Canvas

What is LTI?

LTI is an abbreviation for Learning Tools Interoperability, which is a standard protocol developed by 1EdTech. It allows services like VoiceThread to integrate with your Canvas environment as single-sign-on tools.

The resulting experience for instructors and students is simple:

1. Sign in to your Canvas account.
2. Navigate to your course.
3. Click on the VoiceThread LTI link.
4. Use VoiceThread.

Clicking on a VoiceThread LTI link will authenticate the user, establish an account for him if he didn’t have one already, and enroll him in his course within VoiceThread. No additional work is required from the instructor or student.

• Instructor Documentation
• Student Documentation

LTI Tool Configuration

Before instructors can use VoiceThread, it must be configured globally for your Canvas instance by an administrator. VoiceThread uses LTI 1.3 with Deep Linking. The steps to follow for your Canvas administrator are below.

1. Go to admin interface.
2. Click on “Developer Keys” on the left.
3. Click “+ Developer Key”, and select “+ LTI Key” from the menu.
4. Enter a Key Name (example: VoiceThread). This will be the name displayed to instructors when they are selecting VoiceThread as a tool to use in their course.
5. Select “Enter URL” from the Method menu.
6. Paste the configuration URL into the “JSON URL” field: Provided by VoiceThread
7. Enter the following into the “Redirect URIs” field: https://voicethread.com/lti/
8. Click “Save”
9. If you see a page with all the green checkboxes, click “Save” without making any changes. The”Public” option should be selected. If you don’t see this page, move to the next step.
10. Toggle the key on.
11. Copy the number from the “Details” column for the developer key you just created, and save it for future steps.
12. Click on “Settings” on the left side of the page.
13. Click on the “Apps” tab across the top of the page.
14. Click “View App Configurations” near the top of the page.
15. Click on “+ App.”
16. Select “By Client ID” from the Configuration Type menu.
17. Enter the Client ID you copied in step 11.
18. Click “Submit”.
19. Send the Client ID to your VoiceThread contact.

At this point, VoiceThread will complete the configuration and let you know when it is ready to use.

Troubleshooting Tips

Error message: “Could not find Org for this launch.”

Make sure you have entered the Consumer Key correctly.

Error message: “The authentication failed; the signature on your request did not match the expected value” or “Unsupported Signature Method”

Check to make sure the Shared Secret is entered correctly.

If the Shared Secret is accurate, please make sure the clock on your Canvas server is accurate.

Error message: “Oh, buttons! We are unable to find [path]”

Make sure the URL is entered correctly.

Instructors can’t see student submission for grading

The student likely did not click the “Submit Assignment” button after completing his work.  The student can simply go back into the assignment and click “Submit Assignment” at a later time.  He will not need to re-do his work.

You’re not automatically signed in to VoiceThread when you click on a VT link

Make sure your web browser accepts third-party cookies.

When you click on a VT link, you see a page titled “VoiceThread Account Verification”.

This means you already had a VoiceThread account under your email address, and the system is now trying to connect that existing account with your Canvas profile.  You’ll only need to complete this step once.  To proceed through this page:

• Click on the link that says “Set it here” to set a verification password for your account.
• Proceed through the steps to set a password.  This will involve receiving an email from VoiceThread.
• Use that password you just set on the verification page.