Introduction

The Office 365 (O365) learning tool integration (LTI) allows Penn State students, faculty, and staff with O365 accounts to create, share, and collaborate on OneDrive files within Canvas. This page provides more information about the LTI and includes step-by-step instructions to incorporate it into your Canvas course. You will also find helpful information and resources to share with students.

Note: To enable this integration in your course, see the following Canvas Advanced Learning Path page: Find and Implement Integrations in Your Course

On This Page:

Get to know the Canvas O365 integration
View and access your OneDrive files in Canvas
Add links to OneDrive files to your course
Accept assignment submissions from students' OneDrive
Assign OneDrive file templates as Cloud Assignments
Assign OneDrive file collaborations to groups of students

Get to know the Canvas O365 integration

When the O365 learning tool is enabled in a Canvas course, you will be able to do the following six things:

View and access OneDrive files in Canvas: Instructors and students can click the O365 link in the Course Navigation to view and open all files stored in their OneDrive account (outside of Canvas).
Add links to OneDrive files to a Course: Instructors can add a OneDrive link to a single Course page, assignment, quiz, or discussion or add the same link to multiple courses/locations.
Accept Assignment Submissions from students' OneDrive: Instructors can set up an Online/File Upload Assignment and ask students to upload files directly from their OneDrive account instead attaching files or providing file links.
Assign OneDrive files as Cloud Assignments: Instructors can provide students with a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file template to complete as an Assignment.
Assign OneDrive file Collaborations to groups of students: Instructors and students can create ungraded Collaborations and add class members to work together on blank Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files.
Manage/Update files from a single location (OneDrive): Instructors can link a file from OneDrive, even in multiple courses, or parts of a course. If that file is updated in OneDrive, it will automatically update in every location where it is linked.

Resources

Learn more about the features of the O365 learning tool in the following article:

Canvas: Office 365 Learning Tool Overview

View and access your OneDrive files in Canvas

Once the O365 learning tool is enabled in a course, the Office 365 link will appear in the Course Navigation. Clicking this link allows instructors and students to view and access files stored in their OneDrive accounts within Canvas; however, managing and editing those files must occur in OneDrive (outside of Canvas).

Resources

You can access your OneDrive account (outside of Canvas) via the Penn State Office 365 login page at office365.psu.edu. Or, click the link below to log in directly to OneDrive:

Penn State OneDrive for Business

Learn more about adding and managing permissions for your OneDrive files:

Share OneDrive Files and Folders

Teach students how to view and access their OneDrive files from the Course Navigation using the instructions in the following article:

How do I view my Microsoft Office 365 files in Canvas as a student?

Note:

Only Penn State O365 Users can utilize this learning tool in Canvas.
You must agree to the terms of use the first time you login.

Add links to OneDrive files in your course

Instructors can use the O365 learning tool to add Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files stored in their individual OneDrive accounts to their Canvas courses. OneDrive files can be added to any area of Canvas with a Rich Content Editor, including pages, quizzes, and assignments. These files will appear as links wherever they are added, allowing students to access them in context. When students access the file, a copy will be added to their OneDrive and is editable with Office Online or an Office Desktop application. Linked files do not contribute toward the Canvas file storage limit.

Instructional Use Cases

Link a PowerPoint presentation to a page instead of uploading the file to your course.
Link an Excel spreadsheet within assignment instructions so students can access data without downloading the file.
Link a single Office file (like a lecture PowerPoint) from OneDrive in multiple courses or sections, allowing you to update the file as needed in a single location. This will automatically update the file for everyone who accesses those links.

Resources

Add a link from OneDrive to a page with the Rich Content Editor using the instructions in the following article:

How do I create a hyperlink from Microsoft Office 365 in the Rich Content Editor as an instructor?

Add a link from OneDrive to a Module as an external tool using the instructions in the following article:

How do I add an external tool as a module item?

Note:

Students will be able to view or contribute to a file, based on the permissions you have set in OneDrive.
PDF files stored in OneDrive are not compatible with Canvas.

Accept assignment submissions from students' OneDrive

When you create an assignment in Canvas, you have the option to accept Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files directly from students’ OneDrive. Any OneDrive file students submit to this assignment can be viewed and graded in SpeedGrader.

Instructional Use Cases

Ask students to submit an essay (Word document) saved in their OneDrive.
Require students to upload a PowerPoint presentation from their OneDrive before they give an in-class presentation.

Resources

Create an online/file upload assignment using the instructions in the following article:

How do I create an online assignment as an instructor?

Teach students how to upload files from their OneDrive as assignment submissions by sharing the following article:

How do I upload a file from Microsoft Office 365 as an assignment submission?

Note:

Students can only submit one file per submission including Word (.doc/.docx), Excel (.xls/.xlsx), PowerPoint (.ppt/.pptx),
If students make changes to the file in OneDrive after they submit the assignment, they must re-submit the Assignment.

Assign OneDrive file templates as Cloud Assignments

A second option to utilize the O365 learning tool is through Cloud Assignments. These assignments allow instructors to provide a template for student’s assignment submissions using the External Tool option. When students open a Cloud Assignment, a copy of the associated file will be added to their own OneDrive. Then, they will be able to edit it with Office Online or an Office Desktop application. After submission, instructors can view and grade the file in SpeedGrader.

Instructional Use Cases

Provide students with an Excel template and require them to add data or formulas to cells, make calculations, or interpret the data.
Outline the required format of a research paper on a Word document and ask students to add their own content.

Resources

Create Cloud Assignments using the instructions in the following article:

How do I create a cloud assignment with a Microsoft Office 365 file as an instructor?

Teach students how to submit a Cloud Assignment by sharing the following article:

How do I submit a cloud assignment with Microsoft Office 365 as a student?

Note:

If you want to use a rubric to grade your assignment, it must be added before choosing the External Tool submission type.
Cloud Assignments are not available for group assignments.
Cloud Assignment files are editable by students by default, and OneDrive permissions cannot be changed.
If students make changes to the file in OneDrive after they submit the assignment, they must re-submit the assignment.

Assign OneDrive file collaborations to groups of students

Both instructors and students can select class members to participate in a collaboration and work on a blank Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file simultaneously. Students can participate in a collaboration created by an instructor or create their own collaboration to work with peers. Collaborations are informal, are not linked to the Gradebook. and cannot be graded in SpeedGrader. Students can submit a completed collaboration for grading if they save the file to their OneDrive and submit through an Online/File Upload Assignment, (see instructions above).

Instructional Use Cases

Create a PowerPoint collaboration and ask a group of students to work together to develop study questions for an upcoming exam.
Ask students to create their own Word collaboration to brainstorm topics for a group essay.

Resources

Create a collaboration using the instructions in the following article:

How do I create a Microsoft Office 365 collaboration as an instructor?

Teach students how to view a collaboration and how to create their own collaborations by sharing the following articles:

How do I view collaborations as a student?

How to I create a Microsoft Office 365 collaboration as a student?

Note:

The Collaborations link appears in your Course Navigation by default. Remove the link if you do not use this feature in your course.
When creating a new collaboration, you cannot link to a previously created collaboration.
Collaborations are editable by students by default and OneDrive permissions cannot be changed.
Uninviting a user or deleting the collaboration does not remove access to the collaboration.
Calendar events can be used to alert invitees about collaborations; however invitations are automatically sent to all participants' O365 email account (Outlook).