Connecting your LMS

Which platforms work

Penciil is a standard LTI 1.3 tool, so any certified LMS can launch into it. Canvas, Moodle and Blackboard Learn are the platforms we have written registration steps for; D2L Brightspace, Sakai and Schoology follow the same generic steps.

What a launch does

A launch does exactly two things: it proves who is clicking, and it resolves which Penciil course they land on.

Launches land on the course, never on a specific assessment — users open the assessment from the course page.

What a launch does not do

A launch never enrols anyone. Holding a working launch link proves identity, not that a course is supposed to include you. Someone who launches without a Penciil course membership is refused and told to ask their instructor.

Penciil does not read your LMS class list at all. The roster is Penciil’s own, because printed booklets are generated from it and it has to be correct before an assessment whatever the LMS believes. Build it on the course Students page or import a CSV.

The one person who joins a course through the LMS is the course coordinator, assigned to whoever links the LMS course — and only if that seat is vacant. Linking requires already teaching the course in Penciil.

Before you begin

You will need an institution admin with permission to manage the LMS integration, and an LMS administrator who can register an LTI 1.3 tool.

Connecting the tool

1. In your LMS, register Penciil as an external LTI 1.3 tool using the configuration values from your institution’s Penciil settings.
2. Add a Penciil link to your course.
3. Launch it once to map the LMS course to the Penciil course.