Exciting News: New Lucid Integration Available in Canvas LMS Beta!

[AlexisNast]

In partnership with the Lucid team, we're thrilled to announce the launch of the Lucid integration in Canvas LMS, now available in beta. This integration provides Canvas customers worldwide with access to the Lucid Education Suite, which empowers teachers and students with visual collaboration solutions anytime and anywhere within Canvas, at no additional cost. The Lucid Education Suite comprises Lucidspark, a collaborative virtual whiteboard that’s the official replacement for Google’s Jamboard, and Lucidchart, an intelligent diagramming application.

So, what's the buzz all about? The Lucid integration provides tools that enhance engagement in learning, boost student collaboration, and enrich your course content. Access the Lucid Education Suite directly from the Rich Content Editor (RCE) or create engaging assignments with the new assignment submission that allows a student to submit a Lucid document as the artifact that shows their learning. 

We understand the importance of user feedback in shaping the tools we offer and the Lucid team is eager to hear about your experience and how they might deepen or improve this integration. That's why we're inviting you to be a part of this exciting journey by trying out the integration in your beta instance and sharing your thoughts with us. Your insights, suggestions, and experiences are invaluable in helping us fine-tune and optimize this tool to meet your needs.

Here's how you can get involved:

1. Try it Out: Dive into your beta instance and try the new integration within Canvas LMS. Explore its features, experiment with its functionalities, and see how it fits into your teaching and learning routine. See the release notes for more details. 
2. Share Your Thoughts: Have thoughts, opinions, or ideas about the new integration? We want to hear them! Share your feedback, suggestions, and any issues you encounter in the comments section below.
3. Spread the Word: Excited about the new integration? Help us spread the word! Share this announcement with your colleagues, peers, and fellow Canvas users, and encourage them to try the integration in beta and share their feedback too.

As partners, the teams at Instructure and Lucid are committed to empowering educators and learners with the tools they need to succeed. Your feedback plays a crucial role in ensuring that we deliver on this promise. 

Ready to dive in? Log into your beta instance and give this new integration a try. We can't wait to hear what you think!

[jsowalsk]

@AlexisNast When will an article be available about how to use the tool besides the release notes?

[JessicaDeanSVC]

Based on the release notes, it looks like folks will have to create an account with Lucid and then connect it to their Canvas account; is that correct? Or, will Lucid accounts be automatically created when users first access the tool? I imagine many of us will have a hard time convincing our faculty to create another account for another tool...

Additionally, can admins toggle the feature off in our account settings? We do not have the capacity or knowledge of this tool to develop training for it, and do not want folks accessing the tool until we can either 1.) learn the tools ourselves and develop in-house resources or 2.) Instructure provides guides and documentation on how to use these tools.

[dbrace]

According to what I see in beta, Lucid appears to be an inherited Developer Key that was automatically enabled and cannot be disabled. Until we have more information, how can it be disabled?  The only way my admin account has the ability to disable/hide it is to remove it from the RCE.

@AlexisNast 

[mbmacdonald]

@AlexisNast , thanks for the update! I second the comments/questions from @JessicaDeanSVC and @dbrace: I don't want to necessarily block my users (Who already know how to use Lucid) from using this tool, but I do not want it so prominently displayed in the RCE because it may lead to questions from users that we do not have the capacity to address right now. 

I would like the Lucid icon to be removed from the RCE, and for Lucid to not be the first item in the electrical plug drop-down menu. Not sure if those are changes I can make myself.

But if that is not possible, I would probably choose to disable it for the time being - as @dbrace noticed, toggling off the developer key does nothing.

[mbmacdonald]

@AlexisNast - Also, can you explain more about why there are so many privacy warnings around the adoption of this tool? Is there something different about how this integration works? Is it not LTI?

[VanessaCicero]

@jsowalsk There are a lot of ready made resources that you can explore to learn more about Lucid for Education.  You can find videos, templates, asynchronous training, and more if you visit Lucid's Educator Hub.  If you would like a demo walkthrough feel free to email me and I would be happy to set this up for you vcicero@lucidchart.com.

[VanessaCicero]

@JessicaDeanSVC Teachers and students will be prompted to create their Lucid account all from within Canvas.  They won't need to leave or manage a second login.  Everything is done inside of Canvas to make this as easy as possible for teachers and students.  There are a lot of ready-made training materials for Lucid in general and more training materials specific to using Lucid in Canvas will be coming soon.  If you would like a demo walkthrough/training for your team feel free to email me and I would be happy to set this up for you: vcicero@lucidchart.com.

[audra_agnelly]

@VanessaCicero we are K12 and require data sharing agreements with all our tools. Are Lucid student accounts covered by our DSA with Canvas or will we need to work with Lucid to sign our DSA? And, would the DSA be different from just the COPPA consent that's shown in the workflow screenshots in the release notes. Also, I see the prompt about under 13s asks for the teacher's email...are you reaching out to that email for COPPA consent of the institutions admins? Individual teachers cannot give COPPA consent for our district.

[dbrace]

@audra_agnelly, while I do not work in K-12, thank you for your post. Things are not as easy as "flipping a switch on" and more information needs to be made public.

@VanessaCicero / @AlexisNast, how can be disable the integration?

[JessicaDeanSVC]

@audra_agnelly raises a great point; my college is in the process of clarifying data sharing agreements with all our contracts. Will Canvas contracts be updated/cover Lucid, or will we need to seek a separate DSA?

[VanessaCicero]

@audra_agnelly @JessicaDeanSVC 

The Instructure Data Privacy Officer and team have been involved in ensuring proper processes are in place to confirm data privacy and security are of top priority. We have a signed DPA between the two parties and users will be notified via Subprocessor notification. 

However, if you would like to put a DPA in place, please email me (vcicero@lucidchart.com) and I can help you.

We ask for the email so we can see the domain and research which district that is affiliated with and then contact the district for COPPA consent. You are correct that we are not reaching out to individual teachers for district consent as individual teachers can only give consent for the students in their immediate classrooms.

[TrinaAltman]

@VanessaCicero When you say, "users will be notified via Subprocessor notification," what does that mean exactly? Will individual users who access the service each receive a notice? If so, via what method (email?) and what specifically will the notice say? Thank you.

[audra_agnelly]

@TrinaAltman this was send to institution admins in April:

Dear Customer,

Beginning on June 15, 2024, all Canvas customers worldwide will have access to the Lucid Education Suite. The Lucid Education Suite comprises Lucidspark, a collaborative virtual whiteboard and Lucidchart, an intelligent diagramming application.

This email serves as Instructure’s notice that we have engaged a new subprocessor for  customer data processed through Canvas LMS. Specifically, Lucid Software Inc., to provide end-users the ability to access their services and directly create an account via an embedded link in Canvas LMS.

As part of this service, Lucid will process and store limited Canvas LMS data elements to enable this functionality. These data elements include: first and last name, email address, location (e.g., country), Canvas LMS user role, Canvas LMS user id, and URL pointing to the end-user's profile picture/icon. Lucid will process and store this data in the United States. 

If you do not want Instructure to provide this functionality in your Canvas LMS instance, please contact your Customer Success Manager directly.

There is no need to reply to this email. As set forth in our Data Processing Addendum, you have thirty (30) calendar days from the date of receipt of this email to present any reasonable objections to the use of this subprocessor. Or notify Instructure in accordance with the timelines as agreed to in our contract with you. You may do so by sending an email to privacy@instructure.com. 

Thank you,

The Instructure Privacy Team

[dbrace]

While the data sharing aspect of this is important, my concern is a feature made by a third-party being automatically enabled without the ability to disable it. Imagine if Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace were automatically enabled without the ability to be disabled.

How do we disable Lucid?

@AlexisNast and/or @VanessaCicero, please reply as a comment or update the post with instructions explaining how Lucid can be disabled.

[audra_agnelly]

If we setup a DPA with lucid directly, would teachers still see the COPPA warning and will students still see the birth date prompt shown in the release notes?

We are also having conversations about this tool in our Google Enterprise account. Are the same user accounts recognized across Google and Canvas? 

Editing to add: I receive this prompt below when I open the tool. Are we really asking asking a 14 year old if they understand a Privacy Policy??

"Create an account with Lucid

By registering, you agree to our Terms of Service and you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Privacy Policy. If you are a student under the age of 18, you are subject to and acknowledge that you have read and understand our Lucid for Education Privacy Policy"

[TrinaAltman]

@audra_agnelly thank you. We did receive that notice. I wanted to make sure when you said that "users will be notified via Subprocessor notification", that it wasn't end users (e.g., teachers, students) getting a subprocessor notification when they access the service.

[callinger]

As many have already posted, we need the ability to disable this tool for our instance. Please reply with clarification on this issue.

[lynn_greenough]

Among the many concerns with the integration I would also like to know about Lucid's timeline for meeting (WCAG) Version 2.1, Level AA standards. Perhaps I've overlooked this information; if so please let me know. The clock is ticking on our ability to ensure our learning environment and content meet web accessibility requirements.

[AlexisNast]

@dbrace and @callinger In the US, you can speak with your CSM and they will add you to an "opt-out" list to disable the integration in your account. This will also prevent the integration from automatically going live in your production account. If you don't do this, once it's on in production you can turn the integration off the same way you would disable any LTI 1.3 tool, either by turning off the Developer Key, or going to Settings > Apps > View App Configuration and deleting the installation there.

[mbmacdonald]

I've been playing around with this in Beta, and it seems that I am unable to toggle off "add to RCE toolbar" for Lucid Integration in "View App Configurations." I can toggle it off, but then when I navigate away from the page, it toggles itself back on

I have also tried to do this using the API. I have tried to edit the Lucid External Tool parameters, and I have also tried to use Remove tool from RCE Favorites) but neither seems to work.

I understand that I can disable this tool completely, but I am not sure that I want to do that. I really just want to remove that button from the RCE. Is that possible?

@dbrace, you wrote: " The only way my admin account has the ability to disable/hide it is to remove it from the RCE." - how did you do that successfully? Apologies, I misread this comment the first time.

[dbrace]

@mbmacdonald, I have two main comments about this in beta:

1. I am not sure how I toggled the "Add to RCE toolbar" off but it is off
2. however (and I had not tested this before and it was only an observation) when it is toggled off, I still see the "Lucid" icon in the RCE

Based on the reply from yesterday, I do not have any plans to test disabling it (we do not necessarily want to opt-out) until next week when beta is refreshed again.

[mbmacdonald]

@dbrace, thanks, and just to close the loop on this: "when it is toggled off, I still see the "Lucid" icon in the RCE" - that is the behavior I am now seeing too. I finally got the toggle to "stay off," but when it is off, I still see the icon.

[audra_agnelly]

@mbmacdonald it appears the Lucid icon is added to the toolbar by default in the RCE.

The "turn on in RCE" toggle in App Configurations is an option to promote your institution's most important tools to the toolbar rather than having to click the external tool icon to find a tool. If you hover over the question mark at the top of that RCE column in App Configurations, there's a popup that tells you that you can enable 2 tools. In our normal settings we have Studio and Google enabled, but in Beta, Lucid is added to that set and I haven't done anything to the RCE toggle in the configurations, it's defaulted to off for Lucid but it's still in the editing toolbar .

We've told our CSM that we don't want it to turn on in production in June until we have had time to evaluate the privacy and accessibility concerns.

This really should be designed as an opt-in, not an opt-out.

[dbrace]

Thank you for piecing those parts together, @audra_agnelly, and I agree with you about opt-in vs opt-out.  Too many online resources are opt-out and instead should be opt-in.

As it has been brought to light in this post and its comments (something that most of also already know), there are different aspects to every integration and that is why we have the jobs that we do.  When the Lucid announcement was made back in April, customers did not have enough information to be able to react/respond to the last paragraph (thank you for sharing it earlier this week) and I think a large portion of us were not sure what was going to happen and we probably should have reached out sooner to ask for more information.

[jenn_stevens]

@lynn_greenough, agreed. I can't find a VPAT or accessibility roadmap anywhere. The closest I can find is this forum thread where people can make accessibility suggestions? I can't turn this on without evaluating for accessibility first. 

@VanessaCicero, can you share the VPAT and roadmap here to help schools who are evaluating?

[dbrace]

I received this guidance from my CSM today, after a regional webinar yesterday.

====

I’ve got some clarity regarding the Lucid icon showing in the RCE and your requests to remove it. When the tool is active, the RCE will be active. The only way to remove it from the RCE is to uninstall the tool. You can do this by going to Settings > Apps > View App Configurations, clicking the gear icon next to Lucid, and selecting Delete. To reinstall, go to the same location, click +App, choose Client ID, and paste in 170000000001855. I apologize, I know this isn't the outcome you were hoping for.

====

Even though it is already Thursday and beta would be reset at some point on Saturday, I have not followed those steps but seems to be possible.

I do have something else to note.  When in "Developer Keys > Inherited" it seems to be possible to toggle the state of the "Lucid" entry to "Off".  I am not sure if that is or is not intended when it goes live in production or if it is only temporary while it is in beta.

My CSM has a scheduled out of the office tomorrow (Friday) but I do plan on reaching out to them on Monday.

[vsenior-cvc]

This is fantastic!  I've used things like Brainstorm and Google Jamboard (which I was very disappointed to see will no longer be available as of December 2024), so this really is exciting news.  

Although I haven't gone through the tutorials yet, it seems fairly intuitive so far.  However, one thing that was a bit awkward was the window within a window and more than one scroll bar.  I know you can open the Lucid chart in another window, but it might be better to open in a new tab while editing.

Looking forward to exploring more!

[nwilson7]

@dbrace Thanks for sharing!

[dbrace]

@nwilson7, thank you for bringing that up but I do not believe that statement is accurate in this specific case because Lucid is an inherited developer key and not a developer key for a specific Canvas instance.  For my institution, the developer keys start with a different set of 5 numbers.

[nwilson7]

@dbrace you are 100% correct and I stand corrected.  It looks like the inherited ones do start with the 17000.  I will delete my previous comment to avoid confusion.

Thanks,

Nick

[milesl]

I'm having difficulty confirming two pieces of information because I can't act as a student in our beta environment:

1. Does Canvas take a "snapshot" of the submission, or could a student submit a lucid chart before the assignment due date, and then continue editing it afterward?

2. Do submitted lucid documents render in the speedgrader?

[hburgiel]

I've been on the lookout for a good, affordable tool for creating flowcharts and mind maps for at least five years. I'm excited to start using Lucid in Canvas to illustrate workflows for our student success network.

[jsowalsk]

@AlexisNast Will there be updates to this tool in the future? Such as the way it functions in the assignment tool. Where can we find this information? Also, will there be Instructure-owned documentation since it seems as if Lucid documentation is out of date? https://help.lucid.co/hc/en-us/articles/14559937492756-Integrate-Lucidchart-with-Canvas

[VanessaCicero]

@jenn_stevens we require a completed NDA in order to share our VPAT information.  If you email me (vcicero@lucid.co), I can send you in the right direction to get this information.  

[rake_9]

@VanessaCicero - respectfully, an NDA should not be needed to see a VPAT.  I'd love to make this tool available, but until we can freely organize our required evaluation process (security and accessibility as baseline), we cannot go ahead.  While this sounds cynical, I do wonder - what are you hiding that you need an NDA for accessibility information?

[dbrace]

Thank you for making that comment, @rake_9. I saw @VanessaCicero's comment yesterday and was going to wait and see if anyone else said what you did and also reach out within my institution to find out if access to VPATs are typically this restricted. In my experience, access to VPATs is not this restrictive.

[dbrace]

I cannot speak for the processes at other institutions but (and this is not my institution) the California State University San Marcos says ...

VPATs are not subject to copyright laws and are not legally binding documents. A VPAT does not contain or disclose proprietary information; instead, quality VPATs will faithfully represent a product's current accessibility conformance, whether accessible or inaccessible.

The current accessibility conformance of any product is readily available to anyone accessing a product's interface, and as such, CSUSM will not sign vendor NDAs to receive accessibility conformance documentation.

Vendors should keep their VPAT current and update it at least annually; VPAT updates should always coincide with product updates. At each time of renewal, we will request updated accessibility conformance documentation from the vendor.

The California State University System, and subsequently, CSUSM, adheres to the WCAG 2.0 AA standard

source: https://www.csusm.edu/iits/services/accessibility/services/procurement/vpat.html

... and (as of Fall 2022) CSUSM uses Canvas as its LMS.

https://www.csusm.edu/iits/services/ats/idesign/canvas/index.html

[jenn_stevens]

I was surprised by this too, as I have not been asked to sign an NDA to see a VPAT in the past.

I reached out to a few peers at other schools to see if this was their experience as well, and they said that they see it sometimes, but it is certainly not recommended practice. They also said that when reviewing the product, having to sign an NDA to see a VPAT is a strike against the company. If it's hard to get (truly crucial) information, it makes them more likely to go with a competitor who is open about accessibility.

[nwilson7]

After reading everything about what it takes to see the VPAT, I too am now questioning turning this tool off.  I have lost track of how many companies we have vetted and while some do require "contract negotiations" to have started, I have never been asked to sign a NDA which would then require a legal review of the NDA and someone with signing authority (which I am not). 

[JessicaDeanSVC]

Given the recent DOJ changes to accessibility requirements, we all have a very different and significant legal burden coming on making sure all of our academic course content is accessible, and being able to reference a vendor's VPAT is going to be a critical aspect of this. Even without that, we cannot in good conscious promote a tool to our faculty that we do not know if all our students can engage with.

I urge @VanessaCicero to communicate this all back to Lucid to change their VPAT processes. If they do not change this practice within the next two years maximum, they will be likely losing even existing customers due to legal concerns as many of us simply do not have the bandwidth to jump through all these hoops to get a simple VPAT. 

And I hope that @AlexisNast will communicate these concerns up to Instructure leadership as well to strongly reconsider who they partner with and chose third-parties going forward who will set up their customers for success in this new accessibility landscape.

[bdavis0705]

@JessicaDeanSVC @nwilson7 @jenn_stevens @dbrace @rake_9 

Great news on this front! It looks like we previously shared outdated information with you; Lucid is providing our VPAT and accessibility roadmap without requiring an NDA, and has been doing so for the past 2.5 weeks. 

Email bdavis@lucid.co to request Lucid’s VPAT and Accessibility roadmap. 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

[dbrace]

That is interesting @bdavis0705 because @VanessaCicero works for Lucid and specifically said yesterday (Tuesday, July 2nd) that an NDA is required.

It sounds like there is some confusion and that information needs to be clarified.

 

[dbrace]

Thank you for that update, @bdavis0705, since we did not know your affiliation and initially only included support@lucid.co as an email address to reach out to.

Is there a reason why the VPAT is not publicly available since every Canvas customer has access to Lucid (even if they have decided to disable it)? Would it not be easier to just make it public somewhere on your support website?

[bdavis0705]

@dbrace I'm happy to clarify. This is the up-to-date experience = Email bdavis@lucid.co to request Lucid’s VPAT and Accessibility roadmap. No NDA is required for Instructure customers. 

By way of explanation, Vanessa is on my team and has been out-of-office, onsite with our partner districts, and supporting K-12 districts at conferences so I had not been able to bring her up-to-speed before she responded to your comments. 

[abbyrosensweig]

@milesl did you ever get an answer to the question about Lucid in assignments (submission of snapshot vs. live board, grading in Speedgrader)? If not, can anyone from Instructure confirm how this works?

[milesl]

@abbyrosensweig in my brief testing, submissions function as snapshots. I didn't see any way to edit a submission after the fact. You can re-submit, but it shows up as a second submission in the speedgrader.

[dbrace]

Has anyone had concerns about system administrators (whether from the LMS side or the IT side, which may vary based on the structure at your institution) not being able to centrally manage Lucid user accounts that are created through this integration (and plan level)?

[AlexisNast]

@abbyrosensweig Submissions are saved as a pdf and are a snapshot in time. Hope this helps!