Configuring Gradescope LTI 1.3 in Sakai
Before you begin
- Make sure you have integration permissions on your account. Please email us at help@gradescope.com so that we can enable the integration permissions to your account (if you don't already).
- Make sure you have a Gradescope account. If you don’t have an account yet, go to the Gradescope website and select Sign Up. Select the Instructor role, fill out the provided form and you use the same email address you use on Sakai. You will be emailed with a link to set a password so that you are able to access your new account.
Configuration Recommendations
The configuration process consists of steps in both Sakai and Gradescope; Having both apps open in separate tabs could make the process easier. We recommend that you either complete the configuration process all at once, or on your test Sakai environment if you think it may need to be completed in stages. Let’s get started!
Step 1 - Configuring in Sakai
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Log into your Gradescope account that has the integration permissions enabled. It contains details that need to be copied into your Sakai integration configuration page.
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Once logged in, select LTI 1.3 Integrations from the left side navigation and then select Configure Integration in the bottom right corner. If the “LTI 1.3 Integrations” option is not listed, please check you are logged into the correct account and then contact your account manager to have the integration permissions enabled.
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Select Create new registration and then choose Other from the drop-down menu. Change the Registration Name to Sakai or a preferred name for your Sakai integration.
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Two headings will appear, Gradescope and LMS Details. The details under the Gradescope heading need to be copied into Sakai. Once that has been done, Sakai will provide you with the information needed for the LMS Details section.
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Now that you have the information you need, open a new tab in your browser and log into your Sakai administrator account.
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Access the Administration Workspace and then select External Tools from the side navigation.
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Select Install LTI 1.x Tool and begin your configuration.
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We recommend using “Gradescope” or something your instructors will recognize as your Gradescope integration for the Tool Title and Button Text fields.
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Ensure that Tool Status is set to Enabled and Tool Visibility is set to Visible.
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Enter the Target Link URL, which is one of the details provided by Gradescope, and ensure Allow launch URL to be changed is set to Do not allow.
11. Ensure all boxes are selected from the Privacy Settings, Services, and launching sections.
12. If applicable to your version of Sakai, ensure Allow external tool to configure itself is selected for the “Indicate the following types of Content Item/Deep Link Selection launches this tool can handle” setting.
13. For Indicate where these tools are placed in Sakai select Allow the tool to selected from lessons.
14. Ensure Launch in Popup and Debug Launch are both set to Never.
15. If your institution will be using the gradescope.ca, gradescope.eu, or gradescope.com.au instance, in the Custom Parameters box add one of the following:
- Gradescope.eu users enter - preferred_geography=eu
- Gradescope.ca users enter - preferred_geography=ca
- Gradescope.com.au users enter - preferred_geography=ap
- If you are using gradescope.com, you can leave this box blank.
16. If applicable to your version of Sakai, check/enable: Allow additional custom parameters.
17. Select Tool supports LTI 1.3.
18. Now you can copy the remaining details listed in the Gradescope configuration page. Ensure you copy the details for the following fields:
- LTI 1.3 Tool Keyset URL
- LTI 1.3 Tool OpenID Connect/Initialization Endpoint
- Launch URL / Tool Redirect URL
19. Select Save. Gradescope will now appear as an option for your instructors, but they will receive error messages until the deployment stage in Step 3 is complete if they attempt to create Gradescope courses or assignments via the LTI links in Sakai.
Step 2 - Configuring in Gradescope
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Now that you have configured the necessary details in Sakai, you need to enter details into Gradescope. To access the required information, return to the External Tools page in Sakai.
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Gradescope will now be listed as one of your external tools with the title you assigned. Select the title.
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Scroll to the bottom of the View Installed Tool page. All details with a Copy button need to be entered into the Gradescope LTI 1.3 configuration page. The fields are named slightly differently and are in a different order, so please ensure you copy:
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- LTI 1.3 Client ID to Client ID
- LTI 1.3 Platform OAuth2 Well-Known/KeySet URL to Platform public key set URL
- LTI 1.3 Platform OAuth2 Bearer Token Retrieval URL to Access token URL
- LTI 1.3 Platform OIDC Authentication URL to OpenID connect login endpoint
- LTI 1.3 Issuer for this Platform to Issuer
- You can leave Platform authorization provider blank.
4. Select Save on the Gradescope configuration page.
Step 3 - Deployment
Gradescope is now installed and will be listed within your External Tools. To complete the configuration, we need to link it to your account so that it can be used by instructors and students.
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Access a Sakai course and select Site Info and then Manage Tools.
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Select External Tools at the bottom of the page. Gradescope will be listed as whatever you have named it in the LTI 1.x Tool configuration page. Ensure Gradescope is checked, then select Continue and then Finish.
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Gradescope will now appear as an option in the left sidebar of your course navigation. Select Gradescope from the side navigation.
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You may be prompted to log into Gradescope if you are not already. Please ensure you are logging into the account that has had the integration permissions enabled.
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Enter your Branded Platform Name and select your school. This will be the name that instructors will see in Gradescope when referring to your Sakai integration. We recommend using a name that instructors will easily associate with your Sakai LMS.
6. Test the integration from the instructor and student side. To do so, follow our Sakai guidance for instructors and Sakai guidance for your students.
You’re done! Your instructors are now able to link their Sakai courses to Gradescope, sync rosters, create and link assignments, and sync grades between Gradescope and Sakai.
Disabling your LTI Integration
Disabling an integration will unlink all courses and assignments between Gradescope and Sakai and will remove the Sync Roster and Post Grades options. Re-enabling the integration will restore all the links.
To disable or re-enable an older LTI 1.3 integration:
- Go to the LTI 1.3 integrations page on your Gradescope account.
- Select Edit next to the integration.
- Check or uncheck the Disabled setting.