Video: Integrating Moodle LMS Into Microsoft Teams

The impact of COVID19 on the digitization of education is truly remarkable and, I believe, irreversible. Student expectations for course content to be delivered “on demand” and “just in time” via a variety of mediums has become the norm and many Universities and schools are struggling to keep up.

One trend I’ve observed is that with the proliferation of digital platforms, many educators and students are now struggling to understand what content goes where and how to streamline the entry points to accessing learning materials. This is a real and valid question, especially in light of the drive from many educational institutes to improve the equity of access to content and accommodating the varied learning needs of students. With a plethora of platforms deployed, it makes sense to being rationalization, both through improved security via Single Sign On (SSO) between them, but also simplifying the user experience (UX) by providing a common entry point to start learning and collaborating.

Microsoft LMS Integration Documentation

To this end, Microsoft has created a number of integrations between Microsoft Teams and popular Learning Management Systems (LMS). Linking directly to some of the documentation for this:

• Manage Microsoft LMS Gateway for any LMS | Microsoft Docs
  • This is intended for LTI registrations for either commercial or custom/bespoke LMS that want to leverage parts of the Microsoft ecosystem.
• Canvas LMS – there are a number of integrations available:
  • Integrate Microsoft OneDrive LTI with Canvas | Microsoft Docs
  • Use Microsoft Teams classes with Canvas | Microsoft Docs
  • Use Microsoft Teams meetings with Canvas | Microsoft Docs
• Blackboard LMS – two integrations available:
  • Integrate Microsoft OneDrive LTI with Blackboard | Microsoft Docs
  • Use Microsoft Teams classes with Blackboard Learn Ultra | Microsoft Docs
• Moodle LMS
  • Set up and configure the Moodle plugin | Microsoft Docs
  • Integrate Microsoft Teams classes and meetings with Moodle | Microsoft Docs

Moodle Integration Video

My colleague Lalit Mohan has created a great walkthrough video showing the tight integration of Moodle inside of Microsoft Teams. This has both the end user experience and the configuration required by an administrator:

The ease of a truly integrated experience between the real-time collaboration benefits of Microsoft Teams (and M365) with the LMS of Moodle natively accessible with one click is a powerful combination:

If you’re an organization that has deployed multiple platforms to meet the needs (and demands) of remote and hybrid learners and are now starting to return to a mixture of face to face and remote learning, it could be the right time to consider the rationalization and deeper integration of your learning platforms.

Seeing the ease of connecting Microsoft Teams with a variety of LMS could be the start of that journey for you.