Overview
What are third-party tools in Blackboard?
Third-party tools can be integrated within Blackboard to extend its functionality. New tools must undergo a rigorous evaluation process to ensure data security and technical feasibility, which can take weeks or months to conduct. Because adding new tools into Blackboard can have system-wide implications, requests to enable a new tool require department sign-off; therefore, they are not commonly fulfilled for an individual faculty or course. Panopto, ExamSoft, Voice Thread, Piazza, etc. are common third-party applications that are available to use from within USC’s Blackboard.
An external tool can be enabled campus-wide or for a department (i.e., isolated and available to only valid licensed users in that department). This functionality permits simultaneous installations of the same tool under different licenses that are only available and accessible to the users in those programs. For example, Piazza is licensed by the Viterbi School of Engineering, so only their classes will have the tool available for students and faculty to use.
What are the advantages of integrating third-party tools into Blackboard?
The advantage to configuring an external tool in Blackboard is that a user, once they are logged in, will not need a separate username or password to access the tool.
What are LTIs?
‘LTI’ stands for Learning Tools Interoperability and is a protocol used by learning management systems (LMS)- like Blackboard- to communicate and share data with external, third-party tools so its users can have access to them within the LMS environment. It is a term used interchangeably with ‘external tools”, and the preferred standard for adding external tools into Blackboard.
Configuration
External Tool Roles
| Sponsor | A third-party sponsor is a faculty or staff member who has oversight responsibilities for licensing third-party applications (e.g., YouSeeU, Lecture Tools, etc.). The LTI sponsor may be responsible for supporting the LTI application once installed. |
| Course Instructor | A course instructor is a current paid USC faculty or staff member who is assigned to teach a Blackboard course. The LTI sponsor may also act as a course instructor. The course instructor is specifically responsible for monitoring and maintaining the course participants’ compliance with the University of Southern California policies and guidelines. Course instructor(s) can manually activate any LTI applications, licensed by their school, and enabled within their course, only after the tool is installed by the Blackboard Server Team. |
| Course Participant | A course participant is a currently enrolled USC student or USC faculty, staff, teaching assistant, or affiliate who is enrolled in a Blackboard course. Only users with valid, current USC user names and passwords can be Blackboard course participants. Course participants can access LTI applications from within a Blackboard course, if enabled by the course instructor. |
Default Integrations
The following tools are enabled, by default, and ready to use in all courses:
- Qwickly & QwicklyAttendance – Add content to multiple courses and take attendance from within Blackboard.
- Turnitin – Turnitin checks students’ submitted work for text matches to outside sources.
- Zoom – Zoom is USC’s primary video conferencing platform. All virtual class meetings are hosted on Zoom.
- Respondus Lock Down Browser – LockDown Browser® is a custom browser that locks down the testing environment within Blackboard, making students unable to copy, print, access other applications, or visit other websites during an online exam.
Available Integrations
The tools below have already been vetted and can be enabled in your Blackboard course either by turning it on yourself, or sending a request to our team at blackboard@usc.edu. Please click on the link for the tool you would like to use to see how it can be enabled for your course.
Tool Name |
Description |
| ARES Course Reserves | Connect your Blackboard course(s) to ARES, the USC Libraries’ e-reserves system. |
| Blackboard Collaborate Ultra | A synchronous, online, collaborative learning and web conferencing tool that is launched from within your course. |
| Dropbox/Google Drive | Add files from your Dropbox and/or Google Drive accounts via the Content Editor. |
| Gradescope | Gradescope is only available for certain schools. If you would like to use Gradescope please work with your department coordinator to purchase a license. |
| ExamSoft | ExamSoft is only available for certain schools. If you would like to use ExamSoft please work with your department coordinator to purchase a license. |
| LinkedIn Learning (formerly lynda.com) | Embed lessons from LinkedIn Learning in your Blackboard course. |
| Panopto | Panopto is only available for certain schools. If you are instructor and would like to use Panopto or need support for it, please contact your school’s local IT department. |
| Perusall | Perusall is an e-reader platform that allows students and faculty to annotate the assigned readings and engage the reading material in a style akin to social media posting. |
| Poll Everywhere | Use this audience response tool to conduct synchronous in-class polling, quizzes, and more. |
| VoiceThread | VoiceThread is only available for certain schools. If you would like to use VoiceThread please work with your department coordinator to purchase a license. |
Requesting an External Tool Integration
Please visit our service catalog to request an LTI integration to: LTI Service Request Form. LTI sponsors should complete the request form. LTI integration’s require the license holder to work with the Blackboard server team to integrate LTI tools.
The license holder will be required to:
- Work with the ITS Blackboard Administrator and the IAMSC (Identity and Access Management Steering Committee) as needed to ensure that the LTI conforms to USC policies and to obtain required approvals.
- Sign a Service Level Agreement (SLA) that requires the signer to assume all support responsibilities for the configured LTI tool.
- Provide Enterprise Learning Technologies with a copy of the agreement with the LTI vendor. The LTI tool needs to be purchased under a valid campus-wide or departmental license agreement.
- Work with the ITS Blackboard Administrator to test the LTI on a test environment.
Typically the review, approval, testing, and activation on the production system, may take up to 45-days to complete, assuming no issues are found.