Auto importing Canvas course groups in breakout rooms

While instructors can create breakout rooms when scheduling meetings, Canvas instructors can also import their course groups as breakout rooms. This allows for quick creation and automated management and assignment of students within those breakout rooms. 

Limitations of use:

• Students can not access the Import Course Groups feature.
• If there are not any groups set up, there will be an empty list when attempting to import for breakout rooms.
• If the instructor deletes a user from the group after the breakout room assignment has been completed, the user will still be assigned to the room. However, when the instructor clicks Import Course Groups next time, it will reflect the most current course groups.
• When importing groups that exceed the breakout room limit, only the number of breakout rooms allowed will be imported.
• When adding the new scopes to LTI and LMS developer key, the user will have to wait until the old token has expired so that a new token can be generated with the new scopes.

This article covers:

• How to configure LTI for importing course groups in breakout rooms
  • Configure LTI Pro to import groups as breakout rooms in Canvas
  • Configure Canvas to import groups as breakout rooms
• How to import course groups in Canvas as breakout rooms

Prerequisites for importing Canvas course groups in breakout rooms

• Education, Business, or Enterprise Plan
• Zoom Account user with Admin role permissions
• Administrator access in Canvas
• LTI 1.3 or LTI 1.1 integration with Canvas 

How to configure LTI for importing course groups in breakout rooms

The following permissions are required when configuring auto import for breakout rooms in Canvas:

• The course role needs the permission Manage Groups selected in order to add/delete/manage groups in Canvas.
• The course role needs the permission Groups - view all student groups selected in order to view the group home pages of all student groups.
• The course role needs the permission Users - view list selected in order to view group information.

Configure LTI Pro to import groups as breakout rooms in Canvas

1. Log into your LTI instance.
2. Under the Credentials List, look for your Canvas LTI instance, and click Configure.
3. Enable Enable Meeting Link to Auto Login Users.
4. Under Tracking Field, click Edit Tracking Field.
   Note: If Tracking Field is not enabled, it will need to be enabled first.
5. Click Add Tracking Field.
6. For the tracking field label, enter canvas_course_id.
7. Click Save.
8. Back on the LTI configuration page, click 3rd Party Credentials.
9. In the navigation on the left, click LTI Canvas.
10. Enable Enforce Scopes.
11. Enable Allow LMS Course Groups in Zoom Meetings. 
12. Ensure the following scopes are added:
    • URL:GET|api/v1/groups/:group_id/users
    • URL:GET|api/v1/courses/:course_id/groups

Configure Canvas to import groups as breakout rooms

1. Log in to Canvas. 
2. Click Admin, then click Developer Keys.
3. Navigate to the LTI Key used for your LTI tool.
4. Click Additional Settings.
5. Under Custom Fields, add canvas_course_id=$Canvas.course.id.
6. Click Save.
7. Navigate to the Canvas Calendar API key used to enable the calendar and events feature in your LTI tool.
8. Enable Enforce Scopes if it is disabled.
9. Enable Allow Include Parameters.
10. Under groups enabled the following scopes:
    • URL:GET|/api/v1/courses/:course_id/groups
    • URL:GET|/api/v1/groups/:group_id/users
11. Click Save.

How to import course groups in Canvas as breakout rooms

1. Navigate to your course.
2. Click Schedule a New Meeting.
3. Enable Breakout Room pre-assign.
4. Click Import Course Groups.
   The course groups will automatically be added as breakout rooms.