As always, we have plenty of cool course updates and system improvements on deck for the upcoming school year. Read on for a brief summary of coming attractions!
Java Programming 2021 Edition Update
As you know from prior announcements, we are hard at work on major updates to our Java Programming course. We are pleased to report that the course is on track for full release by the start of the Fall 2021 SY. The course is essentially complete now, except for the instructional videos towards the second half of the course. We will be uploading those videos as they are finalized.
Teachers at public, private and charter schools are encouraged to get a free review account for a preview!
New Homework and Assignment Engine
We are announcing a new "Homework and Assignment" engine that will begin rolling out for the coming school year! This new capability will allow us to add "homework" problems in chapters to give students extra practice. The engine will support auto-graded coding problems, teacher-graded free-response questions, and other types of problems.
The homework problems are optional and can be assigned by the teacher as desired. By default, the homework problems will count for 0% of the course grade. However, teachers can change that percentage weight on the "Configure Course" screen (see below) to make the homework count for any desired part of the overall grade. The Java Programming course will be the first recipient of new homework problems, with other courses to follow.
Configure Course Screen Update
We are adding an option to the "Configure Course" screen that lets teachers re-balance the percentage weights assigned to each of the grading categories:
- Quizzes
- Exams
- Activities
- Homework
Teachers at public/private/charter schools will be able to adjust the default weights in each category to any desired amounts that add up to 100%!
Teacher-Requested UI Improvements
We love hearing from our teachers! This year, we have received several suggestions for system tweaks to make your lives easier. We are making the following adjustments to the user experience:
- Categories of grades in the grade-book will be color-coded
- The "Sequential Report" tab in the grade-book will be the default tab
- We are adding a pagination bar at the bottom of the grade-book to complement the existing bar at the top
- There will be a "course selector" combo box on the Teacher's Menu to allow one-step access to other courses
- Teachers at public/private/charter schools will be able to sort the order of the courses on the "My Courses" panel in several ways.
For More Information
Check out our May, 2021 Professional Development Webinar - "What's New for the 2021-2022 SY" - for further discussion and a video walk-through of the new additions. As always, please Contact Us if you have questions!