FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

What is OLab4?

OLab4 is an education research platform that supports virtual scenarios and activity metrics. It is open-source and open-standards. Its predecessor was OpenLabyrinth but it has grown a bit since then.

What are virtual scenarios?

Clarke and Mayer regard scenarios as being any group or cluster activities that have been assembled to address a learning goal.

What is the difference between a VP & a VS?

This sometimes gets confusing. Some groups, such as WAVES, regard 'virtual patients' and 'virtual scenarios' as being the same thing: the term 'virtual scenario' simply demedicalizes the concept.

In OLab3, we used the term 'Scenarios' to refer to a set of maps, associated with a set of learners. They were kinda like a container for maps. In OLab4, we use the term 'scenarios' more generically to be more in line with the two definitions above. (The container for a set of maps in OLab4 is now called a Course.)

How much does OLab cost?

Free as in puppy

OLab4 is free. But not free as in beer. Closer to free as in Nelson Mandela. But mostly free as in puppy: it may not cost you anything to buy it or adopt it; but it does need some TLC and nourishment to keep it going. And you sometimes have to clean up a mess.

GNU GPL free

OLab4's code is open-source, on GitHub, and is licensed under a GNU-GPL v3 licence. This means that you cannot sell the code or use the code base to create an application that you can then sell for money. It must remain free.

Sites can sell content or services

While groups cannot sell OLab4 itself, the licence does not stop a group from selling content or services that have been created using OLab4. Some might create a question bank that they can sell; others might sell programming or learning design services to groups who need the deeper expertise.

What do I need?

How do I get an account?

At the moment, the best way is to try our Contact Page for basic questions; or if you want to try creating your own cases, https://olab4.net/olab4-author-account-request/.

How do I install OLab4?

Consult the help files at GitHub on how to install OLab4. You basically need a web-server somewhere. Your university might be able to help you set this up.

We have found that for most people, the easiest is to use our cloud service at https://player.olab4.net — this is pretty reliable.

More technical questions

What browsers do you support?

We strongly advise you to avoid Safari. Firefox causes least problems. Chrome runs fastest. Most important is to make sure that your web browser is updated.

Can I use it on my mobile?

You can play cases on your mobile if you have a web connection. Cases usually do not need much bandwidth. But we do not recommend that you create or edit maps on your mobile. It can be done but there are hassles.

How can I contribute?

Research grants

Plugins

Code on GitHub

What are the main differences between OLab3 and OLab4?

Differences from OLab3

Glossary

We now have a working glossary, which may help when there is an overlap in terminology.

Why should I use activity metrics?

Internal

We are all tired of surveys, and increasingly skeptical of the meaning of happiness ratings. We published some notes on the paradata we have extracted from one of our longer running servers:

Topps D, Wirun C. OLab3 Case Analytics Technical Report. OHMES, University of Calgary; 2021. doi:10.5683/SP3/G6BFZB

External via xAPI → LRS

We have used external capture of paradata to a Learning Record Store (LRS) via xAPI.

Topps D, Meiselman E. Learning Analytics and xAPI. Published online 2019. doi:10.7910/DVN/31T9ZW