T004 – Adding BookWidgets to Moodle as an LTI 1.3 Tool

This guide explains how a Moodle site administrator can register BookWidgets as an LTI 1.3 (LTI Advantage) external tool using Dynamic Registration.

Before you begin:

  • You need a Moodle account with site administrator rights.
  • Your Moodle instance must support LTI Advantage Dynamic Registration (Moodle 3.10 or later; Moodle 4.x recommended).
  • If you are migrating from an existing LTI 1.1 deployment, see Migrating from LTI 1.1 for details and implications of such a migration.

Step 1: Request a Dynamic Registration link

Contact sales@bookwidgets.com to request an LTI Advantage Dynamic Registration link for your Moodle instance.

Step 2: Open the External tool management page

  1. Log in to Moodle as a site administrator.
  2. Go to Site administration → Plugins → Activity modules → External tool → Manage tools.

Step 3: Register BookWidgets with the Dynamic Registration link

  1. In the Tool URL field at the top of the page, paste the Dynamic Registration link you received from BookWidgets.
  2. Click Add LTI Advantage.

  3. The registration completes automatically, and BookWidgets appears on the Manage tools page as a tool card marked Pending.

    Note: If you already had BookWidgets installed as an LTI 1.1 tool, you will be offered to upgrade it to LTI 1.3. See Migrating from LTI 1.1 for details and implications of such a migration.


Note: The Dynamic Registration link can only be used once. After it has been consumed, it cannot be reused, even if registration was interrupted or failed. If you need to register again, contact sales@bookwidgets.com for a new link.

Step 4: Set the tool configuration usage

  1. Click the gear icon on the BookWidgets tool card to open its configuration.
  2. Under Tool configuration usage, select Show in activity chooser and as a preconfigured tool.
  3. Click Save changes.

Step 5: Activate the tool

  1. Back on the Manage tools page, find the BookWidgets tool card marked Pending.
  2. Click Activate.

Step 6: Test the integration

  1. Open a test course and turn Edit mode on.
  2. Click Add an activity or resource and select BookWidgets.
  3. Click Select content to open BookWidgets, pick or create a widget, and return to Moodle.
  4. Save the activity, then open it as a teacher and as a test student to confirm that the launch works and that grades are passed back to the gradebook.

BookWidgets is now available to all teachers on your Moodle site.

Migrating from LTI 1.1

If BookWidgets was previously installed on your Moodle site as an LTI 1.1 tool, Moodle can migrate the existing BookWidgets activities to the new LTI 1.3 tool. Before you migrate, be aware of the following implications:

  • Existing widget links keep working. BookWidgets activities that teachers already added to their courses remain available and don't need to be recreated.
  • Grade book links to old submissions keep working. Grades for submissions made before the migration stay connected to the Moodle gradebook.
  • Teachers need to reconnect their BookWidgets account. The first time a teacher opens BookWidgets from Moodle after the migration, they are asked to link their existing BookWidgets account again. Their widgets and earlier results remain available in that account.
  • Students get a new BookWidgets account. Students are automatically given a new account, with new storage for all widgets. This means the current progress students have made in their widgets is reset.
  • New submissions appear under a new course in BookWidgets. Submissions made through existing widget links after the migration are collected in BookWidgets under a new course with the same name as the original one.

If you installed a BookWidgets Results LTI 1.1 tool, it should be removed, and teacher should re-install the tool in their course (see the Connecting with Moodle guide)


Tip: Plan the migration at a quiet moment, for example between terms, so students don't lose work in progress on widgets they're still working on.

Troubleshooting

  • BookWidgets doesn't appear in the activity chooser: check that Tool configuration usage is set to Show in activity chooser and as a preconfigured tool (Step 4).
  • Registration failed or was interrupted: the link has already been used. Remove the incomplete tool card and request a new link from sales@bookwidgets.com.
  • I no longer see my previously submitted results after migrating from LTI 1.1: A new deployment results in a new BookWidgets course when you open the BookWidgets results link. To see your previous results, navigate to Courses , where you will find a course with the same name containing your previous results.
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