List of Features

Below is a list of benefits and features that the Open edX platform provides. Please search for the platform capabilities, using the filter function below.

Perspective	Category	Feature	Fetails
Authors	Authoring platform	Easy to use authoring tool	Authors can build courses intuitively. No need for long training sessions for the authoring platform.
Authors	Authoring platform	Multi-user authoring capability	Team work is facilitated. Many authors can work simultaneously in the same course.
Authors	Course Creation/Settings	Allows instructors to create engaging learning sequences	Learning sequences can be created and organized into a structure of sections and subsections.
Authors	Course Creation/Settings	Preview before publishing	Facilitates the review of content to avoid publishing errors.
Authors	Course Creation/Settings	Author checklists for course readiness	Checklists help course staff ensure courses are fully ready before launching them.
Authors	Course Creation/Settings	Courses can be scheduled for automated release	The entire course can be automatically published at a specific date in the future.
Authors	Course Creation/Settings	Content restricted, based on dates	Each section or subsection in a course can be automatically published at a specific date in the future.
Authors	Course Creation/Settings	Due dates for specific components can be set	Due dates/times are supported for graded subsections. They are displayed to learners in their local time zones.
Authors	Course Creation/Settings	Course templates management	Courses can be exported and imported to be used as course templates.
Authors	Course Creation/Settings	Course contents reusability	Course sections, subsections, and components can be easily duplicated and moved for re-use in other parts of the course. This saves time, since the content does not have to be re-built from scratch.
Authors	Formats supported for learning content	HTML5 content authoring included in the platform	The Studio authoring platform allows course builders to add or embed their HTML5 content.
Authors	Formats supported for learning content	Video	Embedding video from YouTube, or any other video streaming provider, is available. Streaming video directly from Open edX is also possible using the native video pipeline.
Authors	Formats supported for learning content	PPTs, PDFs, and other similar content formats	All web-enabled formats can be included in a given course.
Authors	Formats supported for learning content	Live events/webinars + virtual classrooms and real-time communications	Live webinars or video conferences can be embedded and authentication can be supported for different conferencing tools through an LTI integration.
Authors	Formats supported for learning content	H5P components	H5P components can be embedded and grades can be supported through an LTI integration available at h5p.com
Authors	Formats supported for learning content	Embedded content	Embedding lets you integrate additional external content into the courses.
Authors	Formats supported for learning content	SCORM content	SCORM support is available via a third party XBlock.
Authors	Formats supported for learning content	XAPI content	Not natively available. It can be integrated using third party services.
Authors	Formats supported for learning content	LTI protocol (learning tools interoperability)	Open edX can act as an LTI consumer and also as an LTI provider.
Authors	Content libraries	Platform supports the creation of content libraries	Content libraries allow for the re-use of content in multiple courses and for the random drawing of content from a library into a course.
Authors	Assessment types	Types of problems/activities and configuration options.	Several problem types are available for authors to build activities and improve learning. Available with multiple configuration options, error tolerance, randomization, limited number of attempts, time between attempts, response visibility controls, etc. This allows for easy course creation, as well as diversified courses for learners.
Authors	Assessment types	Multiple choice questions	Available with multiple configuration options, both with a basic editor and an advanced editor.
Authors	Assessment types	Checkboxes (multiple choice, multiple correct answers)	Available with multiple configuration options, both with a basic editor and an advanced editor.
Authors	Assessment types	Short text response	Available with multiple configuration options, both with a basic editor and an advanced editor.
Authors	Assessment types	Numeric response	Available with multiple configuration options, both with a basic editor and an advanced editor.
Authors	Assessment types	Open response exercises, for example requiring the user to enter a text of at least x number of words or containing certain words.	This kind of exercises can be built using the custom problem extension points, or through an existing third party Xblock.
Authors	Assessment types	Clickable image	A component to build clickable images, with multiple configurations, is available.
Authors	Assessment types	Visual matching – drag and drop	A user-friendly component to build drag-and-drop exercises is available.
Authors	Assessment types	File submission	Open-response assessments can include the submission of files and controlling the type of files that are accepted.
Authors	Assessment types	Peer graded questions	A user-friendly component is available to build and configure different types of open-response assessments. Grading can be configured with a customizable rubric and can be performed by the learners themselves, other peers, the instructors, or any combination.
Authors	Assessment configurations	Number of attempts control	Several ways to assess students’ performance.
Authors	Assessment configurations	Show response control	The feedback and problem solution display can be shown or hidden per problem.
Authors	Assessment configurations	Show correctness control	The correctness can be shown or hidden per problem.
Authors	Assessment configurations	Randomize problems	Problems can have built-in randomization, so that they have a variable set of parameters for learners.
Authors	Assessment configurations	Randomly pulling problems from a question bank.	Authors can create question banks using content libraries, and in turn use them to create randomized assessments within the courses.
Authors	Assessment configurations	Custom feedback control	Different problem types have a great level of control for feedback, based on learner responses.
Authors	Assessment configurations	Manual grades by instructors	Instructors can enter grades manually or override grades computed by the platform in exceptional cases.
Authors	Assessment configurations	Proctored exams	Using external tools and services, exams can be configured to be proctored.
Authors	Social learning tools	Polls in which the student can reply to a given question and then see the aggregated responses from the group	A poll component is available, with the option to either display or not display the aggregated responses to learners.
Authors	Social learning tools	Surveys where multiple questions can be added and the aggregated responses can be viewed by everyone	A survey component is available, with the option to display or not display the aggregated responses to learners.
Authors	Social learning tools	Can you have students submit ideas or examples and have them listed in text walls, word clouds or similar visualizations?	A word cloud component is available
Learner	Accessibility	Browser-based solution	Learners can easily access the platform via the browser, without the need to install any additional software.
Learner	Accessibility	WCAG compliance	All features conform to the WCAG accessibility standard, Level 2.1 AA (see https://www.edx.org/accessibility)
Learner	Accessibility	Video caption	Videos can have captions displayed on top and the user can reposition them as needed. Clickable captions to go to the exact position in the video are also available.
Learner	Accessibility	Video subtitles	Multi-lingual subtitles are supported for videos.
Learner	Platform usability	Easy and intuitive handling of the platform and courseware	The sleek and modern interface allows the user to start learning intuitively, increasing the learning quality and learner motivation levels.
Learner	Platform usability	Mobile use	The platform is web responsive. Learners can access the platform via mobile browsers.
Learner	Platform usability	Mobile app	A native mobile app is available for IOS and Android.
Learner	Learning content	Multiple ways to authenticate and access learning content	Easily accessing course content: – via SSO – via registering/log in – some content types can be visible without any register/sign in (public, public outline)
Learner	Learning content	Search course contents	Learners can search their course contents by keyword from the learner dashboard.
Learner	Personal learning space	bookmark course content	Learners can add personal bookmarks to specific course units. Bookmarks will be displayed in the specific unit and also aggregated in a list with the corresponding links.
Learner	Personal learning space	Student notes	Learners can add personal notes to specific course components. Student notes can be hidden/shown within a specific unit and also aggregated in a list with corresponding links.
Learner	Discussions (async)	Discussions forum	Course participants can engage in active discussions, which can be organized both as part of a course unit, and as course wide discussions. There are many configuration, management and moderation options for discussions.
Learner	Discussions (async)	Forum notifications for students via email or messaging, when comments are posted	A daily discussion digest can be sent for each learner to follow the activity on the discussions.
Learner	Other collaborative learning tools	Wiki pages	Wiki pages can be used for articles, course outlines, FAQs, and information specific to the units and components.
Learner	Progress/Certifications	Progress bar	Learner grades and completion of each activity in the course is tracked and can be seen by the learner and/or instructors.
Learner	Progress/Certifications	Course certification	Course certifications can be granted and the certificate templates can be customized.
Learner	Progress/Certifications	Certifications can be easily shared in social networks	Learners are able to share their success by connecting their social media accounts.
Learner	Progress/Certifications	Certifications can be downloaded as pdf	Allows the learner to easily download the certificate and receive it without waiting times.
Business/Management	User management	SSO (Single Sign On)	Third party authentication can be integrated with different type of providers such as SAML, OAuth 2.0 (Facebook, Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn).
Business/Management	User management	Invitation only	Learners can be invited to a course and receive a link to register in the platform.
Business/Management	User management	Self-registration capability	The platform can be configured for learners to be able to register themselves.
Business/Management	User management	Custom/mandatory user profile fields	Fields at registration can be configured to be mandatory or optional. Additional fields can be added via an extension plugin.
Business/Management	User management	Instructors/tutors can be assigned to a subset of learners	Learners can be added to a cohort, and course content can be displayed or hidden based on a cohort. Instructors are able to see all the cohorts.
Business/Management	Course enrollment management	Self-enrollment capability	Learners can self-enroll to the courses that are configured.
Business/Management	Course enrollment management	Invitation only	Courses can be configured to be invitation only.
Business/Management	Course enrollment management	Survey enrollment (based on a response)	Courses can have entrance exams and be configured so that only learners who pass the exam are able to access the course.
Business/Management	Course enrollment management	Guest access settings	Courses can partially be made available for guest access.
Business/Management	Course enrollment management	Batch enrollment capability	Instructors can batch enroll learners in a course by a list of emails or user names.
Business/Management	Course enrollment management	Course prerequisites control	Limited to 1 prerequisite course per course.
Business/Management	Course enrollment management	Access based on invitation	Courses can be configured to be invitation only.
Business/Management	Course enrollment management	Access based on password / enrollment code	This can be accomplished via the ecommerce module + discount coupons.
Business/Management	Learner tracking	Leaner activity tracking/monitor learner progress	Progress is monitored as measured by grades and by the completion of each of the course components.
Business/Management	Learner grade management	Gradebook	A centralized gradebook service can be configured.
Business/Management	Learner grade management	Configure rubrics for manually graded exercises	Configurable rubrics are available for peer-graded and staff-graded exercises.
Business/Management	Certificate management	Manage certification templates	Templates can be created and configured by organization and by language. Fields in the template can be overwritten per course.
Business/Management	Certificate management	Bulk generation of certificates	Course instructors can generate certificates in bulk for learners.
Business/Management	Certificate management	Revoke certificates	Certificates can be revoked individually or in bulk by course instructors.
Business/Management	Reporting	Course enrollment report	User reports are available per course and can be downloaded in CSV format.
Business/Management	Reporting	Course performance report	Available per course, including the grades in each of the graded subsections and in each of the graded activities.
Business/Management	Reporting	Problem response report	Available for each of the graded problems.
Business/Management	Reporting	Survey response report	Anonymized data can be downloaded.
Business/Management	Mass communication	Mass email	Available per course.
Business/Management	Mass communication	Email based on scheduling	Partially supported via nudge emails functionality.
Business/Management	Automated notifications	On new enrollment to a course	Learners can be notified by email when they are manually added or removed from a course.
Business/Management	Course management	Import/export courses	Courses can be exported and imported from a native format.
Business/Management	Custom branding capabilities	Custom domain (URL)	Supported
Business/Management	Custom branding capabilities	Web app branding	The web app theme can be customized via changes in the templates and styles.
Business/Management	Custom branding capabilities	Organization branding	Can be accomplished using multi tenancy configurations.
Business/Management	Ecommerce capabilities	Course access purchase	Available via the Open edX ecommerce application.
Business/Management	Ecommerce capabilities	Course continuation purchase	Available via the Open edX ecommerce application and the use of multiple course modes.
Business/Management	Ecommerce capabilities	Course certificate purchase	Available via the Open edX ecommerce application and the use of multiple course modes.
Business/Management	Ecommerce capabilities	What payment processors are supported for the courses that have a price	PayPal, CyberSource, and Stripe are included in the codebase. Others can also be implemented as extensions.
Business/Management	Ecommerce capabilities	Discount/enrollment codes support	Partial and total discount codes can be made available with different configurations.
Business/Management	Multitenancy	Course catalog segmentation	Courses can be segmented into multiple organizations or multiple course catalogs.
Business/Management	Multitenancy	Multi sites	More than one site can be deployed (in subdomains, each with their own theme), in order to have different configurations for different sets of courses.
Business/Management	Web content capabilities	Native CMS capabilities	Availability to publish content outside of the courses, for example on the homepage, additional pages, etc. via modification of the templates.
Business/Management	Web content capabilities	CMS integrations	Can integrate with CMS/marketing website (WordPress, Drupal, etc.) and display user information, course catalog, enrollment status.
Business/Management	Other technical specifications	Scalability options	Platform can be scaled vertically and horizontally, based on the services architecture used.
Business/Management	Other technical specifications	Extendibility	Platform offers APIs and multiple endpoints to exchange data with external services, allowing integrations with 3rd party systems.
Business/Management	Other technical specifications	Accessibility compliance	WCAG 2.1 AA compliance.
Business/Management	Other technical specifications	i18n	Translations are available for dozens of languages.
Business/Management	Other technical specifications	Data protection compliance	Platform is GDPR compliant
Business/Management	Hosting	Cloud based hosting	Platform is built to be hosted on cloud services (AWS, OpenStack, Azure, Google Cloud, etc).
Business/Management	Hosting	On premise installation	Platform can be hosted on premises.
Business/Management	Licensing	Type of license	The Open edX platform is open source software. Its code is publicly available and released under the GNU Affero v3 license.

This list of features for the Open edX platform has been produced as part of a collaborative effort with members of the Open edX community. Special thanks to eduNEXT, Abstract and Opencraft for their contributions.