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Brightspace / Desire2Learn Integration

Add Mindomo as an external tool

Step 1. Go to the Course Administration section.

Step 2. Choose the option "External Learning Tools".

Step 3. Go to "Manage Tool Providers" (3) and select "New Tool Provider" (4).

Step 4. Add the https://www.mindomo.com/lti/index.htm URL (5), make sure to have "Inherit Global (1.1)" under Version (6), select the HMAC-SHA1 option (7) and type in your Secret (8) which can be found in the School Admin Panel.

Step 5. Add your Key (9), type in a name for the external tool (10), and check off "Allow users to use this tool provider" (11). Please make sure that all the options under Security Settings are also selected. Click on "Save and Close" (12) and now you should be able to add Mindomo to your course.

Working with Mindomo

Direct Access from Brightspace

When teachers and students access Mindomo from Brightspace / Desire2Learn, their Mindomo accounts will be automatically created, and they will be able to start mind mapping without any additional login.

Step 1. Go to the Course Administration section.

Step 2. Choose the option "External Learning Tools" (2), then select 'New Link' (3).

Step 3.

  • Add the "Mindomo Dashboard" in the "Title" section (4).
  • Add https://www.mindomo.com/lti/index.htm in the URL section (5).

  • Check off "Allow users to view this link" in the Visibility section (6).

  • Check off signature with "Tool consumer key/secret" (7)".

  • Make sure all Security Settings are checked off and then click on "Save and Close" (8).

Step 4. Bring the Mindomo Dashboard link in the course section:

  • Go to "Content" (9).

  • Choose "Add Existing Activities" (10) and "External Learning Tools" (11).

  • Select "Mindomo Dashboard". The link will appear in the course section (12). You can view and edit the link whenever it is necessary (13).

When students will access Mindomo Dashboard from their Brightspace / Desire2Learn course section, Mindomo will open in a new tab, enabling them to create and share their mind maps with other users. If a user doesn't have a Mindomo account, the account is automatically created when the user accesses the link.

Attaching mind maps to courses

You can add mind maps to your Brightspace / Desire2Learn courses. This way, students can view and edit the maps without having to create their Mindomo accounts or log into Mindomo independently.

This method of attaching a mind map to your Brightspace / Desire2Learn course is different from simply embedding the map.

While embedding:

  • You need to make your map public (therefore accessible to everyone that has the embed link).
  • Your map can only be viewed, not edited.

While attaching a map through LTI:

  • Your map remains private, and the students/teachers who have access to your Brightspace / Desire2Learn course will be able to view or edit it without you explicitly sharing the map with them.
  • If your students or fellow teachers don't have Mindomo accounts, and they are accessing your attached Mindomo map, new accounts will be created for them automatically.

How to add a viewable mind map?

Step 1. Go to "Existing activities", then onto "External Learning Tools" (1), then from the "Add Activity" click on " Create New LTI Link" (2).

Step 2.

  • Add the map's title in the "Title" section (3).
  • Add https://www.mindomo.com/lti/view/mapID in the URL section (4). The map ID is the last sequence of letters and numbers in the mind map's URL, after the last "/" sign.
  • Click on "Create and Insert" (5).

Step 3. The map's link will appear in the course section (6). You can view and edit the link whenever it is necessary (7).

This is how users will view the map when they access the map's link from the course section:

How to add an editable mind map?

Follow exactly the same steps as above, except for Step 2:

  • Type in the name of the map.
  • Add https://www.mindomo.com/lti/edit/mapID in the URL section (8). The map ID is the last sequence of letters and numbers in the mind map's URL, after the last "/" sign.

Now users will be able to work on the map just by accessing its link from Brightspace / Desire2Learn. This is how they will view and edit the map once they access the link from the course section:

Mindomo Assignments

Students can work individually or in groups to create mind maps on various subjects covered in your Brightspace / Desire2Learn courses. Students can work on these mind map assignments directly from Brightspace / Desire2Learn, without them having to create accounts or log in to Mindomo. Furthermore, once students start their mind map assignments, teachers can access students' maps directly from Brightspace / Desire2Learn and grade them.

Step 1. Go to "Existing activities", then onto "External Learning Tools" (1), then from the "Add Activity" click on " Create New LTI Link" (2).

Step 2.

  • Add the assignment's title in the "Title" section (3).
  • Add https://www.mindomo.com/lti/assignment.htm in the URL section (4).
  • Click on "Create and Insert" (5).

Step 3. The assignment link will appear in the course section (6). You can view and edit the link whenever it is necessary (7).

How to create and work on a mind map assignment?

As a course owner, once you access the assignment's link from Brightspace / Desire2Learn, you will be able to set up and share a mind map assignment with students and other teachers. The assignment will open in the "Settings" section.

Step 1. Choose one of the assignment types:

  • In order to complete the assignment, each student will have to submit an individual mind map (1).
  • Students will have to create and submit individual maps but they will use a mind map shared by you as a starting point (2). Click on "Choose" to select your map.
  • All students in the course will work collaboratively to create a new mind map or to edit a map shared by you (3).
  • You will be able to attach resources for this assignment (4) at anytime. When you are done editing the assignment, click on "Update Assignment" (5).

Once you click on "Update Assignment", you will create it in both your Brightspace / Desire2Learn and Mindomo accounts.

After the assignment was created, each time you will access it go to the "Assignment Status" section, where you will be able to see who started working on it (6) and their progress (7).

By clicking the "Open Mind Map" button you will have direct access to the mind map.

Click the Play button to get in the Playback mode and see the entire map creation process (8). The Rewind and Forward buttons will take you to the beginning and end of the map creation. Playback mode is highlighted in the video below (9).

For a more detailed view, click the Options button, then 'View details for all changes'(10). This will give you a clear overview of the map's history. You will see all map changes sorted chronologically by their exact dates and the exact date of the last map change. You can filter students by their names to see how exactly they updated the map.

You can grade (11) each student's performance and see all the grades for all students working on the assignment (12).

Each student is graded separately, by selecting him from the list (13) and filling in the grade in its box (14). Students who received a grade already will appear highlighted with a checkmark.

As soon as you select the student, all details of his activity on the map will appear below and you can discuss privately with him.

How will students work on their mind map assignments?

Once students will click on the assignment's link from Brightspace / Desire2Learn course section for the first time, they will be able to:

  • Start the assignment (1).
  • Attach another mind map to the assignment (2).
  • Engage in an individual discussion with the teacher who assigned them the task (3).

  • Once students return to the assignment, they will have to click on "Continue Assignment" (4). You can attach a map you previously created.

  • When they are ready with the assignment, they can submit it (5).
  • They can restart their assignment at any time (6), but previous work will be lost - they will be notified before the assignment is restarted.