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NextPad

Register the tool in Moodle

This guide is meant for the Moodle administration and for whoever runs NextPad. Both sides need HTTPS. Below, https://nextpad.example.org stands for the NextPad address.

Each kind gets its own tool. Teachers then simply pick NextPad Idea collection, NextPad Quiz or NextPad Pad in the activity chooser and have nothing to type.

Steps in Moodle

Moodle page Manage tools. Marked are the link configure a tool manually and below it the three cards NextPad Idea collection, NextPad Pad and NextPad Quiz.
Under “Manage tools” one tool is created per kind.
  1. Open Site administration › Plugins › Activity modules › External tool › Manage tools.
  2. Choose configure a tool manually.
  3. Fill in the form as in the table below and choose Save changes.
  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the other kinds, each with its own name and its own value for typ.
  5. The tools appear as cards under Tools. The magnifier on a card shows the client ID and the deployment ID. Both belong in the NextPad configuration.

The fields

Form External tool configuration for NextPad Idea collection. Ten fields are marked and numbered, from Tool URL to Share launcher's email with tool.
The numbers in the picture match the rows of the table.
No.FieldValue
Tool nameas teachers should read it in the chooser, for example NextPad Idea collection
1Tool URLhttps://nextpad.example.org/lti/launch
2LTI versionLTI 1.3
3Public keysethttps://nextpad.example.org/lti/jwks (key type: Keyset URL)
4Initiate login URLhttps://nextpad.example.org/lti/login
5Redirection URI(s)https://nextpad.example.org/lti/launch
6Custom parameterstyp=ideen, for the quiz typ=quiz, for the pad typ=pad
7Tool configuration usageShow in activity chooser and as a preconfigured tool
8Default launch containerNew window
9Share launcher’s name with toolAlways
10Share launcher’s email with toolAlways

The parameter values ideen, quiz and pad stay the same in every language.

Under Show more https://nextpad.example.org/static/logo.svg can be entered as Icon URL. The activity chooser then shows the NextPad mark instead of a puzzle piece.

Step in NextPad

NextPad only accepts launches from Moodle sites listed in the platform file lti-platforms.json. Each tool gets an entry there with its client ID and its deployment ID. The server documentation describes the structure and fields of the file. NextPad must restart after the file changes.

Good to know

  • Moodle passes name and language on to NextPad. NextPad needs the email address for the notice before deleting one’s own free pads and to recognise admins from NEXTPAD_ADMINS.
  • In NextPad everyone with the Moodle capability mod/lti:manage may moderate. By default these are editing and non-editing teachers and the manager role.
  • The activity also runs embedded in the Moodle page. In a new window it has the full width though, and the board is easier to drag onto the projector.
  • When Moodle changes its keys, NextPad fetches the new ones by itself if the platform file holds a key address. With a key file, the file must be renewed.