Connecting Zoom to Open edX

Owned by Andrés González
Last updated: Mar 27, 2024
5 min read

This article shows how to set up Zoom to connect with Open edX using LTI.

Introduction

There are basically two ways of inserting a Zoom meeting in an Open edX course:

  1. Inserting the meeting link as in iframe

  2. Using LTI

LTI (Learning Tools Integration) offers a standard interface so that LMS platforms of any brand can communicate with content providers.

Using LTI to connect Zoom to Open edX has a number of advantages:

  • You can share a licensed account with multiple courses (as long as the scheduled meetings don’t overlap). This can lead to a dramatic cost reduction versus giving one account to each course staff member.

  • Meetings are confined to the course where they are created

  • No need to communicate meeting links or passcodes to the students.

  • Staff can create and edit meetings from inside Open edX, without needing to log into Zoom.

  • Multiple meetings can be added to the same course in different units. All meetings in the course will be visible everywhere.

  • Students see all meetings scheduled for the course

  • Students will only have the possibility to join a meeting, while course staff members can also start, create, edit or delete a meeting. All in the same place.

  • Recordings can be made available to students in the same place. Staff members have the option to publish the recording, and trim the start and end before.

Note: You will need a PRO Zoom account to enable LTI integration

Enabling LTI in a Zoom account

  1. Log into App Marketplace with your Zoom admin account.

  2. Use the search box to find the “LTI Pro” application

    image-20240315-105819.png

  3. Add the app to the account for all users

    image-20240315-105906.png

  4. The app should now appear in the “Added Apps” list, under the menu “manage”

  5. Click on the app name to return to the settings page. At the bottom you will find a button “Configure”

  6. Click on it to enter the configuration screen

  7. Click on “+ Create a new credential” to open the credential creation form. Set a relevant name and choose LTI 1.1.

  8. Take note of the generated values. You will need them to set up Open edX:

    1. LTI URL

    2. OAuth Redirect URL

    3. LTI Key

    4. LTI Secret

  9. Set “Email or Employee Unique ID Attribute Name” with the value “custom_instructor_email”

  10. Under “Approved Domains” add the list of domains used in Open edX, including the base LMS, Studio, MFE and preview URLs as configured in the platform. E.g.:

    1. https://openedx.example.com

    2. https://studio.openedx.example.com

    3. https://apps.openedx.example.com

    4. https://preview.openedx.example.com

  11. Set the other values according to your preferences. You don’t need to do any action to save the settings.

Enable an Open edX course to connect to Zoom via LTI

The next actions must be done in each course where you want to insert a Zoom LTI component.

You can use the same LTI credentials for all courses, as long as they will be used under the same domains. They are not related to Zoom users or licenses.

Inside the course’s advanced configuration, add the lti_consumer to the advanced module list.

Add an LTI passport to the list, with the format “Zoom:<LTI key>:<LTI secret>". Use the LTI key and secrets obtained from the LTI Pro Zoom application.

E.g.:

Insert a Zoom LTI component in a course unit

Option A: in a course unit

To insert a Zoom LTI component in a course:

  1. Create a unit for you live classes and insert an LTI component from the Advanced module block

     

  2. Edit the block created to open the settings page:

  3. Configure LTI component:

    1. Set a relevant name

    2. Set a description (optional)

    3. Leave LTI 1.1/1.2 version

    4. Set the LTI URL informed by the LTI Pro Zoom application

    5. Set the email of the zoom user on whose behalf the meetings will be created. Use the format ["custom_instructor_email=<email of zoom licensed user>"].

    6. Set the LTI launch target to Inline and leave the rest as default

Option B: In the Live Classes section

  1. In Studio, go to Content > Pages and resources

     

  2. Click on the gear in the Live box

     

  3. Fill the form with the information from the Zoom LTI Pro credential

    The Launch Email is the email of the zoom user on whose behalf the meetings will be created.

Notes