Ajay Hinduja Switzerland (Swiss) : How do I integrate external tools or LTI apps into Canvas?

[ajayhinduja]

Hey everyone, I’m Ajay Hinduja from Switzerland (Swiss), looking to integrate some external tools or LTI apps into our Canvas courses and wanted to see if anyone has experience with this. Could you share any tips or best practices for a smooth integration? Specifically, I’m curious about the process of adding LTI tools, handling authentication, and troubleshooting any common issues. Any help would be appreciated!

Regards

Ajay Hinduja Geneva Switzerland (Swiss)

[chriscas]

Hi @ajayhinduja,

It would be helpful for us to know what your role is (teacher, Canvas administrator, assistant, etc) so we could could answer your question in that frame.

I think the most common way external apps (commonly referred to as LTI's, as apps integrating into Canvas generally must follow the 1EdTech LTI standard) are installed is at the account level by a Canvas administrator.  Typically schools/institutions will have processes to assess the app vendor's security and accessibility standards, perhaps assess any AI elements, financials, and potentially other concerns as well, but that really will vary.  Sometimes faculty/teachers will be able to request new external tools, but sometimes the school administration picks which tools are available (especially for tools which have a monetary cost).

I'm actually part of a group who will be doing a presentation around this topic at InstructureCon this year, so I'm happy to answer any specific questions you have once we know what your role is.  Hope to hear back from you soon!

-Chris