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Providing an Echo360 Media Analytics Link for Canvas Courses

Echo360
  • Updated

Who can do this?
The procedures on this page must be performed by a Canvas Administrator who is also an Echo360 administrator, or working with an Echo360 administrator.

The Echo360 media analytics link provides viewing and polling response data for all of the Echo360 media currently associated with the Canvas Course where the link is accessed from. Clicking the analytics tool link opens a consolidated media analytics page in Echo360, showing view data for all of the Echo360 media currently embedded in the Canvas course as well as for media located in any Echo360 section linked to this Canvas course.

Instructors can use this to get at-a-glance information about Student views of course media as well as polling responses for embedded interactive media or section-published presentations.

Who Can See Echo360 Analytics? Media viewing data is only allowed for Echo360 instructors and administrators. Meaning the role the user has in Echo360 determines whether the link opens the Echo360 media analytics page, or takes the user to their Echo360 Library. Echo360 observes IMS role mapping from the LMS as listed in LMS to Echo360 User Role Mappings. 

The instructions below add the Echo360 Media Analytics link to users' left navigation. It is added as a "course_navigation" type placement with "admin" access which means it appears in the left navigation list for instructors and administrators for all courses.

Echo360 strongly recommends creating separate Apps in Canvas for EACH of the available features, because:

  • The XML you paste into Canvas can have ONE AND ONLY ONE "course_navigation" block. The course linking, the library, and the media analytics tools all create "course navigation" placements for the tools. Keeping the tools separate avoids any issues surrounding this limitation.
  • You cannot edit or replace the XML for an existing app via the UI. This means that to update a combined tool for future improvements, or to delete a tool you don't want anymore, you need to delete the existing combined one and re-add it. If the tools are separate, this can be done without affecting any other functionality. 

The first step is to log into Echo360 as an Admin and generate an XML cartridge for Canvas that you will use to create the Echo360 media analytics app in Canvas. 

To generate an XML cartridge for Echo media analytics

  1. Log into Echo360 as an Administrator.
  2. Select the Settings icon in upper-right of the screen.
  3. From the Settings menu, select Configurations.
    The LMS configurations tab, selected from the left, appears by default as shown in the below figure.
  4. On the right side of the LMS Configurations page, select Configurations as shown below.
    LMS Configurations page with settings menu navigation and LMS configurations page navigation identified
  5. Find your existing Canvas LMS configuration.
    If you do not have one yet, click Add Configuration then select Canvas from the drop-down list, and click SAVE. See also Configuring Echo360 with your LMS.
  6. Select the LTI Config tab as shown in the below figure.
    LMS Configurations page showing Canvas configuration with LTI Config tab open and Course analytics toggle enabled with Save button identified for steps as described
  7. Enable ONLY the Course analytics slider.

    Warning: The XML you paste into Canvas can have ONE and ONLY ONE "course_navigation" placement block. Course navigation, My Echo360 library, and Course analytics sliders all create "course_navigation" blocks in the XML.

  8. Click SAVE.
    Clicking Save with the toggle enabled updates the XML cartridge, so you can copy and paste it into Canvas. 
  9. Click the XML tab.
    LMS configurations page showing Canvas configuration with XML tab open with options for selection as described
  10. Click COPY XML. The XML cartridge text is copied to your clipboard.
  11. In a new tab or window, log into Canvas as an administrator and follow the procedure below.
    Leave the Echo360 tab/window open, as you will need to return to the LMS configuration page to also copy the Key and Secret values from the LTI tab in Echo into Canvas.

To create an Echo360 media analytics link in Canvas

    1. Log in to Canvas as an administrator.
    2. Click Admin from the navigation on the left, then select the main Account for your institution. In the figure below, the main account for Canvas is named Echo360.
      Canvas Admin options with Account link identified for steps as described
    3. The Courses list appears by default. Select Settings from the bottom of the list of links on the left.
    4. From the Settings page, shown in the below figure, click the Apps tab.
      Canvas Account Settings with the Apps tab selected and shown as described
    5. Click View App Configurations.
    6. From the External Apps page, click + App (the add app button), as shown in the below figure.
      External Apps page in Canvas with Add App button identified for steps as described
    7. In the Add App dialog box, select Paste XML from the Configuration Type drop-down list.
      Canvas Add App dialog box with Paste XML selected and available fields shown for steps as described
    8. Enter a Name for the App. You can name it anything you like but the name should clearly identify this as the app for Echo360 media analytics.  
    9. Click into the XML Configuration field of the dialog box and press Ctrl+V or Command+V to paste the copied XML from Echo360.
    10. In the XML Configuration field, look for the "placement" properties section in the middle of the pasted XML, shown in the below figure.
      tool placement properties block of XML for media analytics tool with optionally editable items highlighted for steps as described
    11. OPTIONALLY, make the following changes to the highlighted properties shown above:
      • "Echo360 Analytics" is the default name provided for the left navigation link. Edit this to anything you want users to see, but be sure it clearly identifies the tool as for Echo360 media analytics.
      • ADD the "windowTarget" property at the bottom to open the analytics page in a new tab rather than inside the Canvas frame. This provides more area for instructors to view the data. You can copy and paste the following entry:
        _blank
    12. Go back to the Echo360 window and click the LTI tab for the Canvas configuration if necessary, as shown below. 
      Canvas LMS configuration in Echo360 with LTI tab showing containing Consumer Key and Shared Secret fields for steps as described
    13. Select and copy the Consumer Key value from Echo360, then paste it into the Consumer Key field in Canvas. 
      (Tip: Click into the field, type Ctrl+A/Command+A to select all, then Ctrl+C/Command+C to copy; use Ctrl+V/Command+V to paste into Canvas.)
    14. From the Echo360 window, select and copy the Shared Secret value from Echo360 and paste it into the Shared Secret field in Canvas. (See above Tip for select/copy/paste.)
    15. When finished, click Submit.

In the App list, find the media analytics app you just created and click the Settings button on the right side of the app entry. Select Placements and the popup should indicate Course Navigation as the placement. This is the placement type that ensures it appears in the left navigation panel in Canvas.

App placement in Canvas showing Course Navigation as described

Within any Canvas course, you should now see the Echo360 media analytics app in your Canvas app configuration list, as identified in the below figure. 

Clicking the link opens the media analytics page, providing viewing information about all Echo360 media associated with this Canvas course. As stated at the top of this page, this includes Echo360 media currently embedded in the Canvas course as well as media located in any Echo360 section linked to this Canvas course.

The below figure shows the Echo360 media analytics page open inside the Canvas frame, as all course-navigation apps do by default. If you add the "windowTarget" property as noted in the above procedure, the page opens in a new tab. Otherwise, users can right-click either the Views or Polls tab in the Analytics page and select to open in a new tab, if they want more space to work with the data provided.

Canvas course with Echo360 media anlytics tool identified and analytics page open inside of the Canvas course frame as described