LTI 1.3 (Learning Tools Interoperability) is the 1EdTech standard that connects external learning tools to an LMS through one secure, certified handshake — covering single sign-on, roster access, deep linking, and gradebook pass-back. If a tool supports LTI 1.3, it behaves like a native feature of Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, or Brightspace instead of a bolt-on.
Every LMS ecosystem faces the same tension: instructors want best-of-breed tools — video platforms, assessment engines, discussion layers — while IT wants one identity system, one security review, and one place where grades live. LTI is the contract that makes both possible. The tool runs inside the course as if it were built in; the LMS stays the system of record for identity, enrollment, and grades.
LTI 1.3 replaces the aging signature scheme of LTI 1.1 with the same security stack that banks and identity providers use: OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect. When a learner clicks a tool link in a course, the LMS sends a signed launch message that says, in effect, “this is who the user is, this is their role, and this is the course they are in.” The tool verifies that signature against the platform's published public keys, so nothing depends on a shared password that could leak or be replayed.
For the learner, none of this is visible. They click a link and land in the tool already signed in, in the right course, with the right role. No second login, no account creation, no guessing which email address they registered with.
LTI 1.3 on its own handles the secure launch. LTI Advantage is the bundle of three services layered on top of it — and it is what most institutions actually mean when they require “LTI 1.3.”
Lets the tool read the course roster — who is enrolled, and in what role — so an instructor can see exactly which students have and haven't engaged, without a nightly CSV export or a separate user database to maintain.
Lets the tool create line items in the LMS gradebook and pass scores back automatically. A quiz completed inside a video can land in the Canvas or Moodle gradebook seconds later, with no manual entry and no import step.
Lets an instructor pick specific content from inside the tool — a particular video, quiz, or assignment — and drop it into a course module as a ready-to-launch link, instead of pasting raw URLs and hoping they resolve for students.
LTI 1.1 relied on OAuth 1.0a signatures with a single long-lived shared secret per tool — workable in 2010, indefensible now. 1EdTech has formally deprecated 1.1, and the major platforms have ended or scheduled the end of support for it. Security teams prefer 1.3 because key rotation, per-deployment isolation, and signed JWTs map cleanly onto modern audit requirements. For procurement, “LTI 1.3 with LTI Advantage certification” has become the baseline filter, the same way SSO support is for general SaaS.
Modern LMSs make registration close to instant. Canvas uses developer keys with a JSON configuration URL; Moodle, Blackboard, and Brightspace each accept dynamic registration or a short copy-paste of a client ID and keyset URL. A well-built tool ships those as a single URL, so an admin can go from zero to a working, gradebook-connected integration in minutes — see how one-click LTI integrations work for the exact flow in each LMS.
Annoto is an in-video engagement layer that runs inside your LMS through LTI 1.3. Instructors deep-link a video assignment into a module; learners get timeline discussion, in-video quizzes, personal notes with AI recaps, and peer review directly on top of the player — whether the video lives on Panopto, Kaltura, YouTube, Vimeo, or Annoto's native hosting. Names and Roles powers per-learner analytics, and Assignment and Grade Services syncs quiz and completion scores straight into the gradebook. Browse the full list of integrations, or see what setup looks like from the IT side.
When evaluating a tool, ask for: 1EdTech certification (not just “compatibility”), support for all three Advantage services, dynamic registration, documented key rotation, per-deployment tenancy, and a data-processing agreement that matches the roster data the tool will receive. Our LTI 1.3 procurement checklist walks through each item with the questions to put in an RFP.
Yes, substantially. LTI 1.1 signed launches with a single long-lived shared secret, and anyone holding that secret could forge launches. LTI 1.3 uses OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect with asymmetric key pairs: the LMS signs each launch as a JWT, the tool verifies it against a published public keyset, and keys can be rotated without downtime. That is why 1EdTech deprecated 1.1 and why most institutions refuse new 1.1 integrations.
Yes — through Assignment and Grade Services (AGS), part of LTI Advantage. A tool can create gradebook columns, post scores, and update them as learners progress. In Annoto's case, that means in-video quiz results and video-completion scores appear in the Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, or Brightspace gradebook automatically, with no CSV uploads.
Bring one video from your course and we'll show you LTI 1.3 deep linking, in-video quizzes, and gradebook sync working end to end in a 20-minute demo.
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