SignUp for Canvas

Manage Appointment Groups and Time Slots in Canvas. More info here.

Dev Setup

1. Install Grails 3.3.2

2. Create environment variables for application.yml properties

   mail:
       host: '${MAIL_HOST}'
       default:
           from: '${MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS}'
           replyTo: '${MAIL_REPLYTO_ADDRESS}'
   canvas:
       #Canvas Admin Access Token
       oauthToken: '${CANVAS_API_TOKEN}'
       #Base URL ex. https://<school>.instructure.com
       canvasBaseUrl: '${CANVAS_BASE_URL}'
       #Shared Secret used during LTI Install
       ltiSecret: '${SIGNUP_LTI_SECRET}'
       #Comma Delimited List of Canvas Role IDs that can manage Calendars
       #Viewable at Admin -> Permissions -> Course Calendar
       manageCalendarRoles: '${SIGNUP_CALENDAR_ROLE_IDS}'
       #Namespace used for storing custom user data via Users API
       customDataNS: '${CANVAS_API_CUSTOM_NS}'
   dataSource:
       username: '${DB_USERNAME}'
       password: '${DB_PASSWORD}'

3. Build & Run: grails run-app

4. Install LTI in Canvas via XML Config

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
   <cartridge_basiclti_link xmlns="http://www.imsglobal.org/xsd/
   imslticc_v1p0"
      xmlns:blti = "http://www.imsglobal.org/xsd/imsbasiclti_v1p0"
      xmlns:lticm ="http://www.imsglobal.org/xsd/imslticm_v1p0"
      xmlns:lticp ="http://www.imsglobal.org/xsd/imslticp_v1p0"
      xmlns:xsi = "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
      xsi:schemaLocation = "http://www.imsglobal.org/xsd/imslticc_v1p0
   http://www.imsglobal.org/xsd/lti/ltiv1p0/imslticc_v1p0.xsd
      http://www.imsglobal.org/xsd/imsbasiclti_v1p0 http://
   www.imsglobal.org/xsd/lti/ltiv1p0/imsbasiclti_v1p0.xsd
      http://www.imsglobal.org/xsd/imslticm_v1p0 http://
   www.imsglobal.org/xsd/lti/ltiv1p0/imslticm_v1p0.xsd
      http://www.imsglobal.org/xsd/imslticp_v1p0 http://
   www.imsglobal.org/xsd/lti/ltiv1p0/imslticp_v1p0.xsd">
   <blti:launch_url>http://<HOST>:8080/signup/LTI/launch</blti:launch_url>
      <blti:title>Signup Tool</blti:title>
      <blti:description>Alternate to Canvas Scheduler</blti:description>
      <blti:extensions platform="canvas.instructure.com">
        <lticm:property name="privacy_level">public</lticm:property>
        <lticm:options name="global_navigation">
          <lticm:property name="icon_url">http://<HOST>:8080/signup/assets/calendar-clock_lg.svg</lticm:property>
          <lticm:property name="default">enabled</lticm:property>
          <lticm:property name="enabled">true</lticm:property>
          <lticm:property name="display_type">full_width</lticm:property>
        </lticm:options>
      </blti:extensions>
   </cartridge_basiclti_link>

Features

Creating Appointment Blocks

• Any role in Canvas that has the ability to manage a course calendar will be able to create & manage Appointment Blocks (role ids configured in application.yml)
  • The ability to create new Appointment Blocks is limited to the active term
• New Appointment Form
  • Location is stored as custom user data in Canvas
    • scope: /signup/location
    • ns: configured in application.yml
  • Calendars are limited to courses in the active term where the user is enrolled as a role with calendar management permissions

Edit Appointment Blocks

• Slot Management
  • New slots can be added, but won't be created until submitting the form
  • Existing slots can be updated/deleted through the Save/Trash icons on the corresponding row

Reserving Appointment Slot

• Calendar managers (ie. Instructors, TAs, etc) can unreserve/reserve slots on behalf of a student or group
• Students can unreserve/reserve on behalf of themselves or their Group
  • Student calendars are validated for both individual and Group reservation (warning will appear)
  • If conflict exists, an option to delete conflicting appointment is displayed

Notifications

• Notifications are managed in the MySQL database
  • When Appointment Block is created, by default all notifications are disabled for the block
• Direct Message
  • Calendar managers can send messages to participants of an Appointment Block
• The email address is retrieved from the user's Canvas profile
• All emails are sent asynchronously

Viewing Participant Summary

• Calendar managers can view a summary of all reservations in the Appointment Block

Deleting Appointment Blocks

• Deleting an Appointment Block will also delete all its slots and existing reservations

Installation

• The tool is installed in the Global Navigation bar
• "LOR External Tools" Feature needs to be enabled for it to appear
• The icon is packaged with the application and retrieved via URL

Limitations

Canvas API Restrictions

• Unpublishing Appointment Groups not allowed
  • Solved by storing published status in MySQL DB, although still visible in Canvas Scheduler
• Updating Calendar
  • Courses & Sections - Removing course/section is not supported by Canvas API, only adding
  • Groups - Changing Group Calendar is not supported by Canvas API
• Participant Visibility
  • Changing from "Not Visible" to "Visible" does not reflect retroactively, only new slots

Notifications from Canvas are still triggered

• Canvas notifications are still triggered by appointment group events. The Canvas user would need to disable their “Scheduling” Notifications

Course Home Calendar Links point to Canvas Scheduler

• Adding custom javascript to Canvas theme is needed to change these links

Instructor can reserve slots on behalf of student/groups

• Student/Group calendars are not validated when an Instructor does this, so conflicts may exist