LTI is an abbreviation for Learning Tools Interoperability, which is a standard protocol developed by the IMS Global Learning Consortium. It allows services like VoiceThread to integrate with your Blackboard environment as single-sign-on tools.
Sign in to your Blackboard account.
Click on the VoiceThread LTI link.
Clicking on a VoiceThread LTI link will authenticate the user, establish an account for him if he didn't have one already, and enroll him in his course within VoiceThread. No additional work is required from the instructor or student.
Once you have installed that block, follow these steps below.
Go into System Admin > Building Blocks > Installed Tools.
Click on the arrow icon next to "Basic LTI tools", and select "Settings".
Click on "System Settings" at the top of the page, off to the left-hand slide. In that section, make sure "Outcomes" are enabled. Save to go back to the main Building Block page.
Click on "Services" at the top of the page, off to the right-hand side this time. In that section, make sure "Outcomes" are enabled and signed. Save and go back to the page from step 2.
Click "Register a new tool".
Fill out the form. Any items skipped below are optional.
Note: If this section is missing, go back to steps 3 and 4 above.
Check all 3 or 4 boxes in the "Registered LTI Services" area (the number of boxes will vary depending on which version of the Building Block you have installed).
Now that you're back on the Basic LTI Tools page, hover over the registration you just set up, click on the arrow icon, and select "Edit data settings". Fill out the form according to the instructions below. Any items skipped are optional.
Role name: Recommend settings are "Learner" for learner and guest roles, and "Instructor" for all others.
You can also decide where the VoiceThread tool appears in the instructor interface. To do that, check the box next to your new registration, and click on "Content menu" button at the top. From there, select your preferred location(s).
Go into your System Admin area.
Find the "Tools and Utilities" section, and click on "Tools" there.
Find the "Basic LTI" section, and make sure VoiceThread is enabled.
If for any reason you cannot use the Basic LTI Building Block, there is an option to configure an LTI integration outside of that. Just note that this version of the integration does not support copying of course templates, Mashups, or future Blackboard-specific features that may exist in the future.
Navigate to System Admin -> Building Blocks -> Basic LTI Tool Providers.
For Provider Domain, enter your custom VoiceThread domain (provided by VoiceThread).
Make sure the Provider Domain is "Approved".
Under Default Configuration, check "Set globally".
Enter your Tool Provider Key and Tool Provider Secret (provided by VoiceThread).
Under Institutional Policies, check all three options for User Fields to Send.
To ensure that grading has been enabled, click on "Manage Global Properties" at the top of your list of LTI tools, and make sure that the option for allowing tools to post grades has been enabled.
Note: Depending on your version of Blackboard, you may need to navigate to System Admin -> Course Settings -> Course Tools and ensure that the VoiceThread LTI tool is set to "Enabled".
Make sure you've completed the global LTI configuration above.
Go to the LTI Tool Providers page, and click "Manage Placements".
Enter a Label (for example: "VoiceThread"). This will be the name that appears in the user interface.
Enter a Handle. This must be unique in your database, and it will not be visible to end users.
Select the location where you would like this placement to appear.
Assignment due dates do not save within Blackboard.
Submitted assignments do not show up in the "Needs Grading" area of the grade center.
This is caused by a bug in Blackboard. If you click on the VoiceThread link in your course and see a "Launch" button, don't click on it. Instead, try letting the page sit for a few seconds without clicking anything. You should be forwarded to VoiceThread automatically.
To prevent this issue, try enabling the User Acknowledgement Message in your global LTI configuration for VoiceThread. This will require users to click on the "Launch" button before they will be forwarded to VoiceThread.
If the issue is isolated to a single link, the description entered by the instructor when setting up the VoiceThread link in the course likely contains a line break. Descriptions in Blackboard must be a single, continuous paragraph. To correct this, edit the description so that it does not contain any line breaks at all.
Note: This is fixed in the Q2 2016 update of Blackboard.
If the issue occurs with all links in all courses, check to make sure the Shared Secret is entered correctly in your Global LTI Configuration and Placement.
If the issue occurs with all links in all courses and the Shared Secret is accurate, please make sure the clock on your Blackboard server is accurate.
Verify that the Consumer Key is entered correctly in both your Global LTI Configuration and Placement.
Make sure the URL is entered correctly for your Placement.
Grading likely has not yet been enabled for LTI tools. Please see step 7 for the Building Block or step 9 under Global LTI Configuration above.