Learning Management System (LMS) integration streamlines access to your OLI course. Students access your OLI course by clicking a special link from your LMS course. This page describes integration for instructors and the steps to be completed by LMS administrators. Please let us know if you have any questions, please let us know here.


Before moving on, check this list of existing school integrations (please check for abbreviations). If your school is listed, OLI is already integrated in your LMS. If your school isn't listed, follow the directions below for your LMS administrator and yourself.


For Instructors

The first steps are completed by your LMS Administrator, who must create an OLI Educator account, then add their new User ID to the form in Step 2 below to request the integration details. Once the request processes, your LMS administrator will receive an email with OLI Integration Details (Secret and Key) to integrate OLI with your LMS at the system level. Finally, the instructor can link their OLI course into their LMS class to enable single sign-on (SSO) for themselves and their students. Please feel free to get started creating courses with your instructor account while you wait for the integration process to complete.

NOTE: Courses with students in them are unable to be linked via LMS integration. Students may access a specific course section via Course Key at oli.cmu.edu OR Single-Sign-On (SSO) integrated link, not both. If you want immediate student access, provide them access by providing the Course Key selected during the course creation process and directing them to oli.cmu.edu/coursekey to follow prompts to create an OLI Account ID. Otherwise, wait until the integration is complete before setting up the access point from the LMS course section to the OLI course section via integration.


Student Access
Using this method, students access the OLI course from the link set up by their instructor in the LMS class. Clicking the SSO link replaces the process of creating an account and registering with a course key. Instead, because the student is signed in to your LMS, their LMS credentials serve as their OLI credentials.


Gradebook
OLI does not support automatic updating of the LMS Gradebook. The OLI Gradebook can be exported to a spreadsheet and then imported into the LMS Gradebook or manually entered into the LMS Gradebook as preferred by the instructor.


OLI Course
Each LMS class can be linked to a single OLI course at a time. To change the OLI course, please contact OLI Help to request that the course be unlinked before linking to another OLI course.


LTI-Compliant LMSs
OLI can be integrated into any LTI-compliant LMS including Blackboard, Moodle, Canvas, Desire 2 Learn, Sakai, and any other LTI-compliant LMS that is not listed here.

Please send your LMS administrator a link to this page:

https://olihelp.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/32000022561-integrate-with-an-lms-for-single-sign-on


For LMS Administrators

OLI uses LTI to connect OLI with learning management systems. The setup is entirely configuration-based and does not require any direct communication between your LMS and the OLI system. First we exchange the unique information that enables integration—a key and secret—which you enter into your LMS and add OLI as an LTI tool provider. Next, you or the instructor creates a link from the LMS class to an OLI course. The LMS will encode some basic information about the instructor, TA, or student into that link (user identifier, course identifier, etc.), which OLI uses to show the appropriate content and to populate the roster and gradebook.


A more thorough overview of OLI integration is also available at the bottom of these instructions.
[ Jump to detailed overview ]

Please complete the steps below to add OLI as an external LTI tool provider.


STEP 1


CREATE AN ACCOUNT WITH OLI

You will need to sign up for an account. We will associate your LTI key and secret with this account.


STEP 2


SUBMIT YOUR LMS DETAILS

Please fill out and submit the form below. After we have processed your information, we will email you with information that you will need for the next step. Please contact us to expedite your request.


STEP 3


FOLLOW SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOUR LMS

Once we have processed the information that you submitted in step 2 and provided further details, follow the instructions for your LMS to set up the integration.


Blackboard

Canvas

Desire 2 Learn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYuZbd81QOk
Desire 2 Learn may require its LMS users to contact the account manager to facilitate LMS integration of external tools such as OLI courses. After filling out the form above, please contact your D2L account manager to start the integration process.

Moodle

Other (OLI supports LTI protocols and can integrate with any LMS that supports LTI protocols.)
Please consult with your LMS administrator or contact OLI Help.



DETAILED TECHNICAL OVERVIEW

Students and instructors can access the OLI environment through an LTI compliant learning management system (LMS). LTI is a secure protocol for linking an LMS to an external learning tool and passing information about the LMS user to that tool.

LTI allows instructors to create a link from their LMS course to their OLI course. When the link is clicked, the LMS encodes parameters about the user into the link and redirects the user to OLI. OLI verifies the parameters provided by the LMS and directs the user to the appropriate OLI course. The user will see an OLI launch page within the LMS window from which they can access the various features of their course.

Student Access

Students accessing OLI through an LTI link are seamlessly connected to OLI. They do not need to remember a separate URL for accessing OLI. They also do not need to create an OLI account, enter a separate password or register for an OLI course. Students are able to work through the OLI course created by their instructor from within the LTI compliant LMS used at their institution. At this point in time, grades do not transfer from the OLI system to the LMS gradebook. OLI provides a separate gradebook, which can be viewed online or exported to Excel. Because these users do not have a separate OLI account ID and password, they are only be able to access their OLI course from within the LMS.

Integration After Students Have Begun Work in an OLI Course

OLI accounts with an ID/password are separate from LMS access. Therefore, to avoid confusion for students, we do not support LMS setups once students begin work in their OLI course. In these cases, it is advised that instructors add a regular web link from the LMS to OLI. When this regular linked is clicked, students will sign in to OLI using the OLI account ID/password.

LTI Plugins/Modules

Some LMS environments do not include or enable LTI functionality by default. The institution running the LMS is responsible for ensuring the necessary LTI LMS plug-ins/modules are properly installed and enabled. At minimum, to ensure a consistent and streamlined user experience, the LMS must be configured to identify the user and their role (student, instructor, teaching assistant) to OLI.

LTI allows links to be setup either by the LMS administrator or by individual instructors. Site-wide configuration by the LMS administrator is preferred for installations where multiple instructors will be accessing OLI. In practice, LMS configuration settings and/or institutional policies in some cases prevent instructors from using the LTI feature on their own. In such instances, the institution needs to provide their instructors with a technical contact who will interface with OLI and configure LTI links in the instructors’ LMS courses.