November 2024 technology updates
In our technology updates we announce the latest developments in UoA supported tools for teaching and learning.
Canvas
Announcements: Improved Timestamp Visibility
Canvas has updated how timestamps are displayed on announcements. Now, students will only see the “Last edited” date if the announcement was modified after being published. The “Posted” date will reflect when the announcement became available, while the “Created” date remains hidden from students.
These changes help avoid confusion for students by clearly distinguishing between the original posting date and any later edits made by the instructor.
The teacher view of a delayed announcement shows when the announcement was created, posted, and last edited.
Figure 1: Teacher view of delayed announcement.
The student view of a delayed announcement is almost exactly like the teacher view except that it doesn’t show when the announcement was created, only posted and last edited.
Figure 2: Student view of delayed announcement.
FeedbackFruits
New learning analytics dashboard
Teachers now have access to a new dashboard for monitoring student engagement and performance in FeedbackFruits activities. The dashboard offers two views:
- Student Success: A snapshot of overall student progress.
- Student Engagement: Tracks how actively students are participating in course activities.
Both views provide a comprehensive overview of all FeedbackFruits activities within a course.
Group contribution grading improvements
The Group Contribution Grading feature has been updated with clearer instructions to help teachers better utilise it. An easy-access button to the configuration settings has also been added, allowing teachers to easily adjust grading rules during the process.
Improved access to module analytics
Teachers can now access the analytics dashboard for each module within an activity more consistently and with greater detail.
The analytics dashboard in FeedbackFruits shows the completion rate per activity type and a list of students showing their individual contributions.
Figure 3: FeedbackFruits’ platform cohort insights.
Emojis in the Rich Text Editor
Teachers can now enhance assignment instructions by adding emojis. They can simply choose from the dropdown list or use a shortcode to insert emojis, making content more engaging for students.
Bug fixes
Several issues have been resolved, including problems with the “View Submissions” button in Peer Review, quotation marks in instructions, critical dialog boxes, and more. For a detailed list of fixes, click here.
Visit: FeedbackFruits release notes.
Figure 4: FeedbackFruits’ Rich Text Editor showing a selection of emojis.
Inspera
Multiple attempts with grading progressive
Inspera has introduced further enhancements to the multiple attempts capability. This newly available feature supports manually marked questions, allowing candidates to take assessments with both manually and automatically marked questions multiple times. The aim is to foster iterative learning, giving students the opportunity to improve their understanding and performance with each attempt.
With performance-based progression, graders can now decide if a candidate qualifies for additional attempts based on their performance in previous ones. This approach ensures that each candidate progresses at their own pace, with attempts tailored to their individual needs.
A screenshot of the multiple attempts feature in Inspera. There is a list of each attempt that is made available to students for an essay question with the start and end times set to two hours on different days. There is an option to set how attempts are made available, giving the candidate full control or having the grader deciding whether the candidate has further attempts.
Figure 5: Inspera’s multiple attempts options.
The grading screen in Inspera shows the teacher which students have completed the exam, their total mark and grade.
Figure 6: Inspera’s grading overview.
Randomisation of question alternatives
Selective randomisation for the Matching/Pairing question type is now generally available. Authors have more control, with the ability to randomise rows, columns, or both. This enhancement helps ensure a more accurate assessment of learning goals by reducing potential mismatches between student knowledge and recorded responses due to changes in column orders.
Safe Exam Browser (SEB) updates
In line with last month’s update for macOS, Inspera now supports SEB 3.6.0 and SEB 3.7.1 for Windows. These versions come with new enhancements and fixes, improving exam integrity and user experience. All users are encouraged to upgrade to the latest version to benefit from these improvements.
Changes to asynchronous export APIs
For those using Inspera’s APIs, changes have been made to asynchronous export requests. If a second request is made for the same resource before the first is completed, the same job ID will now be returned, resulting in only one “export_finished” event. This update will be in place from October.
The question randomisation screen in Inspera shows a multiple choice question with four true/false options laid out in a grid pattern. It is the teacher’s view that includes additional options to the side of the question allowing the teacher to set the random order of alternatives across rows and columns, just rows, or just columns.
Figure 7: Inspera’s question randomisation options.
Accessibility enhancements
This month, Inspera has updated the Test Summary Page ARIA Labels. The tab list and roles now align with the ARIA design pattern, allowing users to navigate between tabs using arrow keys, improving accessibility for all users.
Stay informed
The Inspera roadmap is available to view. If you have suggestions for new features or enhancements, you can click Submit idea in the top right corner of the page or add your vote to any of the features in planning by selecting the top right corner of the roadmap items. This will ensure you’re notified if and when changes are made to those features.
View the Inspera release notes.
Exam Clock update
Introducing the new Exam Clock app
A new Exam Clock App has been developed to improve transparency in time management during exams. This app will replace the previous UoA exam clock, so please inform your teaching teams about this update.
The app is now available on lectern computers across test and exam rooms, providing both students and staff with a clear, accurate display of the remaining time for tests and exams.
Key features include:
- Customisable options for tests of varying durations
- The ability to pause and resume an exam in the event of an evacuation, with the option to easily add any lost time
To access the app, simply click on the Exam Clock icon on the lectern computer.
The Exam Clock app shows a clock and a progress bar denoting the elapsed time. A countdown timer shows how much time is remaining and a notice says that students may not leave the room close to the end of the exam period.
Figure 8: Photo of lectern screen showing the Exam Clock app.
We hope these feature improvements will help you improve student engagement and gain insights into your cohort’s progress.
As always, should you have any questions or require assistance, seek support from IT Connect and Ranga Auaha Ako, Learning and Teaching Design Team. We’re here to help.
Disclaimer: The information in this blog post is accurate as of 29 October 2024. Please note that the features and updates mentioned above are based on available information at the time of writing, and there may have been further developments since then.