Learn how to use LTI version 1.3 with your library or cloud ebook in Kotobee Author. 

LTI is a widely used specification by LMSs especially, to allow external systems (e.g. an ebook app) to communicate safely with the LMS. The primary feature that makes it very useful is avoiding the need to log in separately into the external system and be able to know who the LMS-logged user is.

LTI 1.3 is the latest version of LTI and provides many additional functionalities over its successors LTI 1.2 and 1.1. However, integrating with LTI 1.3 may require more steps. In this guide, we will walk you through how to do this integration taking Moodle as an example LMS.

To see the integration guide for LTI 1.1 visit this support article instead. 

Kotobee Library Settings

To start the integration, you first need to have a private library created through Kotobee Author. You can skip the following step if you already have a private library set up.

Create a Library

  1. Open Kotobee Author, and enter your serial number

  2. Go to Manage tab, Libraries section, and click New Library button in the top right corner.

  3. Enter the library Name and Subdomain, and in case you have an enterprise license, choose your organization's domain. Click Create.

  4. Go to the new library's Settings section, the Permissions tab, and make the book permissions Private. Click Save Settings.

Enable LTI

  1. From the library Settings, go to the Integrations section, check the checkbox next to Enable LTI, and select LTI Version 1.3


  2. Once enabled, a few more options will appear under the checkbox. Leave them empty for now, as you'll fill them later with values you'll get from the LMS.

  3. Write down the value of these fields: [Public keyset, Initiate login URL, and Redirect URI]. You'll insert them inside the LMS later on. If you have an enterprise license, make sure to replace 'www.kotobee.com' with your own domain.

  4. If you want the integration to report grades to the LMS, check the Report to LMS option.

  5. Click Save changes

Create LTI Courses

After you have successfully enabled LTI, you'll see a new section under Libraries menu labeled LTI. In this section, you can create "LTI Courses" which define the permissions your users will acquire once they open a certain activity in the LMS. 

Each activity in the LMS must have an LTI course with a matching name in order for the integration to work. You can create any number of courses and control their permissions from the LTI section. 

  1. Click on LTI under Libraries

  2. Add a new course by writing the course title in the text field in the top right corner. As mentioned previously, the course title MUST match the activity name inside the LMS.

  3. Once the course is created it gets global access by default. You can modify its permissions by clicking the Permissions button next to it.

Now let's see what settings are required inside the LMS in the following section. 

LMS Settings

We will use Moodle as an example in this guide.

Create an External Tool

  1. Sign in as an administrator to your Moodle website

  2. Go to Site Administration section

  3. Go to Plugins > Activity modules > External tools > Manage tools

  4. Inside the Add tool box, click on configure a tool manually

  5. Inside the tool settings form, add the information as follows:

    Tool nameA name of your choice will be viewed by the teachers when they add an external tool to a course.
    Tool URLThe URL of the library or cloud ebook.
    Tool descriptionAn optional field, viewable by teachers.
    LTI VersionChoose LTI 1.3
    Public key typeKeyset URL
    Public keysetUse the value from Integration settings in Author that you got in a previous step.
    Initiate login URL

    Use the value from the Integrations settings in Author that you got in a previous step.

    Redirection URI(s)

    Use the "Redirection URI" value you got from Kotobee Author in a previous step.

  6. Under Services, set "IMS LTI Assignment and Grade Services" to "grade sync and column management".

  7. Under Privacy, ensure all settings are adjusted to "Always".

  8. Keep the rest of the settings as the default, and click Save Changes.

  9. Go back to the Manage tools page and scroll to find the list of tools. Find the tool you created, and click the icon shown in the screenshot below.

  10. A popup window will appear showing the configuration of this tool. Copy these values to the corresponding fields in Libraries > Settings > Integrations in Kotobee Author.


  11. Now you're all set up. The remaining part is adding a tool inside a course and testing the integration.

Add an Activity

  1. As a teacher, open the course you want to add the activity to and enable editing mode by clicking Turn editing on.

  2. Find the section you want to add the activity to, and click Add an activity or resource.

  3. In the popup that appears, select External tool

  4. On the page for adding a new tool, insert an activity name and make sure it matches the name of an LTI course you created earlier inside Kotobee Author. Choose the tool you created from the list in Preconfigured tools.

  5. Click Save and return to the course.

  6. Now you'll see the activity added to your course's page. You can click on it to preview.

Blackboard LMS

In Blackboard, there's an extra step you need to do, which is to create an "application" using a "developer account" before you can actually use the integration inside your school's account. The following steps explain the steps in detail.


Create a Blackboard application

If you already have an account, skip to step 4.

  1. Go to Blackboard Developer Portal and click Sign up.

  2. Read the terms and click I Agree

  3. Enter your information and click Create an account.

  4. Login to your account and go to My Applications page.

  5. Click the plus button on the right to add a new application

  6. Enter the application name and description, and enter "www.kotobee.com" in the domains field. If you have an enterprise license, enter your own domain instead.

  7. Enable the My Integration supports LTI 1.3 option 

  8. Fill the next fields as follows:

    1. Login Initiation URL: Use "Initiate login URL" from Kotobee Author LTI settings.

    2. Tool Redirect URL(s): Use "Redirection URI" from Kotobee Author LTI settings.

    3. Tool JWKS URL: Use "Public keyset" from Kotobee Author LTI settings.

    4. Signing Algorithm: Choose "RS256".

    5. Custom Parameters: Keep it empty.

  9. Click Register Application.

  10. The information in the next screen is important, write them in a safe place to use later on. 

  11. Copy this information to Kotobee Author LTI settings as follows:


Blackboard Field

Kotobee Author Field

Application ID

Client ID

Issuer

Platform ID

Public keyset URL

Key URL

Auth token endpoint

Token URL

OIDC auth request endpoint

Auth URL


  1. The remaining empty field in Kotobee Author LTI settings now is "Deployment ID" which you'll get its value in the next section. 

  2. Click Save Settings in Kotobee Author. 

  3. Click Done in Blackboard.


Register the LTI Tool

  1. Login to your Administration Panel in the Blackboard LMS

  2. Under the Integrations section, choose LTI Tool Provider.

  3. Go to Register LTI 1.3/Advantage Tool tab

  4. In the Client ID field, enter the "Application ID" you got when you created the application above (Step 10). Then click Submit

  5. You end up on the “Accept LTI 1.3 Tool” page in which you can find the Deployment ID. Copy it and paste in Kotobee Author, under LTI settings.

  6. You don't need to change anything. Click Submit.


Creating a Placement

  1. Locate the tool in the LTI Tool Providers list and select Manage Placements from the drop-down menu next to it.

  2. Click Create Placement.

  3. Type a Label. This is the name that appears to users in a course.

  4. Add a description if the tool appears to students in their Tools menu. Descriptions do not appear to instructors.

  5. Type a Handle. Because this becomes the database entry, it must be unique and can only contain alphanumeric, underscore, or dash characters.

  6. For Availability, select Yes or No. For links managed by a Building Block, you can set an LTI placement to unavailable. Users will only see the tool once, instead of both Building Block and LTI tool links for the same tool.

  7. Select a type. Kotobee only supports two types:

    1. Course content tool: Allow instructors to add the tool to their course content. Choose this type if you want to create a tool as course content, and link it with specific access permissions in your library. The additional benefit of this type is that it allows submitting grades from the ebooks' question sets into the gradebook of the LMS.

    2. Course tool: The tool appears to instructors and course builders in the Course Management section of an Original course and in the Books & Tools menu of an Ultra course. 

      1. Allow student access: When selected, students can access the tool in the student Tools menu. Add a description to help students understand what the tool is and what it does. 

      2. Note that grading is not supported in this type.

  8. Add an icon for the tool by selecting Browse and uploading an image file 50 x 50 pixels.

  9. Click Submit.

Creating a Course Content Tool

  1. If you choose a course content tool, go to the content editing section in the course page

  2. click Build Content and find the placement you created earlier.

  3. The most important field that you must fill in correctly is the Name field. If you want users to gain access to a certain book (or books) in your library, you need to create a course in Kotobee Author, under the LTI section in your library. Then, the Name field here must match the exact name of the Kotobee course you created.



For more information on how to deploy the tool, please refer to this Blackboard official docs page, and find the Add an LTI 1.3/Advantage Tool section. For additional information about LTI registration and deployment in Blackboard, visit this page.