What is Runestone?
Runestone is an open-source e-learning platform designed specifically for writing interactive textbooks to teach programming and computer science concepts. It provides a suite of tools for authors to create web-based course content with features like:
- In-browser coding exercises and active code blocks
- Multiple choice, fill in the blank, clickable area, drag and drop, and parsons puzzle assessments
- Videos, animations, and other rich media
- Social learning features like forums and peer instruction tools
- Analytics to track student progress and engagement
The Runestone framework is written in Python and outputs HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that can be hosted on any web server. It offers a low barrier to entry for educators to create interactive courses that go beyond static textbooks. Everything is open-source and customizable under the MIT license.
Some key advantages of Runestone include the wide range of built-in assessments, ability to gracefully introduce complex concepts with interactivity, integrated practice exercises, and reporting features. It has an active developer community adding new features and components as well.
Visual Studio Code, Sublime Text, Notepad++, PhpStorm, Eclipse, Neovim, Kate, VSCodium, GNU Emacs, RubyMine, Lite XL, CSSEdit are some alternatives to Runestone.