

Google is joining the Open edX platform - RougeFemme
http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2013/09/we-are-joining-open-edx-platform.html#!/2013/09/we-are-joining-open-edx-platform.html

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byoung2
As a developer, I have the know-how to create a course with Google's Course
Builder or with edX, but are there any tools for creating MOOCs that are as
easy to use as, say, Wikipedia, YouTube, and Facebook? I think there is a lot
of room for easier tools that don't require expertise with AppEngine or
VirtualBox as Course Builder and edX do. Teachers should be able to focus on
the teaching part, not the programming part.

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jontas
It hasn't been released yet (still in development), but that is exactly what
my employer (Knewton) is working on. It is still mostly under-wraps, but you
can sign up to stay informed here:

[http://learn.knewton.com/join](http://learn.knewton.com/join)

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byoung2
I'm guessing it won't be free?

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jontas
Nope, it is free!

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byoung2
That's great! I'll check it out. Any ETA?

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jontas
Don't hold me to this (I'm on a different team), but I think the goal is a
closed beta by the end of this year, primarily for the content creators. This
is to seed the platform with lots of content so it isn't empty when it
launches.

Early next year the platform will begin to open up to the general public.

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lebronj
It's very comforting to see how the MOOC space is growing and garnering a lot
of attention. I've always been one to prefer to learn on my own and do
research so it's great to see a lot of these tools popping up. I wish I had
these in college!

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NamTaf
Hell yes, edX is the best-designed of the lot of them so I'm glad Google's
chosen to throw their lot in with them. It puts Coursera to shame, for sure.

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ethanazir
My impression is that the edX codebase is not so good; google intends to fix
that.

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NamTaf
Clarification: Best-designed from an end-user UI standpoint. I agree that the
code is probably pretty bad, given that it slows to a grinding crawl when it's
nearing the due date of a big assignment for a subject. Page load times tend
to skyrocket and everything bogs down.

I have a feeling that those sorts of things can be optimised though. On the
other hand, the UI is more concrete, because it's what people are used to.

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peter-fogg
edX's Github repo, for those interested:
[https://github.com/edx/](https://github.com/edx/)

