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Researchers in many disciplines are developing novel interactive smart learning objects like exercises and visualizations. Meanwhile, Learning Management Systems (LMS) and eTextbook systems are also becoming more sophisticated in their ability to use standard protocols to make use of third party smart learning objects. But at this time, educational tool developers do not always make best use of the interoperability standards and need exemplars to guide and motivate their development efforts. In this paper we present a case study where the two large educational ecosystems use the Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) standard to allow cross-sharing of their educational materials. At the end of our development process, Virginia Tech’s OpenDSA eTextbook system became able to import materials from Aalto University’s ACOS smart learning content server, such as python programming exercises and Parsons problems. Meanwhile, University of Pittsburgh’s Mastery Grids (which already uses the ACOS exercises) was made to support CodeWorkout programming exercises (a system already used within OpenDSA). Thus, four major projects in CS Education became inter-operable. 

OpenDSA is an e-Textbook project developed at Virginia Tech, which provides materials to support courses in a wide variety of Computer Science-related topics. OpenDSA primarily contains Java exercises. ACOS server which is a smart learning content server developed as a joint project of Aalto University and the University of Pittsburgh. It enhances the reusability of online learning activities by decoupling the content and the existing interoperability protocols including LTI. ACOS is capable of serving multiple smart contents including Python animations and exercises. In this project, we present steps toward integrating smart content served through ACOS into OpenDSA. Similarly, CodeWorkout is an open source system which helps students to practice small programming problems. Mastery Grids is also open source progress visualization environment which has open (social) learner model features designed at the University of Pittsburgh. In this project, we extended contents served by Mastery Grids by integrating CodeWorkout exercises and visualize student progress in an Open Learner Model. All of this has been possible because all of these tools support LTI, reiterating the importance of why the utilization of standards while developing applications is important.