SoftChalk™
Canvas Integration Guide Updated January 23, 2019
Contents
Introduction
Links to SoftChalk FAQs, System Specs and Guides
SoftChalk Cloud
Volume Purchase or Purchase Order
Enterprise SoftChalk Cloud
Individual Purchase on the SoftChalk Cloud Website
Trial SoftChalk Cloud Account
SoftChalk Lessons in Canvas
SoftChalk Cloud Users
Scored Lessons (Cloud Users)
ScoreCenter Overview
Basic Procedures
Scored Lesson Using SoftChalk Selector
Set the Grading Method and Maximum Attempts
Preview the Lesson
View or Change Scores
Complete All Attempts for All Students for a Lesson
Essays
View Grades from LTI Lessons in the Canvas Gradebook
Non Scored Lessons (Cloud Users)
Link to Non-Scored SoftChalk Lesson
Embed Non-Scored SoftChalk Lesson
Edit a SoftChalk Cloud Lesson
Collaborate with Other Instructors on SoftChalk Lessons
Canvas Administrator
Desktop Users
Scored Lessons (Desktop Users)
Print or Email Scores
SCORM
Add the SCORM tool to your course navigation
Use the SCORM tool
Non Scored Lessons (Desktop Users)
In SoftChalk Create: Package a Lesson
In Canvas: Upload a Zip File
Edit a Lesson NOT Saved to SoftChalk Cloud
Help
Copyright Information
This guide covers linking to or uploading your SoftChalk lessons into the Canvas learning management system.
For your instructors, you may want to post the URLs for our guides (see below). As we update the guides, the URLs will remain the same.
Item |
Description and URL |
Search our FAQs |
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This web page lists the system specifications for instructors and students. |
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This guide has step by step instructions for linking to or uploading your SoftChalk lessons into Canvas. Please note that scores from SoftChalk lessons can go into your Canvas gradebook. |
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This Student Guide includes a Troubleshooting section. |
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SofChalk Create is SoftChalk's content authoring program. It is available in both a web launch version (as part of a SoftChalk Cloud Account - see the section SoftChalk Cloud) and in a desktop version. |
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SoftChalk Cloud is an award-winning, multi-function platform that combines a learning object repository, content authoring and hosting and management features. https://softchalk.atlassian.net/wiki/download/attachments/129404604/cloudguide.pdf?api=v2 |
As mentioned in the previous table, SoftChalk C
loud is an award-winning, multi-function platform that combines a learning object repository, content authoring and hosting and management features.
With a SoftChalk
C
loud account, you can:
To take advantage of volume purchasing (or if you plan to purchase a SoftChalk Cloud account with a purchase order), please contact sales@softchalk.com.
Your institution also has the option to purchase an Enterprise SoftChalk Cloud. Please contact sales@s
oftchalk.com
Go to our SoftChalk Cloud website and click the Join Now button in the upper right part of the screen (see below) and select Account Type: Purchase Now. Fill out the information and submit your credit card information.
Try out a SoftChalk Cloud account for 30 days. Click the Join Now button (see above) and click Register for a Free 30-Day trial for SoftChalk Cloud link to fill out the form. You will receive an activation key via email.
If you are a SoftChalk Cloud user, see the section SoftChalk Cloud Users.
If you don't have a SoftChalk Cloud account and you are using the desktop version of SoftChalk, see the section Desktop Users.
If you are a Canvas administrator, see the section Canvas Administrator for instructions on enabling your LTI feature to work with SoftChalk Cloud. (The LTI feature allows an instructor to copy and paste an LTI link for his/her SoftChalk Cloud lesson and have the student scores for that lesson go directly into the Canvas gradebook.)
Use a SoftChalk C
loud account to save your lesson in the Cloud (see the section SoftChalk Cloud). Then you will paste a link to this lesson in Canvas. You can update your content in SoftChalk Cloud and all your link(s) will reflect your changes. You can link to the same lesson in multiple sections or courses.
Before pasting a link to your lesson into Canvas, you will want to decide if you want to collect scores from your students or if you want your lessons to be "practice" lessons and you don't need to collect scores. For each lesson you can decide whether or not to collect scores. Many instructors use both "scored" and "practice" lessons within a course. For details on:
When you view your SoftChalk lesson scores within the Canvas gradebook, you are using a SoftChalk feature called the ScoreCenter. In other words, you click on the name for your lesson in the assignments area of Canvas and you see the SoftChalk ScoreCenter interface but all the scores are also "plugged into" the Canvas gradebook. In Canvas, students will also see their grades from SoftChalk lessons as well.
IMPORTANT: To use the ScoreCenter feature, your Canvas administrator needs to configure your system to use this feature. See the section Canvas Administrator.
With the ScoreCenter feature, you can:
IMPORTANT: Within your lesson in SoftChalk Create, be sure to assign points to each QuizPopper and Activity. (In the main editing window of your SoftChalk lesson, right-click on the QuizPopper or Activity and choose Modify QuizPopper or Modify Activity. Go to the Options tab and use the Points dropdown menu to assign points.)
To have your student scores appear within the Canvas gradebook area (i.e. ScoreCenter interface), you need to:
(FYI, in the Assignments area, there are different icons for published and unpublished items – see below)
If you do not see the SoftChalk Link Selector tool, your Canvas administrator may not have enabled this feature. However, the administrator may have enabled the LTI/ScoreCenter feature within your LMS. Please see the below FAQ if you are unable to use the Link Selector tool.
My institution does not have the Link Selector tool enabled. How can I add my scored SoftChalk Cloud lesson to Canvas?
You will need to set the grading method (i.e. first attempt, most recent attempt, average attempt or highest attempt) and the maximum attempts allowed (unlimited or a specific number of attempts). All the student attempts will be collected and you can view all the attempts for each student for each lesson. You can change the grading method and maximum attempts at any point. If you want to allow your students only one attempt for the lesson, you need to set that option right away.
To test out the lesson, you need to be logged into your course as a student.
IMPORTANT: Be sure to LOG OUT of your SoftChalk Cloud account when you are taking your lesson as a student to test out the ScoreCenter feature. If you are logged into your SoftChalk
Cloud account while also logged into Canvas and taking a lesson, then the scores won't be recorded. If you have exited your browser, you may still be logged into SoftChalk Cloud, so please go to SoftChalk Cloud and see if you are logged in.
You have the option to complete all attempts for all students for a lesson. You may find that your students have neglected to complete their attempts (i.e. they have neglected to click Finish on the last page of the lesson – clicking Finish sends a completion status to the gradebook).
IMPORTANT: You may want to do this procedure after the availability of your lesson has expired. After you do this procedure, future attempts can be incomplete.
IMPORTANT: This procedure cannot be undone. (You can change individual scores or re-open individual attempts if you need to.)
If you use essays in your lesson, you can view the essays within the ScoreCenter area (see the previous section View or Change Scores). Please note the following important information.
You can modify the grade for the lesson based on the points you decide to give to the essay. For example, you may have a lesson worth 100 points including one essay worth 10 points. (You assigned the points under the Options tab for the essay and other items.) Let's say a student completes everything correctly, completes the essay, clicks the Finish button for the essay and then clicks the Finish button on the last page of the lesson to submit his or her score. At this stage, the student has a score of 90 out of 100 because you will need to evaluate the essay and assign points. You can go into the gradebook (i.e. ScoreCenter) and evaluate the essay and modify the score. You may want to provide feedback to the student on the essay by clicking the Feedback button within the attempt.
(You may want to explain the above process to your students; as mentioned, you also have the option to assign 0 points to an essay if you like.)
If you go to the Gradebook area in Canvas, you can see that the scores from your lessons (using the LTI Link and external tool – see the previous sections Paste the LTI Link into Canvas and Set the Grading Method and Maximum Attempts) appear in your Canvas Gradebook. (If you want to view or change scores for individual student attempts, see the section View or Change Scores.)
IMPORTANT: As previously mentioned, be sure to LOG OUT of your SoftC
halk Cloud account when you are taking your lesson as a student to test out the ScoreCenter feature. (If you are logged into your SoftCha
lk
Cloud account while logged into Canvas and taking a lesson, then the scores won't be recorded.)
This section explains how to have your students access "practice" SoftChalk lessons. In other words, you don't plan to collect student scores from these lessons. [You can have items that have points assigned to them within your lesson, but if you want to collect the scores, see the section Scored Lessons (Cloud Users).]
There are two options to add your non scored "practice" lesson to your course:
(FYI, in the Assignments area, there are different icons for published and unpublished items – see below)
If the Link Selector tool is not enabled, please see the below FAQ for steps to place your non-scored lesson in Canvas.
My institution does not have the Link Selector tool enabled. How can I add my non-scored SoftChalk Cloud lesson to Canvas?
(FYI, in the Assignments area, there are different icons for published and unpublished items – see below)
If you used the LTI Link or Hyperlink to your SoftChalk Cloud lesson, then you can easily edit your lesson within your SoftChalk Cloud account. (You don't have to paste in a new LTI Link or Hyperlink; simply edit your current lesson in SoftChalk Cloud and the LTI Link or Hyperlink for this lesson will still work.)
IMPORTANT: If you edit a lesson that has scored items and you have pasted an LTI Link for this lesson into Canvas, we recommend the scoring for your lesson remain the same if students have started taking this lesson.
You can collaborate with other instructors to create your SoftChalk lessons using a SoftChalk Cloud account (or a trial SoftChalk Cloud account). Within SoftChalk Create, you can publish your lesson to your SoftChalk Cloud account. Another instructor [also using SoftChalk Create and a SoftChalk Cloud account (or a trial SoftChalk Cloud account)] can access and edit the lesson you published.
IMPORTANT: Simultaneous work in the same lesson is not supported. In other words, one person should be working on the lesson at a time. (If two or more people are making changes to the same lesson at the same time and saving the lesson to the Cloud, they may end up overwriting each other's changes.)
For more details, see the section Collaborate with Other Instructors on SoftChalk Lessons in the SoftChalk Cloud Guide.
The steps below are for your Canvas administrator to enable the LTI/ScoreCenter feature for your Canvas server. For details on the LTI/ScoreCenter feature, see the section Scored Lessons (Cloud Users).
As a Canvas administrator to use the ScoreCenter feature, you need to register with SoftChalk and configure the ScoreCenter for your system.
Be sure to click Submit once you have entered your information.
As a Canvas administrator, you can enable the LTI/ScoreCenter feature for your Canvas server without using the SoftChalk Link Selector Tool. Please see the FAQ:
Instead of using the Link Selector tool, can I still enable the LTI/ScoreCenter feature for our Canvas server?
IMPORTANT: As mentioned previously, we recommend using the SoftChalk Cloud ScoreCenter solution versus using SCORM. See the section ScoreCenter Overview.
IMPORTANT: Within your lesson in SoftChalk Create, be sure to assign points to each QuizPopper and Activity. (In the main editing window of your SoftChalk lesson, right-click on the QuizPopper or Activity and choose Modify QuizPopper or Modify Activity. Go to the Options tab and use the Points dropdown menu to assign points.)
Your students can print certificates of their scores and/or your students can email you within the lesson to send their scores. The basic steps are:
With the email option, you will get an email from each student for each attempt the student made for the lesson.
If you are uploading a zip file to Canvas, then see the next sections In SoftChalk Create: Package a Lesson and In Canvas: Upload a Zip File.
IMPORTANT: As mentioned previously, we recommend using the SoftChalk Cloud ScoreCenter solution versus using SCORM. See the section ScoreCenter Overview.
The Canvas SCORM tool can play SCORM content and, if you wish, return a score to the Canvas gradebook.
SCORM is hidden by default.
To add a hidden tool to your course navigation menu:
1.In your course navigation menu, click Settings.
2.On the Navigation tab, in the list of hidden tools (under "Drag items here to hide them from students"), find the desired tool, and then click the corresponding Settings (gear) icon.
3.Select Enable and, if desired, drag and drop the enabled tool to change its position in the tool list.
4.Click Save.
3.Select the .zip file containing your SCORM package. It may take several seconds to upload the file, depending on its size; a progress bar will indicate upload status. When the process is complete, the new upload may appear at the bottom of your list of SCORM packages.
4.From the Choose import type... drop-down menu, choose to import as either a graded or ungraded assignment. Click Go.
5.Navigate to the Assignments tool and find the new assignment. Edit the assignment to add necessary instructions, point value, due date, and so on. Do not change anything in the "Submission Type" field.
6.Click Save, and then click Publish to publish the assignment.
Your students will access the SCORM object via the Assignments tool. If you have made it a graded assignment, students' scores on the assignment will appear in the gradebook.
Within SoftChalk, you can package a lesson in a .zip format. Then upload this .zip file into Canvas and unzip it. See the steps below to package a lesson in a .zip format.
(FYI, in the Assignments area, there are different icons for published and unpublished items – see below)
Please visit our SoftChalk Support webpage. For purchase information, please contact sales@softchalk.com.
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