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New "Custom Activities" Feature

  


New Custom Activities Feature

The #1-requested feature from teachers last year was the ability to create their own custom online coding exercises. They were thrilled with our built-in, online, auto-graded chapter projects and homework assignments, but wanted the ability to add their own projects and sample code. We hear and deliver!

Accessing Custom Activities

Teachers and students can now access the custom activity area by clicking on the "Custom Activities" link near the top of the following courses:

The link is initially hidden from students, but it can be shown by the teacher when ready to deploy custom exercises. If your course does not have this link, please contact us for instructions. The Custom Activities feature is only available to public/private school teachers who create new courses from their Teacher Dashboard (not available to homeschool families). If you are using one of our other courses like Web Design or Unity Game Programming and would like to set up custom exercises in one of our supported languages, please ask us to add the link to your course.

OWNERSHIP AND DISTRIBUTION

New Custom Activities FeatureWe know teachers don't want to reinvent the wheel from course to course or year to year. Therefore, when you create a custom activity, it's yours permanently! If you are running multiple courses or sections, simply associate each activity with the desired course(s). Next year, those same custom projects can again be distributed to new course sections.

ACTIVITY MODES AND GRADING

There are two types of custom activities:

  • Graded Assignment - In this mode, students will complete the custom coding challenge using our familiar online coding engine and submit it when done. Teachers will review student work and assign their own grades as desired.
  • Demonstration - In this mode, teachers can present students with sample code to run, modify, and explore. However, students cannot submit their changes for a grade.

The average grade for all Graded Assignments will be stored in the electronic grade book as a single "Custom Activities" entry. This allows us to seamlessly support the new feature in other Learning Management Systems like Canvas and Schoology.

SUPPORTED LANGUAGES

Our online coding engine currently supports Java, Python, and C#, so those languages are available in any custom project. Simply use the right type of file extension (*.java, *.py, or *.cs) to match your source code when creating project files.

Yes, you can create coding challenges in any supported language, regardless of the course. This means you could, for example, demonstrate Python code to your C# or Java students, or show your Python students how C# and Java programs work.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Check out our Nov/Dec 2022 Professional Development Webinar - "New Custom Activities Feature" - for further discussion and a video tour of this feature. As always, please Contact Us if you have questions!