Open Education: Homework Systems

Math instructors have unique needs, and there are two good open platforms available to meet those needs. WeBWorK and MyOpenMath enable instructors to automate practice problems that are accessible to a wide variety of learners. In this session, Alex Jordan, Portland Community College, will discuss the features of WeBWorK (example: https://webwork.pcc.edu/webwork2/orcca-demonstration/) and Carrie Kyser, Clackamas Community College, will discuss MyOpenMath (example: https://www.myopenmath.com/, username “guest,” no password).

This session is for faculty who are ready to break up with their expensive copyrighted product but don’t want to lose functionality.

Open Math Platforms Handout: https://tinyurl.com/mathplatforms

MyOpenMath is a free, open source, online course management system for mathematics and other quantitative fields. MyOpenMath's primary emphasis is to facilitate the creation and implementation of online homework and assessment, although it also supports content delivery on a limited basis. MyOpenMath runs on the open source IMathAS platform, providing free hosted use of this platform in support of free, open textbooks like the ones listed on OpenTextBookStore.com. The intent is to provide classroom use of the platform, without any required cost to students, for schools wanting a managed install of the IMathAS platform, and to provide students self-study opportunities. MyOpenMath.com is operated by the non-profit organization MyOpenMath.

WeBWorK is an open-source online homework system for math and sciences courses. WeBWorK is supported by the MAA and the NSF and comes with a National Problem Library (NPL) of over 20,000 homework problems. Problems in the NPL target most lower division undergraduate math courses and some advanced courses. Supported courses include college algebra, discrete mathematics, probability and statistics, single and multivariable calculus, differential equations, linear algebra and complex analysis. Courses using WeBWorK: https://courses1.webwork.maa.org/webwork2

The WeBWorK Open Problem Library (OPL) contains problems contributed by faculty from many institutions that have used WeBWorK. Currently, there are approximately 35,000 problems in the OPL, and new problems are added regularly. The OPL was initially formed from several of the original File Based Problem Libraries, and includes all of the problems from the Arizona State, Rochester, California State-Long Beach, and the University of Virginia libraries. It also contains most, if not all, of the problems from Union College, the College of New Jersey, Dartmouth, Ohio State, Northern Arizona University, and Indiana University. Once known as the National Problem Library (NPL), the Open Problem Library (OPL) naming convention was adopted in the summer of 2012 to accommodate the increasing internationalization of WeBWorK and the possible inclusion of problem libraries from textbook publishers.

H5P is a plugin for existing publishing systems that enables the system to create interactive content like Interactive Videos, Presentations, Games, Quizzes and more. H5P makes it easy to create interactive content by providing a range of content types for various needs. You can create interactive content by ($$) adding the H5P plugin to your WordPress, Pressbooks, Moodle or Drupal site, or integrate it via LTI with Canvas, Brightspace, Blackboard and many other LMS/VLEs that support LTI integration. More info on H5P integration: https://h5p.org/node/287135
[NOTE: Secure Pressbooks/H5P/Canvas gradebook integration is coming soon at Virginia Tech. Contact arwalz@vt.edu for details.]