Open-source projects are learning technologies that anyone can download, install, and use. Because the code is freely available, these projects also encourage contributions, meaning people who change the code can share their changes for everyone else to use.
The LT Hub has started open-source projects and contributed to open-source projects started by others.
Projects We Lead
Projects that we have started include ComPAIR, iPeer, and the Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) Shim.
ComPAIR
ComPAIR is UBC’s homegrown peer review tool that adds comparing to the process of students reviewing one another’s work. In ComPAIR, students see pairs of their peers’ assignments presented side-by-side for comparison and feedback. Students learn by comparing and identifying strengths or weaknesses that may not be as evident in an isolated assignment. The process encourages productive peer feedback and critical thinking.
You can learn more on ComPAIR’s support website and other institutions can download the ComPAIR application from the UBC GitHub repository.
iPeer
iPeer is a peer assessment tool for students to evaluate their team members’ contributions to group assignments. These assessments encourage students to reflect on their teamwork and individual participation, while providing you with insight into each group’s dynamics and each student’s contribution.
You can learn more on iPeer’s support website and other institutions can download the iPeer application from the UBC GitHub repository.
Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) Shim
The LTI Shim works as a go-between to help a Learning Management System (LMS) like Canvas communicate with other learning technologies while protecting student privacy. The goal of the LTI Shim is to help instructors use third-party tools with less privacy risk.
The LTI Shim protects privacy by masking—or not passing—personally identifiable information about students from the LMS. For example, imagine you had a course in Canvas and wanted to use another tool like Piazza. The LTI Shim would work behind-the-scenes to ensure that any student data sent from Canvas to Piazza would not identify an individual student.
The LTI Shim is still under active development. Other institutions can download the LTI Shim beta application from the UBC GitHub repository.
Projects We Contribute To
We contribute to several open-source projects. The following are a few notable examples.
Canvas API Scripts
Canvas provides an API (Application Programming Interface) that allows people to accomplish tasks that might be difficult or repetitive to do manually in Canvas. The LT Hub has developed or contributed to a number of projects under the Canvas API User Community:
- Node.js module for the Canvas API
- Export discussions to CSV file
- Export assignment and quiz rubric scores to CSV file
- Bulk assign and moderate Canvas quizzes
- Extract Canvas quiz logs
- Download Canvas page views data
H5P
H5P allows you to create interactive content for students to learn from. There are 45 interactive content types available, including multiple choice questions, video with an interactive quiz, memory games, image hotspots, and more.
The LT Hub has customized some functionality to use with H5P, including those listed below:
Webwork
Webwork is an online assignment and quiz tool for numeric problems and equations. In Webwork, you can create custom problems or choose from a library and assign these problems on an individual student basis as part of homework sets or quizzes. Students can receive instant feedback after answering each problem and have multiple attempts, to better understand their learning.
The LT Hub regularly contributes to Webwork.
WordPress Plugins
WordPress is a website-building platform that runs tools like UBC Blogs and helps you implement different themes and add-on tools without having to learn code. The LT Hub has developed a number of WordPress plugins for the WordPress community. They are available for use at UBC, and the code is accessible through the UBC GitHub repository.