This is really not a huge thing, but it’s always fun to play with Yahoo! Pipes, and since Instructure makes tons of Canvas data available via its open API, why not combine the two to pull awesome Canvas data out into a usable feed?
The first feed that I built with Pipes takes my Canvas To Do list–you know, the one that I see when I log in reminding me to grade all that amazing student work–and turns it into a RSS feed that I’ve stuck onto my Google Homepage. Here’s the Pipe:
Canvas To Do List as Feed Pipe
Yeah, because even though Canvas automatically sends me a notification, basically whenever I want, reminding me to grade new student submissions, I need all the guilt-inducing reminders I can get these days.
All you need to run this Pipe is the URL of your Canvas instance and an access key, which is a really long string that you can generate from your very own Canvas Profile:
You’ll copy and paste that Access Token into the Access Token field in the Pipe. This essentially enables the Pipe to access all your Canvas To Do list data that’s currently made available through the API. The Pipe then does just a little bit of parsing to create a new feed from that JSON data.
Now, as simple as this Pipe was to build, I have to say it’s still pretty beta, and the source is kind of a mess of different splits. For instance, I haven’t yet figured out how to loop in and concatenate the course name (that requires another Fetch Data source), nor to include the number of items you need to grade in the feed item headline.
But I’m hoping some wandering Yahoo! Pipes guru can suggest the right path. If that happens, I’ll be able to finish my Pipe That Aggregates All Discussion Posts For All Courses Into One Master Feed.
