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Use BigBlueButton in Open edX to create live classes, schedule sessions, share presentations, and manage recordings. BigBlueButton for Open edX lets instructors run live virtual classrooms directly inside a course, through the platform’s built-in Live app. You can use it to host lectures, office hours, group discussions, and recorded sessions without leaving the LMS.

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What you can do

  • Enable BigBlueButton as an LTI provider for a course through the Live app
  • Schedule and start meetings that appear in the course’s “Live” tab in course navigation
  • Let students join scheduled sessions to attend classes, office hours, or study groups
  • Pre-load presentations so content is ready when class begins
  • Manage and reuse recordings from within the platform
  • Integrate session activity (join time, participation) into Open edX’s analytics
  • Choose between a free hosted tier, a commercial provider, or your own self-hosted server

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Choose your path

  • New to BigBlueButton in Open edX? Start below with enabling the Live app, then pick a provider tier.
  • Just want to try it out with no setup? Go to Free Tier.
  • Want a managed, production-grade integration with less admin overhead? Go to Commercial.
  • Prefer to run and control your own server? Go to Self-hosted.

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Enable the Live app

BigBlueButton connects to a course through the Live app, an LTI integration that also supports other video conferencing tools like Zoom. Once enabled and configured, it appears as a “Live” tab in course navigation.
  1. Go to the course’s “Pages & Resources” page in Studio and click the gear icon on the “Live” configuration card.
  2. Turn on the toggle in the top right to enable the app.
  3. Select BigBlueButton as the LTI provider.
  4. Choose a plan (see below) and add credentials if needed.
  5. Click Save.

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Choosing a plan

BigBlueButton can be configured for a course in one of three ways. Each option is covered in detail on its own page — this is a quick comparison to help you decide which one to set up. Free tier. A no-cost hosted BigBlueButton service for edX and Open edX courses, provided by Blindside Networks. Good for trying things out or light use, with limits on session length, participants, and recording retention. No credentials to manage — select “Free” and save. See Free Tier for setup and limits. Commercial. A managed, paid integration from a commercial BigBlueButton provider, offering deeper Studio configuration, recording management, automated reminders, and analytics with little admin overhead. Best for institutions running at scale who want a polished, supported experience. See Commercial for details and setup. Self-hosted. Run your own BigBlueButton server and connect it to Open edX via LTI. Gives you full control over capacity, data, and recordings, but requires server administration. Best if you have the infrastructure capacity and want no session or participant limits. See Self-hosted for installation and configuration steps.

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Using BigBlueButton in a course

Once a provider is configured, instructors and students both work from the “Live” tab in course navigation. Instructors use the Live tab to schedule and start sessions, and can upload presentation content ahead of time so it’s ready the moment a session begins. Students use the same tab to see upcoming or in-progress sessions and join with one click to attend lectures, office hours, or study groups. After a session ends, its recording becomes available from within the platform — no separate application needed. Depending on your plan, recordings can be managed, reused across courses, and reflected in Open edX’s engagement analytics.