LTI Integration

What is LTI?

LTI is short for Learning Tools Interoperability. LTI is generally used to integrate third-party applications into a Learning Management System (LMS). LTI is supported by a wide-variety of LMS's and, once a connection between the LMS and an LTI-compatible tool provider is configured, LMS users are able to access the configured tool with a single click.

• More Info about the LTI specification is available here: https://www.imsglobal.org/activity/learning-tools-interoperability
• A complete list of LTI-compatible applications is available here: https://www.imsglobal.org/all-learning-tools-interoperability-lti-tools

How does LTI work with Badge List?

Badge List is an LTI-compatible "tool provider" which can be seamlessly integrated with any LTI-compatible "tool consumer" (usually an LMS). Once the LTI integration is setup, users of the LMS see a link or navigation tab which will open Badge List in an iframe and automatically log them in. Users will be directed either to the Badge List group main page or to a badge or group tag configured by the group admins.

LTI Setup: Step 0 - Prerequisites

Before you can start setting up your Badge List LTI integration you will need the following:

• Administrative permissions to an LTI-compatible LMS. You can integrate Badge List at the course-level or at the site-level, so you'll need admin permissions to at least the course. Our favorite LMS is Canvas, you can create a free teacher instance here: https://www.canvaslms.com/try-canvas
• Admin permissions to an integration-enabled Badge List group. You'll need to be an admin of the Badge List group you want to integrate. The group itself will also need to be on a subscription plan which includes the "third-party integrations" feature. More information on plans and pricing is available here: https://www.badgelist.com/pricing

Limitation: One Badge List group can be integrated with any number of LMS instances, but any given LMS course can only be linked to one Badge List group.

LTI Setup: Step 1 - Create New Key Pair

Once you have the prerequisites, the first step in the process is to generate a new "key pair". The key pair is a set of two cryptographic keys which is used to facilitate secure communication between Badge List and your LMS. One of the keys is public (usually referred to as the "consumer key") and the other is private (usually referred to as the "secret key" or the "shared secret").

To create a new key:

1. Navigate to your group's main page in Badge List
2. Click the "Group settings" dropdown and select the "Integrations" option. This will open the "Manage app integrations" panel.
3. Scroll down to the "Pending LTI Keys" section and click the "Create New Key" button. You will be prompted to enter a name for the key. This name is for your reference only, it will not be visible to end users. We recommend using the name of the course or the LMS. After you've entered a name, click the "Generate Key" button.
4. You will now see the newly generated key in the table in the "Pending LTI Keys" section. That's it! You are ready to proceed to step 2.

LTI Setup: Step 2 - Add External Tool to LMS

Now that you've created the new key pair, you have everything you need to add Badge List as an external tool / app to your LMS. The exact steps vary for each LMS but you will be using the "configure by URL" option. This option should only require a few things from you:

• The URL of Badge List's LTI Config XML: https://www.badgelist.com/h/lti/config.xml (This is a generic configuration file which contains all of the information the LMS needs to setup the integration.)
• The Consumer Key: Copy this to your clipboard from the "Pending LTI Keys" table in the "Manage app integrations" panel.
• The Secret Key: Copy this to your clipboard from the "Pending LTI Keys" table in the "Manage app integrations" panel.
• App Name: This is a name which, depending on your LMS, may or may not be displayed to users. You can put whatever you prefer. We recommend "Badge List".

Below are specific steps for adding a new LTI tool in some major LMS platforms:
Note: The Badge List team could use your help improving the instructions below. If you'd be interested in writing up instructions for your LMS, please send them to support@badgelist.com and we will add them / update them below.

• Canvas: Go to the "Settings" for your course or site. Select the "Apps" tab and then click the "View App Configurations" button. Then click the "+ App" button and select "By URL" in the "Configuration Type" dropdown. More instructions available here: https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10052
• Moodle: Go to the Site administration > Plugins > Activity modules > LTI > Manage external tool registrations. Click "Configure a new external tool registration". Paste in the URL of the config XML and click the submit button. That should bring you to the remaining configuration steps.
• Blackboard: Instructions are available here: http://bit.ly/2tIUqbF
• Brightspace/D2L: Navigate to System Admin > Building Blocks > LTI Tool Providers and follow the instructions to add a new tool by URL.

LTI Setup: Step 3 - Activating the Integration / Final Configuration

Once you've added Badge List to your LMS the final step is to "activate" the integration by using it. This part is simple, just click the "Badge List" link in your LMS. This will provide Badge List with the "context id" of your LMS course and allow Badge List to uniquely identify your LMS users.

Once this step is done, all LMS users who click the "Badge List" link will automatically be logged into Badge List and added as members to the group if needed. By default, users will be navigated to the group main page. If you would like to navigate them to a specific badge or group tag instead, you can configure that via the "Manage app integrations" panel. (Click the "Group settings" dropdown and select "Integrations".)