Before links can be created, LTI must be configured. Please reach out to your school's IT department and have an LMS admin review our guide on either, Adding zyBooks as an LTI 1.1 external tool/app or
Linking a zyBooks assignment to an LMS is a 2 step process.
Step 1: Create a link in the LMS course.
Step 2: Configure the link to a zyBook assignment
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Creating a link in Canvas
To get started, navigate to the course in Canvas that needs to be linked.
Next, create or navigate to a module for the class.
Click on the gray "+" button.
In the "Add" dropdown box, select "Assignment" to create a link with grade passback or
"External tool" to create a link with no grade passback.
Click "Add Item".
If creating a link without grade passback, continue ahead to step 2, Configure the link.
Otherwise, click on the newly created assignment item to begin editing
Give the assignment a name and point value.
Note: zyBooks sends scores as percentages, not points. Therefore the point value in Canvas does not have to match the point value in zyBooks. Canvas will convert the score to the correct point scale.
Common error: If the point value is left at 0, students will not be able to earn a score higher than 0 because any percentage of 0 is 0.
Next, under "Submission type" select "External tool and enter the URL.
External Tool URL: https://lti.zybooks.com/v1/lti_provider
For the best experience, we very highly recommend selecting to load the tool in a new tab.
Save the changes.
On the next page select "Load zyBooks Participation in a new window"
Next, skip ahead to step 2, Configure the link.
Creating a link in Brightspace
Begin by going to your course content. Go to Add Existing Activities and then choose External Learning Tools:
To create a link with no grade passback, select "zyBooks" from the activity list.
To create a link that supports grade passback, scroll to the bottom of the modal that appears and click "Create New LTI Link"
If creating a link without grade passback, continue ahead to step 2, Configure the link.
Otherwise, enter the title for your link. This is the title that your students will see in Brightspace.
Then enter the LTI URL below
LTI URL https://lti.zybooks.com/v1/lti_provider
Finally, click "Create and Insert".
Next, skip ahead to step 2, Configure the link to a zyBook assignment.
Creating a link in Blackboard
From your course home page, select "Content" in the left menu.
Hover over the "Build Content" dropdown and select "Web Link".
Enter the assignment name followed by the zyBooks LTI provider URL
zyBooks LTI provider URL: https://lti.zybooks.com/v1/lti_provider
Don't forget to check the box "This link is a Tool Provider."
To create a link with no grade passback, set "Enable Evaluation" to No and continue ahead to step 2, Configure the link.
To create a link with grade passback, set "Enable Evaluation" to Yes and set a point value.
Note: zyBooks sends scores as percentages, not points. Therefore the point value in Canvas does not have to match the point value in zyBooks. Canvas will convert the score to the correct point scale.
Common error: If the point value is left at 0, students will not be able to earn a score higher than 0 because any percentage of 0 is 0.
Click "Submit" at the bottom to complete the link creation.
Then skip ahead to step 2, Configure the link to a zyBook assignment.
Creating a link in Moodle
If necessary, in the top right corner, click the gear icon and turn editing on. Editing may already have been turned on in a previous session.
Click the "Add an activity or resource" button in the lower right corner and then choose to add an "External tool".
Fill out the "Activity name" field.
Select "Automatic, based on tool URL" as in the "Preconfigured tool" dropdown menu.
Set the Tool URL to https://lti.zybooks.com/v1/lti_provider
Configure the link
Click on the link that was just created and needs to be configured.
Clicking an unconfigured link in an LMS will navigate to the zyBooks library in "Link to your Learning Management System" mode.
Note: Once a link has been configured to point to a zyBook assignment or section, it can not be modified to point anywhere else. If a link is configured incorrectly, the link will need to be deleted in the LMS and a new link must be created and then configured.
Start by selecting the zyBook that should be linked to.
Note: Links can only be created in adopted class zyBooks, we do not support linking to an evaluation zyBook. Contact an account executive for help with adopting a zyBook for a class.
To create a link with grade passback, select "Create or link assignment".
Select the assignment to link to from the Assignment list or click the orange "+ Assignment" button to create a new assignment. You can review our article, How to create an assignment, if you are not sure how to create an assignment.
To create a link without grade passback, select "Link to Section". Note that in some cases, the selection might be made automatically and direct to the next screen.
Select the section link to. Note that the Table of contents can also be selected.
Once a link has been established, this selection can not be modified.
When a student clicks on a link, the following occurs:
- We check to see if the student has an account with the email address that the LMS sends.
- If the student has an account we log them in
- If the student does not have an account with that email address yet but is logged into an account with a different email address, we inform the student and ask if they would like us to merge the accounts
- If the student does not have an account and is not logged in, a new account is created and the student is logged into that account. The student is sent an email with a password in case they ever want to log into zyBooks directly.
- We check to see if the student is subscribed to the zyBook yet
- If the student is not subscribed, they are taken to the subscribe page to complete their subscription.
- If the student is subscribed, they are taken to the first section in the assignment or section that was linked to.
To learn more about how student scores are sent to the grade book, review the article, How does Assignment auto-submission work?
Additional steps for Brightspace only
Adding the assignment to your grade book
Next, scroll down in Brightspace to the Activity Details box that appears at the bottom of the page. Under the heading "Assessment", click "Add a grade item".
Then click the new plus button that appears.
Add a name, this is the name that will appear in your gradebook, then set the point value. Brightspace typically defaults to 10. If your Brightspace assesment has a different point value than the zyBooks assignment, the score will be converted correctly.
When you are ready, click "Create" at the bottom. The create modal will close and you should see a new blue "Save" button in the Assessment box. Click "Save" to save the assessment.
That item will now be available in your grade book.