In Video Quiz XBlock

This XBlock allows for edX components to be displayed to users inside of videos at specific time points.

Overview

This XBlock expects to have a Video component and a Problem component added to the same Unit as itself.

The XBlock is then configured (see below) to map timestamps (in seconds) to Component IDs (the Problems), along with the Video Component ID.

Whenever video playback reaches a configured timestamp, the video is paused and the corresponding Problem Component is overlayed on top of the Video.

The user can answer problem, though it is not required.

When the user clicks "Continue", the problem is closed and the video resumes where it left off.

Multiple timestamps can be configured per video.

Installation

Install the requirements into the python virtual environment of your edx-platform installation by running the following command from the root folder:

$ make requirements

Enabling in Studio

You can enable the In Video Quiz XBlock in Studio through the advanced settings.

1. From the main page of a specific course, navigate to Settings -> Advanced Settings from the top menu.
2. Check for the advanced_modules policy key, and add "invideoquiz" to the policy value list.
3. Click the "Save changes" button.

Configuration in Studio

Video Location: The ID of the Video Component, eg:

cf5557d7eee9408786116f9fead8b2ba

Problem Timemap: A JSON dictionary with:

• timestamps (in seconds, as a string) as keys
• a problem component ID as the value, eg:

{"5": "10fd296e593e404ba999d78c6a76db84"}

This would display the Problem 10fd29... 5 seconds into Video cf5557....

TODO: This should be further fleshed out to explain how to get these values, etc.

Testing in LMS

To see the full behavior, you must use the masquerade feature to impersonate a normal learner.

When viewing the Unit as a Staff/Instructor, you will instead see a debug note that displays at which point the video will be paused for the problem.

Implementation Notes

This approach is both clever and brittle.

With a small amount of code, we're able to leverage the functionality of existing problems and the video player into a fairly elegant solution.

But as it depends upon expected behavior and display in the LMS, it requires a specific configuration and the behavior is vulnerable to breaking as the LMS experience changes (eg, the conversion to the Learning MFE from the Legacy Courseware).

Future Work/Ideas

Ideally, this XBlock would be a Parent Component, that contains the Video+Problem components as children.

This would make the feature more resilient to LMS changes, as it would "know" which components to use and how to find and use them, without brittle lookups.

Setup and configuration would also be simplified, easing adoption.

A more customized Studio View could be added (along with, or in spite of the Parent Component change), which would also simplify configuration.

License

The In Video Quiz XBlock is available under the AGPL Version 3.0 License.