New assignment tool with annotations

Some of you have used it a while already, but now our new assignment tool is made available to everyone. In short assignments are now easier to create and we have added a few sought-after features.

Some of the highlights are:

• Possibility to comment directly in an assignment answer.
• Share assignments in the library
• Better support for smaller screens
• Simplified creating process
• Improved feedback loop with discussion/commenting options

Create and view Microsoft Office documents

You can now add Word, Excel and PowerPoint files (Office Online) from the Add resource page. Real-time co-authoring allows your students to collaborate on documents. When multiple users are editing the same document simultaneously, they will see each other’s changes in real time. A great annotation feature lets you keep track of changes and give feedback. All documents are automatically saved. No Microsoft accounts are required. No logins. It just works.

Grade faster and easier

We’ve improved the usability and workflow of the assessment record. Now you can use your keyboard to navigate, and add information inline by clicking on cells. It’s also easier to identify late submissions and you can add exempts. You can quickly identify students who might be struggling, or improving over time by using the Trends and progress report. Also, the student overview now shows their profile picture.

Changes to the library

We’re continuing our work on the library. This time we present changes connected to search and age filtering and grade levels

Age filter replaces grade filters

Previously it was possible to filter on grades (K-12) in the library. Now we’ve changed this filter to Age in all countries except for the US. If there are grades set as metadata, we’ll map this to ages. Example: ‘Grade 1’ becomes ‘Age 6’.

Guessing grade level

Not everyone adds a grade as metadata to their content. However, they might specify this in other ways – for example, by adding a learning objective that’s for a certain grade, by adding it as a keyword etc. We’ve already guessed the grade in library searches, but with this release we also visualize this when you filter on grade.

Better search filtering

We’ve changed the way search results are filtered. ‘Relevance’, ‘Rating’ and ‘Date published’ are now removed as sorting options. Sorting is now always done on relevance. A new ‘These results might also be interesting’ are now shown for results that not fully match the filters.

LTI Application key and Shared secret management

We’ve made it easier for administrators to decide which LTI application keys and shared secrets that are to be used for a certain school or provider. When users are adding LTI content in courses, they can now choose whether they want to provide a key and secret, or use credentials defined by the school or district. To manage the LTI credentials, go to Admin > Manage apps > LTI credentials.