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News
From Qedoc
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News archives: 2007 and earlier | 2008.
Contents |
January 2012
New recommended author
- 26th April: we have given a new "recommended author" award to Arthur Overton. Arthur has written an extensive series of spelling modules for 4th grade English classes. New and existing authors can study his modules to get ideas about module design. Schools of all types around the world may wish to use his modules to promote English skills in the school. Many congratulations and thanks to Arthur. Further reading: there is a list of all recommended authors.
December 2011
Database issues
- December: we continued to have database issues with the Mediawiki installation. These have finally been resolved.
March 2011
Database issues
- March: we have had database issues with the Mediawiki installation, which has made it difficult to update the site with incoming modules.
September 2010
5 million page views
- September: the Mediawiki software driving this site reckons that we have now had 5 million page views since this wiki was set up. This is only one of several methods of measuring page views.
Version 2.7.1 released
- 12th September: minor changes only.
August 2010
Version 2.7.0 released
- 23rd August: this release includes Facebook integration in all versions of the Qedoc software, consolidates a wide range of minor changes made during previous updates and contains a very small number of other minor changes (such as a slightly revised version of the main menubar in the Qedoc Quiz Player and the ability to mix text and images in multiple choice button question types).
Facebook integration
- 15th August: the web version of the Qedoc Quiz Player now submits scores to Facebook. The web version of the software is the version which can be used for free when launching learning modules from this wiki. Upload your scores and share your achievements with your friends.
Mac version of the Qedoc Quiz Player
- 1st August: a desktop Mac version of the Qedoc Quiz Player is now available. While the Windows version is freeware,
the Mac version is a commercial software application. Licences can be purchased for school and corporate IT suites. Contact Qedoc with your requirements (volume, nature of organisation) for further details.
April 2010
4 million page views
- April: the Mediawiki software driving this site reckons that we have now had 4 million page views since this wiki was set up. This is only one of several methods of measuring page views.
January 2010
Version 2.6.6
- 2nd January: version 2.6.6 was released today. This includes some minor feature additions - mainly to the printing capabilities of the commercial version of the Qedoc Quiz Maker.
October 2009
3 million page views
- 7th October: the Mediawiki software driving this site reckons that we have now had 3 million page views since this wiki was set up. There are different methods of measuring site usage which can produce very different results. The server logs reckon that for the same time period, this wiki served several times this number of pages, while our Google Analytics tracker reckons the number is much lower.
September 2009
1200 modules now available
- 14th September: we now host 1200 free interactive interactive learning modules.
June 2009
1100 modules now available
- 9th June: the number of free interactive learning modules available from Qedoc today reached 1100.
April 2009
New recommended author
- 26th April: we have awarded our 11th "recommended author" award to Philip Young. Philip specialises in modules on behavioural correction of school pupils. New and existing authors can study his modules to get ideas about module design. Schools of all types around the world may wish to use his modules to promote social skills in the school. Many congratulations and thanks are due to Philip. Further reading: there is a list of all recommended authors.
Version 2.6.4
- 20th April: the new version 2.6.4 can now be downloaded.
Embedding documents in Qedoc modules
- 6th April: the new version 2.6.2 contains one important new feature - the ability to embed documents with individual questions into Qedoc modules. The purpose of this is for teachers to be able to distribute their handouts, articles and study-materials together with the modules rather than referring to alternative sources. For example, your PDF document or your Powerpoint presentation can now be launched using a button just beneath any question. The Qedoc software will search for the most appropriate application to display the document and launch the attached document in that application.
Statistical breakdown of the first 1000 modules
- 3rd April: with the publication of the 1000th module, here is a breakdown by subject and educational level of the first 1001 modules.
| Primary education | Secondary education | Post-secondary education | Non-formal education | Total (excluding overlaps) | |
| English | 123 | 59 | 26 | 3 | 168 |
| Mathematics | 81 | 31 | 4 | 1 | 97 |
| Languages | 57 | 167 | 45 | 28 | 224 |
| Geography | 21 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 34 |
| History | 18 | 31 | 3 | 2 | 43 |
| Religion | 18 | 21 | 6 | - | 29 |
| Science | 42 | 60 | 27 | 1 | 97 |
| 16 | 16 | 10 | - | 32 | |
| 15 | 20 | 8 | - | 31 | |
| 11 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 20 | |
| - | 12 | 5 | - | 14 | |
| Information technology | 5 | 24 | 19 | 45 | 78 |
| Psychology | 3 | - | 5 | 1 | 9 |
| Politics | 3 | 4 | 1 | - | 5 |
| Music | 3 | 4 | - | 2 | 6 |
| General | 2 | 9 | 7 | 18 | 29 |
| Brain teasers | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 2 |
| Sociology | 1 | - | 1 | - | 2 |
| Education | 1 | - | - | - | 1 |
| Sport | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Business | - | 2 | 25 | 12 | 38 |
| Medicine | - | 2 | 79 | 13 | 90 |
| Technology | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| Economics | - | 1 | 1 | - | 1 |
| Philosophy | - | 1 | 2 | - | 2 |
| Entertainment | - | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Law | - | - | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| Crafts and trades | - | - | 4 | 7 | 11 |
| Art | - | - | 2 | - | 2 |
| Transport | - | - | 1 | 15 | 15 |
| Leisure | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 380 | 439 | 269 | 161 | 1001 |
1000 modules now available
- 3rd April: the number of free interactive learning modules available from Qedoc today reached 1000.
March 2009
Integration of the Qedoc Quiz Player into Learning Management Systems and Virtual Learning Environments
- 28th March: the following pages have been added: Assessment Results Format, LMS/VLE Integration. These document important new features which are currently at an advanced stage of testing.
Version 2.6.1
- 23rd March: the new version 2.6.1 can now be downloaded.
Main page redesign
- 22nd March: the main page has been substantially redesigned. One new feature is the use of a tag cloud system to help navigate towards major content categories.
2 million page views
- 19th March: the Mediawiki software driving this site reckons that we have now had 2 million page views in the 25 months since this wiki was set up, 1 million of which have been during the last 7 months. There are different methods of measuring site usage which can produce very different results. The server logs reckon that for the same time period, this wiki served just under 6 million pageviews, while our Google Analytics tracker reckons on just half a million. All these methods of measurement agree that there is accelerating use.
Version 2.6.0
- 1st March: the new version 2.6.0 can now be downloaded.
February 2009
The "Average" Module
- 10th February: what is an "average" Qedoc module? We queried our database and were surprised by the answer.
| Average number of questions: 67 |
| Average byte size: 180 kilobytes |
| Average number of activities: 4 |
| Average number of editing sessions: 16 |
| Average rating: 646 |
As a reference point, an experimental module with pretty well no worthwhile content would have less than 5 questions, a byte size of 4 kilobytes, 1 default activity, 1 editing session and a rating of less than 10. At the top end, the largest modules have 500 to 1000 questions, a recommended byte size maximum of 2 megabytes (but sometimes up to 3 or 4), about 20 to 50 activities, and ratings of 2000 to 3000.
Breakdown of modules by subject and educational level
- 4th February: with the publication of the 900th module, we have produced the following tabular breakdown of the distribution of modules by subject area and educational level.
Notes: Numbers do not always add up in rows, as some modules cover more than one educational level.
| Primary education | Secondary education | Post-secondary education | Non-formal education | Total (excluding overlaps) | |
| English | 110 | 53 | 21 | 4 | 150 |
| Mathematics | 80 | 31 | 4 | 1 | 96 |
| Languages | 54 | 152 | 26 | 13 | 187 |
| Geography | 21 | 17 | 3 | 5 | 33 |
| History | 17 | 30 | 3 | 2 | 42 |
| Science (general/other) | 16 | 17 | 9 | 1 | 33 |
| Religion | 14 | 17 | 2 | - | 21 |
| Biology | 13 | 18 | 6 | - | 27 |
| Physics | 9 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 17 |
| Information technology | 5 | 23 | 18 | 39 | 70 |
| Politics / sociology | 3 | 4 | 1 | - | 5 |
| Music | 3 | 4 | - | 2 | 6 |
| General | 2 | 9 | 7 | 17 | 27 |
| Psychology | 1 | - | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| Brain teasers | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 2 |
| Education | 1 | - | - | - | 1 |
| Sport | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Chemistry | - | 12 | 5 | - | 14 |
| Technology / engineering | - | 2 | 6 | 20 | 26 |
| Business / economics | - | 2 | 24 | 12 | 37 |
| Medicine | - | 2 | 71 | 12 | 81 |
| Philosophy | - | 1 | 2 | - | 2 |
| Leisure / tourism | - | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Law | - | - | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| Art | - | - | 1 | - | 1 |
| Drama / film / dance / theatre | - | - | 1 | - | 1 |
| Total | 351 | 409 | 226 | 136 | 900 |
900 modules
- 4th February: the number of free interactive learning modules available from Qedoc today reached 900. This means that the total number of modules has doubled in very slightly less than a year.
Version 2.5.5
- 2nd February: version 2.5.5 of the Qedoc software was released today.
January 2009
Breakdown of modules by subject area
- 28th January: the breakdown of 885 modules by main subject area is as follows. This is a new kind of listing where overlapping subject areas are ignored and only the main subject area is counted, as a result of which the sum of all the subjects is that same as the total number of modules.
- Languages: 186 (inc. 88 Spanish and 69 ESL)
- English: 146
- Mathematics: 93
- Science: 89
- Biology: 26
- Physics: 17
- Chemistry: 14
- General science: 32
- Medicine: 80
- Information technology: 70
- History: 42
- Business / economics: 37
- Geography: 32
- General: 26
- Technology / engineering: 26
- Religion: 21
- Law: 7
- Music: 6
- Sport: 5
- Politics / sociology: 5
- Psychology: 5
- Leisure / tourism: 3
- Philosophy: 2
- Brain teasers: 2
- Drama / film / dance / theatre: 1
- Art: 1
Recent submissions
- 21st January: the new recent submissions page is designed to increase the transparency and informativeness of the module submission process. Prospective authors can track their submissions rather than wondering whether their work is lost in cyperspace. Authors can also get a better idea of how long it takes for approval and can view the submissions backlog (if any). Authors can also inform themselves about likelihood of success by comparing the vital statistics of submissions (e.g. size, rating) with their fates. We hope this page is of encouragement to authors and helps them be patient during the (hopefully short) review process.
Version 2.5.1
- 10th January: version 2.5.1 is a minor update which accelerates the unpackaging times for modules with large numbers of images and other media.
Version 2.5.0
- 4th January: the new version 2.5.0 can now be downloaded.
