LearningStudio Math Equation Editor (MEE) upgrade (launched 8/5/14): The upgrades include: improved screen layout, addition of Accessibility for users with disabilities and an increased selection of equations. Information about the MEE has been added to our Instructor pages.
July 2014
LearningStudio Multi-Take Exams (launched 7/22/14): Exams allowing students to retake the exam now has the option to display the Number of Attempts by the student in the Gradebook. Information about this feature has been added to our Instructor Exam Preferences (options section) page.
May 2014
Autosave in Gradebook Detail-view Comments (launched 05/27/14): LearningStudio Autosave in Gradebook Detail-view Comments prevents the loss of data in the visual editor due to: system timeouts, browser crash or unintended browser closure. Information about this feature has been added to our Instructor Gradebook Details view page.
New LearningStudio page on my.tcu.edu.(launched 5/20/14): The LearningStudio (eCollege) page in my.tcu.edu (Available when a student logs in and selects “LearningStudio” from the Quick Links panel, or when a faculty member selects “LearningStudio” from the Main Menu in my.tcu.edu) has been enhanced. This page new contains an Announcements section that will be updated periodically, a list of current classes using LearningStudio (listing course number, section number and title), and a link to the main LearningStudio page. [Select image below to view an example of the new page, larger]
Stylesheet (launched 05/12/14): A new updated course shell style sheet has been developed to improve branding, include logos and TCU colors, and a new toolbar. This update turns off the Style Manager tool within Course Admin. [Select image below to view it larger]
Share (Removed 5/20/14): Share has been a beta tool in LearningStudio for TCU and will be turned off. Until further enhancements are integrated, TCU will not be using the Share tool.
April 2014
Autosave in Threads (launched 4/14/14): An Autosave feature has been added to LearningStudio Threads, which prevents the loss of thread post data due to: system timeouts, browser crash or unintended browser closure. Information about this feature has been added to our Student and Instructor Thread pages.
Leading up to this release, students (or instructors) were losing data they had entered into a thread-post when the system timed-out or if their browser closed or crashed prior to sending the post. This posed a severe inefficiency having to enter the data a second time.
Automatic saves within threaded discussions solves a problem faced by students and professors when creating threaded discussions, specifically loosing unsaved responses due to issues such as a browser crashes, system timeouts, or any unexpected/accidental closures of the browser.
Content that is autosaved will be limited to the computer and the browser combination which was used to author the content. For example: if you were on your laptop using Firefox as your browser when you lost your data, you will have to use the same laptop using Firefox to retrieve your data.
The amount of data saved will be limited to available browser storage capacity(Unused total storage varies from 5 MB to 10MB depending on the browser).
Autosave will not work with iPad web browsers.
March 2014
Hide a Unit (launched 3/21/14): For this release, Pearson LearningStudio has added the ability for Instructors to hide a unit from students. Read more about this release on our Hide a Unit page.
Instructors can hide a unit at unit creation or hide a unit in the unit toolbox
From Instructor view, Asterisks will be present next to the unit title indicating it is hidden.
TurnItIn File Support (launched 3/7/14): For this release, Pearson LearningStudio has added support for additional file types. The following file types are now supported for Turnitin.
Currently supported:
.doc.
docx
.pdf
.txt
.html
.wpd
.rtf
Additional file extensions now supported:
Microsoft PowerPoint® (.pptx, .ppt, .ppsx, and .pps)
.htm
OpenOffice (.odt)
PostScript (.ps/.eps)
Hangul Word Processor file (.hwp)
Rubrics Points Override (launched 3/10/14): Rubrics has been a popular feature in the Gradebook. In its original release, Rubrics only supported whole numbers. Now, faculty can manually override the Rubrics Scale with any number or decimal. Documentation updated on our Assess Rubrics page.
Example: if the Rubrics Scale is: 3,5,7 & 10 points, and a student performs between 7 and 10, instructors can click on the points value and override the 7 with an 8 or 9.5 to give the student points that fall between the 7-10 range. The new grade will be reflected in the Gradebook.
Gradebook: Make Item Gradable (launched 3/10/14): For this release, Pearson LearningStudio has responded to the wants of the LearningStudio Product Advisory Board by streamlining the process to make items gradable to increase efficiencies and improve the instructor workflow. Documentation added to Step 6 on our Add a Content item page.
When creating a new content item, the instructor can:
Make the item gradable
Assign points possible
Make the content item an extra-credit assignment
Exclude the item from grading
To assign weighting or create rubrics for the content item, the instructor will need to go to the gradebook to accomplish these tasks. The ability to make items gradable, assign points possible, extra credit, and excluding items from grading continue to be accessible from the gradebook.
February 2014
Path Builder – New tool for TCU (live in February, announced in 3/10/14): Use the Path Builder to automate and control the pace at which students can move on to the next content item or unit for the course. By enabling performance condition-based parameters, such as “Earn Points,” you determine what criteria must be met for an assignment or exam before students can continue. Path Builder is a powerful means in managing student progression throughout each lesson and unit. You can set student performance conditions on content and in turn control student access to new content by time constraints and individual performance. Documentation is on our Path Builder pages.
January 2014
Student Gradebook View enhancement (1/14/14): These enhancements include a new look & feel, a comments icon and the incorporation of rubrics. The enhancements are aimed to improve usability of the gradebook and improve communication between instructors and students. Watch a video about the new enhancements.
New 24/7 Customer Knowledge Base website (1/7/14): Visit the 24/7 website.
A fresh look and feel
More prominent access to start a chat or send an email for technical support
A simplified interface for easier access to ‘Most Popular Answers
