Canvas can connect to external tools through an integration called Learning Tool Interoperability (LTI) to provide functionality beyond its built-in features like Assignments, Discussions, or Grades. This page provides an overview of tools that are available university-wide or across multiple schools. Additional tools may be available to certain schools or departments. For details about a specific tool, visit its page under the Tools menu above. If you are looking for a tool not mentioned here, contact your LSP for more information.
Interaction & Discussion
Ed Discussion is a discussion platform with enhanced features beyond those available in native Canvas Discussions. At Penn, Ed Discussion is most commonly used as a Q&A environment in large courses. Students can ask questions and receive answers from instructors, TAs, or peers, reducing the burden on course staff to respond to multiple, similar questions via individual emails.
Perusall is a collaborative annotation platform where instructors add course materials and optional prompts or instructions. Students mark up text, audio, or video resources with observations, questions, and interactions with peers’ comments. Optionally, students’ annotations can be auto- or human-scored in the Canvas Gradebook to further incentivize meaningful engagement with course materials.
Poll Everywhere enables instructors to conduct live, in-class polling and checks for understanding to inform their instruction and make lectures more interactive. Presenters can display a poll on the classroom screen, and students respond via their laptops or mobile devices. Note that Poll Everywhere does not currently integrate directly with Canvas.
Namecoach allows Canvas users to record their name pronunciation and phonetic spelling. Other users in the course can view and listen to these pronunciations to help instructors and students learn to pronounce names correctly.
Wooclap is a tool for live, in-class polling. It works similarly to Poll Everywhere, with the added benefit of integrating with the Canvas gradebook. Penn is piloting Wooclap for the 2025-2026 academic year. If you are interested in joining the pilot, contact CETLI.
Grading & Feedback
Gradescope enables scalable grading of handwritten or uploaded work for large courses. Instructors or students can scan and upload PDFs of exams or homework. Then instructors or TAs can grade submissions according to an instructor-defined rubric or template. Gradescope offers analytics to help course staff grade more consistently and identify patterns or gaps in student understanding.
Academic Integrity
Turnitin can be used to check for certain types of plagiarism by comparing student assignment submissions to repositories of previous submissions globally and from Penn, scholarly databases, and text that appears on the internet. It generates a similarity report that can be made visible to the student and instructor. Turnitin can help instructors identify certain uses of generative AI, but it does not “detect” AI-generated text.
Respondus LockDown Browser (available in select schools) is a secure browser that prevents students from accessing unauthorized online resources during in-person assessments. Once the assessment is opened and until it is submitted, students can only access the assessment page and resources that the instructor explicitly allows. LockDown Browser does not include video monitoring or prevent access to another device, so it is not effective for take-home or non-proctored assessments.
Video
Panopto (Class Recordings) is a video recording and storage platform where instructors can host video content without using storage space in their Canvas courses. Videos can be recorded within Panopto or uploaded from other sources, and they are automatically machine-captioned. Panopto can also integrate with Zoom to store recordings of online meetings or lectures.
Zoom can be integrated with a Canvas course. This enables students to join a Zoom class meeting or office hours from within Canvas, which reduces issues with logging in or locating meeting links. Zoom can also optionally integrate with Panopto (Class Recordings) for long-term storage of meeting recordings.
Library Resources
Leganto (Course Reserves) is the Penn Libraries’ Course Reserves system. Instructors can create and organize a reading list of digital library resources and embed it in a Canvas course, making it easier for students to locate course materials. Reading lists can be duplicated for use in multiple courses or future semesters.
LibGuides, or Library Guides, provide students with quick access to a curated collection of topic- or course-specific research sources. Instructors can embed an existing LibGuide into a Canvas course or work with a Subject Specialist Librarian to have a new guide created.
JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments) provides video resources for science, medical, and engineering education, such as video textbooks, lab demonstrations, and recordings or simulations of advanced research experiments. Instructors can create custom playlists and embed selected recordings into Canvas courses.
Course Content
Penn has access to many sources for foundational or supplemental course content that can be integrated with Canvas. Some tools, such as LinkedIn Learning, are available to all users at no cost and can be embedded into a Canvas course at an instructor’s discretion. Others, such as textbook publisher content, are available to integrate into Canvas but require a paid purchase to view or interact with specific materials. Available publisher content tools include:
- Access Pearson (formerly Pearson MyLabs)
- Cengage Learning Mindlinks
- McGraw-Hill Connect
- Norton Learning Tools
Getting Help
Please contact your Local Support Provider or submit a request to canvas@pobox.upenn.edu.