The edSPIRIT platform has upgraded to the Palm version of
Open edX, ushering in enhancements designed for instructors and learners.
Experiences for Learners
Improvements in Discussions
The recent enhancements on the Posts page have optimized the
viewing experience, enabling users to access more information seamlessly. This
improvement accelerates the loading speed of posts and introduces the ability
to sort comments and responses in reverse order. Additionally, users now have
the option to filter discussions that have no responses, providing a more
refined browsing experience.
Android App
Updates have been made to the Android app, specifically
focusing on the Learner dashboard. The profile section has been relocated from
the header to the footer, allowing learners to access their profile details
seamlessly. Moreover, learners now have the option to choose between viewing My
Courses or My Programs. Additionally, improvements have been made to the course
header and navigation, enhancing the overall user experience. Learners will now
be notified about course date shifts through a dedicated banner in the course
header, mirroring the behavior experienced on the web browser platform.
iOS App
In the iOS app updates, learners will now be notified of any
required course date shifts through a dedicated banner in the course header.
Support for Persian Language
Among the latest updates is the inclusion of support for the
Persian language (locale code fa_IR). This update includes a comprehensive
translation that covers 100% of the content, meticulously reviewed to ensure
accuracy and completeness.
Experiences for Instructor
New Visual Problem Editor
The latest release introduces an experimental, enhanced
problem-authoring experience featuring an interactive editor. Users no longer
need to write markdown code when utilizing this feature, offering a more
intuitive interface. Despite this update, the advanced mode remains accessible,
allowing users to continue writing and editing OLX XML.
For a detailed overview of the changes in the problem
editor, the Open edX wiki page titled
[2U] New Visual Problem
Editor provides valuable insights. Moreover, updated comprehensive
instructions on creating problems can be found in section
8.4 of the
"Building and Running an edX Course" documentation.
The Visual Problem Editor is integrated into the existing
Course Authoring Micro-frontend. To activate this feature, users can enable the
Visual Problem Editor by setting the waffle flag
new_core_editors.use_new_problem_editor to “Yes” for all users.
New ORA Grading Experience
The recently introduced on-platform grading experience
enhances the assessment process by offering convenient previews for various
file types, enabling rubric-based evaluations, facilitating comment provision,
and ensuring seamless coordination among all course team members. Detailed
guidance on utilizing this updated system is available in section 10.26.4
titled
"Staff Grading for Open Response Assignments" within the
"Building and Running an edX Course" documentation.
The new ORA grading experience relies on the ORA Grading
Micro-frontend, previously introduced as an experimental feature in Olive. To
activate this feature, enable the feature flag
openresponseassessment.enhanced_staff_grader.
New Bulk Email Experience
The recently introduced bulk email experience simplifies
mass communication for instructors, automatically activating for courses
configured for bulk email sending. Refer to the Eucalyptus release notes for
guidelines on configuring bulk email settings.
The instructor's editing interface remains familiar,
offering options to specify recipients, compose the email subject, and craft
the message body. Additionally, this new experience introduces an experimental
feature enabling instructors to schedule bulk emails instead of sending them
immediately. Please note that utilizing this feature requires a cron service presently
not included in Tutor. For further information, refer to the guidelines on
Processing Scheduled Instructor Tasks.
Other Studio Updates
Enabling FEATURES['ENABLE_CREATOR_GROUP'] setting now
permits users with CourseCreate permission to select their organization via a
drop-down menu within Studio.
The drag-and-drop feature has been relocated from the
advanced problem types and is now displayed alongside other problems in Studio.
In the Unit View, the "jump_to_id" hint will be
auto-filled with the current location ID, preventing course authors from
needing to copy and paste generic text.
Experiences for Administrators & Operators
Experimental New Learner Home Page
The revamped Learner Home incorporates many features from
the prior learner dashboard, introducing enhanced functionality and performance
improvements.
The Learner Home is now constructed using Paragon, the Open
edX design pattern library, ensuring accessibility and facilitating brand color
customization.
Course cards showcase the course thumbnail, course details,
and options like upgrading to a paid track or accessing/viewing a course (if
available). Additional course actions, such as unenrollment, email opt-out
settings, and social media sharing, are now accessible via the menu/triple dot
icon on the course card.
Selecting the “Refine” button provides options to filter
courses based on their status or sort them by most recent enrollment (default)
or title.
Upon page load, all
courses associated with a user are fetched, and the system paginates the list
to display 25 courses per page for better manageability. Users are required to
navigate through their course list using the pagination controls situated at
the bottom of the list to access additional courses.
Site staff now have the
capability to view the platform from a user's perspective by entering a
username or email in the “View as” box and submitting it. However, this feature
operates in a read-only mode, preventing any modification actions such as
enrollment, unenrollment, or session selection.
For a comprehensive list
of modifications, refer to the
Open edX wiki.
FAQ(s)
Exist any known problems or doubts about this upgrade's compatibility?Although the upgrade is now complete, you can be confident that our committed staff is actively addressing and resolving any possible problems. We greatly appreciate your comments since it enables us to identify and quickly address any problems, making the user experience better for everyone. Your feedback is crucial to ensuring that our platform keeps getting better.
How do I check the Open edX version used in edSPIRIT?In edSPIRIT, after each upgrade to a new Open edX version, a dedicated article is published in the
Open edX Version Updates section. Furthermore, you'll consistently find information
here about the currently deployed version in edSPIRIT.