[Proposal] Open edX Multi-Language Course Delivery

Overview  

This proposal outlines a solution for Open edX to support the delivery of language variants of a course without requiring separate course runs for each language. This will increase the reach of Open edX courses, streamline course management and administration, and improve the learner experience. 

Problem Statement 

Currently, delivering courses in multiple languages on Open edX requires creating distinct course runs for each language. This approach leads to: 

• High administrative overhead for content maintenance and version control. 

• Challenges in maintaining consistency across different language versions. 

• Inefficiencies in commercialization 

• Increased complexity in enrollment management and generating learning analytics  

A more integrated solution is needed to allow learners to access translated content within a single course run. 

Proposed Solution  

The proposal is to extend the platform to enable pre-generated language variants of course content to be contained within the same course run. This proposal does not cover on-demand, real-time translation due to the need for translations to be approved.

Content Translation Management 

• Translated content can be manually uploaded, however it is expected that the platform will trigger machine translation from Studio, and only the review/edit/approve/publish process will be manual. 

• The translation service should be pluggable. 

• Each course component (chapter, sequential, vertical, units, videos, text, problems etc) will support multiple language versions. 

• Translations will be stored, or accessed, in the same course run, with each language variant of a content block sharing the same block identifier. 

• When requesting content from the content store, the desired language would be passed, and the correct language variant would be returned. 

Language Selection and User Experience 

• Learners can select their preferred language at any time. 

• The platform automatically retrieves the translated content. 

• All platform 'chrome' will be translated using the existing Open edX i18n and l10n capabilities. 

Assessment and Certification Support 

• Quizzes are presented in the selected language without altering grading logic. 

• Certificates are generated in the learner’s chosen language. 

Learner Analytics 

• The language that was selected when a learner accessed a content block will only be captured in the tracking logs as an optional attribute minimizing (eliminating?) the need to propagate the language throughout the LMS data models. 

Integration with AI and Human Review 

• AI-assisted translations provide initial versions of course content. 

• Human reviewers review, edit, or override AI-generated translations before they are published. 

• A workflow interface allows instructors to efficiently manage translations. 

Business and Pedagogical Benefits 

• Reduced Course Duplication: Eliminates the need to manage multiple course runs for different languages. 

• Efficient Course Maintenance: Instructors manage a single course structure while supporting multiple languages.  Modifying the source language should optionally trigger retranslation of the enabled language variants. 

• Enhanced Learner Engagement: Enables learners to access content in their preferred language. 

Conclusion and Next Steps

This proposal outlines an approach to integrating multi-language support into Open edX without requiring separate course runs. Next steps include: 

• Conducting a feasibility study and developing a proof of concept. 

• Scoping the full implementation and determining how to incrementally rollout. 

• Evaluate Implications for content libraries.