SmartMusic: Sync grades and assignments in SmartMusic

(3)

As a music teacher thrown into distance learning, I have learned a lot about different LMS, however many people have recommended Canvas as an option.

 

Many band directors and orchestra directors have come to rely upon SmartMusic to distribute playing assignments to make distance learning as authentic as possible. SmartMusic gives feedback on a students playing and much help to improve their playing without a teacher present. I will be moving to Canvas starting next year and would love SmartMusic to sync with Canvas.

 

Examples of different types synchronization would be:

  • Ability to click on assignments in Canvas and be sent to the assignment in SmartMusic.
  • Grades being synced from SmartMusic to Canvas, if a teacher opts for that.

 

Thank you for your consideration of this idea and I look forward to working with the Canvas community!

16 Comments
Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

Hi,  @jennifer_payne   and Welcome to the Canvas Community! We're looking forward to working with you too. Smiley Happy 

We've opened this idea for voting as a request for a partner integration with SmartMusic. Development of partner integrations requires both parties to be willing to devote resources to the project, so if you haven't yet done so, would you please contact the maker of SmartMusic to express your interest? I found this contact page on their website.

jennifer_payne
Community Member

Yes, ma'am! I contacted them first. This has been a feature request in SmartMusic already. I am working on promoting this idea in the SmartMusic community, in light of distance learning, to help make music education as productive and engaging as possible. 

Here is the link on SmartMusic's feature request: SmartMusic and Canvas Integration

Thank you so much!

Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

Good on you for having your ducks in a row, Jennifer! Smiley Happy Thanks.

jennifermetts
Community Member

I am also working with a band director at our school who will benefit from this integration!

emiller2020
Community Explorer

We're hoping for this integration as well! Fingers crossed before we're back to distance learning/ a hybrid model in the fall.

jonathan_schoep
Community Novice

We are going 100% online this Fall and we really need for SmartMusic to be able to be integrated into Canvas. The management of both of these programs all while doing online zoom classes every day will be much simpler if they can communicate with each other. SmartMusic is a great program for kids and a big part of our virtual learning plan.

egargrave
Community Novice

Please integrate SmartMusic with Canvas.

jayers2
Community Novice

PLEASE open to sync with SmartMusic!  I will also be contacting SmartMusic to encourage them to collaborate!

janesj
Community Member

Our district just purchased SmartMusic for all of our students. Integration with Canvas would definitely help!

Carla7
Community Member

Yes, please integrate SmartMusic with Canvas! That would be so helpful!

Bruce_Shaver
Community Novice

I agree - I and many others would love to see SmartMusic and Canvas integrated!  Many of us are reaching out to SmartMusic: will you also reach out corporately to see about getting integration rolling?

cmotley
Community Novice

All assignments and assessments for our school district MUST go through Canvas, please include SmartMusic. Our music department is HUGE, and desperately needs this! 🙂

david_devoto
Community Novice

This would be helpful is Canvas and Smartmusic could work together....right now, we have to download individual performances and upload as a comment into Canvas.  With 300 in the program, it is very time intensive. 

ericdano
Community Member

It's pretty easy to write a program to take the csv files from Smartmusic and use the API or the Python CanvasAPI library to put these in Canvas. The issue I have is that Smartmusic keeps adding columns in the csv for each new assignment, which is fine but........can we not find a better way?

First 5 lines of the csv are just general class information (column names, due date for each column, total points for each column, class average for each column, class average-label which I have no idea what that is for) and then 6th line you start getting students.

So, that's all good, but for Canvas, you'd have to link to an external tool URL. Ok, fine. But then they do the assignment.....but you'd still have to export the csv's out and run something to get them into Canvas. (here python is your friend)

Ideally, if SmartMusic had an API for this, it would be easier. You could just have a program run every couple of hours and grab stuff. Of course SmartMusic doesn't have an API that I know of, and they STILL won't let you make assignments that have real audio accompaniments (like if you did something with generated Band in a Box backgrounds.....can't do those. Has to be all Midi).....so.........

 

AlisonM
Community Member

This would be enormously helpful.

ProductPanda
Instructure
Instructure
Status changed to: Archived
Comments from Instructure

As part of the new Ideas & Themes process, all ideas in Idea Conversations were reviewed by the Product Team. Any Idea that was associated with an identified theme was moved to the new Idea & Themes space. Any Idea that was not part of the move is being marked as Archived. This will preserve the history of the conversations while also letting Community members know that Instructure will not explore the request at this time.