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We have several December learning technology updates to close out 2021 including iCollege, Webex, and VoiceThread! See below for details, and contact help@gsu.edu if you encounter any problems or have any questions.

 

New iCollege Homepage Widgets Available – December 23rd

Work to Do

The Work To Do widget provides students with a view of any upcoming or overdue Assignments, Checklists, Content, Discussions, Surveys, or Quizzes that have not been completed. Please note that only learning activities with a due or end date will appear and will include items that are due within the next 2 weeks, or overdue from the previous 12 weeks.  To add this widget to your course homepage, please see our Edit Your iCollege Course Homepage and Navbar knowledge base article. 

The Work to Do widget with three upcoming and three overdue assignments.

Profile Card

The custom Profile Card widget allows instructors to be introduced to their students and provide them with a photo, biography, and other information, such as your office hours or a link to your WebEx Personal Meeting Room. To add this widget to your course homepage, please see our Edit Your iCollege Course Homepage and Navbar knowledge base article, which includes a section on how to edit your profile card

The profile card widget with an instructor image and about me section.

Slim Announcements

The Slim Announcements widget presents a simplified, unified view of announcements, by trimming the display to a single image and a set length of text. The widget allows learners to read more with a click and presents a slimmed-down streamlined display to avoid overwhelming information and create visual cohesion. Announcements  in the Slim Announcements widget are truncated, and students may not realize that more information is available, so it’s best for short announcements or with a prompt that students should click for more information. To add this widget to your course homepage, please see our Edit Your iCollege Course Homepage and Navbar knowledge base article.

The Slim Announcements Widget with two course announcements.

 

iCollege Updates – December 23rd

Content Navigator

The Content Navigator is an update to the Content Browser widget that gives users quick access to course topics. Users can select to drill down from module, to submodule, to content for more direct access. This widget tracks and displays navigational history and allows one-click navigation to the last visited module topic. This widget is now available on all default course homepages.If you have customized your homepage, you will need to manually update to content navigator if you would like to use it.

The new Content Navigator homepage widget.

Assignment Creation Experience

The new Assignment Creation Experience removes the current tabs from Assignment creation and editing and instead embeds all of the creation options on one screen. On the left pane, the basic information for assignment creation is available including the Assignment score, Due Date, Instructions, and Visibility. Additional settings for Assignment Availability and Release, Submission & Completion requirements, and Evaluation & Feedback are available in the right-hand menus. This update became available in June 2020, but is now the only experience available. More information on using the new Assignment Creation Experience can be found in our Creating Assignments in iCollege knowledge base article.

The new creation experience removes the current tabs from Assignment creation and editing and instead embeds all of the creation options on one screen.

Discussion Evaluation Experience

The view of Discussions during grading is being updated with a more modern interface to bring the Discussion Evaluation Experience more in-line with the new Assignment Evaluation Experience that launched this Fall. This version became available to opt-in in August 2021, but it is now the only discussion evaluation experience available.

Evaluation tools like Grades, Rubrics, and Feedback are moving to the Right-Hand panel to display in the same way as Assignments. Rubrics will drop down the side panel or pop out into a new window for grading.

Screenshot of the new Discussion Evaluation Experience window's layout.

Also consistent with Assignments is the header panels with the activity name display, navigation (either back or iterating through submissions), and the learner’s name and profile card. The draggable divider will work the same here, too! The adaptive mobile view is just as useful in this view with the evaluation tools tucking into a neat drawer when the screen gets smaller.

Discussion Evaluation Experience adaptive mobile view

The differences in the display of the Discussion topic and replies are slight.  One change that may be noticeable is the title of the topic or the reply is a link. It will open the post in a new window so the evaluator can get an idea of the context in which the post was made.

Discussion Evaluation Experience linked topics.

Discussion Dates Management

The Discussion Dates and Locking options will be combined in the restrictions tab. Instead of setting availability and locking options separately, the ability to restrict access, submissions, and visibility can now be set with the availability start and end dates.

Dates management options on the restrictions tab when creating a discussion topic.

Minibar Alerts Persist for 90 Days

Message alerts, subscription alerts, and update alerts in the minibar will persist for 90 days instead of the previous 7 days.

The iCollege minibar with a red dot indicating a notification alert.

Email - To/CC/BCC Fields are Now Links

When selecting an email recipient in the To, CC, and/or Bcc fields, each of these fields in the Compose window are now links that launch an Address Book dialog to select recipients from. Once a user, or users, are selected, they are added to the respective field.

The To, CC, and BCC fields ar enow links that make it easier to find and email other users in iCollege.

Course Import/Export - Intelligent Agents

Intelligent agents can now be included in course import/export packages.

 

Webex Updates – Available Now

New Skin Tones

To encourage users to better express themselves non-verbally, Webex is adding skin tones to your reactions. The additional five skin tones reflect a range of skin colors and are also available in the Webex Mobile app. To change the skin tones, go to Meeting Options > Appearance.

The webex meeting settings menu with 6 different skin tones to select from.

New Reactions

The following new reactions are being added to help users express how they’re feeling during a meeting: Thank You, Love, Speed Up, Slow Down, and Fire.

The Webex reaction menu with the 13 reaction icons.

 

VoiceThread Updates – December 23rd

New Version of VoiceThread/iCollege Integration

A new version of the VoiceThread integration in iCollege is now available. Improvements in the new integration include:

  • Easily copy your VoiceThreads between courses in iCollege
  • Complete roster sync, which supports adds and drops seamlessly.
  • Support for future VoiceThread features, which will only be available in the new version.

For more information, or to try out VoiceThread in your course, please contact us at help@gsu.edu.