Using the LTI standard (Learning Tools Interoperability), which is a set of specifications for allowing third-party learning applications (or “tool providers”), enables you to integrate with educational platforms (or “tool consumers”). LTI lets you easily integrate external tools into your Open edX courses, or let other learning systems, reuse your Open edX course components inside their own LMS. For example, Open edX lets live conferences to be embedded into its courses and any authentication required is done through LTI. H5P quizzes may be embedded into courses and any grade for students can be reported to instructors through LTI.

Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) is a set of technical standards for online learning software products. edX supports SCORM through one of its XBlocks. The XBlock is supposed to display SCORM content within the Open edX LMS and Studio. This will help save student state and report scores to the progress tab of the course.

As a new specification for learning technology, xAPI or Experience API makes collecting data possible. This data can be about a person’s wide range of experiences (online and offline). This API captures data consistently about a person or group’s activities from many technologies. Different systems can communicate by securely capturing and sharing this stream of activities using xAPI’s simple vocabulary. Open edX has chosen xAPI as one of the primary communication standards for real-time events since it has widespread industry support and usage for tracking and analyzing learning activity. These are some of the events which are tracked. Enrollment events Whenever a learner enrolls in a course. Whenever a learner unenrolls from a course. Problem interaction events Whenever a learner submits any problem. Whenever a learner’s answer to a problem is checked. Whenever a learner is shown the answer to a problem. Whenever a learner requests a hint to a problem. Video events Whenever a learner loads a video. Whenever a learner plays a video. Whenever a learner stops a video. Whenever a learner pauses a video. Whenever a learner navigates to a different position in a video. Course navigation events Whenever a learner wants to navigate to a subsection in the course. Whenever a learner navigates to the next content in the course. Whenever a learner navigates to the previous content in the course. Once a learner wants to navigate to another unit within a subsection. Whenever a learner clicks on any link in the course.

XBlocks are extra components which can be added to a basic Open edX deployment in order to add to flexibility and usefulness of your platform. Examples include Zoom, Drag and Drop tests, and polls and surveys. Almost all XBlocks are free, but there is a resource cost in order to add and deploy.

Some XBlocks are actually made by third party vendors and creators. In addition you can use and LTI XBlock to import learning content from outside of Open edX.