TOPIC:

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone had installed TSUGI and configured it to their LMS/VLE? We've just installed it on our test environment but I'm having some difficulty linking it to Blackboard. I'm familar with other VLEs and can probably do it in Blackboard if I can talk to someone who's done it in Moodle or Canvas.

If you have, would it be possible to get in touch please? I'm happy to put some documentation together and share it once I've done it if that helps?

Many thanks in advance

Hi Helen,
Interested to see how you get on with this as Blackboard is our main VLE at Edinburgh. I'm guessing you've already come across this site? www.tsugicloud.org/about/documentation/howto/learn
Best wishes,
Alison

Thanks. I hadn't actually come across that website but I've had a look. I'm not sure that it does help, because it takes you to some tools that you can integrate into Blackboard, but not Xerte.

I'm a little further along than I was the last time, in that I've got the lti key and secret, but I'm not sure where I get the xapi lrs endpoint from? Any ideas?

Hi Helen
assuming your interest in Tsugi is to enable LTI from Xerte to Blackboard? If so then with Tsugi installed and configured for Xerte (see xot.xerte.org.uk/play.php?template_id=88) you can enable LTI for selected Xerte projects and add the LTI link as a web link in Blackboard with external tool selected which then prompts for the key and secret provided in your Xerte LO properties. I've known some cases where the Blackboard configuration has been set to only allowed centralised LTI tools so if you don't see this option to select external tool and add your own keys you will need to speak to whoever controls that option in your Blackboard.

This will then send grades from the Xerte LO to the Blackboard Grade Centre and depending on requirements negate the need to export and Import as SCORM. This works well in Blackboard, Moodle and in theory any other LMS/VLE that is LTI compatible and accepts grades via LTI.

However to take advantage of the full benefits of all this with Xerte you use Tsugi for LTI and an LRS for xAPI as you may have seen Tom talk about at #Xerte18 www.xerte.org.uk/index.php/en/news/blog/...-xerte-tom-reijnders or that we have talked about during Apereo and/or Future Teacher webinars. Somewhere I have a schematic I created to visually explain this during online meetings with different Universities but I can't quickly find that at the moment as I type and send this reply.

HTH
Ron

Thanks Ron,
If you are able to find the schematic then I'd be really grateful. I'm documenting the process as I go, so once I've figured it out then I'll refine it and share it with the community.
Helen

Hi Helen
just re-reading this thread and spotted that you also said "I'm not sure where I get the xapi lrs endpoint from" and that you are "documenting the process as you go"

I'm not sure that my diagram (attached) is going to help with that. My experience as a result of multiple meetings with different Universities can probably be summarised as follows:

1. Use of LTI to pass grades to an LMS without the use and need of an LRS is relatively straightforward and something you can work through yourself.
2. Use of LTI together with xAPI and an LRS is much more complex and needs to be a strategic discussion with a number of different stakeholders.

HTH
Ron