Attention eClass Users,

Update: The upgrade has been completed early at 2:00PM and eClass has been released.

Please be aware that in May 2020, we will be performing a major version upgrade to eClass. This upgrade will introduce a variety of feature improvements and bug fixes across the site.

The upgrade will require a full system outage, which has been scheduled for Saturday, May 2nd 2020 from 12:00AM to 11:59PM (24 hours).

The main system features that will change in the new version of eClass are listed below:

Highlights

• Numerous improvements have been added to the Forum activity:
  • Discussions in a forum can now be pinned, starred, and sorted for easier access.
  • A new interface allows quick replies as well as the option to reply privately to specific posts.
  • Instructors can now easily lock discussions.
  • Instructors can now view forum usage on a summary report.
  • Instructors can now grade student forum contributions in a new interface that includes the advanced grading options from the assignment activity (rubrics and marking guides.)
  • Forums can also now be created with due dates for posting and cut-off dates.
• H5P interactive content can now be easily added through the HTML editor and via an optional filter.
• The Messaging system has been revamped with a cleaner design, a private drafts area, a muting option, and the ability for instructors to create group messaging areas.

Quiz Improvements

• Tags are now visible beside questions in the question bank.
• The display of statistics for random questions now includes a summary view and a better mechanism to identify problematic question variants.
• Quiz question bank editing activities are now captured in course logs.
• Improved performance when exporting questions with numerous images.

Assignment Improvements

• It is now possible to rotate uploaded assignments in the visual grading interface.
• The grading interface will now display students in order of how they are sorted on the ‘View All Submissions’ page.
• Existing scores from the gradebook are now displayed when grading via rubrics and marking guides.
• Displaying the grader of an assignment is now optional.
• Instructors can now remove assignments if students mistakenly submit incorrect files.

Miscellaneous Changes

• The calendar view can now toggle between day, month, and year.
• It is now possible to perform gradebook calculations using operators (if, and, or.)
• Adding new users to the participants page no longer clears the filters or sort order applied on the page.
• Copying editor pages including images no longer breaks when copied forward.
• Instructors can now specify a submission type (file or online text) for the Workshop activity.
• The course participants list can now be downloaded.
• Users who leave their session idle will now receive a popup warning when their session is close to expiring.

This list of features may be subject to change before the upgrade takes place. We will be providing training and support materials to prepare users for major changes as the upgrade date draws closer.

If you have any questions about this upgrade, please contact us at eclass@ualberta.ca. If you are interested in testing the latest features coming to eClass and have not yet signed up to be involved in User Acceptance Testing, please contact us for more information.

Regards,

IST eClass Support