Connexions Conference Sprints

We are holding 2 days of Sprints on April 24 and 25 following the 2013 Connexions Conference which is on April 23.  The sprints are an opportunity for you to work directly with the Connexions team, contribute your time and effort to Connexions and to have fun.  You don't need to attend both days.  Show up and leave as you like.  We have tasks for all skill levels and you don't need to be a programmer. 

The list of tasks is on Trello. 

 Just click on a card (white box) to see the details of each task.  If you are attending the conference, we hope you will stay for the Sprints.  If you are in Houston, but not attending the conference, you are welcome to join us at the Sprints.

The SXSWedu speakers and sessions have been announced, and all three of our proposals have been accepted!

We'll be presenting at SXSWedu March 4-7, 2013 in Austin, Texas, so check the link below to see all the sessions and register to attend. If you do plan to register, November 9th is the discount deadline.
http://sxswedu.com/schedule/sessions

The original proposals for our three talks can be read at the panelpicker pages below.

Advances in Open Textbook Publishing Technology
http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/15359

Open Education: Still A Chasm to Cross
http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/8716

Personalized Learning Systems: Worthy of the Hype?
http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/15113

Here's what we stand for, and what we hope to bring to SXSWedu:

Connexions for Android 3.0 Released

Connexions for Android 3.0 is out and has a great new look.

• The menu items are now in the top Actionbar.  Select the button with the 3 dots as seen in the screenshot to see a dropdown of options. 
• Search is easily available from almost every screen. Select the Search button and enter your search terms.

One bug fix was included.  It was causing the app the crash when viewing Favorites in Android 3.0 and above.

The new version is available in Google Play.  If you are using the app, please leave a comment or rate the app.  We would love to get your feedback.

SXSWedu Panels Accepted

Three of our panels were accepted for voting by SXSWedu, the education conference in Austin, TX. Please vote for us!


Advances in Open Textbook Publishing Technology
http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/15359

Personalized Learning Systems- Worthy of the Hype?
http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/​vote/15113

Open Education: Still a Chasm to Cross
http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/​vote/8716

Google Summer of Code 2012 Comes to A Close

Connexions was very fortunate to have 4 Google Summer of Code (GSoC) students this year.  All of their projects were completed successfully so we will be releasing their enhancements in the coming months.

Alasdair Corbett of Scotland wrote a new Android app, QuizCards.  QuizCards pulls in the glossary terms from a module and creates flashcards.  The user can use 3 different modes to study with or create their own cards. It should be available in the Google Play Store later today.

Debajyoti Datta of India worked on a much needed project which will help us do a better job of asking users for a donation when they download a PDF or EPUB from Connexions.  He did several enhancements beyond the original scope of the project.  These will give our users a visual of the reach of Connexions and encourage them to donate.

Saket Choudhary, also of India, wrote a new importer for Kathi Fletcher's OERPub project.  The importer allows users to create a module with an embedded SlideShare or Google Presentation.  Professors and Authors can now easily add supplemental slides to their Collections.  The code for this has been released in Connexions and in Kathi's project.

Ye Yanchao of China developed a Mobi file generator for Modules and Collections.  Mobi is the file format used by the Amazon Kindle.  We will be wiring his Mobi generator into Connexions so users have an additional choice to download along with PDF and EPUB.

The Connexions staff would like to thank Google and the GSoC students for their teriffic work.

Connexions Android App Gets Updated

The Connexions for Android app has a couple of new features.

• Users can now copy content from a chapter in Android 2.3 and below.  The copied content can be pasted into a Note in the app or into another app.  To copy, select the Copy icon from the Actionbar at the bottom of the screen and follow the instructions in the popup message.  The Copy feature works by default in Android 3.0 and above, so the Copy icon is not displayed in the Actionbar for those devices.
• Notes can now be shared.  Send your notes to yourself or classmates using email, texting or any app that will share plain text.  To share a note, open the Note Editor and select the Share icon from the Actionbar at the bottom of the screen.  A list of available applications to share with will be displayed.  Select an application from the list and the note will be copied to the app.

There are some additional bug fixes in this release as well. The app can be found in the Google Play Store and on the Connexions site.  If you use the app, let us know what you think about the changes at android at cnx.org.

Connexions Loses Print Partner

Our longtime print partner, Qoop.com, has shut down and is no longer in business.  We learned of Qoop's decision late yesterday.  We are working on securing a new print partner and will post an update as soon as we have something in place.  Until then, we have disabled buying a printed version on all collections.  We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause and are working for a quick restoration of print services.  If you have further questions, please email us at cnx at cnx dot org.