Publisher/third party vendor integrations
Publisher/third party vendor integrations with Brightspace must be requested.
To request integrations: Users send an email to ecat@montana.edu detailing the integration to be added and the courses/sections involved.
MSU support staff set up integrations in Brightspace but UIT and/or the Brightspace team cannot provide additional support related to a publisher/third party vendor tool beyond the initial set up of the integration. Users will need to contact publisher/third party vendors if they need support specific to the tool.
Publisher/third party vendor Integrations
Integrations can be requested for publisher textbooks and/or other third party produced content.
Integrations work in various ways. For example, a publisher integration will typically provide seamless access to an adopted texbook's publisher site for users from within the Brightspace interface. Instructors may also be able to share data related to grades and other tools from a publisher site to a Brightspace course. Other third party vendor integrations may work similarly or behave differently dependent on the tool's function and/or purpose.
Publisher and third party vendor integrations that have already been vetted and previously deployed in MSU's Brightspace system can be set up in a Brightspace course with a request. Publisher and third party vendor integrations that have not been vetted are subject to a vetting process.
Publisher/third party vendor vetting process:
Individuals seeking to set up an integration with a publisher/third party vendor that has not previously been deployed in MSU's version of Brightspace should send an email to ecat@montana.edu with the details of the request and related user contact information - the request will be routed appropriately.
To ensure the integrity of the learning management system and compliance with federal/state regulations, all third party tools are vetted prior to integration. For new tools, vendors must agree to sign MSU's Data Security terms and the university contract addendum to ensure the agreement falls within Montana state law before it can be implemented. Depending on vendor response, the vetting process can take up to several months.
Publisher/third party Support:
General LTI Support Contact Information:
Select this link to access a list of LTI Integrations that instructors may be using
in Brightspace courses
These tools are accessed through D2L/Brightspace, but are external learning tools that MSU support staff do not have administrative control over. MSU support staff will provide support related to linking integrations in the Brightspace system as requested by instructors, but support related to the function and setup of integrations is beyond the scope of what can be provided.
Instructors first point of contact related to functionality and setup of an integration is the customer representative of the tool. Student first point of contact is course instructor.
Timing related to Publisher/third party vendor integration requests
Specifics:
- Requests for publisher integrations to be placed into courses can be made after an upcoming semester’s courses are made available in the system for instructors to start working in them.
- Upcoming semester’s courses are made available to individuals a short time after registration for an upcoming semester(s) begins.
- Course availability times in the Brightspace system for instructors typically occur
as follows:
- Fall and Summer semesters: courses available early/mid April of the same semester year
- Spring semester: courses available early/mid November of the preceding semester year
- If a publisher/third party vendor integration has previously been deployed in MSU's Brightspace system and the request contains complete, accurate information, the request can be processed directly.
- If a Publisher/third party vendor integration has not been previously deployed in MSU's Brightspace system or the request contains information that is unclear or inaccurate, the integration work will be delayed to facilitate confirmation regarding the specifics related to the integration.
- Due to time constraints, staff cannot research the specifics related to a publisher integration beyond a reasonable level. For instance, requesting that "I need McGraw-Hill in my course" will generate a reply back to the requestor asking for detail regarding the specifics.
- After a publisher integration request is received by support staff, it can take up to 72 hours to process the request for an existing (already vetted) publisher/third party vendor integration.
Important points to remember:
The earlier an integration is requested, the sooner the user can begin setting up their integration in a course. Integrations are created on a first come first served basis. Received integration requests are entered into a queue.
Integration requests that are not made prior to 10 business days before the first day of class in any semester will end up further down the queue. Support staff will make every effort to make sure a request is completed directly, but there is a chance that a last minute integration request may not be processed in time for the first day of class.
If a publisher integration is requested for a merged course, the merge must take place before the Publisher integration is added to the course. Select this link to access information on merging courses.
Inclusive Access (IA) - currently provided by RedShelf
Instructors who wish to integrate an available IA publisher textbook version (eBook) in their Brightspace course must request this from the MSU Bookstore. Dependent on the publisher, requesting an IA integration from the MSU Bookstore does not automatically include access to publisher tools (quizzes, assignments, etc).*
Any faculty or student that is having any issue (including technical issues) with IA should contact the MSU Bookstore for support help.
When using IA (RedShelf) with a merged course, adjustments must be made to ensure that the integration works correctly. Instructors need to contact the MSU Bookstore to report the need for an adjustment if the merged course is not already accounted for in the IA (RedShelf) system via the MSU bookstore.
*If faculty would like to integrate a textbook or third-party vendor outside of IA (Redshelf) into Brightspace, instructors should route their request as above.
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CD 202311