CloudShare's Learning Management System (LMS) integration provides a seamless user experience for students, allowing them to access CloudShare's hands-on training environments directly from your LMS courses. Whether you use Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) integration or CloudShares's API calls, this integration streamlines demo delivery and enhances your end users’ experience.

Integration Options

CloudShare offers a number of methods for integrating with your LMS:

1. Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) Integration: This standard protocol provides a complete and seamless lab experience for LMS platforms that support LTI v1.1 and v1.3. Users can access CloudShare environments from within your LMS courses effortlessly.
2. CloudShare API Call: With CloudShare’s API, you can create a prepared URL to our public API and give your LMS users direct access to virtual labs. This method is suitable for LMS platforms that do not support LTI but can incorporate external URLs.

LTI Integration

CloudShare supports the Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) specification, a cross-platform protocol that enables learning platforms (like your LMS) to securely communicate and share data with external platforms (like CloudShare). LTI facilitates key learning platform activities, such as single sign-on, role definition, contextual information sharing, secure data handling, real-time interactions, and more. The advantage of using LTI with your LMS is that it provides all this functionality without the need for custom program code or dedicated APIs.

By supporting LTI, CloudShare allows you to offer all of our advanced virtual lab features to your instructors and students directly from inside your LMS.

Limitations

Classes deleted in CloudShare will still appear in the LMS and must be manually deleted there and vice versa.

LTI Versions Supported

CloudShare supports LTI 1.1 and LTI 1.3

Note: LTI 1.3 is currently in Beta.

How CloudShare Works with LTI

When working with LTI, your LMS is referred to as the LTI Platform, and CloudShare is the LTI Tool. 

When launching a virtual lab, it is crucial to ensure that your LMS sends the launching user's name and email address to CloudShare through the LTI request. This allows for seamless user identification and authentication within the virtual environment.

When integrating CloudShare with an LMS, a CloudShare virtual lab cannot be hosted within an iFrame. To ensure optimal functionality, make sure the host browser is opened in full-screen mode. This ensures a smooth and uninterrupted user experience during sessions.

CloudShare maps the LTI variables to standard integration fields:

• Content URL: This is the URL of the CloudShare content (i.e., the class) that will be accessed from the LMS module. CloudSHare maps this to a field called LTI Launch URL.
• LTI Client Key: This is CloudShare’s unique LTI Toolaccount ID, allowing the LTI Platform(LMS) to identify CloudShare as the owner of the virtual lab. CloudShare maps this to a field called LTI Key.
• LTI Client Secret: This password authenticates CloudShare as the LTI Tool account. CloudShare maps this to a field called LTI Secret.

Creating an LTI Integration

To create an LTI integration for a virtual lab, click the class and the pencil icon near Connect with your LMS in the Access block.

This will open the LMS Integration Window. 

Select the desired LTI version:

None: 

Choose this option if you want to disable the LTI integration.

LTI 1.1: 

Copy and paste the three CloudShare keys from the dialog box into your LMS and click Apply.

LTI 1.3: 

This version requires mutual authentication, involving both CloudShare keys and LMS keys for enhanced security. 

1. Copy each authentication key from CloudShare and paste it into the corresponding field in your LMS course. 
2. Copy the relevant fields from your LMS to your CloudShare environment. Refer to your organization's LMS specifications or internal procedures to determine which LMS fields to use. Once the keys are added and authenticated
3. Click "Apply" to complete the integration.

Note: In both versions, you can connect multiple CloudShare classes to the same course; however, LTI 1.1 allows you to connect a class to one course on your LMS, while LTI 1.3 allows you to connect a class to multiple courses.

The CloudShare class will then be accessible from the LMS using the selected LTI version.

Once an LTI 1.3 integration has been completed, CloudShare classes will display the last accessed course and date for each class in the Access section.

Additionally, the LTI score report timer is set to update every minute. This frequent update interval ensures that learners' progress and performance data are always current, allowing for timely interventions and accurate tracking.

The most recent version of a class will appear in the LMS, reflecting any updates made in CloudShare.

Note: When a class is duplicated, the main instructor’s information will be copied as well, ensuring that all relevant instructor details are preserved in the new environment. 

Managing Experiences and Templates

Once an experience is connected, it serves as a template in the LMS. Adding more courses to the same experience will create copies based on the initial template configuration. Connecting an experience to a new course will create a duplicate of the experience. Any changes made to the course will only be reflected in the copy of the experience created for the course

Accessing CloudShare via LMS

For Students

Students can launch CloudShare hands-on classes directly from their LMS course. The integration provides a seamless transition, eliminating the need to switch contexts.

LTI 1.1

When implementing an LTI 1.1 integration, if student information (first name, last name, email) is not shared by the LMS, access to CloudShare will be denied, and the student will see an error message prompting them to update their details in the LMS.

LTI 1.3

When using an LTI 1.3 integration, CloudShare requires email information to uniquely identify students; however, if only partial information is provided, CloudShare will generate an internal email to ensure unique identification.

For Instructors

LTI 1.1

Instructors will be forwarded directly to the CloudShare class.

LTI 1.3

Instructors can manage their CloudShare sessions directly from the LMS. When launching a CloudShare activity, they will be directed to the instructor console if they are already logged in to CloudShare.

If the instructor is not logged in, they will be prompted to authenticate. After successful authentication, they will be forwarded to the instructor console.

Instructors must be defined in the class with the same full name and email that are also configured in the LMS to enable authentication.

Managing Classes and Templates

Once a CloudShare class is connected, it serves as a template in your LTI. Adding more courses to the same class will create copies based on the initial template configuration. Any changes to the original class will reflect across all template copies in the LTI.