LTI 1.3 Integration: Course-building in D2L Brightspace

Where to find the Tool

1. Navigate to Content.  In a module, select Existing Activities, and select CertMaster LTI Adv from the Existing Activities menu within your module.  Links will be created within your module. 

Note: If your integration was configured before 2024, your tool may be called TestOut LTI Adv or LabSim LTI Adv. This is the same tool under a different name and will function identically.

2. The first time you launch (or if it has been a while since you last used the tool), click Accept to launch the tool.

Using the Content Selector

This section covers how to interact with the CertMaster tool's Deep Linking Content Selector. 

There are three categories of resources you can link: Course Resources, Custom Quizzes, and Assessments.

Adding Links to Course Resources

Any resource in our courses, even as small as individual pages of the reading, can be linked through the Course Resources section.

1. Click Course Resources. 
   

2. Search for and select the desired product.

   • If your institution purchases license pools or uses Usage-based Billing, you can check Institution-licensed products to show only the products that have licenses available. The small badge to the right of the product indicates a license has been set up.
     

   Please note the different CertMaster product types and be sure to select the one that corresponds to the access method your Learners are using. Access keys and licenses only apply to a single product, and many products have overlapping content. As a result, CertMaster Practice is the only product that should ever be mix-and-matched with others in an LMS course.

   • Learn: CompTIA's base-level product. Contains reading content, interactives, quizzes, simulation-based labs, as well as assessments and practice exams.
   • Labs: Supplementary product that contains Virtual Machine labs that allow students to practice in a full version of the operating system in question.
   • Perform (and Learn + Labs): CompTIA's flagship product. Contains all of the content in both Learn and Labs.
   • Study: Reduced version of the Learn product. Provides readings, videos, and brief quizzes, without simulations. Using this alongside Labs is the only case where choosing two products from this list is not redundant.
   • Practice: Exam readiness product that aggregates results data from itself and other CertMaster products to provide Mastery Scores that indicate how well a learner knows exam objectives. Includes Practice exams with an enormous, randomized pool of questions.
      
3. On the left, select the chapter you wish to link to from the list. The resources within that chapter will appear in the right-hand column.
4. Select one or more resources you wish to link in the LMS course. 
   • Use the filter icon to filter by content type. 
   • Given how many individual reading Lessons there are in each course (indicated by the page icon), many users choose to filter Lessons out while building their courses. Students will have be able to page through the whole course after entering through a link, so it's not necessary to create individual links to every single page.
     
     
      
5. Click Continue. 
    

6. On the next page, select which items you would like to sync to the LMS gradebook. By default, all gradeable items (everything except Section Headers, which are ungraded) are set to create a grade-synced LMS assignment link with a corresponding column in the LMS gradebook. If you don't want to create a graded assignment in the LMS and want to create an ungraded link to that item, uncheck the item's box in the Graded column. 
   
   

    

7. Click Create Links. 
   • The more links you choose to create, the longer this process can take - for example, hundreds of links can take up to 5 minutes to process. The LMS may appear frozen or unchanged, but it is processing the links in the background.

Adding a Link to a Custom Quiz

Note that only Custom Quizzes that have already been created will appear in the LTI tool. To learn how to create a Custom Quiz, see Creating and Managing Custom Quizzes in CertMaster.

1. Once the CertMaster LTI Adv tool loads, click Custom Quizzes.
   
    
2. Under Custom Quiz Owner, select the Instructor who created the Custom Quiz.
3. Select the desired Custom Quiz.
4. Select the number of points you would like this Custom Quiz to be worth inside the LMS gradebook.
   • Note that this will not change the value of the Custom Quiz in CertMaster's reporting views.
5. Click Create Link to create a grade-synced assignment link with a corresponding gradebook column in your LMS.
   • Note that students who click this link will be allowed one attempt immediately. If a student requires additional attempts, see Allowing Multiple Attempts for an LMS-Scheduled Quiz.

Adding a Link to a Competency Assessment

1. Once the CertMaster LTI Adv tool loads, click Class Assessments.
   
   
2. Select the Class Assessment for which you want to create an assignment link.
3. Select the number of points you would like the Class Assessment to be worth inside the LMS gradebook.
   • Note that this will not change the value of the assessment in CertMaster's reporting views.
4. Click Create Link to create a grade-synced assignment link with a corresponding gradebook column in your LMS. 
   • Note that students who click this link will be allowed one attempt immediately. If a student requires additional attempts, the instructor will need to skip to Step 8 of Schedule a Competency Assessment

Editing Link Properties in the LMS

LMS settings for the links and assignments can be edited as normal, including any ability to set due dates and point values for graded items. CertMaster's Grade Sync returns a percentage, which the LMS then applies to the point value to calculate the grade shown in the LMS gradebook.

For more info on Grade Syncing, see LMS Integration: Grade Sync FAQ.

For additional details on editing link properties, please consult your LMS's documentation. 

Link Confirmation in Brightspace

Within Content, you will be able to see your created assignment links. You will also be able to see created columns in the LMS course gradebook. 

Next Steps for Instructors and Learners

Please make instructors and students aware of our article LTI 1.3 Integration: Instructor Guide for first steps with an integrated course. No manual setup of users or classes is required in an integrated course, and if an instructor attempts it anyway, it can cause technical issues.