XBlock Module for Course Builder
An add-on module for Course Builder which enables it to use edX XBlocks in course content.
Requirements
You will need a Bash environment to run the installation scripts. The scripts
use standard developments tools, including Python 2.7, git, and
zip/unzip. In addition you must have the following Python packages
installed: setuptools 2.1.2, lxml 2.3.2, numpy 1.6.1.
Running the example application locally
To get started, the XBlock module can be run inside Course Builder on a local development server. To set up and run the application, execute:
sh ./scripts/run_example.sh
This will set up a copy of Course Builder in examples/ with the XBlock
module installed, and will start the App Engine development server. The script
accepts dev_appserver.py flags.
Running the example application on production App Engine
To install on production App Engine, first follow the steps in
Running the example application locally, to set up a copy of
Course Builder in examples/ with the module installed.
Next, create a new application on App Engine (https://appengine.google.com/)
with a name that matches the application name in
examples/coursebuilder/app.yaml (e.g. 'mycourse')
Deploy with the command:
./examples/google_appengine/appcfg.py update examples/coursebuilder
Using XBlocks in Course Builder
You can add XBlock content in XML form to the body of Course Builder lessons. The following example describes the steps to add a snippet of HTML text and a video XBlock to a lesson:
- Log on to Course Builder as an administrator.
- Create a new course using the admin tab.
- Go to the new course's Dashboard, and select Assets.
- Observe the list of assets includes a new XBlocks section.
- Click Add XBlock.
- Paste the following XML into the XBlock definition box:
<sequential> <html>Some text</html> <video youtube_id_1_0="Kdg2drcUjYI"/> </sequential>
- Enter a description, such as "Sample XBlock content" and click Save, then Close.
- Next go to the course Outline tab and add a new unit and then a new lesson.
- Edit the lesson and use the Rich Text Editor for the lesson body.
- Click on the toolbox icon to embed a course component. Select "Embedded XBlocks" as the component type, and choose the description of the XBlock content you just added.
- Save your lesson and click Close to return to the dashboard.
- Click on your lesson name to view the content as a student.
Importing Courses from edX Studio
You can import course content created in edX Studio. Not all content that can be authored in Studio runs in Course Builder, but basic content including HTML, videos, and multiple choice questions is supported. The following steps show the process for importing a course from Studio:
- Create your course in Studio.
- In your Studio course, select Tools > Export and save a copy of your course as a
.tar.gzfile.- Log on to Course Builder as an administrator.
- Create a new course using the admin tab.
- Go to the new course's Dashboard, and select Assets.
- Click the Import button in the XBlocks section.
- Click Choose File and open the
.tar.gzfile which you downloaded from Studio.- If you only want to confirm that this content can be imported to Course Builder, without actually loading it, click the Dry Run box.
- Click Import.
After the import, Studio sections will correspond to Course Builder units, and
Studio subsections will correspond to Course Builder lessons. Resources such as
embedded images will be imported. There are also sample exported files which
you can try in tests/resources/.
Adding new XBlocks
The following steps describe how to add new XBlocks so that they will be recognized
by the XBlock module. They assume that you have packaged the XBlocks in a folder
called my_xblocks which contains a setup.py file (similar to the thumbs XBlock
that is included with the standard XBlock library).
Copy the
my_xblocksfolder into thelib/folder of your Course Builder installation, so that you have alib/my_xblocksfolder that contains asetup.pyfile.In a terminal, execute the commands
cd my_xblocks python setup.py egg_infoIn Course Builder, edit
appengine_config.pyand locate the definition of theTHIRD_PARTY_LIBSlist (near line 63). Add the following line at the end of the list:_Library('my_xblocks')In Course Builder, edit
src/modules/xblock_module/xblock_module.pyand locate the XBLOCK_WHITELIST list (new line 86). Add the line for your XBlock from your XBlock'ssetup.pyfile. E.g.,myblock = my_package.my_module:MyBlockClassYou can now use the added XBlock in your Course Builder installation.
If you are developing an XBlock then the above steps need only be performed once. Subsequent edits to your XBlock's code will be immediately available.
Running the tests
To run the tests, execute:
sh ./scripts/tests.sh
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