Behind the Scenes of LMS Integrations: What We Heard (and What We’re Doing About It)

Distance Learning Association Conference Recap
Session: “LMS Integrations and Third-Party Tools: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”

Facilitator: Lisa McNeal, College of Coastal Georgia

At last week’s Distance Learning Association conference in Jekyll Island, we sat in on a refreshingly honest session, led by College of Coastal Georgia LMS Administrator, Lisa McNeal, that brought together LMS admins, instructional tech leaders, and faculty to talk integrations—specifically, the tangled web of third-party tools inside university systems.

The session’s title said it all: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Here’s what we heard, what the sector is struggling with, and how EvalSystem (and others like us) can do better.

The Ugly: Where LMS Integrations Break Down

1. Complexity: One admin had 30+ third-party tools connected to their LMS.
   This is no longer the exception—it’s the norm. Universities are running dozens of tools across teaching, assessment, analytics, engagement, and compliance. Managing updates, security reviews, and integrations is a full-time job (or five).
2. Data governance bottlenecks.
   Any new integration must pass through rigorous governance—especially at smaller institutions where state systems play a heavy role. Admins are forced to act as translators between tech vendors and legal teams, often with little help.
3. Tools that “integrate” but don’t work together.
   One story stood out: a real student account was used to test a third-party tool, only to discover that a minor update in the LMS broke the user flow. The cause? Misalignment in how tools handle file structure and reporting logic.
4. Surprise updates, broken flows.
   Third-party vendors sometimes push updates that create chaos for admins and faculty. One change in data structure or report configuration can send a ripple effect through the LMS. The sentiment in the room: “Timing is everything. Tell us. Warn us. Please.”
5. Faculty and students left out of the loop.

Faculty often want to test tools “as a student” but have no sandbox to do it. That makes it impossible to understand user experience before rolling it out to learners.

The Good: What’s Actually Working

Despite the frustrations, there were some clear standouts that participants pointed to as helpful models:

• YellowDig, Simple Syllabus, YuJa, iClicker, Hypothesis were all praised for creating knowledge banks and supporting them extremely well.
  
  
• Schools appreciated tools that came with demo accounts and structured, student-simulated environments.
  
  
• Clear, up-to-date documentation was cited again and again as a differentiator.
  
  
• Third-party tool orgs that have taken the time to understand how their tools integrate into the ecosystem, NOT just the single LMS, were consistently admin favorites as they lighten the load on users and the teams around them.
  
  

Beyond the Room: What the Web Tells Us

This session echoed what LMS admins across the country have been sharing online:

• Many integrations are LTI-compliant on paper but not truly functional in practice.
  
  
• Admins are frustrated by inconsistent user experiences across tools.
  
  
• Lack of cross-tool awareness means students are juggling clunky, uncoordinated interfaces.
  
  
• Slow vendor response times can derail a semester mid-flight.
  
  

(Source: EdTech Magazine)

How EvalSystem Tackles These Challenges

We walked out of this session proud of what we’re already doing—and clear-eyed about what more we must commit to.

Here’s where we’re leaning in:

1. Full Testing Flow Using Real Student Scenarios
   We provide sandbox accounts with student-simulated roles and actual logins so institutions can experience the platform exactly as students would before a campus-wide rollout. It’s not a gimmick—it’s mission critical.
2. Clean, Transparent Updates with Plenty of Lead Time
   Our change logs are public and proactively shared. We also are launching optional “office hours” for new feature launches, giving admins a direct line to ask questions and prepare for changes.
3. Human and AI Support, On-Demand
   Yes, we have well-trained client success teams—but we also supplement them with AI agents that are trained on your specific instance of EvalSystem. That means 24/7 intelligent help, not generic chatbot nonsense.
4. Video-Based Knowledge Banks + Documentation
   We’re not just giving you PDFs. Our video walkthroughs and visual documentation will make it easier for instructors, admins, and even students to onboard and troubleshoot without escalating.
5. Always Prioritizing the University Experience
   We know we’re just one tile in your LMS mosaic—but we act like we’re part of the whole. That means being deeply respectful of your ecosystem, mindful of downstream effects, and constantly asking: How does this affect your student (and faculty) experience?

 A Final Note to Fellow Vendors

The pressure on LMS admins and online learning teams is immense. Every bug, every confusing UX pattern, every misaligned update lands on their desks first.

If we want to be trusted partners in higher ed, we owe it to them—and their students—to:

• Be clear
• Be coordinated
• Be human-centered

Our tools don’t exist in a vacuum. Every business decision we make affects real people navigating real systems under real stress.

Let’s be the “good” part of the next fishbowl.