This article was co-written by OpenCraft team member Adolfo Brandes and Daniel Seaton, Sr. Learning Systems Designer at MIT.
In this article, we'll describe how problems, videos, and pages from Open edX courses can be reused on the Canvas LMS via a new LTI implementation in Libraries v2, a feature recently developed by OpenCraft for MIT Open Learning. This project builds upon a wider effort commissioned by edX to enhance LTI compliance (1,2) and build more flexible and robust content libraries (1) for the Open edX platform.
Before getting into the details, let's dive a little on why this was done in the first place.
If you've ever authored courseware, you know how difficult it is to produce quality content. And if you spend a lot of time doing it, chances are you'll end up with an extensive library on a particular platform, such as Open edX courseware. What happens, though, when you want to reuse that content elsewhere? Few people would relish rewriting everything from scratch!
There are different ways a platform can allow content to be reused. The most common is by letting data be exported. This has been possible in Open edX since its inception: one can export courseware using the Open Learning XML format. But while it's straightforward to import the resulting tarball into a separate Open edX instance, bringing this content into another platform altogether presents a series of challenges:
Luckily, an organization called the IMS Global Learning Consortium came up with LTI, which aims to solve the issues above. LTI is short for "Learning Tools Interoperability": as long as both platforms support it, you can simply point the target platform to the source, and voilà! The learner will be able to interact with your painstakingly created content transparently, no import necessary. Best of all, if you make changes to the original content, those changes will be reflected anywhere you have reused it.
Open edX has been able to act as an LTI provider for a long time, and Canvas has correspondingly been able to consume from Open edX courses on a block-by-block basis. What else was needed, then?
Here's the thing. Reusing content originally written as part of a regular course is clunky at best. There are difficulties with content structured in this manner, particularly when it comes to Open edX:
It is for these and other reasons that Content Libraries development began in 2019. (OpenCraft CTO Braden MacDonald gives a great overview of the motivation behind this push, which includes the Blockstore backend, in this video.) With better search features and making grouping of related content much easier, they’re designed to support content reuse within Open edX courses.
The catch? As of early 2020, Open edX Content Libraries did not yet support any kind of LTI integration. While it was possible to reuse library content from within an Open edX instance, you couldn’t do so externally.
MIT, by any measure, is a heavy user of Open edX, maintaining an instance solely for on-campus teaching and learning. The instance has hosted over 200 unique courses for MIT students, leading to more than 35,000 unique problems, 15,000 unique videos, and 23,000 pages. The on-campus instance of Open edX is not the primary LMS at MIT, but exists as an optional system for creating enhanced, blended learning experiences.
In Fall 2021, the Canvas LMS was introduced at MIT to replace a homegrown, legacy system that did not offer the features of a modern LMS. Given the extensive library of rich content on MIT’s on-campus Open edX instance, the introduction of Canvas created new opportunities to think strategically about content integrations between the two platforms. MIT approached OpenCraft about their recent work on Content Libraries with Blockstore and began formulating a starting point to address broader ambitions related to content interoperability.
In short: MIT needed LTI for Content Libraries. So, over a few months at the end of 2021, OpenCraft built not only a way for Canvas to use LTI to integrate Content Libraries, but a way for authors to import content from preexisting courses into Content Libraries. The current implementation allows single xblocks (e.g., a problem, video, or page) to be reused via LTI.
Instead of just describing the new features, let’s show you how to actually use them with the Open edX and Canvas development environments. (The steps below require you to set up a local Open edX devstack and a local Canvas development environment.)
To start, set up your Open edX devstack with the Libraries v2 frontend and Blockstore backend, as outlined in Library Authoring project README. Then proceed to set up a Canvas development environment using the automated setup described in its Quick Start guide. We won’t walk through individual steps in setting these environments up, as that would be beyond the scope of this post. Worry not, though! The corresponding setup procedures are well documented in each project.
From this point on we’ll assume you were able to set them up successfully, including being able to access:
http://127.0.0.1:18000,http://127.0.0.1:18010,http://127.0.0.1:3001,http://canvas.docker.Continue by logging into your local development instance of Canvas as an administrator, and creating a Developer Key. You can do so from the Admin > Account panel, as shown below:
To start creating the key, click on + Developer Key, then + LTI Key, like so:
On the "method" drop-down, select "Paste JSON", and copy/paste the following into the text box (you could fill fields individually, but this makes it easier!):
{
"title": "edX Content Library",
"scopes": [],
"extensions": [
{
"platform": "canvas.instructure.com",
"settings": {
"platform": "canvas.instructure.com",
"placements": [
{
"placement": "assignment_selection",
"message_type": "LtiDeepLinkingRequest"
}
]
},
"privacy_level": "anonymous"
}
],
"public_jwk": {},
"description": "edX Content Library",
"custom_fields": {},
"public_jwk_url": "http://127.0.0.1:18010/api/libraries/v2/lti/1.3/pub/jwk/",
"target_link_uri": "http://127.0.0.1:18010/api/libraries/v2/lti/1.3/launch/",
"oidc_initiation_url": "http://127.0.0.1:18010/api/libraries/v2/lti/1.3/login/"
}
Note: the last three URLs point to Studio on your local Open edX devstack.
Give the key a name, such as “Open edX Tool”, and save it. Then immediately enable it by clicking on its ON button as shown below, and copy the client ID (“10000000000001”, here) to your clipboard.
Now we’ll add an “App”. Go to Site Admin > Settings, and on the Apps tab, click on the + App button. Choose the “By Client ID” configuration type, and paste the client ID from the key you created above:
After clicking Submit, confirm you want to install the app by clicking on Install. You should now see an “edX Content Library” app in the list of external apps.
Click on the app’s configuration icon, then on Deployment Id. You’ll need the identifier (here, “1:886...ae79eb”) when setting up Open edX, so copy it to the clipboard.
Start by enabling the content libraries LTI tool for Studio. You’ll need to edit the Features setting from the Studio container itself:
cd devstack
make studio-shell
vim /edx/etc/studio.yml
...
FEATURES:
ENABLE_CONTENT_LIBRARIES_LTI_TOOL: true
Save the file, exit, and restart Studio via:
make studio-restart
Next, you’ll need to pre-generate a JSON Web Token keypair as a means for Open edX and Canvas to trust each other. An easy way to do it from the command line using SSH and openssl is:
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -m PEM -f jwt.key
openssl rsa -in jwt.key -pubout -outform PEM -out jwt.key.pub
cat jwt.key
cat jwt.key.pub
Note the contents of each file, as you’ll need them shortly.
Now log into Studio as an administrator, then proceed to the Django admin interface at the following address:
http://localhost:18010/admin/lti1p3_tool_config/
Click + Add on the “Lti 1.3 tool keys” entry, give it an arbitrary name, and paste the corresponding keys you created above. In other words, under “Private key”, paste the contents of jwt.key, and under “Public key”, paste jwt.key.pub, like so:
Once the key is saved, go to the list of LTI tools at:
http://127.0.0.1:18010/admin/lti1p3_tool_config/ltitool/
Click on ADD LTI 1.3 TOOL on the top right, and fill the fields with the corresponding information:
https://canvas.instructure.comhttp://canvas.docker/api/lti/authorize_redirecthttp://canvas.docker/login/oauth2/token
http://canvas.docker/api/lti/security/jwks
That’s it! When you click save, Open edX Content Libraries and Canvas will be set up to communicate with each other via LTI.
What’s left to do is to actually create a content library with some content in Open edX, and to finally consume it in the Canvas instance.
Start at the Open edX library authoring frontend, which in the devstack setup is located at:
http://localhost:3001
Click on New Library, filling the fields out as you see fit: the library details are arbitrary. Just make a note of them for later! For instance:
After submitting, add a “Poll” block by clicking on the Advanced button, then on Poll. (For the purposes of testing LTI integration, you don’t need to customize it, but feel free to do so by clicking on the block’s Edit button.) The block should be visible in the library you created, like so:
Next, you'll need to explicitly allow this library to be shared via LTI. For now, the only way to do so is via Studio’s admin interface, at:
http://127.0.0.1:18010/admin/content_libraries/contentlibrary/
Click on the library's ID (in this case, "library01") to edit its metadata. Under "Authorized LTI configs", simply click on the first "LtiTool object" (which refers to the LTI configuration that points to Canvas you created earlier) so that it remains selected:
Click Save, then go back to the library authoring frontend and the library you created
(here, http://127.0.0.1:3001/library/lib:DeveloperInc:library01), and refresh the page. You should now see a "Copy LTI URL" button alongside the poll block you just created.
The presence of the Copy LTI URL button is confirmation that this library is accessible via LTI. Click on it: doing this will copy this block's LTI integration URL to your clipboard.
Instead of creating blocks from scratch, you can also import them from a preexisting course into a library. To do so, go to the library’s Settings menu, and click on import:
Next, click on Show Importable Courses, then import the Demonstration Course by clicking on its Import Course button. After a few seconds, the import should be completed:
If you then go back to the library page, you should see a list of all the imported blocks, all of which could also be used via LTI:
Now, go back to the Canvas Dashboard and click on Start New Course. Give the course any name you like, then from its home page click on Assignments, then + Assignment to create a new (you guessed it!) assignment. Its name is also arbitrary (we're calling ours "Open edX Poll"), but under "Submission Type", choose "External Tool". And for External Tool URL, paste the LTI URL that's on your clipboard. In our case, it looks like this:
http://127.0.0.1:18010/api/libraries/v2/lti/1.3/launch/?id=lb:DeveloperInc:library01:poll:c3fe9810-3811-4794-878f-da08ca07ff00
Click on save, and… That's it! Your Canvas learners should now be able to interact with the poll block from within a Canvas course, just as if they were using it inside Open edX. And yes, this includes grading!
Note: LTI urls can also be used in an <iframe> in any Canvas Page, which is great for embedding videos, pages, and other non-graded content. An easy way to try this is by including an LTI url, for a video or page, within the content editor for an assignment. You can include an <iframe> with an LTI url anywhere you can access the Rich Content Editor in Canvas.
It's still early days for Open edX Content Libraries, but the fact that Library items can now be used via LTI integration opens up a realm of possibilities. Because libraries are unbound from the traditional courseware structure, they allow more effective content reuse. And because their content can be accessed programmatically, it can be used in all kinds of interesting ways, for instance, for adaptive learning. In addition, Libraries offer an easier entry point to the vast array of Open edX problem types. Allowing instructors to start their authoring journey from a Library might make for an easier introduction to the power of the Open edX platform.
If you’d like to know more, let us know!
Header image: "Canvas Skies" by Nichole Renee is licensed under CC BY 2.0
This article was written by Giovanni Cimolin (OpenCraft) and Ned Batchelder (edX).
Learning Tools Interoperability® (LTI®) is a standard used to integrate different learning platforms and tools and allows a richer learning experience through the use of graded problems, interactive content, and third-party applications.
LTI support in the Open edX platform opens a wide range of possibilities for learning content. Because of LTI’s broad adoption across ed-tech platforms, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of tools available that can be integrated into Open edX courses. LTI tools are available from a wide range of organizations, from large ed-tech vendors to universities building their own integrations.
In Open edX software, LTI is used in two ways: as an LTI consumer in courses to enrich the learner experience by embedding interactive problems and exercises from external sources, and as an LTI provider to allow other LMS’s to embed Open edX course content.
In 2018, IMS introduced the new version of the LTI specification (LTI 1.3) focusing on modernizing the LTI standard, improving security, and enabling a flexible and extensible specification. The Open edX platform has long supported the 1.1 version of the LTI specification. Adding support for the 1.3 specification version brings the Open edX platform up to date with the most capable LTI standard.
You can read more about the advantages and improvements of the new standard in Why Platforms and Tools Should Adopt LTI 1.3.
Early in 2020, edX decided to implement LTI 1.3 in the LTI consumer support through a blended development project with OpenCraft, and then followed up with another project to implement the LTI Advantage extensions (detailed in the next section).
Blended development projects are funded by edX to implement roadmap features and promote collaboration between edX teams and partners in the community while increasing edX’s development throughout. You can find more information about these projects in the Blended Development Runbook.
LTI Advantage is a set of extensions to the LTI 1.3 specification that enhance its capabilities and allows deeper integration between LMS and LTI tools. Its two main goals are (1) to enable deeper integration between tools and platforms, avoiding the need for custom integrations, and (2) to provide a secure channel to transmit student and enrollment information.
LTI Advantage includes three services, detailed below.
The Assignments and Grades service (LTI-AGS) allows LTI tools to send and manage learner grades back to the platform.
When LTI-AGS is enabled and the component is set as graded in an Open edX course, grades sent from the tool will be automatically linked to the student gradebook. The LTI tool may also manage, edit, and override student’s grades directly, and provide reports on the user status of the activity (pending, started, fully graded).
You can enable this feature on your instance following the Assignments and Grades service setup documentation. Make sure you set up an LTI 1.3 integration in your Open edX instance first. For more information, you can follow the official LTI component documentation.
The Deep Linking service (LTI-DL) allows course creators to select and configure the content displayed to learners through Open edX Studio. This removes the need to use custom parameters and settings when setting up content, improving the ease of use and content authoring experience.
For example, a tool may let course creators configure a link that will launch a specific chapter from a book rather than displaying the full book and having students manually scroll to that chapter.
You can enable this feature on your instance – just follow the deep linking service setup documentation.
The Names and Roles Provisioning service (LTI-NRPS) allows tools to list and retrieve information about the learners that have access to an LTI component. The tools can retrieve a limited amount of personal information (full name, email, username) and the membership status of all the learners enrolled in the course.
A tool that uses LTI-NRPS will be aware of all users with access to that tool and can provide reports on student activity within the tool. For example, a tool might display a report of enrolled active users that haven’t started an activity.
With the implementation of the LTI Advantage services, the Open edX platform has been formally certified as LTI Advantage Complete (more details on Open edX platform earns LTI® Advantage Certification).
LTI 1.3 and LTI Advantage features are available in the Lilac release of the Open edX platform.
LTI® is a trademark of IMS Global Learning Consortium, Inc. (www.imsglobal.org)
Cover photo by Tamanna Rumee on Unsplash
Here is a recap of our July 2021 newsletter:
2U, an educational technology company, announced that it is acquiring edX. The proceeds of the transaction ($800 million) will go to a non-profit that will continue under the leadership of the edX founders, Harvard and MIT. The non-profit will own and keep growing the Open edX project. This will be a good opportunity to clarify the distinction between edX.org and the Open edX platform, since both projects will have their own priorities and independent funding. It will take some time to know what the new non-profit’s plan will be, but there are good reasons to be optimistic. The changes demonstrate the belief that the open source project can be more by standing on its own. We completely agree — it’s a rare chance for an open source project!
-> Watch Q&A session about the acquisition with edX CTO JP Beaudry
OpenCraft is growing, and we are always on the lookout for new developers. We've just built a web page that summarizes the experience of working as an open source, fully remote developer at OpenCraft. Do you care about contributing to open source and appreciate a good challenge? Would you like to work with great clients, under great conditions, and with your own schedule? If so, then please consider joining our team, and submit an application.
-> Check out our jobs page, and apply!
The latest version of the Open edX platform, Lilac, has been formally certified as an LTI Advantage learning platform! The work to extend the LTI Consumer XBlock to support LTI Advantage was a collaboration between our team and edX, as a blended development project. We are very proud to have worked on making the Open edX platform more extendable by adopting this widely-endorsed educational standard.
-> Read announcement on Open edX blog
The Open edX team have recently published the Open edX Extensions Directory, a filterable interface that displays the various XBlocks, plugins, and extensions made available for the platform. The long-requested tool was designed by the Open edX Marketing Working Group, of which OpenCraft are members. Just a few weeks after its creation, the Extension Directory gained considerable visibility and traffic as a valuable resource for the Open edX community.
-> Read announcement on the Open edX blog
Following the success of their first Hack-a-thon, the Open edX team is hosting a new documentation rally on August 10-12, 2021. This is a time for everyone, not just developers, to get together, collaborate, and help make the platform documentation complete and up-to-date. Big or small, all contributions are welcome! You can read the official announcement for the full details.
-> Discuss your ideas with the community on the official forum thread
