To speed up development, enhance security and improve the user experience we plan to begin phasing out support of Internet Explorer 6.0 and other outdated browsers on 1 July 2010. Certain functionality within it’s learning may not work correctly in these older browsers when we stop supporting them.

We know that some of you still use Internet Explorer 6.0, but be aware that this browser for a long time has been considered an antique – even Microsoft recommends their users to upgrade. New browsers such as Internet Explorer 8.0 and above and Firefox 3.6 and above are more secure and have the built-in technology you need to get the full potential of it’s learning.

Starting in March/April, users on these older browsers will see a message on the login page explaining this change and asking them to upgrade their browser.

Users who continue using these browsers after 1 July 2010 log in at their own responsibility.

To avoid any problems, we recommend you to upgrade to one of the following browsers:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0 or higher
• Mozilla Firefox 3.6 or higher
• Safari 4 or higher
• Opera 10 or higher

Click here to find out what browser you have.

It is important to define the root hierarchy as a Site. You should not add a site under a site. The organisations for which you want to add terms, policies and eSafety rules must be defined as School or Site. The logical rule is: one site, and several schools within that site, but not several schools within a school. In the example below Downhill LA is the root hierarchy and has the hierarchy type Site. The schools below – Chesterson and Enfield – are added as schools.

If schools have sub-hierarchies, for example classes, they should have the hierarchy type Class, while groups within the class should have the Group hierarchy type. When the hierarchies are set up with the correct hierarchy type as illustrated below, eSafety, policies and terms should work.

Note: Below a hierarchy defined as School you can have hierarchies defined as Class, Group, and Not defined.
 

 Read more about eSafety, policies and terms in the help!

Due to the amount of new features the blog entry for this release is divided into four parts.

• eSafety and Policies
• Attendance 2.0 beta, Behaviour beta and Terms
• Software Development Kit
• Other changes (see below)

Course dashboards and page tool

The course dashboards and page tool are now enabled for all users. The functionality is described in this blog entry and in the online help: dashboards and pages.

Better performance

We are taking several initiatives to improve global performance. It is now possible to store static files, such as images, on a content distribution network (CDN). This means that the files are located closer to you, and enables faster loading of it's learning. The CDN is enabled for all sites within the USA. We are also working to get rid of the evil frames – in the next release, perhaps?

Personal storage space quotas

After the update on 7 January the personal file storage quota is removed from individual users to policies. As a result, users who have been granted individual quotas are given the same storage quota as normal users.

To grant different storage quotas to individual users, administrators can create a policy for the users they want to grant a different storage quota. It is only possible to have one storage quota per policy. If you want to grant some users with 1 GB storage and another group 2 GB, two policies must be created. We have already created a policy for users with no personal storage space.

Read more about policies in the help!

Diglib

We have created a new blog for the Diglib updates.

 Read more in the Diglib blog

Minor changes

SCORM: SCORM resources can now be imported as a single resource or split into multiple resources. The second option is new and allows the content to appear as multiple links in the navigation tree, based on the structure of the SCORM package. Teachers can insert the individual links in, for example, the planner.

New web 2.0 plug-in: Norwegian customers can now embed videos from NDLA (Nasjonal digital læringsarena) in the rich text-editor.

Individual learning plans: It is now possible to delete an individual learning plan.

Dashboard as a landing page: If dashboards are enabled for your site, you can now select the different dashboards as landing pages for a profile under the Administration tab >> Profiles >> Edit profile >> Start URL. A landing page is the page users see when they log in.

DirectEdit: A new version of DirectEdit is included in this release. You are automatically asked to install the new version the first time you use DirectEdit after the release. In addition to fixing some bugs, the new version has better support for Open Office applications. Administrators that have to install DirectEdit manually on their organisation's computers can download the MSI file here.

Note that there is a known issue connected to DirectEdit and Microsoft Office when 'Protected mode' is on.

Planner column width: Column width is adjusted in the planner.

Welcome e-mail: Some of our users have experienced that Hotmail marks the welcome mail from it's learning as spam. We have now reduced this possibility.

SyncID: You are now allowed to see (but not edit) the SyncId in the Manage Enterprise web services and Edit hierarchy pages.

Google and Postini: It is now possible to edit the Google Apps credentials in the Google administrator interface in it’s learning. It’s also possible to add Postini credentials here. Enabling and adding the correct credentials automatically creates students, teachers and guests groups in Postini and assign the users correctly.

Enhancements

• JavaScript error in 'Min Arena': Users trying to connect to it's learning through 'Min arena' got a JavaScript error if using Internet Explorer. This has now been addressed.
• Perform for all: When using the 'Perform for all' functionality in Administration >> Users and access rights, the changes affected all users, and not just the search subset as expected. This has now been addressed.
• Course content blocks: The course content block was not showing in all courses. This has now been addressed.
• Conference: If a user was in a conference and then navigated away, an error message appeared saying the user is already connected when the user tried to rejoin the conference. It also took some time before users that logged out of it’s learning were removed from the conference. This has now been addressed.

Administrators can now configure the users' visibility and communication settings for a site – in it's learning, these settings are called eSafety. Some rules are configurable, while others cannot be edited.

In short, the settings decide:

• who will find users in searches.
• who users may communicate with.
• who users may receive communication from.

With eSafety you can, for example, prevent learners from sending and receiving messages from staff at other schools.

eSafety is a profile setting managed from the Administration tab >> Profiles >> Edit profile.

Read more about eSafety in the help!

Policies

A policy is a collection of profile settings that can be assigned to profiles or individual users within an organisation – such as a site or school. Policies override the default profile or user settings. You are allowed to combine settings of different types in a policy, as well as assign multiple policies to a profile or user.

With the introduction of policies, you no longer have to edit existing profiles or create new profiles if you want to change the permissions for a set of users. This creates a more flexible system, allowing schools to have their own rules, independently from the rest of the site's schools.

How does it work?

Let's use an example to illustrate the usage. In a hierarchy with four schools – Chesterson, Springfield, Whitneyville, and Enfield – Chesterson has experienced that a group of pupils have been bullying others through the internal messaging system.

To put an end to this, the headmistress at Chesterson decides to turn off internal messages for all pupils. She asks the system administrator to disable the messaging system for the Pupil profile, but he is reluctant. He points out that editing the profile would disable the messaging system for all pupils in all four schools, and, knowing how extensively the messaging system is used by the other schools in the hierarchy, he argues that this is a really bad idea.

Instead, the system administrator asks the headmistress to consider using policies. He argues that the best option is to create a policy and assign the policy to the Pupil profile at Chesterson or – optionally – to individual pupils of the school. The last option would efficiently prevent only misbehaving pupils from using the messaging system. The headmistress agrees, and, instead of blocking the messaging system from all pupils at Chesterson, Springfield, Whitneyville, and Enfield, the administrator simply suspends the privilege for four individual pupils at Chesterson School.

Read more about policies in the help!

Important about hierarchies and the new functionality

In order to allow adding terms, policies and eSafety rules, the root hierarchy should be defined as a site. The organisations for which you want to add terms, policies and eSafety rules must be defined as schools or sites. You should not add a site under a site. The logical rule is: one site, and several schools within that site, but not several schools within a school.

Hierarchies are edited from Administration >> Hierarchy. Select the correct type from the Hierarchy type drop-down list, and click Save.

Forget everything you know about the old attendance keeping system – we now introduce a brand new attendance platform. Our efforts have been focused on making the attendance keeping as efficient and simple as possible. The new system has keyboard shortcuts, supports tabbing, and features a new and intuitive user interface. Presence is automatically kept.

Both teachers and mentors are allowed to keep attendance. Teachers keep attendance at course level, while mentors manage attendance for their groups.

New reports and day and week overviews facilitate early detection of problems connected to absence. The reports show information such as attendance statistics for individual learners or courses and calculate absence rates.

To help reminding the learners of the importance of attendance and participation, we have made it possible for them to follow their attendance across courses under the ePortfolio tab.

The new attendance keeping system is based on two new concepts: Attendance categories and attendance codes for easy grouping of the attendance. Organisations are allowed to decide their own codes and categories.

Attendance 2.0 beta is enabled for all customers in the primary and secondary segment. Sites using the old attendance system must contact our support in order to have it enabled.

The next step in the development of the attendance system will be to add support for exporting to Management Information System (MIS).

Read more about attendance in the help!

Behaviour beta

The new behaviour tracking is a tool for keeping track of positive and negative behaviour. Both mentors and teachers can keep behaviour, and the learners are presented with reports of their conduct. It is possible to add your own behaviour types, and use weighting to grade the behaviour. Behaviour is enabled for all schools belonging to the primary and secondary segments.

Note that the behaviour system is not fully translated to all langugages and English texts may appear.

 Read more about behaviour in the help!

Terms

Administrators are now allowed to add terms to the organisation. A term is usually the time during which the organisation holds classes, sometimes called 'semesters', 'quarters', or 'trimesters', depending on institution and country.

The first features to use terms are the new attendance and behaviour systems, but in the future we will include it in other functionality.

 Read more about terms in the help!

Important about hierarchies and the new functionality

In order to allow adding terms, policies and eSafety rules, the root hierarchy should be defined as a site. The organisations for which you want to add terms, policies and eSafety rules must be defined as schools or sites. You should not add a site under a site. The logical rule is: one site, and several schools within that site, but not several schools within a school.

Hierarchies are edited from Administration >> Hierarchy. Select the correct type from the Hierarchy type drop-down list, and click Save.

If you have an idea for a new learning tool in it's learning, you should consider making it yourself – or hire a developer to do it! Our SDK program has been running for a while, and a skilled developer can add both applications and plug-ins to your it's learning site. New in this release is support for plug-ins, countries, languages and licenses.

What is a plug-in?

Plug-ins are small tools you access from the editor's Insert button.

What is an application?

An application is a learning tool that can be added to courses and projects from the Add page, just like the tools you know such as notes, tests and assignments. Applications are more advanced compared to plug-ins, and can support assessments, reporting and feedback.

Fictional example of a plug-in

A user clicks the Insert button in the editor, and clicks the Atekst link in the drop-down. The user is directed to Retriever's Atekst database of newspaper articles. The user search for an article and clicks the Add to it's learning button. With a simple click of the mouse the news paper article is inserted directly into the editor.

Countries and languages

When adding new plug-ins and applications you are allowed to add support for different languages, and decide which countries they should be available in.

License details

It is now possible to add licenses for applications and plug-ins – for example decide whether they should be free or licensed. If licensed, it is possible to add pricing information.

 Read more at developer.itslearning.com!

The pages module and the content blocks added to the pages will not be available during the update, but the rest of the course content will be functioning as normal.

All content which is downloaded from Diglib prior to the update will work, but during the update you are not allowed to add new resources to courses. Publishers and vendors cannot add resources.

As of yet, not all customers have access to dashboards and pages. You can check whether your site is affected in this list.

DirectEdit
A new version of DirectEdit is included in the 7 January release. DirectEdit requires a file to be installed on all users' computers. This will normally happen automatically, but some schools restrict the user's access to install files on the computers. Administrators having to install DirectEdit manually can download the MSI file here in order to prepare the computers for the new version.

To reactivate a content block, deactivate one of your active content blocks by clicking the X in the topmost corner of the content block.

Then click Add content block >> Reactivate content block.

Select a deactivated content block from the drop-down list and click OK to reactivate it.

Did you know?
Cut & paste: Did you know that you can move a content block from one dashboard to another? Use the scissors icon to cut the content block you want to move. Enter another dashboard, click 'Add content block' and then 'Paste files'. The content block is now cut from the first dashboard and pasted into the other.

Drag & drop: You can also drag and drop the content blocks around the page. Place the mouse cursor on the blue header of the content block, left click, drag it to the desired location, and drop it by releasing the button. Not all users have this opportunity, but it is always possible on My dashboard.

Note: This update only applies to the customers that have enabled dashboards and pages.

The Java version of the SDK wraps the REST API for applications in it's learning. It also contains a sample application to illustrate the usage for Java developers. The Java SDK is a ported version of the C# SDK. Currently we have SDKs for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5. and Java 1.6 (JDK 6).

The SDK makes it easy for developers to get started developing applications for it’s learning as it simplifies the authentication between it’s learning and your application. We hope the Java SDK proves useful both for experienced an inexperienced Java developers. One of the main principles behind the SDK is to save time for developers – we want to make it easy for you to create applications.

To download the Java SDK and read more about our SDK, please visit developer.itslearning.com.

• Problems with editing assignments for some users
• Adding elements to the working portfolio is again working
• Long response time when running plagiarism control

it's learning now with Gmail

We are thrilled to announce that it's learning – in partnership with Google – now offers free e-mail accounts for our users. The solution is seamlessly integrated with it's learning and includes 7 GB of free storage space per user.

As part of the Google Apps Education Edition, the e-mail service will be free of all advertising and include functionality such as:

• Full-text search
• Labelling and filtering of messages
• Contact management
• Powerful spam, virus and phishing protection
• Profanity filtering
• POP, IMAP or mobile device support
• Themes (skins)
• Group mailing lists

Security

We have implemented the Google message security service (powered by Postini) to make sure a high level of security is maintained. The Google message security service filters all messaging threats including spam and viruses before they reach your network. By routing inbound and outbound e-mail through the Google message security data centres, the administrators can activate robust security policies that keep your organisation secure and compliant.

it's learning have implemented default safety policies with the Google message security service that can be enabled for schools or institutions for restricting communication for learners (eSafety).

Compliant with European Commission's Directive on Data Protection

Google ensure satisfactory information security by handling all personal information in accordance with the Data Protection Act with associated regulations. Being an US based company, Google has ensured compliance with the Data Protection Act and the European Commission's Directive on Data Protection by adhering to the Safe Harbour agreement, more details on this can be found in Google's privacy policy.

Interested?

In order to have Gmail activated on your site, please get in touch with your it's learning account manager. it's learning will create and administer your e-mail accounts, mailing lists and security management at no cost.

Once Google Apps has been activated on your site you will find a Mail link in the top right corner of it's learning. You will also see the number of unread e-mails in your inbox. The Gmail will open in a new window:

Dashboards: Tailor your start pages

The new dashboard is replacing the current main page and course page. With the new and flexible dashboard both teachers and learners will get a new user experience in it’s learning. Dashboards now allow users at different levels to manage layout, content and structure of the main pages within sites and courses. The idea is to expand the personalised learning environment with customised information dashboards and tailored content for specific groups of users.

Instead of a standard page, the dashboard of a site is managed by the hierarchy administrator who can decide what elements to display, add content with the new content blocks, place them on the page using “drag & drop” and choose layout from a selection of templates. All users also have their personal dashboard where they can put frequently used files, make collections of their favourite links, subscribe to RSS feeds of their own choice etc.

Using the site hierarchy, the administrator can also create different dashboards for presenting information for selective groups of users such as staff, parents, learner years or a combination of such groups. Inside each course, the start page is controlled by the teacher and can be customised in the same way as the other dashboards.

Changing layout

When clicking Change layout in the upper right corner of the dashboard, you can select from three available layouts:

Content blocks

The dashboards are built up by different content blocks. A content block is a piece of content that is located on the dashboard, for example news, RSS, and polls. You can drag and drop the blocks to place them where you prefer on the dashboard, and you can cut and paste them into other dashboards.

Please note that this feature is currently only available in a limited beta. For accessing Dashboards in the beta period, please contact your it’s learning account manager.

Pages for collecting course resources

Preparing resources for a topic, the teacher can create a Page and gather all relevant notes, files, links, tests etc. in one place. This will provide better overview and easier access for the learners, rather than accessing everything from the tree menu.

Pages allow teachers to present course material in a context and shift the focus from single elements to themes and topics. You find the Page tool in the “Add page” in your courses.

Make your own tools!
The "Page" tool is built using our software developer kit that is available for all developers. You can also develop applications like this, and include them in it's learning. Visit: developer.itslearning.com.

Please note that this feature is currently only available in a limited beta. For accessing Dashboards in the beta period, please contact your it’s learning account manager.

Register your own domain name in My web files

It is now possible to connect your own domain name to the files in My web files. This means that you no longer have to have an external Internet service provider to host your school's web site. Simply upload your homepage files to My web files and connect the domain name.

Note that we only support static HTML, files and JavaScript. Dynamical content and files such as php, cgi, aspx etc. is currently not supported. Administrators can configure the settings.

New solutions for interoperability and single sign-on

The Netmedia solutions Lynchpin and MyIdentity are now fully integrated with it's learning. Lynchpin automatically creates, amends, populates or deletes accounts in it's learning, while MyIdentity provides one point of log-in to access several different systems, resources and content across multiple locations, eliminating the need for multiple usernames and passwords.

New web 2.0 links

We have added NRK Skole to the web 2.0 content plugins. NRK is a Norwegian resource, and is only available for all Norwegian customers.

Simpler migration

A new solution to facilitate the move from other learning platforms to it's learning. Contact us to know more!

Bug fixes and other improvements

• Logging out with Firefox and Chrome: When using Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome to access https://www.itslearning.com/Log_Out.aspx the browser loaded the page several times per second. This has now been addressed.
• Server error in Test 2.0: If a student had started a test 2.0 with a short answer question, and the teacher inactivated and started editing the question it while the student was taking the test, it resulted in a server error when the question was saved. This has now been addressed.
• Assessing assignments: Using the "Ok and next student" evaluating function on a test copied from another course gave evaluation access to answers from students from the course the test was copied from. This has now been addressed.
• Min arena: When using Min Arena to connect to it's learning courses users with internet explorer got a Java script error. This has now been addressed.
• Short names: It was possible to use the site short name for portfolio short names or folder names. This has now been addressed.
• Planner: Some of the columns in the planner took up too much space because the text did not break. This has now been addressed.
• Community and US sites: It was not possible to add a community courses in US sites. This has now been addressed.
• View as student/teacher: View as teacher/student functionality should now work on us sites.
• Security: Passing login credentials in the URL has been restricted due to security considerations.
• Task list: In previous versions inactive elements were shown in the task list. This has now been addressed.

The new solution does not have scrollbars in the navigation tree to the left. Now a scrollbar to the right is scrolling all the content, making the interface more dynamic. We have also made a new interface design. Take a look at the screen shot (click it for a larger version), and feel to free to comment on it. You can use the comment field in the idea portal to comment on both ideas: Interface without frames and notification box.

We have also worked on a new notification box with all the information that is important to you. This box is personal, meaning that only information concerning you is shown. Below is the first design sketch:

In short, the following features are new:

We have added a new notification box, and removed the red "something is new" highlighting in the course list.

You can subscribe to an RSS feed from the notification box, meaning you do not have to log in to it's learning to get important notifications.

Things you add yourself, for example in the course or in a discussion, is excluded from the notifications.

You get a good view of what has been added and edited, and by whom it is updated and edited. In addition, you see feedback from teachers and other students on tests, discussions and similar. In short, everything you need to keep updated about what is happening.

We very much appreciate the ideas and comments in the idea portal, so please keep up the good work!

 Individual learning plans

An important new feature is the individual learning plan. Following-up individual learners may be a time-consuming task without proper tools. Most teachers see the advantage of following-up their learners in the learning management system they use on a daily basis. Within the learning management system they can combine plans, results and assessments when creating the individual learning plan (ILP).

In some countries, teachers are responsible for conducting a conversation at least twice a year with the learner and parents about the learner's status and planned activities related to learning objectives. The ILP creates a basis for an evaluation conversation/dialogue between the learner and teacher. Together, based on this conversation, the learner, parents and teachers can sketch out a plan which describes how this learner should reach the goals (both for subjects and social competences such as behaviour and attitudes).

The ILP is managed by a new role we call mentor (see below). Learners find the ILP under the ePortfolio tab.

Click the picture above for a larger picture of the mentor view. The ILP features inline edit, and progress bars showing the overall status. Mentors are allowed to customise the plans to suit their own needs, by, for example, adding columns, reorder columns and change column names.

Who will the ILP benefit?

From a school owner's perspective the ILP makes sure the school meets the requirements from the regulations as ILPs are now required by law in many countries.

For the teachers it is easier to plan and conduct teaching. The mentors or contact teachers will see that performing individual planning and follow-up becomes easier.

Learners get a better view of their own goals, learning and progress. The ILP allows learners to keep track of goals, expectations and gain knowledge of own learning. It can include goals for subjects and/or special competences, such as social competence, attitude, and general ICT skills.

The ILP provide parents with an overview of their children's learning and progress. This can in turn increase the parents' engagement in their children's education.

Mentor role

A new role called mentor is added. The mentor's main role is to create and maintain individual learning plans. The administrators are responsible for managing the mentors. Under the Administration tab there is a new option called Mentor. In the mentor view, administrators can add and delete mentors, and assign hierarchies to individual mentors.

When a user is made a mentor, a new tab appears in the top menu.

New welcome and forgotten password e-mails
The mail received by all new users is enhanced and improved, both in content and graphical design. We have also improved the e-mail users receive when requesting a new password. Now you get an e-mail asking you to confirm that you want a new password before a new password is sent to you.

Dutch learning objectives
A new set of Dutch learning objectives for the BVE sector is added to the learning objective library.

Integrations

Identify school/faculty hierarchies
You can now identify schools and faculties in the hierarchy. The interface for adding and editing hierarchies now includes:

• Hierarchy type (site, school, course, group)
• Legal identifier (organisation number)

Hierarchies: Import
We have improved the imports and eliminated the situation where child hierarchies are being imported before their parent hierarchies (and thus failing). This prevents some of our customers from having to do a lot of changes and reorganisations of their hierarchy structure each day.

Hierarchies: Handle memberships
When adding a user to a hierarchy in it's learning, the user is automatically added to all parent hierarchies. By tagging which hierarchies the user is automatically added to, it's learning is also able to remove parent memberships automatically when users are removed from a hierarchy.

Corrections

Signature changes when forwarding message
When forwarding a received message in the messaging system the sender's signature was changed to the signature of the person you received the message from. This has now been addressed.

Rights system issue
If a group was given access rights to an element and the rights were later removed, the students lost all rights to this element. The rights are now reverted back to default instead.

Course catalogue: Similar course names
If two courses had similar names, but different codes, you could not join the first of the two courses via the course catalogue. This had now been addressed.

Course catalogue: Incorrect registration message
Teachers received an incorrect message when students registered to a free course in the local course catalogue. The teachers were told to reject or accept the applications, but no such action was required. This has now been addressed.

Internet Explorer 8
We have made thorough investigations to make sure that it's learning fully supports Internet Explorer 8.

Online help issues
When trying to access the online help in the exam module, users got a 404 Not found error. This has now been addressed. The online help for it's learning and the exam module now also displays properly in the Safari browser.

Course creation via import
When a course was created via API import, it succeeds, the course was created successfully, but when it was accessed an error message appeared. This has now been addressed.

Known issues

• Deleting hierarchy from a mentor needs two clicks (first click does not execute the action).
• Using apostrophes and quotation marks (' and ") in column names in the ILP breaks the whole ILP with a JavaScript error on the page. A workaround is to edit the column names and remove occurrences of ' and ".
• Administration → Course administration: Sorting does not work. As a workaround you can try searching for the course you want to access.

The standard it's learning version contains the basic tools you need to start using it's learning. But, perhaps you see the need for tools that are not included in the standard version? Do you want to make a tool that suits your own organisation's needs?

We have found the solution you need. Our software development kit (SDK) allows you to create your own tools, or customise tools made by other developers. The tools are seamlessly integrated in it’s learning. Examples of tools that can be made are quizzes, podcast tools, and brainstorming tools, to name a few. Your imagination is the limit!

We now invite you to start using the SDK during the beta phase, and when we release your application may be shared with other customers. To get an overview of the opportunities, please visit http://developer.itslearning.com.

Who can develop tools and applications?

In order to use the SDK you must have some previous knowledge of software programming. it’s learning is developed in C#, but tools can be developed in other languages such as PHP, Java or similar.

How does it work?

it’s learning has a core which is responsible for security and content management. There is no content inside the core, but the learning content is provided by a pluggable model. The core functionality is exposed to a REST API which is accessed through HTTPS (or HTTP). The plug-ins are called Applications or Learning Tools.

The SDK is the gateway to your own it’s learning applications!

• Customisation
  
• Lesson 2.0
  
• Parent and mentor roles
  
• Individual learning plans
  
• Whiteboard in conference
  
• Sharing
  
• ..and a preview of the next generation it's learning

View the full roadmap below.

Note: The details in the roadmap are provisional and may change without notice.

When you submit an idea you can follow the lifecycle of the idea in various stages. All submitted ideas goes through a set of defined stages before they are rejected or accepted. By adding an idea to your watch list you will be notified when an idea reaches a new stage.

The community of registered users in the idea portal helps it's learning identify the most important ideas by voting the best ideas to the top. When you add an idea, remember to place it into a context. If you want to suggest a new feature, explain why you want that particular feature and how you mean this feature makes it’s learning better.

Our idea portal can be found at http://itslearning.accept-ideas.com
To submit ideas you must register at http://itslearning.accept-ideas.com/signup

How to use

Before you add an idea, use the search field first and search for the idea to check whether it is already added. Avoid adding two similar ideas. If there are no similar ideas, use the Add button to start adding your idea.

Most of this release has been focused around the planner - a new fantastic planning tool for the teacher! The planner is a new and greatly enhanced version of the tool previously known as lesson planner. Our goal has been to provide teachers with a better course planning tool and at the same time give the learners a better overview of plans and activities in courses.

An important keyword is flexibility. Teachers are free to organise the fields in the planner, and can decide themselves what columns to show, and how to order them. We have made it easy to add and delete columns. This means that teachers can add their own columns for homework, laboratory exercises or other columns that may prove useful in a course.

We know that many teachers use spreadsheets in, for example, Microsoft Excel or tables in Microsoft Word, to create plans. Our new planner is designed around the same principle, and features inline edit functionality, allowing teachers to write directly in the cells. In addition, drag-and-drop is supported when organising columns and moving activities and resources between lessons.

It is easy to include learning objectives, activities and resources when working in the plans. A new feature allows teachers to add new activities and resources directly from the planner edit mode. We have separated the traditional learning tools into two categories: activities and resources. Activities, such as tests, assignments and process-oriented documents, require the learners to actively participate, and submit the result to the teacher. Resources require a more passive interaction, and include learning tools such as notes, links, and files.

When resources and activities are added to a lesson, it's learning suggests elements with the same learning objectives as the lesson.

For teachers a link to the planner is available from the course menu on the upper left side of the course page. Learners see the plans on the course main page, and they can select whether to display the current lesson, all lessons or a specific lesson.

The planner includes options to create lessons on the fly with resources and learning objectives linked to it. Another neat feature is the inline edit function that allows you to edit the planner "Excel style". Click the picture below for a larger image of the planner from a teacher point of view.

What happens to old lesson plans?
We ensure that all existing lesson plans and lesson planner data are moved to the new version when we update.

How can teachers activate the planner in a course?
The planner is activated in the course settings. In a course, click Course settings >> Properties >> and then check the Planner box under Functions. If you do not see the planner box, see the step below.

How can administrators turn on learning objectives and the planner by default for all courses?
Click the Administration tab >> Edit global settings >> Set default course settings and check the Learning objectives and Planner boxes under Default course settings.

Import course groups

Teachers and course administrators can now automatically import course groups into courses from the hierarchy synchronisation. Hierarchies synchronised into a course will be created as groups with participants. This is time-saving for teachers who no longer have to do create course groups manually.

MIS Systems and IMS enterprise services web interface

MIS Systems are now supported in the user interface for IMS enterprise services. There has also been some changes to the web interface in Admin.

eLogin

It is now possible to use short names for eLogin customers. Customers can also choose not to be shown in the drop-down on the login page. If a site's short name is elogin, they can now log on with https://elogin.itslearning.com.

We have also changed the eLogin interface for sites that use different identity providers, such as Feide or Shibboleth. This makes it easier to understand how to log in.

SCORM player

We have upgraded the SCORM player to the latest version, ensuring that our users have the most up-to-date tool for playing SCORM packages.

Bug fixes and enhancements

Community
Community now works with newly created sites.

Better support for Internet Explorer 8
Internet Exploder 8 was released the day after our previous release, and we have fixed some issues that makes it's learning look better in this magnificent new browser from Microsoft.

Web 2.0 and Internet Explorer 8
Google Maps, Flickr, Meboo, Videojug, Delicious did not work properly with Internet Explorer 8. This has now been addressed.

Community
Community did not work correctly for Italian, French and US English sites, or when you had any of these languages activated in My settings. This has now been addressed.

Home button in the early learner version
The home button was not visible for links in the early learner version. This has now been addressed.

Early learner interface: Open link/content in separate window
Avoids problems with content not being shown correctly for early learners

URLs and short names in portfolios
After the last release a bug caused some portfolios to have double short names in the URL. This has now been addressed.

Search
When searching for users the early learner profile is now checked by default. Preferences are now stored in databases instead of in your cookies. This means that your preferences will be remembered if you log in from another computer.

Default elements in a course
Portfolio assessment, planner and learning objectives are now activated by default when a new course is created. This change is done to make it easier for teachers to use the planner.

Grades disappear from grade book when test is deactivated
After the last update an error removed the grades from deactivated assignments and tests. This has been addressed.

Survey - Matrix question bug
When a matrix question was added it was possible to check several radio buttons per row, but when the survey was activated it was only possible to check one button per row. This has now been addressed, and it is no longer possible to check more than one button per row in edit mode.

Files in course catalog - move
In order to move or copy files in the course file area (open web files) the course profile setting "Delete course" had to be activated. This has now been addressed.

Equations in Test 2.0
If a test 2.0 contained equations they were corrupted when the test was assessed. This has now been addressed.

Local course catalogue
Courses in the course catalogue could not be opened. This has now been addressed.

SCORM packages with short names
Playing SCORM packages now work if you are logged on using a unique login URL, such as shortname.itslearning.com.

Custom logo in the intermediate skin is aligned wrong
Custom logos were incorrectly aligned in the intermediate skin. This has now been addressed.

Security enhancement
Thanks to Magnus Holm for a tip that made it possible for us to identify and address a potential security issue.

Known issues

• Planner: Existing folders cannot be picked as resources in the planner.
• Planner: If both the Add resource pop-up and the Add activity pop-up is open at the same time, the activity appears in the resource part of the grid after adding it.
• Planner: The lesson outline is not saved when using Firefox 3 if clicking on the Lesson link directly from the inline edit state.
• Planner: This is not a bug, but users should know that custom columns are duplicated when the import functionality is used in a new course.
• SCORM player: There are some translation issues with the new SCORM player:
  • Norwegian Nynorsk appears as Norwegian Bokmål
  • Italian appears as UK English
  • Some random sentences are not translated for all languages, and they appear in UK English

• The simple and java applet editors are now working in the messaging system.
• The login issues caused by corrupted cookies are addressed.
• The local course catalogue now works.
• A test 2.0 performance issue has been addressed which affects large test with multiple users taking it. The functionality for calculating the number of unanswered questions by a participant while taking the test has been removed due to this.

Basis of assessment: Basis of assessments is now required by law in many countries. As a result we have added a new feature which allows teachers to write a basis for the assessments in the grade book. Both teachers and learner can view the basis of assessment. In tests the result is automatically inserted in the basis of assessment field.

Include element to grade book when adding the element: When creating a test 2.0 or assignment the teacher can select whether to add the element to the grade book. This is time-saving and eliminates the need to add a grade book column manually. If the "Add to grade book" box in is unchecked the grade book column is removed automatically.

Filter grade book by group: In many courses the participants are divided into groups, and often teachers share the responsibility for all of the participants, or are responsible for specific groups. In order to make assessing easier for groups, we have made a filter that can be used to show one or more groups in the grade book. This provides the teachers with a better overview in the groups they are responsible for.

Status of elements in the grade book: It is now easier for teachers to find not assessed elements in the grade book, and navigate between the grade book and the tasks. We have added URLs directly to the answers in the grade book overview. The statuses of all tasks is shown in the grade book overview, for example, "Not submitted" and "Not assessed".

Grades across periods: When a teacher views a learner's grade book all grades are shown regardless of period. This also applies to learners who enter their own grade books. This makes it easier for teachers to follow the overall progress of the course participants across periods.

Using several final assessments for one period: Teachers can now add several final assessment columns in courses. This means that a learner can receive, for example, an oral and a written final assessment in the same course.

Distinguishing learners that should not be assessed: If some participants in a course are not supposed to take, for example, a test, their status is not shown in that particular grade book column. This makes it easier for the teacher to separate between the learners that should be assessed and those who should not.

New export link: A new link for exporting the grade book in Excel format is added.