Using Moodle with paper assessments

Moodle powers schools, universities, and training programs across the world — much of it self-hosted. The PaperScorer integration connects to Moodle as a standard LTI 1.3 external tool, syncing rosters and posting grades straight to the Moodle gradebook. Here's the full picture.

What the integration handles

Once set up:

• Roster sync from Moodle to PaperScorer
• Assessment links between PaperScorer tests and Moodle grade items
• Automatic grade posting to the Moodle gradebook
• Student visibility through their normal Moodle grades view

No CSV exports, no re-imports, no manual gradebook entry.

Prerequisites

• Moodle administrator access for the initial tool registration — a teacher can't do this step
• A current Moodle release with LTI 1.3 support (the built-in External tool activity)
• Instructors need permission to add External tool activities, which the default Teacher role already has

Step 1: Admin — Register PaperScorer

A Moodle administrator does this once for the whole site:

1. Go to Site administration → Plugins → Activity modules → External tool → Manage tools
2. Choose configure a tool manually (or paste a tool URL if PaperScorer provides a cartridge — request your registration details from PaperScorer)
3. Tool name: PaperScorer
4. LTI version: LTI 1.3
5. Fill in the Tool URL, Public key type, Initiate login URL, and Redirection URI(s) — PaperScorer provides these
6. Under Services, set IMS LTI Assignment and Grade Services to use the service for grade sync and column management, and set IMS LTI Names and Role Provisioning to retrieve members' information
7. Under Privacy, share the launcher's name and email so roster sync and grade matching work
8. Save changes
9. Open the new tool's configuration details. Moodle generates the Platform ID, Client ID, Deployment ID, Public keyset URL, Access token URL, and Authentication request URL — send these back to PaperScorer to complete the registration handshake

Step 2: First launch and account linking

In your Moodle course, turn on Edit mode, add an External tool activity, and select PaperScorer from the Preconfigured tool dropdown. Launch the activity. You'll be prompted to:

• Sign in with an existing PaperScorer account, or create one
• Authorize the LTI link between your PaperScorer account and this Moodle course

Once linked, later launches open directly into the linked PaperScorer context.

Step 3: Sync roster

In PaperScorer, click Sync Roster. The Names and Role Provisioning service pulls your Moodle enrolment — students, teachers, and their roles — into PaperScorer.

Step 4: Create a linked assessment

To connect a PaperScorer assessment to a Moodle grade item:

Method 1: Link to a grade item.

1. In Moodle, the External tool activity already creates a grade item
2. In PaperScorer, when creating the assessment, select the Moodle activity to post scores to

Method 2: Deep Linking ("Select content").

1. When adding the External tool activity in Moodle, use Select content
2. PaperScorer opens with a link-creation dialog — build or select an assessment and save
3. Moodle creates the matching grade item automatically

Both work. Deep Linking is faster for new content; linking to an existing grade item is useful when you've already scaffolded the gradebook.

Step 5: Administer and scan

The paper testing flow is unchanged:

• Print answer sheets from PaperScorer
• Administer the test
• Scan via the mobile app, a document scanner, or email upload

As sheets are scanned and graded, PaperScorer posts scores to the linked Moodle grade item automatically. Students see them in their normal Moodle grades view.

How grades land in the Moodle gradebook

PaperScorer posts the raw score to the linked grade item. Moodle then applies the course's gradebook configuration — grade display type (real, percentage, or letter), aggregation method, and any categories you've set up.

If your gradebook is organized into categories, link the assessment to a grade item that already sits inside the right category, so the score rolls up into your course total correctly. With Deep Linking, the grade item is created at the top level by default — move it into the desired category in Gradebook setup if needed.

Common issues

Grade item shows a dash instead of a score. The student's attempt wasn't matched. Re-sync the roster — usually the student was enrolled in Moodle after the last sync.

LTI launch fails with a registration or signature error. The registration handshake is incomplete. The admin should confirm the Client ID, Deployment ID, and keyset URL exchanged with PaperScorer match what's saved in Manage tools.

Roster comes back empty. Names and Role Provisioning isn't enabled on the tool, or Privacy is set not to share names. The admin should re-check the External tool configuration from Step 1.

Deep Linking shows no assessments. Your PaperScorer account doesn't have access to the course context — usually fixed by re-authenticating, or having the course owner re-invite you.

The end result

After the one-time admin registration, the integration fades into the background. Teachers build assessments in PaperScorer, grade by scanning, and scores appear in the Moodle gradebook — across self-hosted Moodle LMS, MoodleCloud, and Moodle Workplace alike.