Usage
Administrators should access the <app_path>/admin/ (where <app_path> is the URL to the application) page to manage the tool consumers which are permitted to use the application. The page displays a list of defined tool consumers in name order.
| Name | Description | Required? | Default value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | A display name for this tool consumer entry | Yes | None |
| Key | A unique string to identify the VLE connecting to the application | Yes | None |
| Secret | A secret used to secure the LTI launch | Yes | A random string |
| Enabled? | Whether launch requests from this tool consumer should be accepted | No | No |
| Enable from | Date/time from which launch requests for this consumer key will be accepted (e.g. 1-Jan-2013 00:00 | No | None |
| Enable until | Date/time until which launch requests for this consumer key will be accepted (e.g. 31-Jan-2013 23:59 | No | None |
| Protected? | Whether launch requests from this tool consumer should only be accepted if the same GUID value is passed | No | No |
For a tool consumer to be marked as available it must be both enabled and the current time must fall between any enable from/until dates specified. If a tool consumer is not available, its row in the table will be displayed with a grey background. The version column is completed with data provided by an LTI launch request; the tool consumer GUID is displayed when placing the mouse over the value.
A new tool consumer can be added by entering its details in the form provided at the bottom of the page. An existing tool consumer definition can be edited by clicking on the edit icon in the Options column of the table. This will add its details in the table at the bottom of the page; click on the Update consumer button to save any changes, or click on Cancel to clear the form. Click on the delete icon in the Options column to delete an existing tool consumer definition.
The launch URL (<app_path>/connect.php), consumer key and secret should be communicated by a secure means to the administrator of the VLE for which they were created so that they can be used to add the Rating application to their system.
If a teacher launches a link to the Rating application from within their course, a page listing the items to be rated is displayed. The list displayed is specific to the link which was followed.
| Name | Description | Required? | Default value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | The heading displayed for the item | Yes | None |
| URL | A URL used as a hyperlink for the title | No | None |
| Description | A description of the item | No | None |
| Visible? | Whether the item is displayed to students | No | No |
| Maximum rating The maximum rating value which a student can award the item | Yes | 3 | |
| Rating step | The increment used when awarding ratings | Yes | 1 |
Alternate rows within the list of items are given a different background colour; hidden items are marked [hidden] and displayed with a grey background. The maximum rating determines the number of stars displayed against the item. The rating value (displayed as red stars) is the average rating awarded by students to the item. Hovering the mouse over a rating will display its numeric value.
A new item can be added by entering its details in the form provided at the bottom of the page. Items can be re-ordered by selecting a new position for an item from the drop-down list provided. An existing item definition can be edited by clicking on the edit icon in the Options column of the table. This will add its details in the table at the bottom of the page; click on the Update item button to save any changes, or click on Cancel to clear the form. Click on the delete icon in the Options column to delete an existing item definition.
If a student launches a link to the Rating application from within their course, a page listing the items to be rated is displayed. The list displayed is specific to the link which was followed.
A student may rate an item by clicking on the apppropriate star; it an increment step less than one has been selected for the item then the student should click on the appropriate section of the star. The numeric value of the rating is displayed when the mouse is hovered over the stars. A student is only permitted to rate each item once. Ratings and outcomes
If a resource link supports the LTI Outcomes service then the associated gradebook column is used to record the proportion of visible items each student has rated. This means that the grades column will be updated when the following events occur:
- a new or existing item is made visible;
- an item's visibility is disabled;
- a user rates an item
If a change leads to no items being visible then any gradebook entries will be deleted; otherwise the value will be zero (if the user has not rated any of the visible items), one (if all of the visible items have been rated by the user), or a value between zero and one when a user has rated some, but not all, of the visible items.
Note, this is just one way in which the application could link a student's activity to an LTI outcome value between 0 and 1 and has been added to illustrate the use of the Outcomes service.
The connect.php endpoint for this application also accepts ContentItemSelectionRequest messages. In this situation the normal instructor page has additional buttons at the bottom to save the item to the tool consumer or to cancel the creation of an item. The former button is only enabled when the list has at least one item in it so as to prevent links to empty lists from being created. A placement will be included in the content-item definition returned to the tool consumer if at least one of the following document targets was offered in the message received:
- overlay
- popup
- iframe
- frame
The placement selected will be the first one from the above list which was offered. Only a single list can be created at a time.