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A tool’s settings are different from its activation settings, which relate only to the placement of a tool in a particular feature instance. Activation settings can be used to override the tool’s basic settings and are described in more detail in the About the Activation Settings section.
You can think of the tool’s basic settings as part of the template that will be inherited each time the tool is activated, but which can also be bypassed through activation settings.
When you add a learning tool, the first category of information is Basic tool info. For details, refer to the following subsections: Name, Category, Description, and Sharing.
The name will identify the tool in administrative views and will also display for users when the tool is activated, in the following two ways:
The name is displayed as a heading over the link that users click to launch the tool.
It is also incorporated into the default link text. (Note, however, that when you activate the tool, you can customize the link text in the feature instance where you are working.)
Note that a name can only be up to 120 characters long.
Every tool must belong to a category. A category is simply a group of learning tools.
When a category is created, it becomes available in every instance of the Learning Tools feature, regardless of where it was created or who created it.
The category is not shown to users of the feature. Even administrators will not see an indication of which category a tool belongs to except on certain administrative screens. This value exists solely for the purpose of helping manage tools.
A description for your tool is optional. If you choose to include one, it will be displayed in the main feature view below the tool’s name.
If the tool is manually activated at a later time, whoever is activating the tool will have the ability to override this description using the activation settings screen.
When you add or edit a tool, you will see checkboxes that let you share or feature it. When a tool is shared or featured, it can be activated by any authorized user, in any Learning Tools feature in the system. (Otherwise, a tool that you add can be activated only by you.)
The only difference between a featured tool and a shared tool are that they show up under different headings on the activation screen:
A featured tool is more prominent—it shows up high on the screen, on a bright yellow-green background under a heading that says Featured tools.
A shared tool shows up lower on the screen, under a heading that says Portal name shared learning tools (where Portal name is the value that you set in Advanced site settings > Portal Name).
If for some reason you want the tool to show up in both lists, you can choose to make the tool both shared and featured.
When a tool is shared or featured, it becomes available in a few ways, as described in the following table.
While in the | The tool can be | By a user with |
|---|---|---|
Learning Tools feature | • Activated (in any instance of the feature). • Previewed via the tool summary screen. • Examined (most of its settings can be viewed) via the tool summary screen. | The Can Set Up Tools permission in the Learning Tools feature instance |
Coursework feature* | • Included in any basic Coursework assignment. • Previewed via the More > Launch learning tool option in the assignment overview. | The Can Add Content permission in the Coursework feature instance (this typically includes all faculty). |
*If your site has e-Racer 1.6.3 or later.
You can choose to have the tool display in either of the following ways:
Within the Learning Tools feature instance.
In a new pop-up window. If you choose this option, you also can specify the width and height of the pop-up window (in pixels).
If appropriate, you can use the Advanced setup area to configure the feature to send additional details to the learning tool provider.
You also can send the following details:
Contact email—This value defaults to the email address of the user adding the tool. Typically, this value is used by a learning tool provider if the provider should need to get in touch with your school regarding your use of the tool. Note that this field cannot be overridden when the tool is activated.
Default locale—This defaults to en-US, which is the setting for US English. If your site uses a different locale, you will probably want to customize this value to tell the learning tool what type of input to expect. Your entry should conform to the notations described in the Internet Engineering Task Force’s “Best Practices for Tags for Identifying Languages” specification.
Send these additional custom parameters—In this area, you can use a text box to enter custom or extension values. You can enter only one statement per line, using the following convention: name of parameter = value. Refer to the following table for details about the types of parameters that can be entered.
Type | Purpose | Instructions |
|---|---|---|
Custom | To send data that is expected by the learning tool. Typically, if a custom value is expected, it will be noted in the instructions provided by the learning tool publisher. | The parameter name that you enter should begin with custom_. |
Extension | At the time of this writing, extension parameters are not widely used, but support for this type of parameter is included because it is required by the 1EdTech LTI 1.1 specification. You may want to refer to the specification if you need additional details on this parameter. | The parameter name that you enter should begin with ext_. |
With any statements you add, if the name of the parameter or the value of the parameter includes an equal sign, the equal sign must be replaced with the following characters: %3D.
Note also that this field is optional—if you don’t have specific instructions about what to enter from the tool provider, or are unsure what the valid parameters are, you should probably leave it blank.
Use these steps to do any of the following:
Add a learning tool to your system and activate it (make it available to other users). The tool will be automatically activated in the feature instance where you add it. You may also want to activate it in other locations.
Add a learning tool to your system and share it or feature it—so that other authorized users can activate it.
Enter into your system a URL that is associated with one or more learning tools and share the associated credentials that have been made available to your school. You might do this to streamline the process when you or other users want to add learning tools from this domain.
To add a learning tool, a user must belong to a role that has the Can Add Tools global feature operation or the Can Manage All Tools global feature operation.
To add a learning tool:
Navigate to an instance of the Learning Tools feature.
Do one of the following:
Click Add at a tool to this page. After the feature updates to show the activation screen, click Add a new learning tool.
Click Manage all tools. After the feature updates to show the screen labeled All learning tools, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click Add a new learning tool.
The feature updates to show a form.
Fill out the form as desired. If you need full details on any particular field, refer to the Attributes of a Learning Tool section. The following bullet points offer a summary of the key points:
You must enter a name.
If you want this tool to be available for other authorized users to activate in any instance of the feature, you should either select the checkbox labeled Share this tool or the one labeled Add this to the list of featured tools.
You must enter a URL in the Location field.
In many cases, you will need to fill in the Key and Secret/Password fields. However, it’s also possible that your tool does not require a key and secret. Also, if someone else at your institution has already entered a key and secret that can be used with this URL, the screen will update with a message saying as much.
If you are entering a key and secret, and if these details could be reused for other tools from the same publisher, be sure to select the checkbox labeled This key & secret are "domain-level" and can be reused.
If your sole purpose in filling out this form is to save and share authentication details about a particular domain that includes several learning tools, and the URL that you have entered is not a learning tool itself, make sure you check the checkbox labeled This key & secret are "domain-level" and can be reused and the checkbox labeled This tool can't be activated on its own.
Note
Note that some of the values you save on this form can be overridden later when the tool is activated within a specific feature instance. For example, the name and the description can be overridden by the person activating the tool.
Click Save your new tool.
If you’ve added a learning tool, you might later want to modify the basic settings that you saved for this tool when you first added it. When you do this, you’re updating the settings that will be inherited each time you or another user activates the tool in a particular feature instance.
Further, if a tool has already been activated in a specific feature instance, and you are modifying the tool’s basic settings, your changes will be seen in the feature instances where the tool has been activated, unless the value you are changing is one that has been overridden by the activation settings used in that feature instance.
For example, if you customized the description of the tool using the Activation settings screen, and then you changed the description as stored in the tool’s basic settings, you would not see the new description in the feature instance. If you did not customize the description in the activation settings, then you will see the updated description display in an already activated tool.
To edit a learning tool’s settings, a user must belong to a role that has the Can Add Tools global feature operation or the Can Manage All Tools global feature operation. If a user has only Can Add Tools, a user can edit only the tools that he or she created. If a user has the Can Manage All Tools, the user can edit any tool in the system.
To modify a learning tool’s basic settings:
Navigate to any instance of the Learning Tools feature.
Click either of the following links:
Manage all tools
Manage your learning tools
The feature updates to show an administrative screen.
Click the name of the tool whose settings you want to change.
The feature updates to show a screen summarizing details about the tool.
Click the link labeled Edit this tool’s settings.
The feature updates to show the form that was used to create the tool.
Make any changes as necessary. If you need help with any particular field, refer to the Attributes of a Learning Tool section.
Click Save Changes.
If desired, you can delete a tool, but note that you cannot delete a tool that is currently active in any feature instance or in a Coursework assignment.
To delete a learning tool’s settings, a user must belong to a role that has the Can Add Tools global feature operation or the Can Manage All Tools global feature operation. If a user has only Can Add Tools, the users can delete only the tools that he or she created. If a user has the Can Manage All Tools, the user can delete any tool in the system.
Navigate to an instance of the Learning Tools feature.
Click either of the following links:
Manage all tools
Manage your learning tools
The feature updates to show an administrative screen.
Click the name of the tool you want to delete.
The feature updates to show a screen summarizing details about the tool.
Click the link labeled Delete this tool.
The system does one of the following:
Asks if you are sure you want to proceed.
Tells you that the tool cannot be deleted because it is currently activate on one or more pages in the portal.
Assuming the tool is not active, click OK.
You can share a tool at the time that you create it, or you can go back and modify a tool later to make it shared. In either case, the way that you make sure a tool is shared is to select the checkbox labeled Share this tool with other portal name members.
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To share a learning tool’s settings, a user must belong to a role that has the Can Share Tools global feature operation.
To share a tool:
Do one of the following:
When adding a tool, as described in Add a Learning Tool, make sure you select the Share this tool checkbox.
To share a tool that was already added, open it for editing, as described in Modify a Tool’s Basic Settings, and select the Share this tool checkbox.
The only people who can share tools are those who have both the permission to add tools (Can Add Tools or Can Manage All Tools) and the Can Share Tools global feature operation. For more details on permissions, see Managing Permissions in the Learning Tools Feature.
You can feature a tool at the time that you create it, or you can go back and modify a tool later to make it featured. In either case, the way that you make sure a tool is shared is to select the checkbox labeled Add this to the list of featured tools ...
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To share a learning tool’s settings, a user must belong to a role that has the Can Feature Tools global feature operation.
To feature a tool, do one of the following:
When adding a tool, as described in Add a Learning Tool, make sure you select the checkbox labeled Add this to the list of featured tools ...
To feature a tool that was already added, open it for editing, as described in Modify a Tool’s Basic Settings, and select the checkbox labeled Add this to the list of featured tools.
For more on featuring tools, refer to the Sharing section.
If your school has been issued tool credentials that can be shared and reused for other tools in the same domain, you might want to share those credentials for the convenience of whoever will be adding the other tools.
To do this, you proceed as if you are adding a tool—but make sure that you check the first checkbox listed under the Key and Secret/Password fields.
Further, if the URL you are adding is not a tool itself but is solely the parent site of one or more tools that can be accessed using the shared credentials, you should select the second checkbox, which makes clear that the URL you are adding is not in itself a learning tool that can or should be activated.
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To share a learning tool’s settings, a user must belong to a role that has the Can assign a domain- shared level key and secret global feature operation.
To share tool credentials:
Do one of the following:
When adding a tool, as described in Add a Learning Tool, make sure you select one or both checkboxes under the Key and Secret/Password fields as appropriate.
To feature a tool that was already added, open it for editing, as described in Modify a Tool’s Basic Settings, and select one or both checkboxes under the Key and Secret/Password fields as appropriate.
For more on shared credentials, refer to the Sharing a Domain-Level Key section.
You may want to preview a tool in any of the following situations:
If you have added a tool and shared it for others to use, you may want to preview the way it will activate to ensure that it will work well for others.
If you are about to activate a tool, you may want to preview it first.
To preview a tool:
Navigate to an instance of the Learning Tools feature.
From the main feature view, navigate to the summary screen for the tool you want to preview.
For help getting to this screen, see The Tool Summary Screen.
Click the link that displays below the label Preview (always shown in a pop-up). This warning means that even if the tool is configured to launch within JICS, the preview will display in a pop-up.
The system shows you the preview.