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Acos - Advanced Content Server

Acos server and related sub-projects are a method of distributing browser-based smart learning content in a reusable and interoperable way. Activities created using the Acos server can be embedded both in A+ and MyCourses.

The project homepage can be found at https://acos.cs.aalto.fi/.

The source code is available in GibHub: https://github.com/acos-server/acos-server.

Example activities

The following Acos activity types were illustrated in an A+ workshop on May 30, 2018.

jsparsons-python

Example exercise for constructing Python code by dragging code elements.

https://acos.cs.aalto.fi/html/jsparsons/jsparsons-python/ps_simple_function

draganddrop (content type)

This page contains instructions and notation for using this content type.

https://github.com/acos-server/acos-draganddrop

draganddrop-example (content package)

Basic example exercises illustrating various features of the drag-and-drop content type.

https://github.com/acos-server/acos-draganddrop-example

draganddrop-english (content package)

A more advanced example illustrating how drag-and-drop activity type can be used in teaching writing.

https://acos.cs.aalto.fi/html/draganddrop/draganddrop-english/given_new-SNA

pointandclick (content type)

This page contains instructions and notation for using this content type.

https://github.com/acos-server/acos-pointandclick

pointandclick-example (content package)

Basic example exercises illustrating various features of the point-and-click content type.

https://github.com/acos-server/acos-pointandclick-example

Embedding Acos activities into A+

You can add Acos exercises to A+ with the submit RST directive. Specify the URL of the exercise in the Acos server using the url option. The ajax option is used to update the exercise points bar in the A+ page since the submission is uploaded directly to the Acos server instead of via A+. There is an alternative to using the submit directive since specifying the full URL of the exercise becomes awkward when one needs to test exercises locally before deploying them to the production server.

.. submit:: 1 150
  :title: Reveal demo
  :url: https://acos.cs.aalto.fi/aplus/draganddrop/draganddrop-example/revealdemo
  :ajax:

Alternatively, a custom submit directive may be used in order to avoid specifying the domain in the URL of the Acos exercise. As a result, it is easy to change the location of the Acos server without modifying all submit directives of the Acos exercises in the course. This is useful when Acos exercises are first tested locally with localhost URLs and then deployed to a production server. The custom acos-submit directive has been installed in this course. It enables the ajax option automaticaly so it need not be given.

The acos-submit directive uses the setting acos_submit_base_url (in the project’s conf.py file) to define the base URL of Acos server, for example, "https://acos.cs.aalto.fi" or "http://172.21.0.4:3000". The url option in the directive only defines the URL path of the exercise without the domain.

.. acos-submit:: 1 150
  :title: Reveal demo
  :url: /aplus/draganddrop/draganddrop-example/revealdemo

Docker and Mac computers

When running Docker in Mac computers, the URLs pointing to the Acos server may not function correctly. This has been the case with the macOS High Sierra operating system. In such case, you may need to modify your hosts file settings at /private/etc/hosts by adding these lines at the end of the file:

127.0.0.1  acos
127.0.0.1  plus
127.0.0.1  grader

To ensure the new settings work properly, you may also need to flush the DNS cache by executing sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder.

In addition, the conf.py needs to modified as follows:

# local testing in containers
acos_submit_base_url = 'http://acos:3000'

After modifying the settings, execute ./docker-compile.py. More detailed information about modifying the hosts file can be found at https://www.imore.com/how-edit-your-macs-hosts-file-and-why-you-would-want and https://www.tekrevue.com/tip/edit-hosts-file-mac-os-x/.

Installing Acos locally

If you use Docker, you do not need to install Acos server locally in your computer.

TO BE ADDED

Workflow for generating drag-and-drop activities

TO BE ADDED

Posting submission...