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Enabling Cerego and BigBlueButton in Open edX

Overview

Integrating external educational platforms helps expand the types of learning activities available in your course. This guide details how to embed Cerego (an adaptive learning platform driven by cognitive science) or BigBlueButton (an open-source web conferencing system designed specifically for online learning).

Both of these third-party platforms communicate with Open edX through the standard LTI (Learning Tools Interoperability) Consumer advanced component. While this guide primarily walks through a Cerego integration, the exact same procedures and parameters apply to BigBlueButton.

Note: The steps below describe the LTI 1.1 workflow using per-course LTI Passports. Starting with Open edX Ulmo (January 2026), Cerego and BigBlueButton can also be integrated via the centralized Reusable LTI Store, which uses LTI 1.3 (LTI Advantage). The Reusable LTI Store allows platform administrators to configure tool credentials once and make them available across all courses without repeating the LTI Passport setup in each course. Contact your Edly administrator for details on LTI 1.3 configuration..

 

Note: You must possess an active, paid enterprise account with Cerego or BigBlueButton to retrieve the required API handshake credentials before continuing.

Understanding LTI Parameters

To link Open edX with an external provider, you need three main components:

  1. LTI ID: A shorthand reference label that you create to represent the external tool provider inside your system database. It should be memorable and alphanumeric (e.g., cerego or bbb).
  2. Client Key: A distinct string of characters provided by your LTI tool vendor used to verify the platform's identity.
  3. Client Secret: A secure password string provided by your LTI tool vendor used to establish a secure handshake between the servers.

Step 1: Configure the LTI Passport in Advanced Settings

To authorize your platform instance to interact with the external provider, you must register a secure passport key.

  1. Log in to Open edX Studio.
  2. Open your course run dashboard and navigate to Settings > Advanced Settings.
  3. Scroll or search to locate the LTI Passports policy field.
  4. Add your tool credential details inside the array brackets using this strict syntax format:["your_lti_id:client_key:client_secret"]
    • Example: ["cerego:b289378-f88d-2929-ctools.school.edu:secret_password_string"]
  5. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

Step 2: Enable the LTI Consumer Module

Next, you must add the LTI core component to your course run's active tool list.

  1. While still in Advanced Settings, locate the Advanced Module List field.
  2. Inside the square brackets [ ], add the key string exactly as: "lti_consumer"
    • Note: Ensure you use standard double quotation marks ("). Single quotation marks (') will throw an array validation error.
  3. Click Save Changes.

Step 3: Embed the Component into a Course Unit

With the structural handshake defined, you can drop the activity portal onto a page.

  1. Go back to your Course Outline and open the specific Unit where you want the external tool to live.
  2. Scroll to the bottom of the unit workspace to the Add New Component selection bar.
  3. Click the Advanced tile.
  4. Select LTI Consumer from the options listing. The component block will load immediately onto your unit canvas page.

Step 4: Configure the LTI Consumer Tool Block

You must configure the individual block to pull your specific external environment module.

  1. Find the newly deployed LTI Consumer block on your unit canvas and click Edit.
  2. Enter the following parameters in the configuration window:
    • Display Name: Enter a customer-facing title (e.g., Practice Session: Cerego Adaptive Lab or Live Webinar Portal).
    • LTI ID: Type the exact shorthand identifier you declared in Step 1 (e.g., cerego or bbb).
    • LTI URL: Paste the direct launch URL provided by your tool vendor dashboard.
    • Custom Parameters: Supply any required key-value pairs dictated by your tool vendor to control initial views.
      • Example format: ["page=12", "instructor_email=staff@domain.com"]
  3. Click Save.
  4. Click the Publish button in your right-hand status panel to push the unit changes live.

Student Experience in the LMS

Once published, the integration operates inside the core course layout player. When an enrolled learner opens the unit page, the LTI consumer initializes a secure iframe communication layer. The Cerego study dashboard or the BigBlueButton room interface will load right inside the course page frame, tracking engagement metrics without requiring the student to re-authenticate or leave the platform.