New Release of Connexions for Android

Today, we released version 1.3.1 of Connexions for Android. It has a small, but important change. It is now using the new mobile web version of Connexions to view content. Previously, the app was forcing our regular web page view into a column to display on small devices. It was usable, but you had to adjust each page to center it, etc. The mobile version looks great on all the devices it has been tested on. Many thanks to Roche Compaan and Mark Horner for making the mobile version possible.

You can download the app directly from Connexions or from the Android Market. If you try the app and find it useful, please leave a comment in the Android Market.

Code Sprint Bug Fixes Released

Today we released corrections for 10 bugs. The 10 bugs were fixed by volunteers at the Code Sprint held last week as part of the Connexions Conference. The Code Sprint brought together over 25 volunteers from 10 organizations to work on new designs, documentation, upgrading to Plone 4, bug fixes and new editor ideas. These tickets were fixed by both veteran and beginning developers. The best part of testing and releasing the bug fixes was that we found no defects in the Sprint code. You can see the details of the tickets on our release page. Thanks to all that participated in the Sprint. You don't have to wait for a Sprint to help with coding or documentation at Connexions. If you are interested, contact us at techsupport@cnx.org.

Connexions Conference: Day Three

Day Three brought the Connexions Conference to a close. The Conference ended with a Code Sprint. A Code Sprint invites developers, UI designers and anyone interested to get together and work on improving different parts of Connexions.

We had over 20 participants which allowed us to get a lot done.

• 9 bugs were fixed and 4 were partially fixed.
• Progress was made on the migration of Connexions to Plone 4.
• UI for adding Social and Content stats to modules and collections was completed.
• Improvements were made to the PDF generation.
• Improvements to the editor were discussed and an interface to Google Docs was started.
  

The most important part of the Sprint was that all of these people worked together on a common goal. Our hope is that we can continue to get contributions from some if the participants in the future. On top of that, it was fun.

All of the Sprinters gather before breaking into smaller groups.

The Plone 4 migration and Bug Fix groups at work.

Editor Improvements being discussed and coded.

UI Design team mapping out improvements.

Thanks to all that participated in the Connexions Conference. It was great fun and we look forward to next year.

Connexions Conference: Day Two

Day Two of the Connexions Conference was the Conference itself. There was a ton going on between the many presentations, panel discussions, breakout sessions and the numerous conversations between attendees.

Major happenings at the conference were:

• Inspiring keynote by Hal Plotkin, Senior Policy Advisor, Department of Education
• Connexions will be part of a major multi-foundation grant. The first of the grant's 2 phases will add 5 high quality textbooks to Connexions. To paraphrase the Executive Director of Connexions, Joel Thierstein, "this could change education as we know it."
• Connexions now has a mobile version of the website. Check it out on your phone at mobile.cnx.org.
• You can see other's comments about the Conference on Twitter. Search for the #cnxconf hashtag,
  

Question and Answer During Keynote

Morning Panel Discussion

Lunch!

Afternoon Panel Discussion

Tomorrow closes out the Conference with a Coding Sprint. We will be hacking at Connexions code to fix bugs, work on enhancements and more. Follow the action on Twitter by searching for hashtag #cnxsprint.

Connexions Conference: Day One

The Connexions Conference is being held at Rice University in Houston TX. It started today with a day long meeting of the Connexions Consortium. As described on the Consortium's web site:

The Connexions Consortium is a group of organizations and individuals, including the world's foremost leaders in education, who work together to advance open source educational technology and open access educational content. Members join the Consortium to work and exchange ideas with other members.

The Consortium spent the morning discussing the future of Connexions before breaking into committees in the afternoon. The day ended with a reception that included the Consortium and other Conference attendees.

The discussions started before the meeting officially kicked off.

The Consortium meeting begins.

The Technical Committee in their afternoon session.

The closing session begins.

The Conference continues so check back tomorrow for another update.

Version 1.3 of Connexions for Android Released

We have released an update to our Android application, Connexions for Android. This release contains performance and cosmetic changes. They include:

• Lens content tags and descriptions are now part of the lens listings.
• Improved layout for devices with large screens such as the Droid X.
  
• Connexions Content Search is now an option on the Search tab.
• On longer lens listings, there is a fast scroll button available.
  
• Menu options are more user friendly.

Use the QR code above to access the app in the Android Market or download the app directly from Connexions. If you find it useful, please leave a comment in the Android Market.

Connexions Improves Math Display

Today, we updated Connexions to use MathJax to display MathML. MathJax is a JavaScript library that can render MathML across all browsers. What does MathJax mean to users?

• Math is displayed the same way across all browsers. We previously had unique solutions for different browsers.
• Math displays correctly in Chrome and Safari which allows us to fully support them. This also means that authors can use Chrome and Safari to create content.
• The MathPlayer plugin is no longer needed in Internet Explorer. Math displays correctly without it.
  
• MathJax includes a zoom feature that pops open a "zoom box" when math is clicked on. You can see an example in the screenshot with this post.

We have also improved the math display in our EPUB ebook files. Some ebook readers are lacking the needed fonts to display complex math. We are now including those fonts in the EPUBs.

You can see the entire list of changes in our release notes. Let us know how you like the new math either in the comments or at cnx@cnx.org.