LMS: D2L Integration Setup

D2L integration with Courseware is available for Site License customers. (It is not yet available for Courseware adoption customers and bulk code purchasers.) If you are a customer interested in trying out this integration, follow all the steps below. These steps can be completed by anyone with administrator access to both Courseware and D2L. 

If at any point you need assistance during this setup, contact us at support@visibebody.com.

Administrator Setup 

Part 1: Enable D2L beta inside Courseware 

1. Sign-in to your CW administrator account and click LMS Integration from the left-hand menu.
2. Select D2L Brightspace V1.
3. Copy to your clipboard the URL that appears at the bottom of the page. You will use this later on.

.

 

Part 2: Register Visible Body LTI 1.3 as a tool in D2L

Sign in to your D2L Brightspace account as an administrator and follow the steps below.

1. Locate the Dynamic Configuration URL on the D2L section of the LMS Integration page in the Courseware website. Click to copy it.
2. In D2L, click Admin Tools in the upper right hand corner. Click Manage Extensibility.
3. Navigate to the LTI Advantage tab and click Register Tool.
4. Select Dynamic and copy the Dynamic Configuration URL (from step 1) into this field. Check off Configure Deployment and click Register.
5. The link will appear as “Visible Body (LTI 1.3)” and will come in as disabled. Check it off to select it and hit Enable. You should see a confirmation that one registration was enabled.
6. Click the title of the tool “Visible Body (LTI 1.3)” and you will be brought to the Edit page.

We don’t recommend changing any other settings. Make sure to save before moving to deployments.

7. On the bottom of this page, click View Deployments.
8. Click “Visible Body (LTI 1.3)” again. After registering the tool, you can also view deployments by clicking External Learning Tools in the Admin Tools dropdown.
9. Navigate to Security Settings and make sure Org Unit Information and User Information are both checked. 
10. Navigate to Configuration Settings and make sure Auto Create Grade Items is unchecked. Then, check Grades created by LTI will be included in Final Grade. We don’t recommend changing any other settings.
11. Under Make tool available to, click Add Org Units and select the relevant courses you want to give access to Visible Body. We recommend checking “This unit and all descendants” to allow the integration to be added in any copied courses. 
12. Click Save.

Click View Links on the View Deployments page to see the details of the two placements that you’ve added with this integration. The first is the Visible Body homepage. The second will be the Visible Body Assignment Library, which is coming soon. If you like, you can further specify viewer settings on this page.

From this point onward, administrators or instructors with appropriate permissions can continue the process. They should have a destination or sample Brightspace course ready for the next steps.

 

Part 3: Manage placement and confirm setup in D2L

With the tool set up in D2L you can now manage placements in the platform. There are two options: 

• Add Courseware Home to the navbar
• Add Courseware Home to your course as a module 

Option 1 (recommended): Add Courseware home to the Course Navbar

Add the Courseware Home to the navbar in your courses by following these steps:

1. Go to the course where instructors and students will use Visible Body. Instructors with permissions can add the Courseware homepage themselves, but a D2L administrator will need to create the quick link before they can do so.
2. Navigate to the Options link at the end of the Course Navbar. Click Edit This Navbar.
3. Under Links select Add Links. On the top of this popup select Create Custom Link. Fill out the Create Custom Link page as follows:

a. Choose a name. We recommend "Visible Body (LTI 1.3)". Alert all instructors that this is the name of the link they will add. 

b. Under URL, click Insert Quicklink.

c. Scroll down to Third Party and select “Visible Body (LTI 1.3) Home”.

d. Under Behavior keep the default: New window/tab. This allows the homepage to be within your course. 

e. We recommend adding a description: “Visible Body Courseware is a 3D visual health & life science learning platform with a vast collection of customizable, immersive health and life science activities and quizzes that make learning both interactive and fun! Assign A&P and biology content from our library of 3D models, bite-sized learning modules, animations, and simulations.”

f. Click Create.

4. You should still be in the Add Links page. Click on the link you just created and hit Add.

5. Back on Edit Navbar, click Save and Close.

6. Visible Body (LTI 1.3) should now be in your course navbar. Click to access the Visible Body 1.3 homepage.

7. You will be asked to confirm that you have set up this integration as a site license. Please read through the information and confirm. Click Connect when done. You will see a notice confirming that you have successfully connected your institution with Visible Body.

 

Option 2: Add Courseware home as a “Content” module in your course

1. Go to the course where instructors and students will use Visible Body.
2. Navigate to the Content tab.
3. Create or navigate to the module where you would like to add Visible Body (LTI 1.3).
4. Select Add Existing or Existing Activities depending on your D2L course.
5. Select "Visible Body (LTI 1.3) Home" to add into this module.
6. Now select "Visible Body (LTI 1.3)" on the left, so it appears on the right side. 
7. Click the 3-dot menu on the right in the content area and select Edit.
8. On the Edit page, select Open in a new tab, then click Save.
9. Visible Body will now be an item in your course. 

With the tool set up in D2L, and the Courseware Home placed in the platform, instructors can use Visible Body (LTI 1.3) in this course and, if allowed, add Courseware to other courses following the process below. If an administrator would like to complete the instructor setup process for them, you can do so by going into View as Instructor mode, and following the process below. Any student added to these courses will have optional access to Visible Body. Once they click a Courseware link, they will get access and be counted as part of the site license. 

 

Instructor Setup

This section of the article assumes an administrator has already registered and managed the placement of Visible Body (LTI 1.3) in D2L. If they have not, see this section here; if an admin would like to complete the instructor setup process, the next step is to View as Instructor mode, and following the process here.

These steps are for instructors who want to use Visible Body with their D2L course. When students are added to your D2L course, they will be automatically added to Visible Body after selecting a link or accessing an assignment. With this setup, you will also be able to more easily deep-link to your assignments.

Follow the steps below to begin setting up your D2L Courseware integration.

 

Part 1: Add Visible Body (LTI 1.3) to your D2L course navbar

1. Go to the course where you’d like you and your students to start accessing Visible Body. You’ll be placing the Courseware Home in a toolbar to do this.
2. Navigate to the option at the end of the Course Navbar. Click Edit This Navbar.
3. Under Links, click Add Links.
4. Select “Visible Body (LTI 1.3)” and hit Add.
   • It’s possible your administrator has named this tool something else. Please check with your administrator if you are having trouble finding it.
   • It’s also possible your administrator has not set up Visible Body (LTI 1.3) as a quick link. You may be able to do it yourself by following the process here.
5. Back on Edit Navbar, click on Save and Close.
6. Visible Body (LTI 1.3) should now be in your course navbar.

If you don’t have the necessary permissions to edit your D2L course navbar, your admin can add Visible Body (LTI 1.3) to your course by following the steps here.

 

Part 2: Log in to Courseware and link your courses

Once you’ve placed Visible Body (LTI 1.3) in your course navbar, select it to log in to Visible Body and complete the setup.

1. Once you’ve chosen Visible Body, you’ll be prompted to sign in using your Visible Body account email and password. You’ll only have to do this once in D2L.
2. Choose the Visible Body course you want to associate with your D2L course. If you don’t have one set up yet, you can create one.
3. Click Link Course. There will be a confirmation message asking if you are sure. Click OK.
4. Your course is now linked. From the Visible Body (LTI 1.3) homepage, by selecting Go To Courseware, this will take you and your students to the associated course in Courseware.

Important: To ensure students or co-instructors can access the Visible Body materials in your course, simply have them added to your Brightspace course or section. You no longer need to use the Invite People feature in the Courseware platform to do this.

 

Part 3: Link an assignment and give your students access

To link your Visible Body assignments directly in your D2L course, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Courseware website, either through your homepage or at courseware.visiblebody.com, and find the assignment you want to link.
2. Copy the link address of the assignment.
3. In D2L, go to your course’s Content tab and click Existing Activities, and then External Learning Tool.
4. At the bottom of this pop up, click on Create New LTI Link.
5. Paste the link address of the assignment into LTI URL. In Title, name the assignment.
6. The Tool should automatically fill in, but if it doesn’t select “Visible Body (LTI 1.3)” (or whatever your admin named it).
7. Click Create and Insert, and this assignment will now have a direct link from within your D2L course.

We recommend opening these assignments in a separate window. To manage these settings, click the arrow next to the assignment, select Edit Properties in Place, and check Open as External Resource.

Important: With the Visible Body (LTI 1.3) integration, students have automatic access to Courseware through D2L without having to go through any invite or sign in process. Once you or your administrator has added any student to your course in D2L and they can see the Visible Body (LTI 1.3) homepage, they’re ready for immediate access! 

Unlink your Courseware and D2L courses

If you've accidentally linked the incorrect Courseware course to your D2L course, you can follow these steps to unlink your courses.

1. Navigate to your Visible Body (LTI 1.3) homepage and click Manage Sync Options.
2. On this subpage, find the course that is currently connected and click Unlink Course. There will be a confirmation message asking if you are sure. Click yes.

Now that the incorrect courses is unlinked, connect the intended Courseware course to your D2L course by clicking the Connect Course option that will appear on Manage Sync Options. Selecting this option will bring you back to the course connection process here.