Assuming you already have an Echo360 LTI Tool created, adding a link to the Echo360 Library involves creating a placement for the library link that provides easy user access. The instructions below configures the link and "places" it in the Tools menu in the main navigation bar.
The two most important aspects of this creation are naming the link (so it's recognizable as the link to the Echo360 media library) and configuring the placement so it's easy for users to find and access.
TIP: If you are still viewing the LTI Providers list from when you created the tool, you can skip the first few steps below.
To create the Echo360 LTI tool link (placement)
- While logged in as a system administrator, open the Administrator Panel. This is done either from the top menu or the side menu, depending on the version of Blackboard you are working with.
- Select LTI Tool Providers from the Integrations section of the admin panel.
- Find the Echo360 LTI tool you created, and hover over it to expose the menu arrow (also called a "chevron").
- From the menu select Manage Placements.
- Click Create Placement, located at the top of the Placements list.
- Add a Label that clearly identifies this link as one to the user's Echo360 Library. We suggest "My Echo360 Library". This label is what appears in the Blackboard interface.
- Add a description if desired. This field is optional.
- Enter a Handle or text that uniquely identifies this tool placement. This is what will appear in the Placements list for the tool (for Admins).
- For Availability select Yes.
- In the Type section of the form, enable the System Tool radio button.
- OPTIONALLY: Enable the Launch in New Window checkbox. We recommend doing this to provide the full window space available for using the Echo360 Library, but it is not required. If NOT checked, the Library appears within the main frame of the Blackboard window.
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OPTIONALLY: Use the following URL to obtain an Echo360 icon to use for this tool: https://echo360.org/assets/images/echo360_play_icon.png
- Navigate to the above linked URL page (changing the base domain to your regional domain).
- Right-click the image to save it locally.
- Upload it to the Icon entry in the form.
- Scroll down to the Tool Provider Information section of the form.
- In the Tool Provider URL field, copy/paste the Host URL from the Blackboard LMS configuration fields in Echo360.
- Place your cursor at the END of the pasted URL and manually type in /launch/medialibrary. THIS IS CASE SENSITIVE!! Be sure to enter the text in all lower case, exactly as provided here and shown in the below figure.
TIP: The base Host URL is also visible on the LTI Provider Tools list in Blackboard, and can be copied from there for pasting into the Tool Provider URL field.
- In the Tool Provider Key field, enter the Consumer Key value from the Blackboard LMS configuration fields in Echo360.
If your LTI tool has these fields "set globally" and not "per link" you can skip this and the next step. - In the Tool Provider Secret field, enter the Consumer Secret value from the Blackboard LMS configuration fields in Echo360.
If your LTI tool has these fields "set globally" and not "per link" you can skip this and the previous step. - When finished, click Submit.
Select All then Copy: Selecting and copying the values between Echo360 and the LMS can be difficult. To select and copy the full value of an LMS configuration field in Echo360, select a portion of the field, then press Ctrl+A/Command+A to select the entire field. Then press Ctrl+C/Command+C to copy the selection.
The Echo360 Media Library link is now available under the Tools selections for all users.
Clicking the Library tool opens the Echo360 library either inside the Blackboard page, or in a new tab, depending on whether the tool was configured to open in a new window or not. The figure below shows the Echo360 Library inside of the Blackboard page.
