Page Comparison

...

• New configuration settings were added to lms/envs/common.py
• New course settings were added to InheritanceMixin in common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/inheritance.py
• The core HTML component was updated to render notes inline
• The AnnotatorJS library was added as a vendor library to common/static/js/vendor
• A new LMS "Notes" tab was added to common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tabs.py
  • The URL for the new tab was added to lms/urls.py
  • Mako templates for the new tab were added to lms/templates
  • CSS for the new tab was added to lms/static/sass
  • The JavaScript Backbone views were added to lms/static/js
• Tests were written for all the new UI
  • Jasmine tests were added to lms/static/js/spec
  • Jasmine HTML fixtures were added to lms/static/js/fixtures
  • Bok Choy tests were added to common/tests/acceptance

5. Proctored Exams

Proctored exams were implemented as a standalone Python library along with some fairly substantial integration into edx-platform

• The Python library lives here: https://github.com/edx/edx-proctoring

Some notes:

• Proctored exams were not implemented as a new type of XBlock, but instead were hard-wired into the built-in sequential module
• New fields were added directly to sequential module
  
  • https://github.com/edx/edx-platform/blob/master/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/seq_module.py#L70
• The proctoring code was provided as an XBlock runtime service to be called out to from the sequential module
  • https://github.com/edx/edx-platform/blob/master/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/seq_module.py#L432
• Conditional logic was added when rendering sequential modules to call out to the proctored exam rendering code
  • https://github.com/edx/edx-platform/blob/master/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/seq_module.py#L482
• Course-scoped settings were added directly to the course module
  • e.g. https://github.com/edx/edx-platform/blob/master/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/course_module.py#L733
• New configuration settings were added to both lms.env.json and lms.auth.json
• Custom Studio UI was added to manage the new settings for sequentials
• Studio was extended to include custom registration of proctored exams:
  
  • https://github.com/edx/edx-platform/blob/master/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/proctoring.py
• The course outline was updated to have custom rendering for proctored exams
  • https://github.com/edx/edx-platform/blob/master/cms/templates/js/course-outline.underscore#L56
• URLs were added directly to the LMS's urls.py file
  • https://github.com/edx/edx-platform/blob/master/lms/urls.py#L928
• All of the styling for proctored exams was added directly into the LMS's main courseware Sass file
  • https://github.com/edx/edx-platform/blob/master/lms/static/sass/course/courseware/_courseware.scss#L171
• A new tab for 'special exams' was added to the instructor dashboard
  • https://github.com/edx/edx-platform/blob/master/lms/templates/instructor/instructor_dashboard_2/special_exams.html

6. Student Data Tab

Here is an upcoming use case from Braden MacDonald:

...

Here are the various types of UX changes that were seen in the relevant features. Note that the "Mobile Support" column describes whether such a change will automatically be supported by mobile, or whether it will require additional changes to the mobile app.

UX Change	Description	Examples	Mobile Support	Cohorted Courseware	ORA 2	Student Notes	CCX

CCX

Proctored Exams
Feature Flag	Allow the feature to be enabled or disabled	ENABLED_EDXNOTES flag
Service	Introduce a new service that other parts of the platform can consume	edX Notes Service edX Submissions Service	(but clients need to be updated)
REST API	Introduce new REST APIs that allow new data models to be consumed by other parts of the platform	User API, edX Notes Service API	(but clients need to be updated)
Core behavior change	Change how core parts of the platform function	Cohorted content, CCX due dates
New course role	Introduce a new role for users within a course	CCX coach
New group type	Introduce a new kind of grouping of users	Cohorts, Content Groups
New LMS page	Add a new page to the top level of the LMS	Learner profile page
New Studio page	Add a new page to the top level of Studio	"Group Configurations" page	N/A
Update Studio course settings view	Update the "Settings" view to allow editing of new features	Course Licenses
Courseware component	Add a new component type that an author can add to their course	"Peer Assessment" component	(with some caveats)
LMS tab	There are two different classes of tabs: those that are shown per role, and those that are shown when a feature is enabled. Note: these are currently shown as tabs in the web version of the LMS, but this concept should be generalized to work for mobile and future non-tab implementations.	"Notes" tab, "CCX" tab
Instructor admin component	Add a new component that instructors can use to administer their course in the LMS	"Cohorts" tab
Instructor reports	Add a new report that instructors can download	"Download Profile Information"
Course feature flag	Allow the feature to be enabled per course (by author or instructor)	"Enable Student Notes", "Enable Cohorts"
Studio advanced setting	Add a new setting that authors can use to configure aspects of their course	"Student Notes Visibility"	N/A
Studio authoring view	Add a new view to allow authors to visually configure aspects of an xblock	"Edit Visibility", ORA 2 settings	N/A
Studio type	Introducing a new type requires providing an editor component	"Language" picker	N/A

Here are the types of implementation changes that had to be made to introduce the above features:

Change	Description	Update Required	Mobile Support	Cohorted Courseware	ORA 2	Student Notes	CCX	Proctored Exams
Configuration Settings	Allow the feature to be enabled or disabled	Update lms/envs/common.py (or cms)	Not picked up by mobile today
URLs	Most features require new LMS and/or Studio URLs	Update lms/urls.py (or cms)	Not picked up by mobile today
Django models	Add new persisted data models, or update existing ones	Add models to your Django app, or update existing ones in the platform
Modulestore logic	Changes needed in core modulestore logic	Update xmodule/modulestore
Courseware component	Add a new component type that an author can add to their course.	Implement an xblock (some caveats that still require xmodule). Update the Studio configuration to allow the user to create such a component.	(with some caveats)
Course-scoped fields	Add a new field that can be set per-course.	Add fields to xmodule/course_module.py and sometimes xmodule/modulestore/inheritance.py
User partition scheme	Provide a new way to partition users into groups/teams/cohorts etc	Provide a plug-in of type openedx.user_partition.scheme
Images	Images need to get into the pipeline to end up served through the CDN	Add new images to lms/static/images (or cms)
CSS	Introduce new styling for custom components	Add new SASS files to lms/static/sass (or cms)	(for web views)		(see ORA section below)
Mako Template	Include new HTML templates to be returned when serving a new page	Add new templates to lms/templates (or cms)
Third-party JS libraries	Add new libraries needed by the new JS UI, e.g. AnnotatorJS	Add the files to common/static/js/vendor Add the new dependencies to RequireJS and the Jasmine tests
JavaScript	Add new custom JS code to support more dynamic browser interactions	Add new JS files to lms/static/js (or cms). Add new dependencies to
Unit Tests	Add new Python or Jasmine code to test your new feature	Add new tests to your Django app Update paver to know about the new directories to run the tests, for coverage etc
Integration Tests	Add new Bok Choy tests that verify your feature works when running inside the platform	Add new tests to common/test/acceptance Note: ORA 2 has Bok Choy tests in its own repo, but no easy way to run them

See Also

• PR 7610: Django extension spike
• PR 7937: Add "Teams" tab
• Thoughts on LMS front end architecture
• How to add a new feature to LMS or Studio
• Adding a new course tab

...