Installing the Hypothesis LMS app for Blackboard: Administrator Guide

Who is this guide for?

• This guide is for people with administrator-level access to their institution’s Blackboard instance.
• If you are a Blackboard user and do not have administrator access and want to use Hypothesis in an assignment, please see our article on Creating Hypothesis-enabled readings in Blackboard.
• Are you having trouble getting Hypothesis installed in Blackboard? Please contact us!

Before you install Hypothesis you may wish to review the LTI parameters we use. You can find them here.

1. Generate Hypothesis Credentials

These instructions assume that you have already spoken with a member of our Education Team and been provided with a link to the page where you can generate Hypothesis credentials.

If you have not yet received a link, please fill out this form and a someone from our Education Team will get in touch with you about the next steps.

In the form to generate credentials, fill out the following:

• LMS Domain:
  • This is the basic web address instructors and students use to access your LMS (e.g., lms.yourschool.edu)
• Email:
  • Can be any valid email address that belongs to you

Note: Ignore the two Canvas-specific fields. Those are relevant only for use in Canvas LMS.

Click the Generate Credentials button.

You will be shown a screen that contains your new Hypothesis Consumer Key and Shared Secret.

Don’t close this tab/window! You will need to copy and paste these credentials later in the install process.

2. Create a new LTI Tool

Select “LTI Tool Providers” from the Integrations menu

On the next screen, select Register LTI 1.1 Provider.

Configure the Provider Domain

Under Provider Domain Status set the following:

• Provider Domain:
  • lms.hypothes.is
• Provider Domain Status:
  • Select Approved

Under Default Configuration set the following:

• Default Configuration:
  • Select Set globally
• Tool Provider Key and Tool Provider Secret:
  • Paste in the Consumer Key and Shared Secret respectively, as generated in Step 1 above.

Under Institution Polices set the following:

• Send User Data:
  • Select Send user data only over SSL
• User Fields to Send:
  • Check to select Role in Course and Name
• Select No for the final two questions

Click the Submit button to save Hypothesis as a tool provider.

Create Placement Information

You should now see Hypothesis listed as a tool provider. On the row, next to “lms.hypothes.is” click the down arrow, and then select Manage Placements.

On the following screen, click the Create Placement button.

Under Placement Information set the following:

• Label:
  • Hypothesis
• Handle:
  • Hypothesis
• Availability:
  • Select Yes
• Type:
  • Select Course content tool
  • If you want to allow teachers to create gradable assignments, check Allows grading.
• Launch in New Window:
  • We recommend checking this box
• Icon:
  • You can download the Hypothesis icon here

Under Tool Provider Information set the following:

• Tool Provider URL:
  • https://lms.hypothes.is/lti_launches
• You should not need to re-enter the key and secret
• Custom parameters should be left blank

Click the Submit button to save Placement Information.

3. Set LTI Global Properties to allow grading

Note: If you do not want tool integration with the Blackboard grade book you can skip this step.

Return to the LTI Tool Providers page and click the Manage Global Properties button.