Accessing Start/End Dates from External Learning Tool

[Kevin Saito]

Hi, I have an external learning tool with Start/End date specified in Course Builder. The tool needs to know what the start and end dates are, so I'm trying to use this:

GET /d2l/api/le/(version)/(orgUnitId)/content/topics/(topicId)

The problem I have is topicId is not sent to the external tool by D2L (even when all the checkboxes under Security Settings are checked) and if I'm understanding correctly custom parameters are only for static values. Is there a way to get the topicid of the module, which launched the external tool?

Thanks,

- Kevin

[Desire2Learn Staff: Sarah-Beth]

Hi Kevin

I've discussed this scenario with internal developers. They've confirmed that the LTI Launch won't send the start/end date that you've sourced via the API route you specified. As you identified, the custom parameters only send static info, so can't be leveraged to dynamically send the Start/End date.

One potential workaround - depending on the scope of the start/end dates - is to configure an External Learning Tool for that course specifically. This goes against the typical practice of setting up an External Learning Tool at the Org level and sharing it with child courses. But this configuration gains you the ability to specify a static start and end date for the course, which could be sent as a custom parameter on the link. Again, if the start/end dates are topic-specific (rather than course-specific), this solution likely won't be granular enough. 

Let me know if that's approaching an appropriate workaround. Or if I've missed the mark entirely, please provide any additional details that can help flesh out my understanding of the scenario so that I can look into alternative approaches.

~Sarah-Beth

[Kevin Saito]

Hi Sarah-Beth, thanks for your response. That's exactly the information I was looking for (i.e only static info is sent by the LTI launch). My workaround is very similar - I added start/end date fields to the ELT so an instructor can specify the dates inside ELT, instead of using Course Builder. Then the dates are sent back via the calendar/event API to be added to the calendar. 

Thanks again for your help!

Kevin 

[Desire2Learn Staff: Sarah-Beth]

Excellent! Thanks for sharing your final solution. I'm sure it'll be valuable for others using LTI for similar purposes.