Learning about Learning Analytics and LTI 1.3 Advantage

As you’ve probably noticed by now, we’re more than a little excited about the Kaltura Connect conference, happening January 21-23, 2020 in New Orleans. One of the many sessions scheduled for the event that deserves special attention is an “Introduction to Learning Analytics: Leveraging Open Standards.” That panel will feature Rob Abel, the CEO of IMS Global Learning Consortium, and Jeff Rubenstein, the VP of Global Product Strategy and Business Development at Kaltura. They’ll be talking about what open standards are, why they matter, and what this framework means for educational institutions today and tomorrow.

IMS Global Learning Consortium is a non-profit organization that focuses on advancing technology for educational institutions and those that supply technology to them. The organization also sponsors the Learning Impact Leadership Institute, a global program that focuses on recognizing the impact of innovative technology on educational access, affordability, and quality.

One of IMS’s most important initiatives has been Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) and its newest core standard updates, LTI 1.3 and LTI Advantage.

What’s LTI?

Before we can talk about the new and exciting improvements represented by LTI 1.3 and LTI Advantage, we need to talk about LTI itself. LTI is a standard that’s been around for about a decade. It does the work of making sure Learning Management Systems (LMS) talk effectively with the various online tools educational institutions use to manage information and learning.

LTI is the most common technology core standard in education, providing a trusted, secure, and low-cost foundation across a wide array of learning platforms. Among other things, it means that LMS users don’t have to constantly manage dozens of passwords to access content and tools they need. Instead, they can have a non-fragmented, relatively seamless interaction with the many parts of their educational institution experience that happen online.

LTI is also designed to continue to evolve as digital learning does.

What’s LTI 1.3/Advantage and How Does That Relate to Video?

The thing about standards, though, is that sometimes they need updating. As new technologies and approaches become commonplace, standards need to keep up. This ensures that interoperability, quality, and user experience are not sacrificed.

To that end, LTI 1.3 is the latest version of the Learning Tools Interoperability Standards. It adds new security architectures and is more extensible than the previous version of LTI. That LTI 1.3 remains an open source framework makes it easier for both EdTech developers and educational institutions to add even more services going forward. And it’s mobile-friendly.

LTI Advantage, meanwhile, is based on LTI 1.3. It’s a set of three services that make it easier for faculty to build, manage, and offer courses that provide a great user experience while ensuring exceptional security.

What are these three services? First, LTI Advantage streamlines scoring and grading in a way that reduces faculty effort and the risk of errors. Next, it also simplifies course design by supporting the workflow between the LMS, content tools, and learning objects. Finally, it lets educators keep up-to-date with student activity and course rosters. This helps enhance the user experience and also makes it easier for administrators to stay on top of who is using learning tools… and who isn’t.

Because open standards are key to today’s educational technology space, Kaltura became certified in IMS Global Learning Consortium’s Learning Tools Interoperability 1.3 and LTI Advantage on May 15, 2019 when it launched. This made Kaltura the first video platform to achieve this certification and the only one included from the very beginning, reflecting Kaltura’s ongoing commitment to both educational technology and openness.