June 2023: OpenCraft Quarterly Catch Up
June 2023: OpenCraft Quarterly Catch Up
June 2023: OpenCraft Quarterly Catch Up

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It’s that time again. Our quarterly catch up is here, and I’m about to dish out the hottest goss on all things OpenCraft and Open edX 😉. So, drumroll please…


Top news

Open edX presents Content Tagging!

"Tagging" has been a long-requested feature for managing content in Studio, and now OpenCraft is finally designing and building it for Axim Collaborative! While there are big plans, the first release will be a user-friendly, minimal viable product. Here are some of the things everyone can look forward to:

  • Instructors will be able to:
    • search and filter content according to a particular competency, subject, skill, or learning outcome
    • assign tags to questions created in Content Libraries, so they’re easy to find and reuse
    • tag components in different courses, so it’s easy to see the component’s subject matter
  • Learning designers will be able to:
    • tag units for competencies and learning objectives to ensure they align with the overall course objectives
    • upload external taxonomies so taxonomies don’t need to be created from scratch

So, get ready for more organized learning content. Tagging will make it easier for you to find, curate, and build relationships between course content. Your learners will thank you too! Think of courses that are effortlessly searchable and primed for personalization.

Contact us if you’d like to know more about the project.


Open edX community news

  1. The latest Open edX release is here! Palm is packed with improvements big and small! Instructors can now schedule bulk emails, enjoy an improved grading experience, add problems using the new visual editor, and much more.
  2. New to Open edX, or interested in learning more about its background, or how to contribute? The Intro to the Open edX Project & Contributing is for you! Hot off the press, it covers the project’s history, introduces the community, and gives you the lowdown on how to contribute.
  3. The next Open edX meetup: Generative AI & Sustainability Strategies Leveraging the Open edX Platform is scheduled for Thursday, July 20 at 10am (EDT). Learn more about the event and register for free here.​​​​​​​
  4. Axim Collaborative has shared its first ever 2022 Open edX Annual Report. The report takes an in-depth look at the Open edX project and community. What’s more, our OpenCraft designers were involved in the illustration and layout design of the report. What an honor!

Company news

A feature that will be released soon is copying and pasting course content. Talk about saving content authors more time! OpenCraft is very excited to be involved in the UX and development of this project. Ultimately, the feature will allow authors to copy sections, subsections, units and components, and then paste them into different locations within the same course or into a different course. No more duplicate work - whoop!

Keep your eye on the Open edX forum for the official public release of this feature.


Team news

We’re proud to announce that during the first six months of this year, three more OpenCrafters were bestowed the Core Contributor title. We now have 13 Core Contributors!

The Open edX Core Contributor program allows members to participate in defining and deciding the direction of the platform through design, coding, marketing, and more. To become a member you need to embody commitment to the project, exemplary conduct, and high caliber contributions. Well done to the following three team members:

Code Contributors:

UX and UI Contributor


Team member spotlight

Meet our amazing Chief Technology Officer! Braden hails from Vancouver, Canada. When he’s not doing awesome things with code, you’ll catch him hiking the glorious mountains right on his doorstep. 

Braden started his journey at OpenCraft in 2014. But his journey in open source started with his first contribution at age 14! He loves being a part of the Open edX community, and the community loves him! He was made a Core Contributor in 2020. Projects that have received a lot of his attention are things related to XBlocks and how they're stored, including Modular Learning and Content Libraries. In fact, he’s super happy about being involved with the Modular Learning efforts where he’s building functionality that he and the community have wanted for a long time. Braden particularly loves being involved in architecture discussions. You’ll often catch him being extremely helpful on the Open edX forum.

Outside of OpenCraft and the Open edX community, Braden likes to work on open source JavaScript/TypeScript projects. He’s a big fan of DenoTypeScript, and Next.js. He’s also the co-founder of Neolace and TechNotes, and owner of MacDonald Thoughtstuff Inc. 

As I mentioned, Braden is really active on the Open edX forum, so reach out to him there!

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Photo credits: Unsplash

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