How do I connect GRL, so that it reports grades to my gradebook in Canvas?

You will learn how to connect your course Assignments with quizzes in Great River Learning (GRL).

The GRL content website allows you to have your students read and take quizzes. Those quizzes can then report back to your gradebook in Canvas.

Follow these steps after you have communicated with the GRL representative, and the online book has been set up for your course in GRLcontent.com. The GRL representative must be the one to connect your Canvas course with the course in GRLcontent.

Create a new Assignment in your course in Canvas.

Assignments allow you to connect to publisher online books (with quizzes, tests, etc.) and other External Tool activities like H5P, VoiceThread, SoftChalk, Flipgrid, GoReact, etc., where you can grade those activities and have the points transfer to your gradebook.

1. Click on + sign in the Module where you want to add the Assignment.

+ sign to add content

2. Select Assignment from the dropdown menu.

Assignment is selected

3. Click on Create Assignment.

Create Assignment

4. Type a name for the assignment.

Assigment Name field

5. Click on Add Item.

Add Item button
Assignment link selected

7. Click on Edit.

Edit button

8. Type in any desired instructions.

Rich Content Editor

9. Type the number of Points for this Assignment.

Tip: The score sent over from GRL to the course gradebook will be adapted by Canvas to fit the number of points you put in this assignment.

Points field

10. Select the appropriate Assignment Group.

You may also create a new Assignment Group if desired.

Assignments selected

11. Decide how you want to display the grade in the gradebook.

If you select 'Not Graded' then you will not have a SpeedGrader link nor a column in the gradebook for this Assignment.

Display Grade as dropdown menu

12. Decide whether this Assignment should be included in the course total.

tick box for counting toward final grade

13. Select External Tool.

This submission type allows you to link to GRL. If you do not select External Tool, then GRL cannot send grades to your course.

External Tool selected

14. Click on Find.

Find button

15. Scroll down to GRLCONTENT.

GRLCONTENT selected

16. Click on Select.

Select button

17. Decide which settings for the Assign to section.

It is recommended to use the due dates and time limits in GRL when deciding when students should take their quizzes and how much time they can have rather than setting due and availability dates in Canvas.

Assign to section

18. Save & Publish.

In order to properly connect and stay connected to the GRL quiz that we are going to use, you must Publish the Assignment.

Save & Publish button
Connect your Assignment to a Quiz in GRL.

Now, it is time to connect your Assignment with the GRL Chapter 1 quiz.

1. GRL will open up within your Assignment.

GRL displays within Assignment

2. Click on the Components tab.

Components button

3. Click on the Pencil icon of the Gradebook for your course.

Pencil icon

4. Click on Pair Assignments.

Pair Assignments button

In this sample course, we are only connecting Chapter quizzes 1 through 5 as shown below.

Tick box for assignment

6. Select the appropriate Assignment named in Canvas.

In this case, QUIZ 1 is the name of the Assignment in the course in Canvas.

QUIZ 1 selected

7. Select the appropriate Assignment name for the remaining chapter quizzes.

QUIZ 2 selected

8. Click on Submit.

Submit button

Here is the Great River Learning company guide for instructors.

Article Summary

You have now learned how to create an Assignment in your course which you can connect with GRL, so that it will receive the score from the quiz in GRL.