D2L/Brightspace LMS Integration

How to Add a Norton Digital Learning Tool to a D2L Course

This article describes how to add Norton digital learning tool links with Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) integration that provides single sign in for students and automatic grade reporting to your Desire2Learn (D2L) Learning Management System (LMS) course.

Prerequisites: In order to add a link you will need a Norton instructor account. If you do not have a Norton instructor account, please visit our Instructor Resources page or contact your Norton representative to request one.

Step 1: Add integrated links

Option A: Individual Activity Link Integration

  1. Export a Common Cartridge file with your W. W. Norton links. 
    • While you're logged into your Norton instructor account on your textbook's Digital Landing Page, open the account menu in the upper right-hand corner and select "Export Content to LMS." 
    • If you don't see this menu option, it may mean that you don't have instructor credentials on your account yet. Please contact your Norton representative for help. 
    • Follow the steps provided onscreen to select your course materials. 
    • On the final screen, click the "Generate Common Cartridge" button to save it to your computer. 
  2. Import the Common Cartridge into your D2L course.
    • In your D2L course, go to the Course Admin area. Select Import/Export/Copy Components. 
    • Select Import Components and then Start. 
    • Select the file you downloaded, and then click ADVANCED OPTIONS to the right of the blue import button. 
    • Click "Continue" until you reach the Select Components to Import page. Select External Learning Tool Links only. 
    • Click "Continue" through the remaining prompts. 
    • Once complete, please go back into “Course Admin” and then “External Learning Tools/Third Party Integration.” 
    • Check that all of the links appear here. 
  3. Place the links in your D2L course.
    • In the Materials menu, or the toolbar of your course, choose Content. 
    • In the desired module, click "Add Existing Activities" and then choose "External Learning Tools." 
    • Select the appropriate link from the pop-up window to add the item to your course. 
    • Click the dropdown menu next to the link, and select “Edit Properties In-place.” 
    • Check the box for “Open as External Resource.” 
    • If you wish to have a D2L gradebook column for this link, click the checkmark to the far right of the link and ensure that it is set to “Required: Automatic.” If you do not wish to have a gradebook column for this link, click the checkmark and set it to “Not Required.”
    • Repeat Step 3 for each link that you would like to make available to students.
  4. Next Steps
    • If you haven’t already created a Student Set in your W. W. Norton product, you must do that to complete your course set up. Follow the steps below under "Creating a Student Set."
    • If this is the first time you're using LTI integration with W. W. Norton, you should test your tool integration too. Follow the steps below under "Test Integration."
    • If you are linking to graded items, like InQuizitive activities, you'll need to connect them to your Brightspace gradebook after performing these other setup steps. Follow the steps below under "Grading and Due Dates." 

Option B: Product Home Page Integration

  1. Login to your LMS with your instructor account and enter your course.

  1. Select the User or Course Admin tab, then select the External Learning Tools link in the Site Resources section.

  1. Make sure that you are on the Manage External Learning Tool Links and NOT LTI Advantage.  Select the New Link button. Give the link a descriptive name (e.g., Ebook, InQuizitive, Smartwork, etc.) and in the URL field, enter the URL provided by your Norton representative.

  • If using a product home page, the URL will look like: https://ncia.wwnorton.com/productname-BOOKCODE, where productname is replaced with the name of the Norton tool and BOOKCODE is replaced with the code for the book you are using.


  1. In the Key/Secret section, make sure:
    • The Sign messages with key/secret box is checked.
    • If your Norton contact has told you that your campus IT department has enable integration, select the Tool consumer key/secret radio button.

  • If you are not sure whether your campus IT department has enabled integration, select the Link key/secret radio button and enter the key and secret below: 
    • Key: copy and paste the Consumer Key provided by your Norton representative, which will look like yourschooledu. 
    • Secret: copy and paste the Secret provided by your Norton representative, which will be a random 10 character code.

  • If campus-level integration is in place, in the Security Settings section, select "Use Tool Provider Security Settings.
    • In the Security Settings section, make sure the Use link security settings radio button is selected and the following checkboxes are checked:
      • Send tool consumer information to tool provider
      • Send context information to tool provider
      • Send course information to tool provider
      • Send LTI user ID and LTI role list to tool provider
      • Send user name to tool provider
      • Send user email to tool provider
      • Send link title to tool provider
      • Send link description to tool provider
      •  Remaining boxes can be ignored




5.  Click Save and Close.

6.  On the Navbar, select Content.

7.  In the desired module, select Add Existing Activities and choose External Learning Tools.

  1. Select the link you added from the pop-up window and the item will be added to your course.

  1. Click the drop-down menu next to the link and select Edit Properties In-place.

  • If you wish to have a D2L gradebook column for this link, click the checkmark to the far right of the link and ensure that it is set to “Required: Automatic.” If you do not wish to have a gradebook column for this link, click the checkmark and set it to “Not Required.”
  • Repeat Step 13 for each link that you would like to make available to students.
  1. Make sure the Open as External Resource checkbox is checked. This change will be autosaved.

Step 2: Create a student set

  1. Open the module containing the link you just created and select the link, which will launch the Norton digital learning tool in a new browser tab.

2. You will be prompted to sign in or register. If you have a Norton account, please use the associated email address and password to sign in. Otherwise, use the No, I need to register… option and register using your school email address.  If you have a Norton account and you're unsure of your Norton password, use the "Forgot Your Password?" function below the password field.

3. The first time you access a Norton digital learning tool from your course, you will be prompted to create a new student set or to copy an existing student set. For instructions on creating and copying student sets, please see our articles about Creating New Student Sets: https://wwnorton.knowledgeowl.com/help/inquizitive-instructors-lms-integration or https://wwnorton.knowledgeowl.com/help/smartwork5-instructors-getting-started

4. Once logged in with your Norton account, you will land on the Norton product home page or specific activity for the book being used. You should see a green Connected to LMS badge and the new Student Set ID associated with your course in the drop-down menu.

  • If using Smartwork or ZAPS individual activity links, the Connected to LMS notification appears in the user options menu which you will see by clicking your username in the upper right of the activity page.

After successfully signing in, close the tab with the Norton tool page. In the future, to access the tool, always use the link from your course and you will be automatically signed in. You can confirm this by looking for your school email address in the upper right of the tool web page.

Step 3: Test integration

  1. From your D2L course, switch to student view (using your D2L account menu in the upper right and selecting View as Student) or log in with a test student account.

2. Locate the link to the Norton tool (e.g., Ebook, Smartwork, InQuizitive, etc) and click it.

3. The Norton product launch page or specific activity for the book being used will open in a new browser tab. You will be prompted to sign in because you are opening the tool as a student. However, you can still use your Norton instructor account to sign in.

4. On the Norton product page, confirm that you see a green badge labeled Connected to LMS. If instead you see a red LMS Connection Not Made badge, go to Reporting error messages, below or Click Here.

  • If using Smartwork or ZAPS individual activity links, the Connected to LMS notification appears in the user options menu which you will see by clicking your username in the upper right of the activity page.

  • If you do not see Connected to LMS in the user options menu, skip to Reporting error messages, below or Click Here.

5. If you’ve added a gradable activity (such as InQuizitive, Smartwork, or ZAPS), click anywhere in the Connected to LMS badge (or the Connected to LMS user options menu entry for a Smartwork or ZAPS activity page) and an explanatory box will appear over the page. 

  • If you see a red X next to single sign-in or Automatic grade transfer, go to Reporting error messages, below or Click Here.

  • If you see a yellow ? and the message, At least one parameter needed for… close the Norton product tab in your browser and reconfirm that you launched the link from your LMS in Student View or are using a student test account.

6. If you added an eBook link or if you added a link that is not a gradable activity, Click Here or go to Next steps, below for additional instructor suggestions.

7. Click on the green checkmark icon next to Automatic grade transfer, then click OK in the confirmation message pop-up window to send a grade.

8. Confirm that a Test successful! message appeared below Automatic grade transfer.  Click OK in the box to continue.

9. Switch back to the browser tab with your course and verify the grade of 10% appears for the Norton activity in the student's My Grades page in your LMS.
  • If you did not see a Test successful! message, or the grade did not appear in Grades, skip to Reporting error messages,below or Click Here

10. Close the browser tab with the Norton product page.

11. You should now exit student view or log out of the student account. The link is ready for use by your students. Click Here or go to Next steps, below for additional instructor suggestions.

Step 4: Grading and due dates

Review Settings

  1. By default, D2L creates a column in your gradebook for any Norton digital learning tool when the first grade is sent (which you will have done in Test tool integration, above). The default point value for the item is 100. Take a moment to review the points and other settings for this grade by using the Grades link in D2L, then select Manage Grades.

2. Tick the box next to the Norton item, then click Edit. Review the settings and click Save if you make any changes.

NOTE: After the first successful grade transfer test, it is not necessary to test all additional links you create for integration. However, in order to edit the point value, weighting, or grouping settings of the Norton tool in the gradebook, you will need to perform the grade transfer test first for each item whose settings you'd like to edit in order for a corresponding Norton tool column to populate the gradebook.

Set GAUs (Grades Accepted Until)

3. If you would like to set GAUs for your Norton activities, click the Norton tool link in your course.
  • If you have linked to a Norton product home page, click [set] next to the activity.

  • If you have linked to an individual activity, click your Norton username in the upper right of the page, then select Activity Settings from the menu.

  • If you have linked to an individual Smartwork activity, click the Edit Assignment button located below the activity title.

4. Click the empty field next to Grades Accepted Until and select the desired date from the calendar.

5. By default, the GAU time is set to 11:59 PM of the date you selected. To change the GAU time, click the drop-down menu containing the time and select a new time. Be sure to choose your time zone in the next drop-down menu as well!

6. Click Save Settings at the bottom of the page when you are done.

7. The GAU for this activity is now set and you will receive notifications should a student attempt to submit a grade for this activity after the GAU has lapsed.

For even more tips on configuring Norton digital learning tool links in your course, check out our Instructor Help Notes

General D2L documentation on copying courses can be found at https://documentation.desire2learn.com/en%20/copying-course-components-between-org-units

Reporting error messages

Copy the text from any error message box and/or take a screenshot and send it to W. W. Norton LTI Support at LTIsupport@wwnorton.com. You will then be contacted by a support specialist who will assist you with further troubleshooting.

Alternatively, you can open a Service Desk Support ticket

Submit a Support Request

Still need help? Submit a support ticket and a customer support specialist will be happy to assist you.
Opened a request already? Click here for an update.