I am pleased to announce that the LTI Tools page is now redesigned! While the LTI Tools page is not fully finished, this updated design allows you to:
- quickly and easily view and understand all LTI launch data
- map/group LTI placements and their launches in a meaningful way both individually and in bulk to improve the accuracy of your LTI usage data and save time
- directly access and analyze any specific LTI tool’s data visualizations in the tool adoption reports via a streamlined workflow
Let’s walk through a more detailed view of the changes and how to best leverage this page…
Updated Design
Previously, the LTI Tools page featured a flat table that showed some columns by default that were not as meaningful as others. Some rows/launches showed which were blank causing confusion. The table did not allow sorting by Associated LTI Tools making it hard to view which ones needed action versus not.
With this update, there is a new design for the search, filtering, and visibility options. This updated design is intentionally different from the previous design and that of other current pages. It aligns with the future state of Impact, as all pages with similar functionality will feature this new design that will be implemented this year as part of our work to update the cohesion inside of Impact and across Instructure products, for ease of development and use, as well as improved accessibility. We proactively thank you for your patience as we evolve this year!
The LTI Tools page features two distinct areas: Ungrouped LTI Tools and Grouped LTI Tools with the Ungrouped at the top for ease of access to take action. Each of the areas features a table with adjustable width columns and more meaningful fields by default: Name, Description, First launch, Last launch, and Total launches with the ability to still add/change fields in view. There’s a number on the right side of the Ungrouped LTI Tools section, as well as for each LTI Group that shows how many launches are included. For institutions with many launches, lists feature variable pagination for ease of access.
Easy Mapping/Grouping
Previously, mapping LTI launches was a tedious and labor-intensive task due to having to find the launch(es) and then doing so individually.
With the updated functionality, you can now create a new LTI group and map or group LTI launches either individually or in bulk! When selecting issues for bulk actions, you can either individually select the rows or you can use the search bar and select the checkbox to the left of the column headers to select all in the filtered view to be mapped. You can also edit LTI Tool Groups after they are created. To save you even more time, LTI Tool Categories that have launches are already created for you and LTI Tool Categories that are hidden do not show.
Quickly Accessing and Leveraging LTI Data
Last, but not least, we want to continue to save you time and energy by streamlining your workflows. We have added functionality for a Reporting Template to automatically be created (on the back end) once an LTI Group is created and then for you to have a simplified workflow where you are taken directly to that tools’ usage data in the Tool Adoption Reports instead of you having to manually create a Reporting Template then go to Insights and manipulate the filtering options.
Looking Ahead on All Things LTI
Despite this release, we are nowhere near complete with work related to LTIs! In the short term (Q1), we are actively working on and will be releasing:
- an updated grouping dropdown menu aligned with what LTI tools are actually installed (and marked as “visible” inside of Tool Categories) for each institution instead of all
- the inability to create an LTI group with the same name as an existing one
- improved grouping of tools that utilize the Redirect Tool
- the ability to view, create, and edit automatic discovery rules for LTI placements to further reduce any potential steps for mapping/organizing LTI launches
as part of the existing LTI Tools page. We will be working with our LTI Working/Advisory Group, of which many of you belong, to capture and better support edge cases (such as reporting templates being created, deleted, etc.).
Additionally, we have a lot of exciting work ahead for Q2 and Q3! At the end of 2023, we held a design and discovery sprint with a core team of engineering, product, design, and other internal team leaders that featured brainstorming, ideation, and design of prototypes meant to enable you to quickly and easily find, understand, and take action on your LTI data to efficiently manage your teaching and learning ecosystem. We proceeded with user testing, and validation of those prototypes with several current Canvas users, with and without Impact. We received meaningful feedback on what was most valuable that we synthesized and turned into product requirements. This quarter and next, the Impact Team will be making this dream into a reality by creating a completely new LTI Data area inside of Impact, as well as further enhancing the LTI Tools page, so that they will work seamlessly together. Stay tuned for more updates coming soon!
