Who must do this?
Users who log into their LMS/VLE (Blackboard, Canvas, Moodle, D2L/Brightspace, or Sakai) and then access Echo360. IF YOU LOG INTO YOUR UNIVERSITY PORTAL, then access the LMS/VLE or Echo360, this page does not apply to you. That method is called "single-sign-on" or SSO; Echo360 Mobile Apps support SSO and do not require you to log into the apps with a separate Echo360 password.

If you normally access Echo360 through your LMS/VLE (Blackboard, Canvas, Moodle, D2L, or Sakai), you can still use the Echo360 Mobile Apps to view and interact with your section materials. However, using the Mobile Apps effectively bypasses the LMS/VLE, so there are a few things you need to be sure to do.

How do I know if I need to do this?

Download and open the Echo360 mobile app. Enter your Email address into the first field you see and click Submit. If the next page looks like your university login screen, you are an SSO user and you do NOT need to set a password. HOWEVER you should review the section below on accessing your Echo360 courses at least once through the LMS/VLE before using the Echo360 apps for your viewing. 

Establish an Echo360 Password

Normally, when you enter Echo360 through the LMS/VLE, you have already logged into either the LMS or your institution's portal, and been authorized access. Echo360 simply trusts the main system and uses your Email address to know who you are. Using the Mobile Apps bypasses the LMS/VLE authorization process, and therefore requires you to log directly into Echo360. For that, you need a password. Your LMS/VLE and Echo360 email addresses are (and must be) the same.

To create a direct Echo360 password:

1. Enter Echo360 as you normally do, through the LMS.
2. Click the Settings icon in the top right corner of the screen (it looks like a gear).
3. Select Account Settings.
   

   Be sure to make note of your email address; this is the email address you will enter into the app when logging in.

4. Click CREATE PASSWORD.

The password you create can be the same as or different from your LMS password, as long as it contains 8 characters and meets the other Echo360 password criteria.

Students Must Access Echo360 Once Through Each LMS Course

Instructors frequently export Echo360 participation and engagement information to the LMS for grading. Furthermore, many instructors use the Echo360 student-participation data (called "analytics" or "engagement analytics") in their grading. The more engaged students are and the more they view and participate in their classes, the better their grades often are.

But if Echo360 does not know a student SHOULD be coming in through the LMS, it will not export gradebook data for that student. And since (as stated above) the Mobile Apps bypass the LMS, this association of Student > LMS > Echo360 Section needs to be established outside of the Apps.

All a student has to do is click through each Echo360 link from EACH LMS course ONCE. That's it. One time for each Echo360 link in each LMS course.

That single passthrough into the Echo360 section establishes the connection for this user, from this LMS course into this Echo360 section. After doing that ONCE FOR EACH LMS COURSE, the student can do all their viewing through the Mobile Apps. Echo360 gathers and maintains their activity in each section, regardless of whether they did it via a laptop, through the LMS, or through our Mobile Apps.

Once that connection between the LMS and the Echo360 section for that student exists, Instructors can export analytic data to the LMS gradebook, and it will include all the engagement data for the student.

Multiple links to a single Echo360 section? If the instructor establishes multiple links from the LMS course into Echo360 - such as different links for different classes, the student must click all of the Echo360 links in order for that student's engagement or participation data to be exported back to the LMS for each link.