CompuScholar has many updates and new features planned for the 2025-2026 SY and beyond! Let's take a quick tour of our upcoming roadmap to help you plan for the next school year.
Course Update - Java Programming
As previously announced, our Java Programming course has been updated for the 2025-2026 SY. The new edition matches mandated changes for the AP Computer Science A Exam's new 2025 CED. This new edition has already been endorsed by the College Board and will be released after the 2024-2025 SY concludes in May.
For more information on the Java Programming 2025 update, please check out our blog post and webinar on the subject:
February 2025 blog: "2025 AP CSA and Java Programming Updates"
February 2025 webinar: "2025 AP CSA and Java Programming Updates"
We've also received requests for additional challenge exercises, so we plan to add new homework exercises aimed at advanced students. These new homework exercises will roll out this summer.
Course Update - Unity Game Programming
Our Unity Game Programming course relies on the Unity IDE, which gets new versions several times a year. During the 2024 school year, Unity released a large version change from 5.X to 6.X. This summer, we'll be updating our Unity course to match the new 6.x IDE. We expect these changes to be complete for the start of the Fall 2025 semester.
Course Update - Python Programming
Our Python Programming course is currently a 1-semester experience. We have several long-term plans for this course, including:
- Extend it to a full school year (2 semesters)
- Align it to the "Computer Science I" and similar standards in many states
- Align it to common Python Industry-Based Certifications (IBC)
This is a longer-term project, and we expect to release the new Python course in the 2026 time frame.
Course Update - Web Design
Our Web Design course has historically relied on external text editors and files saved to local computers. The existing course also uses semester-long projects ("Raptors" and "Aquamaniacs") for in-lesson and chapter exercises. Our long-term plans for this course include:
- Move all coding online into our hosted environment
- Break apart the semester-long projects into smaller, unique chapter-level projects.
These changes will make the course friendlier to Chromebooks and those with limited access to traditional text editors and IDEs. It should also provide a more varied experience with different projects. We expect the new Web Design course to be released in the 2026 time frame.
Course Update - Others
As always, we make minor updates to courses as needed to fix issues, keep up with technical trends, or align to new state standards. This year, courses like Digital Savvy and Tech Essentials have received several minor updates along these lines. The updates are complete and will be released for the 2025-2026 SY.
New System Feature - LTI 1.3
CompuScholar's materials have long been accessible through Canvas, Schoology, and similar Learning Management Systems. One of the core protocols enabling this integration is LTI. The old 1.0 version of LTI provides essentially everything most teachers need. However, the latest LTI version 1.3 allows our integration to communicate the grading status between systems more effectively.
In particular, if a chapter homework problem or activity requires manual teacher grading, there is no way in LTI 1.0 to communicate that "submitted but needs grading" status back to the LMS. With LTI 1.3, we can send a "needs grading" status back, and the LMS can display a dashboard of gradable items that need teacher attention.
The new LTI 1.3 support is currently in beta testing and will be available for the upcoming school year.
New System Feature - Google Classroom Integration
As previously announced, you can now integrate a CompuScholar course with Google Classroom. This integration provides automatic rostering, Single-Sign-On (SSO), and grade sync from your CompuScholar grade book. For more details, please see:
March 2025 blog: "Announcing Integrations with Google Classroom"
March 2025 webinar: "Announcing Integrations with Google Classroom"
This new feature is currently being beta tested by teachers and will be generally available in the Fall of 2025.
New System Feature - Reporting Engine
Teachers can access comprehensive reporting from the Report Dashboard link on the Teacher Menu within each course. Currently, these features are provided by a 3rd party reporting engine. We plan to replace this engine with our own internally developed reports. We believe this change will provide:
- A simpler, more streamlined interface
- Faster response times
- More relevant and focused reports
We plan to release a new reporting engine for the Fall 2025 semester.
For More Information
For a video walk-through and discussion of our roadmap, please view our April 2025 Professional Development webinar, "Roadmap for the 2025-2026 SY". As always, please Contact Us if you have questions!