The best practice is to start the LabSim LMS integration in a Sandbox Course (that is a course which is isolated from real teachers, students, etc. that are currently attending live classes). This can be in your development or production environments.
As part of our LMS integration testing, it is recommended that the Sandbox pseudo instructor account and pseudo student account are provided to TestOut for basic testing of the SSO links and score return (if applicable).
Testing as a pseudo instructor and student in the sandbox is the primary way we can confirm the experience will be successful when the LMS courses are live and in session.
Enable LabSim EduApp in Courses
- For the courses that will use LabSim, navigate to the Settings of the course and click the Navigation tab.
- Locate the TestOut LabSim EduApp (TestOut EduApp) and drag it up to the top section so it will show in your course navigation.
Note: The TestOut EduApp will only show for Admins & Instructors (not students). - After you have moved the TestOut EduApp into the course navigation (which is enabling the app), click Save.
Linking to TestOut Course Resources - Inside your course, navigate to and click TestOut EduApp on the course navigation panel (please note that TestOut EduApp is the default name. Earlier you may have renamed the app).
- Once the EduApp loads the page, click Add link to course resources.
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Select the product that you are using in this course.
Note: The list of products listed here reflects the licenses that are available to your school. If a product is missing, please contact your TestOut Account Executive.
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At this point, both methods lead you to an outline of the product you are using in your course.
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If there are multiple versions of the product you are using and you have not specified which one you will be using (by creating a link already or by determining it from within your LabSim class), you can change which version you use by selecting Select Different Version.
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After selecting the correct version, select the chapter you wish to link to. The resources within that chapter will appear in the right-hand column.
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Select a Section Heading and/or specific Resource to create an assignment link for each selected item.
Tip: To select all the resources of a specific type within a section (or unselect them), click the icons on the far right.
Tip: In order to avoid long loading times, create less than 30 links at one time. -
Click Continue.
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On this next Confirm and Finalize Links page, you will see a summary of the links that you are creating.
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To create a link without a grade book column, in the Gradable column uncheck the box next to the assignment. Graded assignments will create links on the assignments page. Ungraded assignments will create links on the modules tab.
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Additionally, you can determine within which assignment and/or module group you want to create each link.
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You can also choose to automatically publish the assignments.
Note: Section Headings (e.g., 2.2, 3.5, x.x, etc.) are not graded and therefore cannot be checked. They will show up on the Modules page in Canvas. -
Click Create Links.
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Once the assignments are created, you will see the success message below with instructions to navigate to the Assignments or Modules within your Canvas course to find the created links.
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Navigate to the Assignments page on the course navigation panel. You will see the graded assignments you have created.
Note: Unless otherwise specified on the Confirm and Finalize Links page, the assignment links will populate in the top assignment group on your assignments page.
Note: If you did not publish the assignments, make sure you publish them so your students will see the assignment in their course.
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Any ungraded assignments (including section headings) you created will show up in Modules.
Note: Unless a module group is specified TestOut will create a module called TestOut Content.
Note: Ungraded links cannot be on the assignments tab because it will create a grade book column.
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Click an assignment (or module) assignment to link from Canvas and enter your LabSim courseware title.
Important Information:
Automatically Creating a class and Enrolling students
Once you have links from your LMS integrated with LabSim, AS THE INSTRUCTOR:
Click one of the TestOut assignment links inside of your LMS class. When you click on the link, your class is automatically created in LabSim. Make sure to do this for each class. When you do, a class matching your LMS class's name will be automatically created in your LabSim account. As a best practice, don't rename it, archive it, or create a duplicate of it, at least until after your semester ends. DO NOT create your class manually in LabSim.
Note: It is critical that at least one initial assignment be clicked to establish integration between your LMS and LabSim account, which involves the creation of the automatic class. The End Date of each automatically created class is 12 months from the date of creation. If necessary, the End Date can be extended or shortened within LabSim by choosing Edit Class for each class and adjusting the End Date. The End Date does not expire product licenses and does not impact your ability to create additional course copies within your LMS.
Regarding Start and End Dates of your TestOut/LabSim class (for LTI 1.3 Advantage, TestOut EduApp, and Plugin integrations):
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If the LMS course start date is known via the integration, this date will be used as the start date for the TestOut/LabSim class.
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If the LMS course end date is known via the integration, this date will be used as the end date for the LabSim class. The end date shouldn’t exceed 18 months from when a course is first created in LabSim.
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If the LMS course start date is NOT known via the integration, the date when the first initial TestOut assignment link is clicked will be used as the start date for the LabSim class.
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If the LMS course end date is NOT known via the integration, the LabSim end date will be 12 months from the start date (the start date is based on the standards set above).
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If the LMS course end date is set to continuous, the LabSim end date will be 12 months from the start date (the start date is based on the standards set above).
INSTRUCT YOUR STUDENTS:
Click one of the TestOut assignment links inside of your LMS class. When they click the link it will automatically create the student account inside of LabSim, and enroll them in the right class (with their LabSim account being automatically created in the background, and license activated).
Note: It is critical that at least one initial assignment be clicked to establish integration between your LMS and LabSim student account. This is how the TestOut system knows that your student exists, and is important for multiple aspects of integration functionality.
- For students that already have LabSim accounts, you want to make sure that the email address associated with their account is their school email address. This way the integration will be able to find and integrate with the existing student LabSim account.
- DO NOT create your students' accounts inside LabSim through CSV, individually, or through email.
- Students DO NOT need to create their accounts through testout.com.
Note: For additional information from Canvas, at your discretion please reference https://community.canvaslms.com/