| Open edX | |
| Logocaption: | Logo of Open edX |
| Collapsible: | yes |
| Commercial: | No |
| Type: | Online education |
| Language: | Multilingual (14) |
| Author: | Piotr Mitros, edX, CRL/Axim |
| Current Status: | Active |
The Open edX platform is the open-source software, originally developed by Piotr Mitros,[1] [2] whose development led to the creation of the edX organization. On June 1, 2013, edX open sourced the platform, naming it Open edX to distinguish it from the organization itself.[3] The source code can be found on GitHub.[4] [5] Maintenance was transferred to edX, an MIT/Harvard education initiative, in 2012.
When edX was acquired in 2021 by 2U,[6] the Open edX team and maintenance were transferred to the Center for Reimagining Learning (tCRIL), a nonprofit founded by Harvard and MIT with the proceeds from the acquisition.[7] In 2023, the nonprofit was renamed the Axim Collaborative.[8]
Open edX was designed for the MITx project, which was renamed to the edX project and made into a separate 501(c)3 after Harvard joined. This remains the largest global installation as of 2022, with over 3000 courses and 500,000 regular users. The Open edX community maintains a catalog of other installations, including fully-hosted learning sites open to public courses and 350 other instances run by organizations of all sizes.[9]
An Open edX marketplace also features partners that provide various services to community members running their own instances in multiple languages.
| Version [10] | Date | Version | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial | 2013-06-01 | Aspen | 2014-10-28 | |
| Birch | 2015-02-24 | Cypress | 2015-08-13 | |
| Dogwood | 2016-02-11 | Eucalyptus | 2016-08-26 | |
| Ficus | 2017-02-23 | Ginkgo | 2017-08-14 | |
| Hawthorn | 2018-08-07 | Ironwood | 2019-03-22 | |
| Juniper | 2020-06-09 | Koa | 2020-12-09 | |
| Lilac | 2021-06-09 | Maple[11] | 2021-12-20 | |
| Nutmeg | 2022-04-12 | Olive[12] | 2022-10-11 | |
| Palm | 2023-06-14 | Quince | 2023-12-11 |
The platform has been released one to two times a year since 2013. Each release is named after a tree, honoring the tree of knowledge.
The Open edX server-side software is based on Python, with Django as the web application framework.[13]
Platform design and development have been co-designed with its community from early in the project's history. The community maintains several working groups focused on marketing, build-test-release cycles, translation, data design, front-end design, and code deprecation.[14]
The community hosts an annual Open edX Conference, which rotates worldwide each year. In 2022 it was held in Portugal.[15]