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Integrate an Existing MindTap Course With LMS

If your LTI Advantage LMS is not otherwise specified, the following steps apply to any LTI Advantage compliant LMS.If your LTI 1.0 LMS is not otherwise specified, the following steps apply to any LTI 1.0 compliant LMS. If you already created the MindTap course you want to integrate with LMS — and no students are enrolled — integrate your existing course.

Note Course templates, courses with student enrollments, and courses that are already linked to an LMS can't be linked.

Before you begin, your LMS administrator must have set up the Cengage tool in your LMS, and you must have received an email from Cengage containing a Cengage Course URL.

The following steps for an LTI 1.0 integration. For LTI Advantage instructions, see Brightspace LTI Advantage.

Note

This task is different depending on if your school uses the paid or free version of Google Classroom.

To see which version your school uses, open the assignment editor and look for the Add-ons panel.
  • If your assignment has Add-ons, your school uses the paid version.
  • If your assignment does not have Add-ons, your school uses the free version.
  1. Open your LMS course.
  2. Follow the steps for your LMS to access the Cengage tool.
  3. Confirm the Lessons tool is enabled.
    1. Select Site Info from your navigation.
    2. Click Manage Tools.
    3. Scroll down to confirm that Lessons is selected.
  4. Select Lessons from your navigation.
  5. Click Add Content > Add Learning App.
  6. Click the Cengage tool.
    If the tool is not available, contact your administrator.
  7. Create a link to the Cengage tool.
    You only have to do this once.
    1. Navigate to your external tools.

      Third party content like Cengage is listed as an external tool or app in your LMS.

    2. Click the Cengage link.

      This might be named Cengage or MindLinks. If you are not sure, ask your LMS admin.

    3. In the URL field, paste the Cengage Course URL from your email.
    4. Click Save.
  8. Click the link you created.
  9. If you do not have a default grade category in your LMS course, create one.

    A default grade category is required to sync grades between LMS and MindTap.

    1. Click Grade Setup.
    2. In Categories, click Add.
    3. Enter information for your category and click Create.
    4. To use this category for MindTap assignments, click Set default category.
  10. On the Materials tab, click Add Materials > Cengage LMS Integration.
  11. Click actions menu > Turn editing on.
  12. Click Add an activity or resource.
  13. Select the Cengage tool and click Add.

    The Cengage tool is created and named by your Moodle™ administrator.

    The Willo tool is created and named by your Moodle administrator.

    If a Willo tool is not listed:

    1. Select External tool and click Add.
    2. Under General > Preconfigured tool, select the Willo tool.
  14. Under General, click Select content.
    Note The Activity Name and Tool URL are set automatically after selecting the content.
  15. Add MindTap content to your course.
    Blackboard Original
    1. Click Content > Build Content > Cengage Content.
      If the Cengage tool is not shown under Build Content, see Can't Find Cengage Content in Blackboard.
    Blackboard Ultra
    1. Click + > Content Market.
    2. Click Cengage Content under Institution Tools.
      Important If you see a Cengage tool shown under Content Market, do not select it. This is an outdated version of the integration that will be removed soon. Only add the Cengage tool under Institution Tools.

      If the Cengage tool is not shown under Institution Tools, see Can't Find Cengage Content in Blackboard.

  16. Add the Cengage app to your course navigation if it is not already listed.

    The app is copied when you copy a Canvas™ course.

    1. From the course navigation, click Settings > Navigation.
    2. Drag the Cengage app to the course navigation.
    3. Click Save.
  17. From the course navigation, click Cengage.

    If you get an error message when you click Cengage, see the following:

  18. Open the Course Builder tool.

    In the Content tab, click Related Tools > Course Builder.

  19. If you have not already done so, create a module in your course.
    1. Drag Create a module from Build Outline to the course outline.

      Alternatively, click Create a module and select the module location.

    2. Enter a name for your module, such as MindTap.
    3. Optional: Enter a note for your students.
    4. Optional: If the MindTap component of your course has a different start or end date from your course in Brightspace, enter those dates in Restrictions.
    5. Click Create.
  20. Drag New Cengage Learning from Add Content to your module.

    Alternatively, click New Cengage Learning and select your module.

  21. Open the Cengage integration tool.

    If your school uses the free version of Google Classroom:

    This integration method is also available for paid Google Classroom users and can be used to import multiple links at once.

    1. Click Google apps >  Cengage.

    If your school uses the paid version of Google Classroom:

    This integration method imports one link at a time.

    1. Open your LMS course.
    2. Open the assignment editor.
    3. In Add-ons, click  Cengage Classroom.
  22. First time only: Grant Cengage permission to access your LMS.
    1. Click Sign in with Google.
    2. Select the account you use with LMS.
    3. Click Continue.
      The permissions Cengage needs to integrate with your LMS are listed.
    4. Click Allow.
  23. Free LMS only: Select your LMS class.
    1. Click a class in the Google Classroom Class dropdown list.
    2. Optional: Select a LMS topic.
    3. Select whether to import your MindTap assignments as drafts or immediately assign them to students.
    4. Click Continue.
  24. If prompted, sign in to your Cengage instructor account to link your LMS and Cengage accounts.

    This window might not be shown if your browser does not allow pop-ups for the LMS domain.

  25. On the Integrate with Cengage page, click Select Platform.
  26. On the Select Title page, select the textbook or product to use in your class.
    • To search the available content, type a search term.
    • To see only MindTap results, click Platform and select MindTap.
    • To filter the list by license type, click License Type and select Student Purchase Required or Inclusive Access.
    1. Select a product.
    2. Click Continue.
    Note If you don't see your content, contact your Cengage representative. If needed, see cengage.com/repfinder/ https://www.cengage.com/repfinder/postSecondaryEdFacultyCanada/ https://www.cengageasia.com/Contact-Us http://www.cengage.co.in/Rep_Locator https://www.cengage.co.uk/education/contact-us-2/ https://au.cengage.com/repfinder/ https://latinoamerica.cengage.com/contacto/ (Latin America) or https://www.cengage.com.br/contato/ (Brazil).
  27. On the License Type page, select the payment method applicable to your class.

    Very often, only one license type is available.

    1. Click Continue.
  28. On the Course Option page, select Link to a course that was already created.

    Your unlinked courses with no student enrollments for the selected title are listed.

    1. Select the course you want to link.
    2. Click Continue.
  29. On the Gradebook settings page, select which scores should be synced to the LMS gradebook.
    Note Category scores can not be synced to LMS.
    Note In Moodle versions older than 3.10, each activity link must be added individually. In this case, consider using the MindTap gradebook to calculate an overall course score for all MindTap activities and syncing that course score to Moodle instead.
    1. Select either Add activity score or Add overall scores.
    2. Click Continue.
  30. Create a course link or select learning activities to link from LMS.

    To create direct links to learning activities:

    You can also create a course link with this option.

    1. Click Select Content.
    2. Select activities to include in your class.
      Note Selecting a group of activities does not select all activities in the group. You must select each activity individually.

      Expand or collapse the course outline if needed.

      A selected activity is labeled "This activity is imported in your LMS" and a warning message says "You are about to re-import already existing assignments."

      Graded activities that have already been added are marked This activity is imported in your LMS. To avoid duplicate activity links and gradebook columns, do not import the same activity twice.

      Due dates set in your MindTap course are synced to LMS. If your school uses a LMS Partner integration, available dates are also synced to LMS.

      Date changes in your MindTap course overwrite dates set in your LMS course. For consistency, make sure your MindTap and LMS courses are set to the same time zone.

      Due dates set in your MindTap course do not sync to your LMS course.

    3. If needed, change gradebook syncing for specific activities.

      By default, when you include a graded activity it is added to the LMS gradebook.

      To remove an activity from the gradebook, clear Add to Gradebook.

      To sync an activity to the gradebook without creating an activity link, first select Add to Gradebook and then clear the Add to Course checkbox on the left.

      Scores sync automatically when assignment attempts are submitted in MindTap and when you enter or edit scores in your MindTap gradebook.

    To create a course link only:

    1. Click Add Course Link.
    2. Blackboard Original: Review the settings, select where to put your course link, and click Submit.
  31. Save your changes at the bottom of the page.

    Click either Save and return to course or Save and display.

  32. Click the Content tab.
  33. Click the link to your MindTap course and verify that it's set up how you want.

    First time only: Confirm that LMS can access your account.

    If prompted, read and accept the service agreement.