Contributors Meetup Async Update - Feb 1st - Feb 14th, 2025

Working Groups Core Contributors
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Core Contributor Update: Feb 1st - Feb 14th, 2025

Use the jump links below to view the section that interests you:

  1. Working Groups Updates
  2. Events
  3. Projects
  4. Next async update and meetup

1. Working Groups Updates

Working Groups Calendar

1.1. BTR Working Group

Chair: @jalondonot

:paperclip: Latest news

Sumac.1 Retrospective :deciduous_tree::rewind:

  • The async retrospective space is open for feedback, with two weeks to contribute before reviewing results in the next BTR meeting.
  • Follow-ups on Redwood retrospective action items will continue asynchronously via > GitHub Issues.

Next Release: Sumac.2 (February 10, 2025)

  • No blocking issues have been reported.
  • Three high-priority bugs were identified, two of which have easy fixes but need attention this week.
  • Maria Grimaldi and Farhaan Bukhsh volunteered to help fix the pending issues (or find team members to do so) before the release.
  • Backports and release notes were briefly discussed; no major concerns were raised.
  • Operational Readiness: The release is confirmed to be ready, with no dependencies or blockers.

Teak Release Planning (Next Open edX Release)

  • Planning meetings occur every two weeks (next one on Thursday).
  • Teak schedule:
    • Branch cut: April 9, 2025
    • Final release: June 9, 2025
  • Dates are flexible and subject to adjustments based on product requirements.
  • Discussion on why Teak has a 2-month testing window, compared to shorter cycles for Sumac and Redwood:
  • Default scheduling assigns 2 months for testing.
  • Previous releases had shorter cycles due to specific product needs and last-minute feature inclusions.

:memo: Meeting notes

1.2. Contributor Coordination Working Group

Chair: Jorge Londoño

:arrow_down: Past meeting notes 2025-01-21 CC Working Group Meeting Notes

1. Updates on Current Tasks

  • Core Contributor Survey Suggestions (Cassie Zamparini):
    • Proposal to merge the asynchronous updates with community check-ins to make them more user-friendly and easier to digest.
    • A condensed format was tested, and positive feedback was received.
    • Cassie is working on a mockup for further review and invited comments from UX/UI team members.
  • Task Progress Review (Xavier Antoviaque):
    • Many tasks showed progress; specific updates include:
    • Increased engagement from core contributors and maintainers.
    • Issues related to facilitating asynchronous participation (e.g., meeting transcripts, calendar alignment) were resolved and marked complete.
    • Improvements to pull request templates were mostly implemented, with one pending fix.
  • Improving Community Feedback Mechanisms (Ali Salman):
    • Ali is actively working on creating mockups and addressing feedback collection improvements.

2. Handbook and Documentation Overhaul

  • Handbook Progress (Cassie Zamparini):
    • Cassie presented a proposal for restructuring the Open edX Handbook, aiming for improved navigation and centralized documentation.
    • Challenges include overlapping content between the handbook and broader documentation, as well as potential resistance from the Documentation Working Group due to scope.
    • Suggestions from Maria Magallanes and Xavier Antoviaque:
    • Start small by focusing on core handbook content and using it to redirect users to other documentation areas.
    • Avoid attempting to overhaul the entire documentation structure upfront.
    • Engage the Documentation Working Group for structural feedback.

3. Partner Contributions Initiative

  • Progress on Partner Contributions (Xavier Antoviaque):
    • Two meetings with Open edX partners were held to establish standards for partner commitments to core contributions (e.g., developer hours, marketing updates).
    • The initiative aims to balance company incentives with community needs and increase resource allocation for the platform.
    • Next steps include voting on proposals and finalizing plans in collaboration with the Open edX Technical Oversight Committee (TOC).

4. Other Notable Updates

  • Single Responsible Person Initiative:
    • Efforts continue to assign clear ownership of tasks to ensure accountability and streamline decision-making.
  • Open Tickets and Dependencies:
    • Several tasks remain in progress or await updates, including efforts to improve task assignment transparency and repository contributor listings.

5. Next Steps

  • Participants were encouraged to:
  • Provide feedback on Cassie’s handbook proposal and related mockups.
  • Review progress on key tasks and participate in discussions on upcoming initiatives.
  • Stay engaged through asynchronous updates.

:memo: Meeting notes

1.3. Data Working Group

Chair: @e0d & @blarghmatey

:paperclip: Latest news

Aspects 2 Breaking Changes

  • Upcoming release items are managed via the Data Working Group.
  • Breaking changes:
    • Drops support for Open edX releases before Redwood due to Python 3.8 support being removed.
  • Upgrades Superset to 4.1.x, enabling Dashboard tagging for better organization of localized dashboards & charts.
  • Refactoring dbt models to ensure consistent naming and correct schema placement, which may cause large data migrations.

In-Context Metrics for Studio: Requirements

  • In-Context Metrics for Studio: Product Requirements
  • Deadline extended to 2/7 for the Axim Funded Contribution to add In-Context Metrics to Studio.

Upstream Superset Translations Update

  • Jill Vogel proposed Superest Improvement Proposal (SIP-153) to improve Superset asset translations.
  • Goal: Eliminate the need for separate dashboards and charts per language, which has been a long-standing issue.
  • Community feedback is encouraged on Issue #32139 in Apache Superset GitHub.

:memo: Meeting notes

1.4. DEPR Working Group

Chair: @feanil

:paperclip: Latest news

  • Recent DEPR Activity
    • Ongoing discussions about deprecating cs_comments_service.
    • New DEPR proposal: Removing the non-MFE course tab interface for discussions.
    • Upcoming DEPR: Inline discussion block (Dave).
  • Editors Deprecations (Kyle)
    • Four DEPRs related to the old unit page and legacy editors:
    1. Legacy Unit Editor
    2. Legacy Text Editor
    3. Legacy Problem Editor
    4. Legacy Video Editor
  • Key Feedback & Considerations
    • Floating modals are preferred over full-page modals; “Open in new tab” should work.
    • Markdown support will be added to address:
      • Cross-instance copying
      • Multipart editing
    • Needs product approval and resourcing (MIT might contribute, 2U may have designs).
    • Performance improvements expected by switching to the new unit structure.
    • New video editor is generally an improvement but should still address general editor concerns (e.g., opening in a modal).
  • Goal & Next Steps
    • Target: All changes should be enabled by default in Teak, with a toggle-off option until Ulmo.
    • Documentation update: Introduction of the DEPR pilot into OEP via PR #660 (by RobRap).

:memo: Meeting notes

1.6. Tutor Users’ Group

Chair: Kyle McCormick

:arrow_down: Past meeting notes Tutor Users GW 2024-11-18

:memo: Meeting notes

1.7. Educators Working Group

Chair: @john_curricume

:arrow_down: Past meeting notes 2024-10-07 Educator WG

  • In this session of the Open edX Educators Working Group, Eric J. Larson discusses AI literacy, focusing on the distinction between AI capabilities and human-like reasoning. Participants, primarily educators, explore the implications of AI in education, emphasizing the potential and limitations of current AI technologies. Larson elaborates on his book ‘The Myth of Artificial Intelligence,’ highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of AI as an educational tool. They discuss issues such as hallucinations, the impact of AI on student learning, and the importance of maintaining critical and creative thinking. Larson promotes leveraging AI thoughtfully to complement human cognitive abilities, especially in educational settings, while acknowledging the inherent challenges and unpredictable errors of AI systems.

:memo: Meeting notes

1.8. Frontend Working Group

Chair: @arbrandes

1. Axios v1 Upgrade & useCache Issues

  • Context:
    • Upgrading to Axios v1 in frontend-platform caused a CORS error in Enterprise Learner Portal MF.
    • Issue stems from useCache: true, which caches successful responses.
    • Error: API call fails due to a pre-flight request issue (cache-control header not allowed).
  • Findings:
    • Removing useCache: true resolves the issue.
    • Unclear if this is specific to TOU or a broader Axios caching issue.
    • useCache is mostly deprecated in favor of React Query.
  • Next Steps:
    • Document issue in GitHub, noting CORS risks with useCache.
    • Consider adding a deprecation warning for useCache: true.
    • Keep Axios upgrade but watch for similar issues in other MFEs.

2. React 18 Upgrade

  • Context:
    • React Query v5 requires React 18, while Enterprise MFE still runs React 17 with experimental Suspense, leading to bugs.
    • Need to decide whether to upgrade now or wait for Frontend Base update.
  • Findings:
    • Adam tested React 18 and submitted draft PRs for:
      • frontend-platform
      • frontend-plugin-framework
      • frontend-component-* dependencies.
    • Upgrades are non-breaking for existing React 17 MFEs.
    • Some dependencies (e.g., react-redux) will drop React 17 support soon.
  • Next Steps:
    • Prioritize React 18 upgrade before Teak release.
    • Ensure all MFEs transition smoothly.
    • Monitor shared dependencies (headers, footers) for breaking changes.
    • Brian Smith to investigate React 18 adoption across MFEs.

3. Learner Dashboard Plugin Slots

  • Context:
    • Work in progress to replace hardcoded UI elements with plugin slots.
    • PRs submitted for course banner & enterprise modal removal.
    • Discussion on whether “resume session” modals should also be slot-based.
  • Decision:
    • Default approach: Wrap everything in plugin slots when in doubt.
    • Encourage tagging Adolfo or Brian for PR reviews.

4. Paragon Theme Support in Tutor

  • Context:
    • How should Tutor handle Paragon themes and design tokens?
    • Default approach: Load styles from a URL, rather than embedding in each MFE bundle.
    • Tutor should host its own Paragon styles and expose them dynamically.
  • Concerns:
    • Versioning issues if different MFEs require different Paragon versions.
    • What is the default workflow for custom branding/theming in Tutor?
  • Next Steps:
    • Continue discussion in the forum thread.
    • Ensure Tutor can support multiple Paragon versions for different MFEs.

Meeting Outcome

:white_check_mark: Axios v1 & useCache: Issue documented, deprecation planned.
:white_check_mark: React 18 Upgrade: Proceeding before Teak, ensuring smooth MFE migration.
:white_check_mark: Plugin Slots: Continue wrapping key UI elements for flexibility.
:white_check_mark: Paragon Themes: Favor loading from a URL, further discussion required.

:memo: Meeting notes

1.9. Large Instances Working Group

Chair: @braden & @Felipe

:arrow_down: Past meeting notes 2024-12-10 Large Instances Meeting Notes

  • eduNEXT
    • Felipe Montoya : We have started the process of migrating our production clusters to Harmony. Starting with smaller clusters and documenting the process, and opening PRs as we encounter issues.
  • OpenCraft
    • Braden MacDonald We’re preparing for Sumac upgrade - happy with removal of Elasticsearch and the fact that forum can now use MySQL as a backend instead of MongoDB.
    • GĂĄbor Boros has opened a PR to add Terraform code for AWS & DigitalOcean to Harmony.
    • Discussion between GĂĄbor Boros and Felipe Montoya agreed that we don’t need to have “one way” to deploy Harmony using Terraform - we can provide examples of how OpenCraft does it, how eduNEXT does it, etc. and people can mix and match, if that’s helpful.
  • RaccoonGang
    • Currently focused on migrating to Tutor for deployments, and encountering quite a few issues.

:memo: Meeting notes

1.10. Marketing Working Group

Chair: Eden Huthmacher

:arrow_down: Past meeting notes 2024-11-20 MWG Meeting Notes

Next meeting - January 19th, 2025

  • Next Open edX Meetup:
    • Topic: Open edX Use Case (German UDS) + Mobile Updates
  • G2M Strategy Update:
    • To be presented on March 5th

:memo: Meeting notes

1.11. Maintainers

Chair: Feanil

:paperclip: Latest news

  • 1. Individual CLAs
    • New Core Contributors (CCs) must sign a personal CLA, even if they have an entity CLA through their organization.
    • The CC program is individual, not tied to an employer.
  • 2. Maintainers-at-Large
    • Pending PR reviews before the team can be officially created and added to relevant repositories.
    • Arbi-bom will be added once the group is established.
    • Plans to open nominations for additional members.
  • 3. Aximprovements Board & Team
    • Maintainers-at-Large team is now live.
    • Feanil will officially announce the team and recruit additional members.
    • Arbi-bom members will be added per previous agreements.

:memo: Meeting notes

1.12. Product Working Group

Chair: Jenna Makowski

:arrow_down: Past meeting notes 2025-07-01 Product Meeting notes

LTI

UX/UI Working Group

:memo: Meeting notes

1.13. Security Working Group

Chair: Feanil Patel

:memo: Meeting notes

1.14. TOC

Chair: Ed Zarecor

:arrow_down: Past meeting notes 2024-12-10 TOC Meeting Summary

Announcements

Partnership & New TOC Member
It was announced that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) had been signed with a large university, which involves them joining the Technical Oversight Committee (TOC) starting in the new year. The announcement of a new member from that organization joining the meetings from February was mentioned, and plans were in place to work with their communications team on a further public announcement.

Migration of 2U Engineers to the core contributor program
An update was provided regarding the migration of all 2U engineers to the core contributor program for obtaining permissions within the project. Existing permissions will be grandfathered into core contributor & maintainers status, but obtaining new permissions will require following the same standards as the rest of the community, going forward.
On the flip side, it will require the community to keep stepping up its contributions in core contributor & maintainers time, to compensate for the shift of responsibility to the community.
Aligning 2U engineers and practices with the community guidelines requires a fair amount of changes within 2U, the rough timeline for the completion of this migration is set for February.

2025 Conference Update

Information was shared about the progress of arranging the upcoming conference, emphasizing that the Call for Proposals (CFP) had closed, and the submissions were under review. It was mentioned that the selection process involved a juried review by community members and stakeholders using a tool called Sessionize. The results were expected to be finalized soon, with keynote announcements pending.

Sumac Release

Concurrently with the meeting, the Sumac release ceremony was being held, though it has since been delayed by a few days. This release is significant and incorporates new functionalities like a central content library, enhancing content reusability across courses. Draft release notes were shared, and community contributions to this release were acknowledged, appreciating last-minute fixes and enhancements.

Market Research

During the presentation of a market research analysis performed for Open edX, extensive discussions centered around identifying the most beneficial markets and strategic focus areas for Open edX. The dialogue primarily navigated through the merits and potential of targeting specific sectors such as community colleges, ministries, corporate training, and certain international educational initiatives.

Presentation

Market Identification

  • Introduced the core market segments that Open edX could serve effectively: community colleges, ministries, and employers.
  • Emphasized the growing need for upskilling across these segments, both in the U.S. and globally.
  • Highlighted the potential in non-credit educational programs which are rapidly growing and are underserved by current Learning Management Systems (LMS).

Go-To-Market Strategy

  • Suggested that a channel partner model should be the primary route to market rather than Open edX building out a large direct sales force.
  • Discussed the benefits of leveraging existing relationships that channel partners may have within the educational and corporate sectors.
  • Shared insights on the substantial investments typically required for go-to-market activities citing examples from other companies in the education industry.

Barriers and Opportunities

  • Acknowledged the technical challenges and support issues currently facing new users of Open edX, stressing the need for improvements to user experience and platform accessibility.
  • The discussion also covered the necessity of raising market awareness given the low existing visibility of Open edX among potential users and partners.

Strategic Partnerships and Engagements

  • Detailed current discussions with large international organizations, aimed at using Open edX for large-scale educational initiatives.
  • Expressed the need to identify and engage with more partners who can aid in distribution and localized support.

:memo: Meeting notes

1.15. Translation Working Group

Chair: Eden Huthmacher

:arrow_down: Past meeting notes 2024-09-20 Translation WG Meeting notes

    1. Language Performance Decline
    • Performance dropped due to the transition from edx-platform to openedx-translations.
    • Machine translations are now enabled for all languages, except Portuguese (Portugal).
    1. Next Steps & Actions
    • Monitor translation quality after enabling machine translations.
    • Address any major regressions caused by the transition.

:memo: Meeting notes

2. Events

  • Open edX Conference 2025 Leveraging the Power of Open Source to Democratize Education and Fuel Advances in Learning. July 1 – 4, 2025 ‱ Telecom Paris
  • Would anyone like to highlight any past or upcoming events? Let us know in the comments!

3. Projects

Are there any new or ongoing projects you’d like to discuss? Get the conversation started in the comments below.

4. Next async update and meetup

  • Tuesday February 18th - Join the meetup here!
  • Friday February 28th - Async update
  • Details and draft agenda on Confluence

:speech_balloon: Anything to add?

If there’s anything else you’d like to mention, please let us know in the comments below.

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Core Contributor Check-in: Feb 1st - 14th, 2025

:sos: Do you need any help? Or is there anything you’d like to collaborate on?

No answers

:raised_hands: What did you accomplish this sprint?

@jill

@john_curricume

  • Testing and fixes for newly migrated Open edX Educator docs
  • Prepare upcoming Educator WG for documentation support

@Cassie

  • Created an in-house ticket to roll out changes to our Core Contributor Sprint Retrospective and Planning Checklist. Our aim is to simplify the Listaflow form to only 3 questions

@farhaanbukhsh

  • Sumac.2 Released :tada:

@ChrisChV

@Zia.Fazal

  • Reviewed PR 485 in event routing backends
  • Reviewed PR 98 in SCORM xBlock

:memo: What do you plan to work on in the upcoming sprint?

@pdpinch

@jill

:clap: What went well this sprint?

@pdpinch

:speech_balloon: Questions or comments?

Please add any questions or comments you might have below. We’d love to hear from you!

And if you’d like to take a peek at the full report, see it on Listaflow