Why should I use LTI Advantage?

In this article we're going to show you the advantages of using LTI Advantage as you move forward in your journey!

At this point, we've got SCORM, LTI 1.1, and LTI Advantage.

It can be a lot to figure out which option is the best for you or why you should be using it! We're here to help provide you with the information to make the most informed decision.

LTI Advantage 

LTI Advantage is the latest version of LTI, with new features some users have been waiting for for a while! 

In this new version of LTI, we get Deep Linking, Grade Transfer and better security! These are definitely some exciting times for those who've been on LTI 1.1 and are upgrading to LTI Advantage, or those who are brand new to the scene! (And yes, SCORM users, you're able to use LTI Advantage as well as long as your LMS is LTI compatible!)

So let's break down what this means for you: 

• Deep Linking: This allows us to create a link from your LMS that goes directly to one of our courses or chapters. This gives the LMS the access it needs to go directly to that content. Without it, the link would try to open SkillMill and you'd get a white screen with an error, or just a white screen. For users who were previously using our "SCORM" page to download courses and upload them into their LMS, this is a huge improvement and saves a lot of time! Please be sure you checkmark the option for this when setting up your LTI integration!
• Assignment and Grade Services: This feature allows us to link to your LMS assignments and gradebooks. (We know some of y'all have been waiting for this one!) This feature gives us the ability to create line items in the system and having a grade column that receives our percent total score. You'll need to checkmark this feature so we can sync with your gradebook!
• Better Security: LTI Advantage adopts modern security, which includes OAuth 2.0, JSON Web Tokens (JWT), and OpenID Connect (OIDC). This makes the process of updating and re-certifying LTI 1.3 compliant tools simpler, since updates are made at the core of LTI 1.3 rather than needing to update a whole suite of LTI services like it's predecessor! 
• Names and Roles Provisioning: This service allows your LMS to send us the names of your users and create an account for them on our side.

LTI 1.1 

While LTI 1.1 is what led to the adoption of LTI to begin with, it's features are a little less varied than it's child, LTI Advantage. 

While LTI connects to your LMS differently compared to SCORM, there are a few similarities between the two. So, when choosing between SCORM and LTI 1.1, the choice is made more from a perspective of what your LMS is compatible with, rather than what LTI is capable of. 

• LTI is focused on connecting learning systems. Unlike SCORM, which is focused on launching training content and tracking interactions, LTI isn't just a "one and done" type solution. LTI creates a bridge of communication from your LMS to our learning content, which doesn't just stop running once the course is uploaded. This is what helps your courses update when we make changes to them. 
• Security: LTI 1.1 Authenticates users via OAuth. This offers some added security compared to SCORM. If your LMS is LTI compatible, the security feature alone is enough for us to recommend you use LTI over SCORM. 
• Need for manual upload of courses: While LTI maintains a connection to our system, there is still a need for manual upload like SCORM. Your content will be packaged for LMS 1.1 and you will need to upload courses individually into your LMS. However, with LTI advantage, this is unnecessary! 👀

SCORM 

• SCORM focuses on launching training content and tracking interactions through packaged content. Unlike LTI Advantage, which creates a line of communication in which our system and your LMS are always speaking, SCORM works differently. 
  SCORM is a "one and done" type system where once you've downloaded the courses you need from us and have uploaded them into your system, the communication between our system and yours are limited. 
  However, this doesn't mean you'll need to reupload courses when we update them. You'll still get all the new updates we make to courses the next time you launch the course! 
• Courses are uploaded and played: With SCORM, courses need to be individually downloaded and uploaded into your LMS in order to play. 
• Compatibility: Due to the fact that SCORM is the first form of standards and packaged content created for Learning Management Systems, it boasts the ability of being compatible with almost every system! 

We hope this article has helped you in clearing up questions you may have had and helped you picture the differences between each option! As always, thank you so much for reading this article, and happy learning! 😎