Overview
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The Discovery Education – Canvas integration provides Single Sign-On (SSO) and an embedded search widget, enabling users to work across systems to add Discovery Education content to Canvas. The Canvas integration is compatible with other points of entry into Discovery Education, including traditional username/password via https://www.discoveryeducation.com and existing SSO into Discovery Education. |
Requirements
To proceed with the Canvas integration, confirm the following requirements:
- Your school subscribes to Discovery Education services. Only schools that subscribe can configure the app within Canvas.
- You have the ability to bulk-load/update user data to Discovery Education’s SFTP server via .csv files or alternate user provisioning process. See FAQ below or Imports for Single Sign-On for details.
Steps to Implement
To implement the Canvas integration, follow these steps:
- Complete the integration form.
- Build a process to generate and post .csv files via SFTP. By default, emails are used to match users across Discovery Education and Canvas. See Imports for Single Sign-On for details or the FAQ below for alternate user provisioning processes.
- In Canvas, add the Discovery Education App with the Discovery-provided Consumer Key and Shared Secret. Note that an administrator should complete this task.
How it Works
As a user, you can authenticate into Discovery Education via Canvas when a field in your Discovery Education user profile matches a field in your Canvas user profile. For example: your email address in Discovery Education matches your email address in Canvas, or your Discovery Education Teacher ID matches your Canvas SIS_ID.
In the App configuration, leave the Custom Fields blank.
If needed, you can send an alternative custom field in Canvas in the SSO handshake. To do this, add one of the following to the Custom Fields section:
- discoveryeducationid=$Canvas.user.id
- discoveryeducationid=$Canvas.user.sisSourceId
- discoveryeducationid=$Canvas.user.loginId
Frequently Asked Questions
How do users log in to Discovery Education? Users can log in via the Discovery Education icon on the vertical course navigation bar within Canvas. Traditional steps to access Discovery Education will continue to work (non-Canvas Single Sign On and username/password via www.discoveryeducation.com).
What is the cost for the integration? Is there an agreement involved? The Canvas integration is free, but required form must be completed before Discovery Education releases a Key and Secret.
When can we launch the integration? Once the required form has been completed and the .csv import files have been generated, adding the Discovery Education App can be completed anytime. Announcing the integration to users is imperative for a successful launch.
What happens to existing Discovery Education user accounts? Will they keep their saved content and work? Yes. Existing user records and associated data (e.g. My Content, created resources, classes, etc) will remain intact. Users are matched across systems by Teacher ID / Student IDs in Discovery Education and the SIS_ID in Canvas.
We have already automated sending .csv files. What do I need to change? If .csv files with user data are already being sent by an automated process, then just ensure that the Teacher ID and Student ID fields match the Canvas SIS_ID (or custom field). Leaving the username field the same will ensure that those fields are updated and prevent a duplicate account from being created. It will also ensure any existing SSO configurations remain intact.
We already use Google SSO and Google User Provisioning for sending user data, are .csv files still required? If Google User Provisioning is already in place, then sending .csv files with user data will not be necessary. However, for both SSO technologies to work in parallel (Google and Canvas), the Canvas SIS_ID (or custom field) will need to be populated within Google's Employee ID (a.k.a. Organizational ID) field for both teachers and students. Please contact Discovery Education to discuss a launch plan for your district.