diff --git a/.github/workflows/pypi-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/pypi-publish.yml
index 01338d2..c25dc48 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pypi-publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pypi-publish.yml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: setup python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v4
         with:
-          python-version: 3.8
+          python-version: 3.12
 
       - name: Install pip
         run: pip install -r requirements/pip.txt
diff --git a/audio/audio.py b/audio/audio.py
index f640a81..336ada5 100644
--- a/audio/audio.py
+++ b/audio/audio.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 """TO-DO: This XBlock will play an MP3 file as an HTML5 audio element. """
 
 
-import pkg_resources
 from xblock.core import XBlock
 from xblock.fields import Integer, Scope, String
 from xblock.fragment import Fragment
@@ -35,8 +34,7 @@ class AudioXBlock(XBlock):
     @staticmethod
     def resource_string(path):
         """Handy helper for getting resources from our kit."""
-        data = pkg_resources.resource_string(__name__, path)
-        return data.decode("utf8")
+        return resource_loader.load_unicode(path)
 
     # TO-DO: change this view to display your data your own way.
     def student_view(self, context=None):
diff --git a/requirements/base.txt b/requirements/base.txt
index f5cec6f..6c5008d 100644
--- a/requirements/base.txt
+++ b/requirements/base.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# This file is autogenerated by pip-compile with Python 3.8
+# This file is autogenerated by pip-compile with Python 3.11
 # by the following command:
 #
 #    make upgrade
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ appdirs==1.4.4
     # via fs
 fs==2.4.16
     # via xblock
-lxml==5.1.0
+lxml==5.3.0
     # via xblock
-mako==1.3.2
+mako==1.3.5
     # via xblock
 markupsafe==2.1.5
     # via
@@ -20,19 +20,19 @@ python-dateutil==2.9.0.post0
     # via xblock
 pytz==2024.1
     # via xblock
-pyyaml==6.0.1
+pyyaml==6.0.2
     # via xblock
-simplejson==3.19.2
+simplejson==3.19.3
     # via xblock
 six==1.16.0
     # via
     #   fs
     #   python-dateutil
-web-fragments==2.1.0
+web-fragments==2.2.0
     # via xblock
-webob==1.8.7
+webob==1.8.8
     # via xblock
-xblock==2.0.0
+xblock==5.1.0
     # via -r requirements/base.in
 
 # The following packages are considered to be unsafe in a requirements file:
diff --git a/requirements/pip.txt b/requirements/pip.txt
index 6665603..f313a9c 100644
--- a/requirements/pip.txt
+++ b/requirements/pip.txt
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 #
-# This file is autogenerated by pip-compile with Python 3.8
+# This file is autogenerated by pip-compile with Python 3.11
 # by the following command:
 #
 #    make upgrade
 #
-wheel==0.42.0
+wheel==0.44.0
     # via -r requirements/pip.in
 
 # The following packages are considered to be unsafe in a requirements file:
-pip==24.0
+pip==24.2
     # via -r requirements/pip.in
-setuptools==69.1.1
+setuptools==74.1.2
     # via -r requirements/pip.in
diff --git a/requirements/pip_tools.txt b/requirements/pip_tools.txt
index abed760..77d81ad 100644
--- a/requirements/pip_tools.txt
+++ b/requirements/pip_tools.txt
@@ -1,32 +1,23 @@
 #
-# This file is autogenerated by pip-compile with Python 3.8
+# This file is autogenerated by pip-compile with Python 3.11
 # by the following command:
 #
 #    make upgrade
 #
-build==1.1.1
+build==1.2.2
     # via pip-tools
 click==8.1.7
     # via pip-tools
-importlib-metadata==7.0.1
+packaging==24.1
     # via build
-packaging==23.2
-    # via build
-pip-tools==7.4.0
+pip-tools==7.4.1
     # via -r requirements/pip_tools.in
-pyproject-hooks==1.0.0
-    # via
-    #   build
-    #   pip-tools
-tomli==2.0.1
+pyproject-hooks==1.1.0
     # via
     #   build
     #   pip-tools
-    #   pyproject-hooks
-wheel==0.42.0
+wheel==0.44.0
     # via pip-tools
-zipp==3.17.0
-    # via importlib-metadata
 
 # The following packages are considered to be unsafe in a requirements file:
 # pip
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 1084c00..8f81cd4 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ def is_requirement(line):
 
 setup(
     name='audio-xblock',
-    version='0.3.0',
+    version='0.3.1',
     description='Audio XBlock, to play audio files in the course',
     long_description=README,
     long_description_content_type='text/markdown',