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edx-platform/docs/en_us/olx/source/example-course/insider-structure.rst
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.. _The Structure of edX-Insider:
#############################
The Structure of edX-Insider
#############################
This chapter describes the structure of the `edX-Insider`_ course. See:
* `edX-Insider and Directory File Structures`_
* `Top-level Directory`_
* `The HTML XBlock Directory`_
* `Platform Directories`_
For information on how a generic OLX course is structured, see :ref:`ODL
Directory Structure`.
.. note::
The structure and content of edX-Insider may change before this documentation
is updated.
******************************************
edX-Insider and Directory File Structures
******************************************
All files and sub-directores that comprise edX-Insider are stored in the
`Ongoing`_ directory in the edX-Insider Git repository.
.. Image:: ../Images/edx-insider-github.png
:alt: The edX-Insider course in GitHub
********************
Top-level Directory
********************
The `Ongoing`_ directory in the edX-Insider Git repository contains the
``course.xml`` file as well as XBlock and Platform directories.
The `course.xml`_ file contains the XML for the courseware. All chapters and
sequentials are defined in ``course.xml``.
Most verticals are defined in ``course.xml``; two verticals are referenced
in other files.
The content of some HTML XBlocks is embedded within ``course.xml``; other HTML
XBlocks are referenced in other files.
Problems are referenced in other files.
See :ref:`The edX-Insider course.xml File` for more information.
******************************
The HTML XBlock Directory
******************************
While some HTML content is embedded in ``course.xml``, many HTML XBlocks are
stored as separate files in the ``HTML`` directory.
==============================
Example of a Referenced XBlock
==============================
You can reference an XBlock from the ``course.xml`` file.
For example, in ``course.xml``, the first vertical in the courseware contains a
single HTML XBlock with the display name ``Week overview``, which references
``Week_overview`` in the ``url_name`` attribute:
.. code-block:: html
<chapter display_name="Pedagogical Foundations: Constructive Learning"
url_name="Week_2_Technology_enabled_constructive_learning">
<sequential format="Learning Sequence" graded="true"
display_name="Overview (go here first)"
url_name="Overview_go_here_first">
<vertical display_name="Week's overview" url_name="Week_s_overview">
<html display_name="Week overview" filename="Week_overview"
url_name="Week_overview"/>
There is a file called ``Week_overview.html`` in the ``html`` directory that
contains the content for that HTML component. For detailed information, see the
`Week_overview.html`_ file in GitHub.
For a student, that HTML component appears as the first unit of the course:
.. Image:: ../Images/Insider-first-image.png
:alt: The HTML component as a student views it
==============================
Example of an Inline XBlock
==============================
You can include an XBlock content within the ``course.xml`` file. You may do
this for ease of reading and maintenance when you do not need to reuse the
content.
For example, in ``course.xml``, the sequential with the display name ``In-class
exercise`` contains embedded HTML content:
.. code-block:: html
<sequential display_name="In-class exercise" url_name="in_class">
<html display_name="Overview" url_name="overview">
<p>In the on-line portion,
we examined a way we used technology to allow efficient
implementation of one theory from learning science constructive
learning in edX. In designing the edX platform, we applied many
such techniques. We took aspects of mastery learning, project-
based learning, gamification and others. Other platforms have
sophisticated techniques for targeting specific student
misconceptions, enabling a range of student social experiences,
assessing teacher performance, and hundreds of other research-
based techniques. We would like to give you a chance to practice
with designing software to enable good pedagogy.
</p>
. . .
</html>
For a student, that HTML component appears as unit of the course in the same
way as a referenced HTML component does:
.. Image:: ../Images/Insider-first-exercise.png
:alt: The HTML component as a student views it
********************
Platform Directories
********************
The edX-Insider course contains information in the course sub-directories as
described below.
====================
``about`` Directory
====================
The ``about`` directory contains:
* ``overview.html``, which contains the content for the course overview page that students see in the the Learning Management System (LMS).
* ``short_description.html``, which contains the content for the course in the
course list.
See :ref:`The Course About Pages` for more information.
====================
``info`` Directory
====================
The ``info`` directory contains:
* ``handouts.html``, which contains the content for the **Course Handouts**
page in the course.
* ``updates.html``, which contains the course updates students see when opening
a course.
=======================
``policies`` Directory
=======================
The ``policies`` directory contains:
* ``assets.json``, which defines all files used in the course, such as images.
* A course directory named ``Ongoing``, which contains:
* ``grading_policy.json``, which defines how student work is graded in the
course.
* ``policy.json``, which defines various settings in the course.
See :ref:`Course Policies` for more information.
====================
``static`` Directory
====================
The ``static`` directory contains the files used in the course, such as images
or PDFs.
See :ref:`Course Assets` for more information.
=======================
``vertical`` Directory
=======================
The ``vertical`` directory contains the XML for two verticals used in the
course:
* ``constructive_ora_exercise.xml``
* ``in_class_ora.xml``
You can embed verticals in the ``course.xml`` file, and this is usually the
most straightforward option. However, with OLX, you can also store XML for
verticals in separate files in the ``vertical`` directory.
In this case, verticals for open response assessments are stored in their own
files. See `Creating a Peer Assessment`_ for more information.
The vertical files are referenced in ``course.xml`` as follows:
.. code-block:: html
<vertical url_name="constructive_ora_exercise"></vertical>
And:
.. code-block:: html
<vertical url_name="in_class_ora"></vertical>
.. include:: ../links.rst