Connexions separates the content viewing aspect of the site from the editing side. If you find a resource you like and would like to edit your current options are:

• add the content to a lens (your favourites for example) and then from the lens listing add the content to your personal workspace or a workgrouph, or
• go to the workspace or workgroup where you would like to work on the new version and then use the search functionality to locate the resource and add it.

Both of these require an intermediate step which is non-intuitive and slows the process down.

Here is a screen capture of the content header of a typical module on Connexions.

This image is small but the list of links on the top right are actions for the user, Add to a lens, Download PDF etc. Why can’t there just be an allow-me-to-immediately-edit-my-own-version-of-this-resource button? Of course there can, with a slightly different name of course.

In partnership with the Connexions team, Upfront Systems have been developing this functionality for us. I was visiting Upfront yesterday to do some beta-testing and captured a few quick screenshots along the way to give you a preview of what is coming.

The new option will be called Reuse / Edit. Reuse is applicable if you are not currently an author of the module and are making your own version whereas editing is applicable if you are the author or have editing privileges on the resource. The option will be added to the actions listed at the top of the module with the new list looking like this (without the shading of course):

Selecting this option will expand a drop-down menu. This menu will be sensitive to whether your on a module in isolation or browsing a collection. If the latter is true then it will ask which of the two items, the module or the collection, you want to work on as shown on the right.

Once you’ve selected which resource you’re interested in you just need to select the relevant options in the dialog boxes that follow.

The options that you can select cover:

• where you want the resource located, allowing you to move it to a collaborative workgroup or your personal space,
• decide whether you’d like to jump straight into editing it or come back and browse for more content, and
• whether or not you agree to the licence (a necessity to ensure the integrity of the repository content).

That’s it. Conflicts with existing versions in the target location will be checked and the user will be warned and given a choice of actions depending on the specific circumstances. This will be much faster than the old process and a lot more transparent and intuitive to users.

No definitive release date yet but it’ll be out as soon as we can get it out.

Recovering after a long days work.

If it sounds like I am using Rhaptos and Connexions interchangeably you are on to something. The Connexions website is an installation of the Rhaptos software so developments for the Connexions site must be made to Rhaptos. Rhaptos is run as an open-source project and the details of all our development can be found on the Trac page.

Roché Compaan and I spent the 3^rd – 6^th Feb in Houston visiting Connexions. We were there to wrap up some work on the Phase 1 and 2 development and ensure that everyone was happy with the functionality, UI and roll-out process. We also participated in a meeting to discuss an assessment bank and attended the Connexions Conference.

The functionality that is being added to Connexions includes:

• module templates
• new lens type that allows anyone to add to it but adds a review queue
• lens organisers
• forum functionality at the lens and workgroup level
• ratings

We’re going to be testing this is a closed workgroup on Connexions for a while but everything will be generally available as soon as we’ve stress tested it all. I’ll capture some screenshots and blog about the functionality in the next few weeks so you know what you are in for.

The conversation included a number of the Connexions team, Kathi Fletcher, Manpreet Kaur, Philip Schatz, and Vickie Nguyen, as well as Michelle Smith from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Margaret Beier from Rice University, and Roché Compaan from Upfront Systems. This diverse group ensured that we discussed issues from the technical implementation through to the research aspects of creating assessment items which are effective and useful. Specific use cases differ but collectively we want to build an assessment bank tool that can be used stand-alone or plug seamlessly into Connexions.

From the Siyavula side, our initial interest was in a question bank that:

• allows teachers to integrate questions into their Connexions modules,
• allows for the creation of random exercise sheets/tests quickly and easily that meet a set of criteria (subject, topic, difficulty, etc.),
• allows teachers to add questions to the bank, and
• accepts feedback on specific questions.

Once a critical mass of questions has been achieved, this assessment bank would allow a teacher to create a test or exercise sheet with separate memorandum in a few seconds, saving teachers a lot of time. A simple interface covering:

• subject
• grade
• topic
• number of question for each cognitive level
• and many optional refinements ex. total marks etc.

would allow us to sample the bank of questions and produce a question paper and memorandum which the teacher could download.

This also allows the teacher to make a custom exercise sheet for learners with special needs quickly and easily, be those more advanced or weaker learners.

Given that the alleviation of time pressure on teachers our focus would be on encouraging teachers to add new questions with a focus on originality and quality as well as to provide feedback on questions.

For a tool like this to be useful the questions need to be stored in such a way that we can extract the questions and solutions easily. More sophisticated use requires even more markup. We are currently leaning towards implementing the most common set of question types from the QTI-specification. Examples of the question types can be found here.

If built exposing an API the assessment bank could be integrated into other tools. One example of such a tool has emerged in discussions with Anil Kanjee of the Human Sciences Research Council (HRSC). The HSRC plans to build a diagnostic tool which couples to an assessment bank. With the correct meta-data stored for every question their tool will capture learners performance, like a Learning Management System, and provide feedback to the teacher on learner’s weaknesses and strengths. It will also allow comparison on a class-, school-, district- or national level with additional restrictions based on other relevant meta-data. The tool can then also provide teachers with recommended strategies to address learner’s shortcomings.

The HSRC has been developing questions and the required meta-data and is now busy with development of the assessment bank. The diagnostic tool will be built and trialled over the next few years.

I think that this is a very exciting extension to Connexions and will save teachers a lot of time. Alleviating some of the time pressure on teachers should have knock-on benefits in all areas as an added bonus.