NEW FEATURES
Deep Linking for LTI 1.3
While we are adding support for a new learning standard for sharing content, we're also working to improve the experience for the standards we currently support. To that end, we're now adding support for the Deep Linking standard for LTI 1.3.
This feature makes sharing content out of CC even easier. Rather than sending a large list of links out to your clients, you can instead let your clients select the content they want by directly accessing the pool of content you've assembled for their account. Once their platform has been configured with Content Controller's details, all they need to do is initiate the deep linking process from their end, and CC will offer them the list of content available to their account. They can select whichever courses they prefer, and CC will share those courses with their platform automatically.
New Reporting APIs
The Learner History, Registration History, and Interaction History reports can now be accessed through the API. Previously, users were required to log into Content Controller and manually export the information they were interested in, but now that data can be accessed via new endpoints on our automation API.
Requests can export the information in either CSV or JSON format, depending on which would be most useful to the system consuming the reports. Using this, users will be able to automate the generation of reports according to whatever schedule or conditions they prefer.
Expanding CSV reports with custom metadata
Another improvement to our reports is the addition of custom metadata. Now, for every course and account in Content Controller, users can configure arbitrary key-value pairs. From there, this metadata will be included in many of the reports generated by Content Controller.
This new feature will allow users to consolidate their data in Content Controller and export all of that information in one report, rather than having to aggregate reports from multiple different applications together. Instead, the relevant information about a course or account can be maintained in Content Controller, and then that data will be included in the generated reports.
Detailed learner count
We've improved the learner count that already existed in the application to grant further insight into the trends of your learner populations. Now, instead of just returning a single number that covers all learners within the requested time span, Content Controller offers the ability to break this count down by both account and month. Using this information, users can easily compare usage across multiple accounts and identify which months saw the greatest increase in users.
Automatic Video Transcoding (Managed Hosting only)
To improve the experience of learners launching videos from a low-bandwidth environment, our managed hosting installations of CC will now automatically transcode any MP4 imported in and offer them as alternative quality levels to learners. With this, you can continue to deliver the highest possible quality to learners who have the internet connection to support that while still being able to deliver videos to learners who don't have the strongest connection.
(Please note that this feature only works with MP4s that are imported directly into Content Controller, and does not affect any videos that are delivered inside of a traditional eLearning course).
Sharing as cmi5
cmi5 has been added a new export type when sharing content from an account. This will allow users to share out their content to even more systems. All changes to aspects like score, satisfaction, completion, and interactions will be communicated to the LRS that the cmi5 dispatch is launched in.
Notes to self-hosted customers:
Content Controller is built around its sister product, Rustici Engine. If you're upgrading to 3.3.xx from CC 3.2 or earlier, then we need to also upgrade Engine's database schema. To do this, just add the argument -e engine_upgrade=true to the command for running your playbooks. This flag tells Ansible that this particular deployment requires the Engine upgrade. You won't be required to use this flag when moving between maintenance releases (e.g. 3.3.64 -> 3.3.68) unless specified in the release notes.
Additionally, to support the addition of Deep Linking for LTI 1.3, a new Ansible setting is required when deploying CC 3.3+. The setting deep_linking_secret should be specified with a cryptographically secure value in your playbooks. You can set this setting in group_vars/content_controller.yml. Alternatively, if you are using the host_vars/ directory to support deploying to multiple environments, then you should set deep_linking_secret to a different value in each of your host_vars/ files.