What is LTI application development?
In today’s education ecosystem, online learning management systems (LMS) like Moodle, Canvas, and Blackboard are indispensable. But what if an institution needs to go beyond standard features? How can they add external tools—such as a physics simulator or an interactive quiz—while leveraging all their existing course content? The answer is LTI application development.
What is LTI and how does it work?
LTI stands for Learning Tools Interoperability, is a standard developed by IMS Global that acts as a digital bridge. Its goal is straightforward yet powerful: to allow external tools to connect and operate securely and seamlessly within an LMS.
Think of your LMS as a classroom and LTI as the door that lets a guest (the external tool) walk in and share their expertise (functionality) without disruption.
With LTI, you could build, for example, a real-time polling tool, and a teacher could deploy it directly within their Moodle, Canvas, or any other LTI-compliant LMS. The tool appears fully integrated and communicates securely with the LMS, exchanging data such as student identities and grades.
Why LTI development matters
LTI development is no longer optional—it’s essential for a flexible, modern educational ecosystem:
- Avoid redundant development – Instead of building separate versions for Moodle, Canvas, and Blackboard, you create one LTI-compliant application. This reduces cost, time, and maintenance complexity.
- Enhance user experience – Students and instructors stay in the LMS environment without juggling multiple accounts or passwords, increasing adoption and engagement.
- Enable modular scalability – Institutions can add new tools as needed—whether it’s a virtual lab for chemistry or an advanced analytics dashboard.
- Ensure secure authentication – LTI leverages OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect for secure identity management and data protection.
- Drive innovation – LTI integrations open the door to AI, learning analytics, adaptive content, and other advanced pedagogical solutions.
What’s involved in building an LTI App?
Developing an LTI application blends technical expertise with pedagogical insight. It’s not just about coding; it’s about designing a solution that fits seamlessly into the academic workflow. The process typically involves:
- Building the external application – This could be an educational game, collaborative text editor, or scientific simulator, developed in any web-compatible language or framework.
- Ensuring LTI compliance – Implement the latest LTI specification, ideally LTI 1.3 Advantage, to establish communication with the LMS.
- Implementing secure authentication – Integrate OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect flows to protect user data.
- Designing for user experience – Make the integration visually and functionally consistent with the LMS environment.
- Establishing LMS communication – Enable actions like posting grades, retrieving participant lists, or sending notifications.
Many cutting-edge educational solutions combine LTI with AI, learning analytics, or adaptive learning content, multiplying their impact.
Conclusion
LTI application development is shaping a new era of education—one defined by flexibility, innovation, and collaboration.
If you’re exploring your options and would like our perspective, let’s schedule a chat ☕ — the coffee’s on us.
