LabXchange is a new initiative spun out of HarvardX, to build a specialized site to help prepare students before they do lab work.

It will be based on Open edX (or perhaps even use edx.org as the backend), but have a new beautiful, streamlined UI, optimized for this use case.

LabXchange will not generally be a content producer - instead, it will be a specialized content repository, reusing course elements from multiple existing producers - such as HarvardX, StanfordX, or even non-edX sources like Khan Academy.

Features Required

Some big features we'll have to develop on the Open edX platform to support this project will include:

• Content tagging
• Improved content libraries and faceted content search
• Improved content reuse features, including authorship tracking+verification
• API for content creation/tagging/grouping, so that pathways can be created from the LabXchange frontend and not just Studio
• "Pathways": Small linear sequences of content that aren't part of a course (similar to the "MicroModules" concept in AL: Decoupling Navigation)

Other features that will be part of LabXchange but not necessarily built into the Open edX backend:

• LabXchange frontend
• Site-wide discussion forum + messaging system, and user profiles
• Moderation system - flag content/forum posts/etc. for moderator review, or require mod review before publishing
• Gamification features

See

• LabXChange user stories
• Top-down use cases
• List of requirements in the LabXchange Timeline Google Doc
• The platform features slide deck

Design Docs

• Blockstore Design Doc: Harvard LabXchange Blockstore Proposal

Planning Docs

Key Dates

2018-03-31 (at latest) Development plan and contract finalized.

2018-04-01 Start of development

2018-08-31 Full UX design, including high quality demo

2018-09-01 "Need to be able to add content to the catalog from edX & content partners"

2019-01-01 "Users need to be able to utilize the catalog and create pathways"

2019-04-01 "Users need to be able to complete their prelab work on the platform (pathways & simulations), use the social network to find mentors"

2019-06-01 "Users need to be able to utilize the platform, data for gamification needs to be tracked"

2019-08-01 "Users need to be able to create case studies from their research