The Open edX community is excited to announce the release of Open edX Sumac, the latest version of the open-source Learning Management System (LMS). Open edX Sumac brings a wave of improvements and new features designed to enhance the learning experience for both instructors and learners. 

Let's dive into some of the key highlights:

• New Content Libraries experience:
  Sumac Libraries now support more flexible content reuse, including but not limited to problem bank randomization, which makes them a central hub for content creation and reuse.
  Authors can create content independently of courses, reuse it across multiple courses, and even create problem banks for randomized use. Libraries offer robust content management features, including searching, filtering, tagging, and creating content subsets.
  Get more information here.
  
  Image source: https://docs.openedx.org/en/latest/community/release_notes/sumac.html 
• Frontend “Slots” for Customization
  With the Sumac release, Open edX introduces a new framework that allows developers to customize specific areas of the user interface (UI) with custom components.
  These "slots" are pre-defined areas within the Open edX UI, such as the header, footer, sidebars, or even within specific pages like the learner dashboard.
  
  Image source: https://docs.openedx.org/en/latest/community/release_notes/sumac.html 
  
• Aspects Course Comparison Dashboard
  The Course Comparison Dashboard Reports in the Open edX analytics tool provide a powerful new feature for institutions to gain deeper insights into course performance. This feature allows educators to compare key metrics across multiple courses simultaneously.
  
  Image source: Sumac Release notes. Comparison of courses and course runs with Aspects.
  
  Image source: Sumac Release notes. Table showcasing the problem difficulty throughout different courses.
  
  Image source: Sumac Release notes. Table showcasing the enrollment and activity per course.
  
• Expanded Support for LTI 1.3
  The latest Open edX release expands support for LTI 1.3, a modern standard for integrating external tools and services with the learning platform. LTI 1.3 incorporates stronger security measures, enhancing data protection and user privacy and provides access to a wider range of features and functionalities.
  

Looking Ahead

The Open edX Sumac release marks a significant step forward for Open edX. It demonstrates the platform's ongoing commitment to providing a robust, flexible, and user-friendly learning environment. As the Open edX community continues to innovate and collaborate, we can expect even more exciting features and functionalities in future releases.

Stay tuned for further updates, and make sure to explore the Sumac release notes for a more comprehensive overview of all the new features and improvements!

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Staying Updated with Open edX Releases

To ensure you're always using the latest features and benefits of Open edX, it is important to stay up-to-date with the latest releases. Open edX provides comprehensive release notes and documentation for each release, detailing the changes, enhancements, and potential breaking changes. Additionally, the Open edX community provides resources and support for transitioning to new releases.

Get all the information here: LINK

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The Open edX Sandbox

From the Open edX community for the Open edX community, and for anyone who wants to test an environment that will amaze you when you need a new LMS. We invite you to visit the public Open edX sandbox, based on the Sumac release: Open edX Sandbox.

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This trial environment provides a hands-on experience to test and understand the potential of Open edX for your university, NGO, e-government, or academy learners. Start with the Open edX sandbox, powered by Open edX and deployed and supported by Abstract-Technology.