Usage

A quick way to see how this module allows WebPA to be integrated with a learning environment is to watch the following screencast. Note that, whilst this uses Blackboard Learn 9 as the learning environment, the same integration is possible with any other which provides support for the unofficial extensions, this includes WebCT, Moodle and Sakai.

• Movie illustration: An instructor's view of LTI (10:46 minutes)

LTI 1.0/1.1/1.2/2.0 sources

When LTI version 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 or 2.0 is used, the connection between WebPA (the IMS Tool Provider) and a learning environment (an IMS Tool Consumer) is based on the following information:

• a launch URL
• a consumer key
• a shared secret

The launch URL will be the same as the root of the WebPA server with /mod/lti/index.php appended to it. For example, if the WebPA server is located at https://www.server.com/webpa, the LTI launch URL will be https://www.server.com/webpa/mod/lti/index.php. For convenience, a Canvas source tool consumer can be configured using a confiuguration URL formed by replacing index.php with configure.php; for example, https://www.server.com/webpa/mod/lti/configure.php.

A unique consumer key and shared secret should be generated for each learning environment permitted to connect to WebPA. They may be any value. For example, a consumer key could be the domain name for the learning environment server or a GUID. Consumer keys should not be shared by multiple learning environments. Each consumer key and secret pair is registered within WebPA by using the lti sources menu option.

LTI 1.3 sources

For an LTI 1.3 connection, the source platform must provide the following information:

• Platform ID
• Client ID
• Deployment ID
• Authentication request URL
• Authorization server ID (if left blank this will default to the authentication request URL)
• Access token URL
• JSON webkey URL and/or a public key (in PEM or JWKS format)

The source platform must be supplied with the following information to configure the WebPA tool:

• Initiate login URL
• Redirection URI
• Public keyset URL and/or public key (normally in PEM format)

The initiate login URL and redirection URI are both the same as the launch URL used for earlier versions of LTI (see below). The public keyset URL will be the same as the root of the WebPA server with /mod/lti/jwks.php appended to it. For example, if the WebPA server is located at https://www.server.com/webpa, the LTI launch URL will be https://www.server.com/webpa/mod/lti/jwks.php. For convenience, a Canvas source platform can be configured using a confiuguration URL formed by replacing index.php with configure.php and adding a query parameter of json; for example, https://www.server.com/webpa/mod/lti/configure.php?json.

A consumer key and shared secret will always be generated for source platforms, even when connections are only to be made using LTI 1.3. These values may be ignored.

Managing LTI sources

As an administrator in WebPA, the current view of users and modules is for a specific LTI source, or for all non-LTI users and modules. The LTI course can be changed using the change source menu option. The currently selected LTI source is displayed at the bottom of the page.

When a module is selected which provides support for the unofficial LTI memberships service, the sync data menu option will appear in the Admin menu. It can be used to synchronise the enrolments and groups (if groups enhancement to the memberships service is supported) with a list obtained from the learning environment. If the module supports the outcomes service, the the transfer grades menu option will appear in the Admin menu. This will allow a marked assignment to be selected for its grades to be passed back to the learning environment.

When connecting WebPA with a Moodle or Canvas instance which does not offer the unofficial LTI memberships service, the sync data menu option can be made available by using the API hook facility of the LTI class library. The properties element of the tool consumer configuration page should contain values for the following:

• Moodle:
  • moodle.url
  • moodle.token
  • moodle.grouping_prefix (optional)
  • moodle.per_page (optional)
• Canvas:
  • canvas.domain
  • canvas.token
  • canvas.group_set_prefix (optional)
  • canvas.per_page (optional)

For example:

moodle.url=https://my.institution.ac.uk
moodle.token=53963338ec4b160c1e774060a723c0f3

For further information see the API hooks documentation.

Branding options

The following table lists the optional custom parameters which can be used to tailor the WebPA interface:

Name	Description	Example
logo	URL for an image to be displayed top right when WebPA is not opened in a frame (depends upon data provided by the tool consumer which may not be supported by all tool consumers); if the value is not a full URL it is assumed to be relative to the images directory on the WebPA server. A width and height should also be provided for the image (see below).	example.png
logo_width	Width (in pixels) of the image provided in the logo parameter (see above).	100
logo_height	Height (in pixels) of the image provided in the logo parameter (see above).	40
name	Name to use as the alternate text and title for the header image.	The University of Testing
css	URL to a CSS file to override default settings; this file will will be used in preference to any passed as part of the standard LTI launch request (see below).	https://www.mylms.edu/webpa.css
email_help	The email address to which help requests should be sent.	webpa-help​@mylms.edu
email_noreply	The email address used for the "From" header for emails sent by WebPA.	no-reply​@mylms.edu
return_menu_text	Name to use as the text for the "logout" menu option.	return to VLE

CSS

The optional CSS file (see above) may override any of the settings in the default WebPA CSS file. A simple example is as follows:

#app_bar, #module_bar, #breadcrumb_bar {
  background-color: #ff8000;
  color: #000;
}

div.menu_title {
  color: #ff8000;
}

The above styles will change the background colour of the header to orange with black text. The menu headings are also displayed in orange text.

Module sharing

Having a learning application hosted outside the learning environment introduces opportunities for users coming from different courses or learning environments to share the same module within WebPA. This is illustrated by the following screencast which shows how students from different contexts (which could be from different learning environments and/or different institutions) can be joined together to work on the same peer assessment exercise.

• Movie illustration: Using LTI to allow student collaboration (6:13 minutes)

Dynamic registration

The exchange of details between a platform and a tool to establish an LTI 1.3 connection has the risk of human error, so a process of automatically registering a tool within a platform is available. At the time of writing, this has only been implemented in Moodle 3.10 and the saLTIre test tool pending the public release of the specification. The endpoint for registration messages is the same as used for other LTI messages (such as launch requests, see above). By default a source will be created for the platform sending the request, but it will not be enabled. This behaviour can be modified by the adding configuration settings to the mod/lti/setting.php file; for example:

define('AUTO_ENABLE', true);
define('ENABLE_FOR_DAYS', 10);

Set the AUTO_ENABLE constant to true if you wish the platform to be automatically enabled. Setting the ENABLE_FOR_DAYS constant to a positive integer will limit the period for which the platform is enabled. Thus the above settings will cause platforms being registered to be enabled for the next 10 days, after which any connection requests will be declined unless it has been updated via the admin interface in WebPA.