[External Tools] Improve Assignment External Tool selection method

Problem statement:

When creating an assignment I'm usually linking to an external tool to do this. For a given course, I typically only have one or two external tools that I link to. However, my institution has enabled something like 50 of these things. The current mechanism for finding the correct tool is cumbersome, repetitive, and annoying. It would be better if I could somehow do the following: - Limit the number of external tools that show up when creating an assignment - Select from this shorter list with only one or two clicks, preferably without having to enter a popup window that itself contains another submenu. Overall the current system is cluttered and cumbersome. While were at it, it would be even better if there were better integration between the external tools and the assignments, in particular, the external tool selection window doesn't allow you to specify the particular assignment or activity *within* the external tool.

Proposed solution:

I've discussed some of the needs above, but it would be nice if there were a way to configure this so that my course "knows" what external tools I'm using, and when I select "external tool" as the submission method gives me a couple big fat buttons that corresponds to the tools for my course. Even better, instead of selecting "external tool" from the menu, instead the menu includes the external tools I've linked to my course.

User role(s):

instructor

4 Comments
AlexisNast
Instructure
Instructure
Status changed to: Added to Theme

Thanks for submitting this idea! It has been added to the theme "Decrease friction when launching and using LTI tools" for further consideration.

nathanatkinson
Community Team
Community Team
Status changed to: New
 
nathanatkinson
Community Team
Community Team
Status changed to: New
 
nathanatkinson
Community Team
Community Team
Status changed to: Open