The Torus Community

Launched in Fall of 2020, Torus is the next generation implementation of the Open Learning Initiative’s adaptive learning platform, carrying on the tradition of a learning science-based approach to course delivery established with OLI’s legacy platform in 2002. Torus integrates the authoring, delivery, improvement, research, and support of adaptive, online courseware into a single platform, simultaneously applying learning science principles while providing a larger laboratory for expanding our understanding of how humans learn.

The platform rigorously captures robust, semantically informed learner interaction data, which is used to inform and adapt the learner and instructor experience. These same data are used to support iterative course improvement, supporting learning designers and scaffolding all authors in adopting a data-driven perspective. In the aggregate, these data also support learning research, supporting direct experimentation and secondary analysis.

Once a month, we invite all members of the greater Torus community to a meeting where we share information about the Torus roadmap and releases and invite community members to provide feedback.



2024 Meeting and Topic Schedule

All meetings will be held on the first Friday of each month from 12:30pm – 1:30pm Eastern Time.  Please register to get the Zoom link used for all meetings.

For documentation, demos, and other relevant information, see Torus Resources

Date/Roadmap Snapshot Link Topic/Recording Link
March 1 Introduction of the Torus Product Team; Reporting a feature request or bug; Overview of the April 2024 release (v27)
April 5 Demo of the April 2024 release (v27); Look ahead at the Q2 2024 release (v28)
May 3 Cancelled
June 7 Discuss documentation for requesting Torus features and reporting bugs; advanced access to the new student interface in Torus v28 (release date July 24); discuss the Torus Roadmap and recent changes
July 5 Cancelled; Torus v28 demo posted in place of meeting recording
August 2 Release information about Torus v28; Look at the Torus Roadmap for the rest of 2024 and early 2025
September 6 Meeting led by UX Designer Jess Fortunato: discussion of user experience research and design for Torus; focus group on how to improve the Torus Community Meeting
October 4 Replaced with “office hour” where community members can chat with Technical Product Manager Amanda Buddemeyer; recorded v29 demo will be posted at a later date.
November 1 Discuss delays in Torus v29 and subsequent road map changes; demo “Project vs. Product vs. Section”
December 6 Release demo of Torus v29 and feature demo: activity banks

2023 Meeting Recordings

Date Topic/Recording Link
January 6 Overview of 2023
February 3 Guest speaker: Sebastian Dubreil, Annotation tool
March 3 Torus Roadmap, Scheduling Demo, and Homework System Functionality
April 7 Student Experience and Course Section Creation
May 5 User testing: Analytics and Dashboard Designs
June 2 Advanced authoring/adaptive activities
August 4 Release .24 Demonstration
September 1 Certificate Generation
October 6 Release .25 and Roadmap
November 3 Canceled
December 1 Canceled

2022 Meeting Recordings

Date Topic/Recording Link
January 7 Data, Analytics, and Reporting 1
February 4 Data, Analytics, and Reporting 2
March 4 Course Section Administration
April 1 Course Migration from Legacy System
May 6 Activities and Activity Types
June 3 Torus Demo
July 1 Math Needs
August 5 Teaching in Practice
September 2 Metacognitive Skill-Building and Practice
October 7 Research Support
November 4 Torus Demo

2021 Meeting Recordings

Date Topic/Recording Link
December 4 Introduction and Plan
January 8 Legacy Lessons Learned
February 5 Learning Dashboard
March 5 Dashboards
April 2 Wishlist – Course Design
May 7 Wishlist – Math Support
June 4 Tools Integration
July 2 Advanced Section Creation
September 3 A/B Testing
October 1 Torus Demo and Feedback 1
November 5 Torus Demo and Feedback 2