Our Nov 11, 2021 release brought many more changes and improvements. 



Teacher Experience


Grading

  • Added Filter by category
  • Added "Open SIS Gradebook" link to directly open the corresponding Aeries gradebook in a new tab. This convenience feature is available only if you have linked this eKadence gradebook to an Aeries gradebook.
  • Grading comments - Improved the Comment Bank to append instead of replace. You can now select from the comment bank as many times as you'd like and it will add that to the existing comments.
  • Changed numeric textbox to regular textbox (no more score changes from accidental mouse scrollwheels)
  • Impersonating faculty - Quick Grader - Don't auto-set focus in Score box during Impersonate mode; avoid logging to Grade History
  • Weighted categories - Improved our grade calculation to match Aeries for very select edge-cases: 
    • When some weighted categories have no scores yet
    • When some weighted categories have only extra credit assignments, and no regular assignments yet
  • Gradebook - Improved Actions menu
  • Gradebook - Added ability to show "past" students who are no longer enrolled in this class
  • Gradebook - Cells with scores higher than the assignment's max score will turn green to indicate extra credit
  • Gradebook - Added "Rename" feature to change the name of graded conferences


Modules

  • Teacher/Student - Modules - Improved display of inline images for cleaner UI/experience
  • Import Common Cartridge - Improved handling of invalid URLs contained in the cartridge file
  • Put back the "Publish Now" button
  • Copying activities with Google content - Improved the "no permission in Google" error text


Disussions/Assignment/Assessments 

  • Assignments created in Aeries will import into eKadence as a "Grade-only activity" instead of Assignment
  • Copy discussions - When copying a discussion created by another teacher to your own class, you will now be displayed as the Creator of the copied discussion rather than the original creator.
  • Text Editor - Link safety scan - unscanned URLs will simply display without any scan status link, so as not to alarm users and imply unsafe link when it is really just not yet scanned.
  • Text Editor - Added ability to Copy/Move section blocks to activities in other classes
  • Fill in the Blank questions must now have at least one non-empty answer
  • Allow Co-Teachers to force Submit students' assignments
  • Assessments - added Student Review feature to control when students can see correct answers to tests


Misc

  • Random group generator - Added ability exclude students absent for the day
  • My Profile - Display the name of the connected account
  • Improved interface when publishing modules to give more flexibility with managing publish dates across linked sections
  • Text Editor - Improved toolbar interface and easy of access for Embedded video UI
  • Text editor - Always insert new line after user embeds or inserts some media/content container
  • Groups - Allow assigning conferences to individual members similar to within a class
  • Groups - Password box - allow users to see their typed password input


Fixed issues

  • Work/Questions - Pasting in Google doc url embeds the content twice
  • Text Editor - Fixed issue with font size / bold / underline / general formatting not applying as expected
  • Edit homepage option was missing
  • Live Conferences were showing as Cancelled to students
  • Corrected error with multiple file uploads
  • Discussions - Fixed posts getting white text when students pasted in content


Student Experience


  • Assessments - Don't show auto-save notification to students (distraction)
  • Assessments - After submitting an assessment, do not show the leave-site warning when the student tries to close that tab
  • Auto-prompt when activity needs update (and clarify message/verbiage)
  • Discussions - Added Hide/Show Rubric and Standards button to Discussions, similar to what's already available in Assignments/Assessments
  • Assignments list - Separate Current from Completed
  • Assignments page - show and allow sorting by Publish Date


Parent Experience


We have begun working on Parent v2, which will present a more simplified interface as well as show more visibility into the class materials. These are just the beginning steps to prepare for the bigger changes coming.

  • Parent v2 - Clicking a class will load the class in a dedicated page. This page will be the framework for future enhancements
  • Parent v2 - Optimized speed of loading dashboard