1.2. Highlight Features and Capabilities of the GTC Platform#

1.2.1. State of the Art and Open-Source Technologies#

The GTC platform comprises four main independent components, all open-source and all built on state-of-the-art technology components for modern web-based services. The main components are:

  • The Richie content management system powered by Django CMS

  • The Open edX LMS and course authoring platform.

  • The custom Open edX plugin was built for the validation workflows.

  • The Aspects Analytics solution is powered by click house and superset.

1.2.2. Interoperability of the Platform Components#

One key feature of the GTC solution is its flexibility. It was designed with the four main components, but no inherent restrictions exist for the solution to be reconfigured differently.

There are some key dependencies between these elements, but other than that, there is not a fundamental reason as to why you could not modify the arrangement of the elements, for example:

  • Someone can replace Richie with another CMS solution, such as WordPress or Drupal, and all the other components would still perform their function.

  • Open edX is needed as it is the centerpiece of the solution, and it provides the capability of building and delivering online courses. Still, there is the possibility to use other LMS and learning platforms to build and deliver courses listed in the GTC course catalog as external courses.

  • The custom component built for the course validation workflow needs to go on top of the Open edX platform. Still, if a particular initiative already has its own Open edX platform in the latest release, it could install the custom plugin.

  • If a particular initiative does not need course validations, the initiative can remove the custom component.

  • The Analytics solution could be taken out, and all the other components will still work usually, or it could be incorporated later.

1.2.3. Extensibility#

In addition to the core Open edX functionality, you can integrate third-party extensions and components into the platform through XBlocks and plugins.

Additionally, since all the components are open-source and have been created to be extensible, they can be modified and extended in multiple ways when the program needs additional functionality.

1.2.4. Integration with Other Platforms#

Some of the ways the GTC platform can work along with other platforms include:

  • Single sign-on or third-party Authentication: Open edX can be configured to derive the authentication from an external source following the SAML or OAuth 2.0 protocols, and it can also be configured as the provider of authentication to a third-party service using OAuth 2.0.

  • LTI integrations: Open edX also has LTI 1.3 integration capabilities that allow it to include in the courses learning activities or resources that are served by an external pollution or service, including other LMS. Similarly, it has LTI provider capabilities, so, to a certain extent, it can serve content from its courses that can then be consumed from an external application, for example, a different LMS, such as Canvas LMS or Moodle.

  • Third-party components to integrate other platforms: A set of third-party extensions and components can be easily added to the platform to integrate external services and solutions.

  • Aggregation of course catalogs: the scope of the pilot program for the GTC project was limited to integrating Richie with Open edX, but in principle, Richie has been designed to be able to integrate with multiple LMSs simultaneously, so this opens the possibility of aggregating multiple course catalogs into the platform.

  • Aggregation of data sources for Analytics: ClickHouse and Superset, the key components of the Aspects data analytics solution, do not have to be limited to storing and processing data from Open edX. They could manage additional data from third-party systems and produce more comprehensive Analytics in more complex systems.

  • Interoperation of course content: The GTC platform will export all the course contents it creates into the Open edX format (OLX) and import them into other platforms. Similarly, you can import content created in other Open edX platforms into the GTC. You can use contents created or packaged in standardized formats such as h5p or even SCORM inside Open edX and in other LMS platforms as well.

1.2.5. Built for Scale#

These technologies have been designed and successfully implemented in sizeable online learning initiatives serving millions of learners. They are well suited for being deployed in cloud-based architectures with horizontal scalability.

They are also suitable for smaller initiatives serving only a few thousand or even a few hundred learners.

1.2.6. Internationalization#

All the technological components of the GTC platform are built for internationalization, and the translation packages are available for many languages. For example, the pilot program in the first stage provides support for English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic.

1.2.7. Accessibility#

All the technological components of the GTC platform are built with web accessibility standards so that users with disabilities can effectively leverage them

1.2.8. Data Protection and Security#

The GTC platform is designed to operate with extremely high information security standards and the standard data protection requirements most systems support today.

1.2.9. Multi-Tenancy#

Multitenancy is a software architecture that can be leveraged to allow multiple tenants to run from a single instance of the Open edX software. Each tenant has its own LMS domain, configurations, theming, and integrations to meet their needs. This allows organizations to create and run multiple pseudo-independent and branded learning environments without deploying separate installations of the Open edX software for each tenant. Open edX Multitenancy also provides the scalability needed to support large-scale deployments.