EdX/Class2Go merger -- a few Q's and A's

[Sef Kloninger]

I expected more noise on this forum following yesterday's big news!  That's fine, I know what a shy bunch you all are.  :)  I got a private email from someone in the community, and I thought their questions (and my answers) were good enough to share with the community, so I'll post here (anonymously) below.

- Sef

QUESTION FROM COMMUNITY MEMBER

Dear Sef Kloninger,

Just wondering what the future of class2go is with EdX in collaboration with Stanford; is going open-source?

http://blog.edx.org/post/47031263123/stanford-and-edx-collaborate-on-open-source-edx

Will the features of the two projects be integrated, remain separate; or will one be abandoned?

In comparison, I rather like the class2go system (mostly because it's Python!); with the major advantages to the EdX system being more sequential and progress reporting focused.

I'm sure in a little while class2go will also have those features; so I'm not sure what to take from Stanford's collaboration on EdX going open-source.

Would welcome your insight :)

Best regards,

(name redacted)

MY REPLY

Hi -

Thanks for writing.  

Generally edX is the codebase that will live on, and Class2Go features will be integrated into it.  We've already identified a bunch of features that will be useful there, and are working on a roadmap.

Here's one example: we have our little slide extraction utility and the ability to navigate videos based on horizontal thumbnails.  EdX videos have nice vertical scrolling captions.  I've heard good arguments for both, which is better?  Maybe we'll have it per-course configurable.  Maybe we'll run an a/b test to see which one results in better retention, engagement, and learning.  Fun!

Re the platform, I think you'll like the edX system once it's available.  The platforms are much more the same than different.  Both are Python/Django.  Both are Amazon hosted.  Both have MySQL as a primary data store.  Our XML exam formats are nearly identical.  EdX is a more complicated system, but because it's served many more classes, supports more use cases, and has more features.

You mentioned progress reporting as one feature that EdX has.  There are a bunch more.  Take peer evaluation for example.  EdX has a system that launched earlier this year that is getting traction.  Our profs need something similar.  I'd much rather use/enhance a system like that than build yet another one from whole cloth.

Re: "class2go will also have those features."  I believe what you're askin is: why not just stay separate.  Sure, Class2Go could have played catchup for a long time and done well at it.  But that's no fun.  Isn't it better to combine forces so a) the team can work on more innovative stuff, and b) everyone benefits from a single platform with more resources behind it?  I think so.

I'm going to post your questions (anonymously), and my replies, since they're good questions.  Hope you don't mind.

- Sef

[Johannes Tynes]

Many thanks for the update Sef,

overall very good news for the project and open source learning in general!

One question I have was about content transition, presumably you will be porting Stanford course content from class2go to edX, will you be developing any automated tools for doing so? If so, will those be released open source?

In addition user data etc. may need to be migrated into new SQL schemas? Will there be tools or at least guides for that?

Look forward to following and pariticpating in edX closely!

JT

[Sef Kloninger]

Yes, we will definitely publish any conversion scripts/tools.  

I doubt we'll do the same for user data though.  All our courses go for a quarter at a time, and I don't expect that we'll need user accounts and/or prior quarter data (exam entries, grades) to live on from one instance of a class to the next.  Glad you asked though, I'll keep your request in the back of my mind.

- Sef

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[Samuel Marks]

Thank you for answering my questions so thoroughly :)

Embarrassingly I thought that EdX was written in Ruby!

Wonder what this means for the future of top-quality MOOCs?

Lets continue discussing possible gamification ideas (online or offline)

Best regards,

Samuel Marks

Degree: Bachelor of Information Technology
Emphasis: Majoring in Software Technology

http://linkedin.com/in/samuelmarks

[Joe Blaylock]

On Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 1:49 AM, Samuel Marks <samue...@gmail.com> wrote:

Wonder what this means for the future of top-quality MOOCs?

I like to think that it means that in the future, all top-quality MOOCs will run on Python. ;-D