The 1EdTech community of leaders across K-12, higher education and suppliers are committed to helping build an open, trusted and innovative digital learning ecosystem at every level. 1EdTech’s Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) standard is a technical standard used to connect learning tools within an institution’s learning environment without logging into each tool.
It can allow external learning tools to integrate with learning platforms such as D2L Brightspace without custom development. This can result in lower-cost integrations, more tool provider options and increased quality.
Being certified to 1Edtech standards is regularly required for requests for proposals (RFPs). It can also carry a lot of value within the ed-tech industry, helping to provide assurance and peace of mind that tool integrations are compliant with the required standards. The LTI 1.3 standard offers improved security and additional functionality over the LTI 1.1 standard.
Since June 2022, 1Edtech has deprecated support and certification for LTI 1.1 and is encouraging platforms and learning tools to use the new LTI 1.3 standard. This means that being certified to LTI 1.1 can no longer be verified by a third party.
For more than a decade, Brightspace customers have used LTI 1.1 to integrate tools and create LTI links to external learning content without the need for login credentials for each user.
D2L is actively involved in the strategic and working groups of 1Edtech and has supported the new LTI 1.3 standard since 2019. Yet, with millions of LTI 1.1 links across the D2L customer base, we needed solutions to support migrations to LTI 1.3. D2L has provided several migration processes, and although Brightspace currently supports both standards, we recommend moving to the new standard when possible.
Why Should Customers Move to the New Standard?
LTI 1.3 builds on previous versions by improving the authentication security model. It offers many extensions to help enhance functionality beyond an SSO launch to a learning tool. Content selection, grade sync, roster sync, improved registration processes and notification services are all available through the new 1.3 standard. 1Edtech is continuously adding new features and enhancements to LTI 1.3 standard. Simply put, LTI 1.3 is the preferred industry standard.
How Does D2L Support Migrating to the LTI 1.3 Standard?
To help enable a successful migration, the external learning tool must also support the LTI 1.3 standard and the migration process. Vetting the new LTI 1.3 tool is often the most time-consuming part of the migration process, which is why we encourage our customers to engage with their tool partners to help determine the most appropriate path and timing for migration.
D2L now offers a solution to migrate LTI 1.1 links to a different LTI 1.3 domain. Previously identified as a major blocker for LTI migration, this service has unblocked millions of LTI 1.1 links and saved administrators countless hours of non-value add time. In Brightspace, migration can also be completed through course import, course copy and the course migration API at the course offering level.
For details on migration services available, refer to the LTI migration documentation in the Brightspace Community.
When Will LTI 1.1 Be Deprecated by D2L?
A frequently asked question about LTI 1.1; Brightspace will continue to support the LTI 1.1 standard for the foreseeable future. Though LTI 1.3 usage continues to grow every year, D2L intends to support our customers through the migration process and take an enablement approach to allow migration at a pace they are comfortable with.
Brightspace Migration Success Stories
Several customers have achieved great success in their migration efforts.
Relying heavily upon auto-migration during course copy and the migration API, Minnesota State has successfully migrated all their most popular LTI integrations. Using these two methods has saved their instructors and Brightspace admins hundreds of hours of time and frustration. For example, they successfully migrated 1.6 million Kaltura LTI links in August 2023 without issue or breakage. Now, more than 90% of all new LTI link creation is utilizing LTI 1.3.
Jonathan Werth, Educational Technology Specialist, Minnesota State
Recently, Purdue migrated 1.5 million links with its Kaltura tool integration. The following testimonial shows the incredible impact this service has provided.
Our Kaltura migration is a great success story so far with no issues…. 1.5 million links migrated is unbelievable. Bruce did a great job of assisting us …using the migration API. We have even removed the Kaltura LTI 1.1 link creation options from our users in our production instance.
Leo Smith, Senior IT analyst, Purdue University.
Gwinnett County Public School achieved a record-breaking migration effort this year. Using the recently released improved migration service that lets 1.1 links migrate to a different 1.3 domain, it migrated 1.8 million links and removed 1 million more obsolete LTI links in just a few days. Here’s what Joseph Price, the contractor who completed this migration on behalf of Gwinnett, had to say.
We expertly utilized the newly released API migration call in April, perfectly timing it for Gwinnett’s needs. We successfully migrated over 1.8 million LTI links and deleted about 1 million duplicates via API calls, all while seamlessly handling the complex task of domain migration and upgrading from LTI 1.1 to 1.3. The timing and precision were impeccable, aligning perfectly with our preparations for the new school year at GCPS.
Joseph Price, Consultant – GCPS / IMT, Gwinnett County Public School
These are only a handful of the many stories of successful migrations by D2L customers who use LTI to help deepen the learning experience with external learning tools.
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