The following information reflects what is new in the edX Platform as of June 10,
2014. See previous pages in this document for a history of changes.
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edX Release Announcements Mailing List
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These edX Course Staff Release Notes are always available and are updated with
each release of the edX Platform on `edx.org`_ and `edX Edge`_.
In addition, you can sign up for the new `edX Release Announcements mailing
list`_ to get an email message when we have updated the edX Course Staff Release
Notes.
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The New Key Introspection API
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This release implements a change in the edX Platform software architecture. The
Key Introspection API is now used to uniquely identify Xblocks, the building
blocks for edX courses. This change simplifies the way that the application
identifies the course content internally. This change does not affect how you
author content.
In edX Studio, URL formats have changed for all courses. If you previously bookmarked a page in Studio, that bookmark will no longer work. You must update the URL.
Following is a sample of this format change:
* Old URL: ``https://studio.edx.org/course/OrganizationX.Econ101.2014_T1/branch/draft/block/2014_T1``
* New URL: ``https://studio.edx.org/course/slashes:OrganizationX+Econ101+2014_T1``
This change does not affect student-visible URLs.
In the edX LMS, the only change is that to reset attempts or rescore student
responses in the **Student Admin** tab on the Instructor Dashboard, you must now
specify the complete location identifier of the problem. The `Student Grades and
Grading`_ section is updated with this revised requirement.
For additional technical detail about this architectural change and the opportunities it creates, see `Opaque Keys`_ on the GitHub wiki.
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edX Learning Management System
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* A problem with the **Register** button on `edX Edge`_ is fixed. If you are not
logged in to edX Edge, you are redirected to the login page, from which new
users can register.
* If a student's browser does not support HTML5 videos, and the course video is
only available in HTML5, the following error message is now displayed to the
student: ``This browser cannot play .mp4, .ogg, or .webm files. Try using a
different browser, such as Google Chrome.`` (BLD-638)
* Video transcripts are now displayed correctly on iPads. (BLD-1033)
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Accessibility Improvements
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* Drag and drop problems are updated to improve accessibility for screen
readers:
* User interface elements that receive focus now have a visual focus
indicated. (LMS-1940)
* Each user interface element now exposes its name, state, role, and value to
assistive technologies. (LMS-1904)
* The target image now has an ``alt`` attribute. (LMS-1699)
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edX Documentation
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The following documentation is available:
* `Building and Running an edX Course`_
Click **Help** button in the upper-right corner of any page in the edX Studio
user interface to access relevant sections in this guide. You can also
download the entire guide as a PDF.
Recent changes include:
* Added a description of email task workflow states to the `Course Launching
Activities`_ section.
* Added `Review Grades for Enrolled Students (Small Courses)`_ to the `Student
Grades and Grading`_ section.
* Updated `Working with Video Components`_ to include recommendations to use
.mp4 and .webm video formats for browser compatibility.
* Revised the `Student Grades and Grading`_ section based on the new
requirement to specify the complete location identifier of a problem to
adjust student grades.
* Updated the `Problem with Adaptive Hint`_ section to reflect formatting
requirements for the Python script and the ``correct_answer`` attribute.
* Reorganized, updated, and streamlined these sections in the `Running Your
Course`_ chapter:
* Divided "Grade and Answer Data" into separate sections for `Student Grades
and Grading`_ and `Answer Data`_.
* Moved information about the student Progress page from the "Checking
Student Progress and Issuing Certificates" section to `Student Grades and
Grading`_.
* Renamed the "Checking Student Progress and
Issuing Certificates" section to `Assign Final Grades and Issue
Certificates`_.
* `Creating Peer Assessments`_
This is a new document that covers using Open Response Assessments 2.0.
* `edX Data Documentation`_
Recent changes include:
Added descriptions of the following events to the `Tracking Logs`_ chapter:
* ``edx.course.enrollment.upgrade.clicked``
* ``edx.course.enrollment.upgrade.succeeded``
* ``edx.forum.searched``
* ``load_video``
* ``hide_transcript``
* ``show_transcript``
* ``problem_reset``
* ``problem_graded``
* `Installing, Configuring, and Running the edX Platform`_
This is a new document that covers installing and running Devstack.
* `edX Platform Developer Documentation`_
* `edX XBlock Documentation`_
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Other edX Resources
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You can access the `edX Status`_ page to get an up-to-date status for all
services on edx.org and edX Edge. The page also includes the Twitter feed for
@edXstatus, which the edX Operations team uses to post updates.
You can access the public `edX roadmap`_ for
details about the currently planned product direction.
.. _Assign Final Grades and Issue Certificates: http://edx.readthedocs.org/projects/edx-partner-course-staff/en/latest/running_course/checking_student_progress.html#checking-student-progress-and-issuing-certificates
.. _Review Grades for Enrolled Students (Small Courses): http://edx.readthedocs.org/projects/edx-partner-course-staff/en/latest/running_course/course_grades.html#gradebook
.. DATA DOCUMENTATION
.. _Student Info and Progress Data: http://edx.readthedocs.org/projects/devdata/en/latest/internal_data_formats/sql_schema.html#student-info
