Desire2learn - pulling out big data from university database

Question

We are working on the analysis of big data to help develop e-learning platform for our university and looking for some info from you !!!! Please provide us an initiative by clarifying !!!

1. We need to get the below big data information from my university's database: the enrolled student list, course materials, grades and related university info stored in the database. I have seen the Valence REST APIs of D2L and so thinking to use them to get the information from the database. Is that possible to get the university's data? If so, please guide me how I could do that or any docs to refer?

Note:[My university uses Desire2learn to share the course materials, assignments, grades and so we hope we could get the necessary authorization to access its data base information]

1. Do I need to have the university back-end web server address ? How can I get pull up the required info? (I am not sure where the data is stored exactly as I couldn't find any database info or data models in the valence website)

2. If 2 is true => Is it the correct resource to follow to use apis in our application? http://docs.valence.desire2learn.com/basic/apicall.html

3. Lastly, where can I know about the data base structure/organization/models? Is the data stored in the form of logs or files in the database and can be pulled out as a file/log ???

Please let us know .... Any additional information / help is appreciated !!!!

Thanks, Desire2Learn User

Answer 1

In order to make use of the Valence Learning Framework APIs you will need:

• A set of Application credentials (an Application ID/Key pair) that is limited to the domain (or LMSID) of the LMS you're going to use it with: your LMS admin can tell you what the LMSID of your LMS actually is, but you must provide it exactly (case-sensitive) when applying for your Application ID/Key credentials.

• An LMS user account. The Valence Learning Framework APIs do authentication by providing you with an ID/Key pair bound to your particular App ID/Key and to a known authenticated, LMS user.

  Note! The access you will have to your LMS' functionality and data is strictly limited to the privileges afforded to your LMS user account. That is, if you have a student user account with minimal privileges, you will have minimal access to LMS functionality or data. In general, the Learning Framework API functionality mirrors what a user can do through the Web UI, so use that as a rough guide -- you will not be able to do things that your user account cannot do through the Web UI.

All the resources you need to get started are on the Valence project website. The steps for getting started are clearly listed on the front page, and available in more detail on the Getting started with Valence topic page.

Please make sure that you have read and understood the Core concepts topics that describe all the foundational concepts for the platform, and the conventions we use in the project documentation.

The API reference topics all describe the various REST-like routes that act as the API functions available through the Learning Framework API. The reference topics also describe all the JSON structures that you will receive from the LMS in calls, and are expected to provide to the LMS in calls.

To get started, I would recommend that you first read all the getting started/concepts topics, then choose a client library to work with, and try to get the Getting Started sample up and running. If, after that point, you have specific questions about how to use the Learning Framework API, you can ask them here, tagged with desire2learn and the community can try to answer your specific questions.

If you have an existing business relationship with D2L (and thus an account manager, or a customer support account), then you can also seek support through their customer support desk.