EdX releases open source code for online learning

Campus Technology 16 March 2013

EdX has made publicly available source code that it built specifically to support online interactive learning, writes Sharleen Nelson for Campus Technology. The non-profit online learning platform founded by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has released XBlock SDK, the underlying architecture supporting EdX course content.

XBlocks are a prototype, second-generation application programming interface for hierarchically combined EdX courseware components such as video players and learning sequences. The XBlock source code allows course developers to combine independent XBlocks to create engaging online courses such as wiki-based collaborative learning environments and online laboratories, or create integrated education tools such as a circuit simulator for an electronics course or a molecular manipulator for teaching biology.

Furthering its mission to be a true open-sourced learning platform, edX has invited the public to participate in the development of its interactive courseware for the massive open online course (MOOC) platform by releasing the source code under the Affero GPL open source licence. By collaborating with others during the prototype stage, edX hopes to develop the XBlock into an industry standard.
Full report on the Campus Technology site

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