Overview

Blackboard Learn is a learning management system (LMS) used by schools, universities, and organizations to deliver courses, manage content, and engage learners online.

Common uses for the Alchemer Blackboard integration

• Embed course evaluations, quizzes, or feedback surveys inside Blackboard courses
• Give students and instructors single-click access to an Alchemer survey from the LMS
• Verify the launching user through the LTI 1.3 launch before they reach the survey
• Collect responses tied to a specific course or placement without manual link sharing
• Keep the survey experience inside Blackboard so respondents never leave the course

Setup Steps

• Register the Alchemer LTI 1.3 tool in Blackboard
• Create a placement and link your survey

You will need

• Blackboard Administrator access to your Blackboard Learn instance
• The Alchemer Application ID (also shown as Client ID) for your region. Alchemer provides this, see the table in Register the Alchemer LTI 1.3 tool below.
• The published Alchemer survey you want to launch, and its share link

Note: You do not need to register an application in the Blackboard Developer Portal. Alchemer has already registered the tool. You only need the Application ID for your region, which you enter inside your own Blackboard Admin panel.

Set up the Alchemer Blackboard LTI 1.3 integration

Blackboard | Register the Alchemer LTI 1.3 tool

You will need:

• Blackboard Administrator access
• The Alchemer Application ID for your region (below)

Application IDs by region

Use the Application ID that matches the region where your Alchemer account is hosted. If you are unsure which region you are on, contact Alchemer.

Configure the action

1. Sign in to your Blackboard Learn instance as an administrator.
2. Select the Admin link in the navigation to open the Administrator Panel.
3. In the Integrations section, select LTI Tool Providers.
   
   
4. Select Register LTI 1.3/Advantage Tool.
   
5. In the Client ID field, enter the Alchemer Application ID for your region from the table above, then select Submit.
   
6. Blackboard retrieves the Alchemer tool configuration automatically and prepopulates the settings. Review them.
7. Set Tool Status to Approved.
   
8. Under Institution Policies, enable sending the user data the launch requires (for example, role and user information) so the survey launch can identify the user.
9. Select Submit to complete the registration.

Note: LTI 1.3 uses OpenID Connect and OAuth 2.0 with public/private key signing. There are no keys or secrets to copy — entering the Application ID is what establishes trust between your Blackboard instance and the Alchemer tool. Blackboard signs and validates the launch automatically.

Blackboard | Create a placement and link your survey

You will need:

• The Alchemer tool registered and Approved (above)
• The share link of the published Alchemer survey you want to launch
• The Alchemer launch URL (provided by Alchemer with your Application ID)

Configure the action

1. In the Administrator Panel, open LTI Tool Providers and locate the Alchemer tool you registered.
   
2. Open the tool's menu and select Manage Placements, then select Create Placement.
   
3. Label: Enter the text users will see for the link or button (for example, Course Survey).
4. Placement Type: Choose where the tool appears in Blackboard (for example, a course tool or deep linking placement).
   
5. Tool Provider Information: Enter the Alchemer URL from above into the Target Link URI box, and append your survey share link as the survey_url parameter in the Tool Provider Custom Parameters box (i.e. survey_url={your_alchemer_survey_link})
   
   Note: The survey_url value controls which Alchemer survey the user lands on after the LTI launch is verified. Use the share link of the specific survey you want this placement to open.
   Note: You may also use as many static parameters as you'd like here, just place them on a new line.
6. Confirm Allow students access is enabled if students should be able to launch the survey.
   
7. Save the placement.
8. Add the placement to a course.
   

Testing and Troubleshooting

Testing and Validation

How to test

• Open a Blackboard course that includes the placement and select the Alchemer link as a student or instructor.
• Confirm the LTI launch completes and you are routed to the correct Alchemer survey.
• Submit a test response in the survey.

How to verify results

• In Alchemer, open the survey and go to Results → Individual Responses.
• Confirm your test response was recorded and that the launch routed to the expected survey.

Monitoring Integration Activity

Where to find logs

• In Alchemer, go to Results → Individual Responses and select a response.
• Open the Action Log tab to review the launch and submission details for that response.

What logs display

• Success or failure status
• Timestamp
• The survey the user was routed to

Troubleshooting

Registration issues

• Wrong Application ID for your region (confirm US, CA, EU, or AU)
• Tool Status not set to Approved
• Required Institution Policies not enabled, so user data is not sent on launch

Launch failures

• Placement not enabled for the user's role (for example, students cannot access)
• Launch URL missing or malformed survey_url parameter

Survey routing issues

• The survey_url points to an unpublished or incorrect survey
• The survey share link was changed after the placement was created

FAQs