LMS/LXP with LTI/SSO – WAEI (和栄 / 和叡) Consultants

Quick definitions

LMS (Learning Management System): Admin-first platform for courses, enrollments, grading, compliance.
LXP (Learning Experience Platform): Learner-first hub for discovery, curation, recommendations, skills pathways, social learning.
LTI (Learning Tools Interoperability): Standard that lets external tools (quizzes, simulations, video, proctoring) plug into your LMS/LXP—passing identity/roles and (with Advantage) grades and rosters.
SSO (Single Sign-On): One login for all systems using your identity provider (IdP) (e.g., Azure AD/Entra, Okta, Google Workspace); supports SAML 2.0 or OIDC.

LMS-leaning: credit-bearing courses, compliance training, strict assessment & reporting.
LXP-leaning: self-directed upskilling, informal/social learning, multi-source content aggregation.
Hybrid: LMS runs formal learning; LXP sits on top for discovery and skills. Connect them with SSO and LTI so content and data flow.

User signs in via SSO to LMS/LXP (IdP handles MFA, policies).
Learner clicks an activity that launches an LTI 1.3 tool.
LMS/LXP sends a signed LTI launch (scoped identity + role + context).
Tool returns Deep Linking (to pick content) and/or Assignment & Grade Services (grade passback); Names & Roles enables roster/section awareness.

Identity & access
- SSO: SAML or OIDC; map roles (student/learner, instructor/admin).
- Provisioning: SCIM or API/SIS sync for accounts & groups; JIT provisioning for edge cases.
- Policies: MFA, session timeouts, conditional access (e.g., off-network).
Tool integrations (LTI 1.3 / Advantage)
- Required services: OIDC login, Deep Linking, AGS (grade passback), NRPS (names & roles).
- Prioritize: authoring (H5P), assessment, video, virtual classrooms, proctoring, plagiarism, sim/lab tools, analytics.
Data & analytics
- Event pipelines (e.g., xAPI/Caliper) from LMS/LXP + tools; unify in a warehouse or vendor dashboard.
- Dashboards for instructors, program leads, leadership (engagement, completion, risk).

“Vendor must support LTI 1.3 Advantage (OIDC, Deep Linking, AGS, NRPS) and provide setup docs.”
“Must integrate with our IdP via SAML 2.0 or OIDC and support SCIM user provisioning.”
“Provide grade passback reliability ≥ 99.9%, with retry & error logs.”
“Expose usage/engagement events via xAPI/Caliper or API.”
“Meet WCAG 2.x AA and supply a VPAT; store PII in region X; sign DPA.”

Using LTI as login: Don’t. Use SSO for auth; LTI for tool launch inside a course.
Roster mismatch: Standardize section IDs and test NRPS; avoid manual CSV drift.
Grade passback failures: Require AGS conformance testing and monitoring; define retry policy.
Fragmented analytics: Decide a single source of truth; document event mappings early.
Vendor-specific SSO quirks: Prefer OIDC if you need fine-grained scopes; fall back to SAML where required.

Students SSO → LMS course → LTI video + H5P tasks.
Deep Linking inserts activities; AGS returns scores to LMS gradebook; instructors see risk flags on a course dashboard.
Program lead views completion and CEFR-aligned outcomes across sections.

Employees SSO (Entra/Okta) → LXP for discovery; formal modules delivered via LMS.
Badge assessments in an LTI tool pass grades/attempts to LMS; LXP shows pathway progress; HRIS receives completion via API.

Day 0–30: Identity design (SSO method, roles), pilot IdP integration, choose 3 priority LTI tools, stand up test course, AGS/NRPS smoke tests.
Day 31–60: Expand integrations, finalize course templates, build analytics MVP, run instructor enablement.
Day 61–90: Production go-live, monitoring & error-handling playbook, admin training, governance (change control, new tool intake).

Friction: SSO success rate, helpdesk tickets per 1k users.
Adoption: % courses using standard templates, LTI tool usage by course.
Learning impact: completion, time-to-competence, assessment reliability, CEFR or KPI movement.
Ops health: grade passback error rate, roster sync SLA, uptime.