You can add a wide variety of different types of exercises and tools to your course outline. By default, a core set of exercises is available for you to add to your course. There are also numerous additional exercises and tools that you can review and add to your course.
The level of support that edX provides for each tool varies. The description of each exercise and tool in the following sections indicates the level of support designated for each tool: full, provisional, or no support. This table provides the definition for each level of support.
| Level of Support | Description |
|---|---|
| Full support | Fully supported tools and features are available on edx.org, are fully tested, have user interfaces where applicable, and are documented in the official edX guides that are available on docs.edx.org. |
| Provisional support | Provisionally supported tools and features are available on edx.org, but might lack the robustness of functionality that your courses require. You should test provisionally supported tools thoroughly before using them in your course, especially in graded sections. Complete documentation might not be available for provisionally supported tools, or documentation might be available from sources other than the official edX guides. |
| Not supported | Exercises and tools with no support are not maintained by edX, and might be deprecated in the future. They are not recommended for use in courses due to non-compliance with one or more of the base requirements, such as testing, accessibility, internationalization, and documentation. |
“Exercises and tools” is a general way to refer to the robust variety of content that you can integrate into an online course. You create the graded and ungraded assessments in your course with different exercises or problem types, while various tools deliver different types of course content. Software developers use the XBlock component architecture to contribute new exercises and tools to the Open edX platform and provide new and varied options for reaching learners.
The topics in this section describe different exercises and tools. Information about how to enable specific exercises and tools is provided, followed by examples and step-by-step instructions for how you use Studio to add components to your course. For many of the exercises and tools, when you add a component Studio presents a template for you to use as a starting point for your work. XML examples and descriptions of the attributes, tags, and elements that you can use in an XML editor are also provided.
Exercises and tools with a wide range of uses are listed alphabetically in this table.
Note
In addition to the following exercises and tools, Open edX offers the Notes tool. The Notes tool allows learners to highlight and make notes about what they read in the course. This tool is not available for courses on edx.org.
| Type | Description | Support |
|---|---|---|
| Annotation Problem | Annotation problems ask learners to respond to questions about a specific block of text. The question appears above the text when the learner moves the cursor to the highlighted text so that learners can think about the question as they read. | Provisional support |
| Calculator Tool | The calculator tool is available for every course through the course
advanced settings. When the calculator tool is enabled, it appears on
every unit page. Learners can enter input that includes Greek
letters, trigonometric functions, and scientific or e notation in
addition to common operators. |
Provisional support |
| Completion Tool | This tool allows learners to mark sections of course content as completed. It helps learners to track their progress through sections of the course (including for ungraded activities such as reading text, watching video, or participating in course discussions), and gives them a way to indicate to both themselves and course staff that they completed the required activities. | Full support |
| Conditional Module | You can create a conditional module to control versions of content that groups of learners see. For example, learners who answer “Yes” to a poll question then see a different block of text from the learners who answer “No” to that question. | Provisional support |
| Custom JavaScript Problem | Custom JavaScript display and grading problems (also called custom JavaScript problems or JS input problems) allow you to create a custom problem or tool that uses JavaScript and then add the problem or tool directly into Studio. | Full support |
| External Grader | An external grader is a service that receives learner responses to a problem, processes those responses, and returns feedback and a problem grade to the edX platform. You build and deploy an external grader separately from the edX platform. An external grader is particularly useful for software programming courses where learners are asked to submit complex code. | Provisional support |
| Google Calendar Tool | You can embed a Google calendar in your course so that learners see the calendar in the course body. You can use a Google calendar to share quiz dates, office hours, or other schedules of interest to learners. | Full support |
| Google Drive Files Tool | You can embed a Google Drive file, such as a document, spreadsheet, or image, in your course so that learners see the file in the course body. | Full support |
| Google Instant Hangout Tool | You can add the ability for learners to participate in instant hangouts directly from your course. With instant hangouts, learners can interact through live video and voice, share screens and watch videos together, and collaborate on documents. | Provisional support |
| Iframe Tool | With the iframe tool, you can integrate ungraded exercises and tools from any Internet site into an HTML component in your course. | Provisional support |
| LTI Component | LTI components allow you to add an external learning application or non- PDF textbook to Studio. | Full support |
| Office Mix Tool | You can embed interactive lessons created from PowerPoint files so that learners can experience them directly in the course body. | Full support |
| Open Response Assessments | In open response assessments, learners receive feedback on written responses of varying lengths as well as image files that the learners upload. Open response assessments include self assessment and peer assessment. | Full support |
| Oppia Exploration Tool | You can embed Oppia explorations in your course so that learners can interact with them directly in the course body. | Full support |
| Peer Instruction Tool | This tool offers the experience of the Peer Instruction learning system within your online course. | Full support |
| Poll Tool | You can include polls in your course to gather learners’ opinions on various questions. You can use the Poll Tool in Studio. | Full support |
| Poll Tool for OLX | You can run polls in your course so that your learners can share opinions on different questions. You can only add this type of poll to a course by using OLX. Support for this tool in Studio is not available. For more information, see the EdX Open Learning XML Guide. | Provisional support |
| Problem with Adaptive Hint | A problem with an adaptive hint evaluates a learner’s response, then gives the learner feedback or a hint based on that response so that the learner is more likely to answer correctly on the next attempt. These problems can be text input or multiple choice problems. | Provisional support |
| Problem Written in LaTeX | If you have a problem that is already written in LaTeX, you can use this problem type to easily convert your code into XML. | No support |
| Qualtrics Survey Tool | You can import surveys that you have created in Qualtrics. The survey appears inside an iframe in your course. | Full support |
| Recommender Tool | RecommenderXBlock can hold a list of resources for misconception remediation, additional reading, and so on. This tool allows the course team and learners to work together to maintain the list of resources. For example, team members and learners can suggest new resources, vote for useful ones, or flag abuse and spam. | Full support |
| Survey Tool | You can include surveys in your course to collect learner responses to multiple questions. You can use the survey tool in Studio. | Full support |
| Text Input Problem | In text input problems, learners enter text into a response field. The response can include numbers, letters, and special characters such as punctuation marks. | Full support; mobile-ready |
| Word Cloud Tool | Word clouds arrange text that learners enter - for example, in response to a question - into a colorful graphic that learners can see. | Provisional support |
| Write-Your-Own-Grader Problem | In custom Python-evaluated input (also called “write-your-own-grader”) problems, the grader uses a Python script that you create and embed in the problem to evaluates a learner’s response or provide hints. These problems can be any type. | Provisional support |
Exercises and tools that involve image files are listed alphabetically in this table.
| Type | Description | Support |
|---|---|---|
| Drag and Drop Problem | In drag and drop problems, learners respond to a question by dragging text or objects to a specific location on an image. | Full support; mobile-ready |
| Full Screen Image Tool | The full screen image tool allows a learner to enlarge an image in the whole browser window. This is useful when the image contains a large amount of detail and text that is easier to view in context when enlarged. | Full support |
| Image Mapped Input Problem | In an image mapped input problem, learners click inside a defined area in an image. You define this area by including coordinates in the body of the problem. | Provisional support |
| Zooming Image Tool | Zooming images allow you to enlarge sections of an image so that learners can see the section in detail. | Full support |
Exercises and tools that provide ways for learners to select from several options are listed alphabetically in this table.
| Type | Description | Support |
|---|---|---|
| Checkbox Problem | In checkbox problems, the learner selects one or more options from a list of possible answers. The learner must select all the options that apply to answer the problem correctly. | Full support; mobile-ready |
| Dropdown Problem | Dropdown problems allow the learner to choose from a collection of answer options, presented as a dropdown list. Unlike multiple choice problems, whose answers are always visible directly below the question, dropdown problems don’t show answer choices until the learner clicks the dropdown arrow. | Full support; mobile-ready |
| Multiple Choice Problem | In multiple choice problems, learners select one option from a list of answer options. Unlike with dropdown problems, whose answer choices don’t appear until the learner clicks the drop-down arrow, answer choices for multiple choice problems are always visible directly below the question. | Full support; mobile-ready |
| Multiple Choice and Numerical Input Problem | You can create a problem that combines a multiple choice and numerical input problems. Students not only select a response from options that you provide, but also provide more specific information, if necessary. | Provisional support; mobile-ready |
Exercises and tools that are most suitable for use in science, technology, engineering, or math courses are listed alphabetically in this table.
| Type | Description | Support |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical Equation Problem | Chemical equation problems allow the learner to enter text that represents a chemical equation into a text box. The grader evaluates the learner’s response by using a Python script that you create and embed in the problem. | Full support |
| Circuit Schematic Builder Problem | In circuit schematic builder problems, learners can arrange circuit elements such as voltage sources, capacitors, resistors, and MOSFETs on an interactive grid. They then submit a DC, AC, or transient analysis of their circuit to the system for grading. | Provisional support |
| Gene Explorer Tool | The gene explorer (GeneX) simulates the transcription, splicing, processing, and translation of a small hypothetical eukaryotic gene. GeneX allows learners to make specific mutations in a gene sequence, and it then calculates and displays the effects of the mutations on the mRNA and protein. | Provisional support |
| Math Expression Input Problems | The more complex of Studio’s two types of math problems. In math expression input problems, learners enter mathematical expressions to answer a question. These problems can include unknown variables and more complex symbolic expressions. You can specify a correct answer either explicitly or by using a Python script. | Full support; mobile-ready |
| Molecule Editor Tool | The molecule editor allows learners to draw molecules that follow the rules for covalent bond formation and formal charge, even if the molecules are chemically impossible, are unstable, or do not exist in living systems. | No support |
| Molecule Viewer Tool | The molecule viewer allows you to create three-dimensional representations of molecules for learners to view. | No support |
| Numerical Input Problem | The simpler of Studio’s two types of math problems. In numerical input problems, learners enter numbers or specific and relatively simple mathematical expressions to answer a question. These problems only allow integers and a few select constants. You can specify a margin of error, and you can specify a correct answer either explicitly or by using a Python script. | Full support; mobile-ready |
| Periodic Table Tool | An interactive periodic table of the elements shows detailed information about each element as the learner moves the mouse over the element. | No support |
| Protex Protein Builder Tool | The Protex protein builder asks learners to create specified protein shapes by stringing together amino acids. | No support |
Learners can read and submit answers for the following types of problems while they use the edX mobile app.
Questions that have other problem types do not appear in the edX mobile app. Instead, a message appears with a link to open the applicable problem component in a web browser.