Canvas - How Do I Install TeacherMade as an App in Canvas?

For TeacherMade to present assignments to your students in Canvas, you must first configure TeacherMade as an external "App" in each of your courses. You only need to do this once per course.


Note: if you attempt to install TeacherMade as an app in Canvas, then later find out something's' wrong, DO NOT delete the app then try again. That can confuse Canvas and get you into a situation where TeacherMade cannot push scores back to this course. Instead, just jump to this article and make sure the app configuration is correct: https://support.teachermade.com/support/solutions/articles/72000596411-canvas-editing-the-external-tool-installation


2023 Update -Canvas has chosen to ignore TeacherMade's request to set the privacy of our requests to "Public." That means it will not pass student names to TeacherMade unless you manually set it. So, after following the instructions below, follow the instructions in this article to set the Privacy setting to Public: Canvas: Editing the External Tool installation


TIP: If you’ve already done this, and need help creating an assignment within Canvas, read “How Do I Assign a Worksheet Through Canvas?”


TIP: Not into reading? Watch this video:




Canvas requires you to enter a Consumer Key, a Shared Secret, and Config URL when linking Apps to courses. You will find this information displayed in TeacherMade when you choose Canvas for your assignment delivery method.


To get started, follow the usual steps for creating a TeacherMade assignment. After you click “Save,” you will see this screen. Click Setup Instructions.



You will see the Consumer Key, Shared Secret and Config URL that you will later plug into Canvas. Leave this information displayed on your screen.

Open a new tab and login to Canvas. Then select your course.


From within your Canvas course, click Settings.


A list of available “External Apps” in your course will display. Click on the “View App Configurations” button located on the upper right side.



A blue button “+ App” will magically appear next to the “View App Config” button you just clicked on. Click on the “+ App” to start adding TeacherMade as one of your external course apps.



The “Add App” pop-up form will appear. 


Begin by choosing “By URL” for the Configuration Type. It hides many of the fields and makes the rest of the job a lot easier! NOTE: This is a very important step! If you leave the setting as “Manual Entry,” Canvas will allow you to continue, but when you try to create assignments, you will see the error “Couldn’t find valid settings for this link.”



Enter these values in the remaining fields:

  • Name: TeacherMade.
  • Consumer Key: Copy this value from the "Setup Instructions" you left open in the TeacherMade tab.
  • Shared Secret: Also copy this value from TeacherMade into Canvas.
  • Config URL: If this reads "Launch URL" or any other label, you did not property select "By URL" above! Copy the Config URL from the TeacherMade setup instructions into this field.


Click Submit and you're done!


If you refresh your Canvas screen, you should see TeacherMade as an app in the left-hand column.



Test the installation by clicking that link in the left-hand column. It should launch TeacherMade and log you in as yourself. 


Remember, you have to do this installation in each course, but only once. And don't delete it if you're having trouble. Instead, just fix it using the link at the top of this article.


And, as noted above, please now re-open the TeacherMade tool in Canvas and set the Privacy setting to "Public." Otherwise, you will see student names come across as numbers and letters rather than their names and emails. Just follow these simple directions: https://support.teachermade.com/support/solutions/articles/72000596411-canvas-editing-the-external-tool-installation 


Now you're ready to begin making assignments for your Canvas course. Click this link for instructions on how to create TeacherMade assignments in Canvas: https://support.teachermade.com/support/solutions/articles/72000572430-canvas-how-to-assign-student-work-using-canvas









Was this article helpful?

That’s Great!

Thank you for your feedback

Sorry! We couldn't be helpful

Thank you for your feedback

Let us know how can we improve this article!

Select atleast one of the reasons

Feedback sent

We appreciate your effort and will try to fix the article