Adjustments, Improvements & Maintenance |
Authoring |
Managing |
Marking |
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New Lockdown Browser Versions
The new versions contain important updates and are available in WISEflow from 23 September. The new versions are:
Windows: 2.0.9.03
MacOS: 2.0.9.01
These versions will be required from 7 October.
Please note that the admin version of the lockdown browser can only be installed in the MSI version from now on. The admin version of the lockdown browser can be found under the Support role in WISEflow and can be installed on institutional server-based PCs running on Windows.
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Release Webinar Recording
Recording from the Release Webinar
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End of Support for Windows 8 and 8.1 in WISEflow
Support for Windows 8 and 8.1 will be suspended with this release. You can check the minimum requirements for the lockdown browser here.
Beta Version of New Marking Tool with November 2022 Release
The new marking tool is taking shape and we will be able to share a beta version with all customers at the end of November with the minor release. The current marking tool will remain the default but it will be possible to choose the new beta marking tool to try out the new marking processes in FLOWassign, FLOWhandin and FLOWlock. Marking other flow types with the beta version will be possible in spring 2023.
Authoring
Bulk Editing of Items and Assignments
Currently, it is only possible to complete bulk actions for up to 20 items when managing assignments or items in the content bank. This functionality will be increased, meaning that it will be possible to delete as well as add or remove authors groups for up to 500 items. For more information, review our information on managing assignments in the article Creating an Interactive Online Test (FLOWmulti Assignment) and managing items in the article Using the Content Bank.
User Interface Enhancements
Small improvements have been made to the overall layout and navigation of the authoring page. The list overview when managing the content bank has been expanded and now includes personal labels, a preview of the item content as well as a list of assignment(s) that the item is used in. A list of related assignments will also be displayed directly in the content bank.
With the October release, it will be possible to preview assignments as participants.
Managing
Set Default for Sharing Comments, Annotations and Rubrics on Flow Level
On every licence, a default can be set for sharing annotations and comments created by assessors or reviewers. The default settings are:
- Private: annotations and comments made by an assessor / reviewer are only visible to them
- Share with participants: individual comments and annotations are shared with the participant
- Share with co-assessors and reviewers: comments and annotations are only shared with co-assessors or the reviewers
- Share with all: comments and annotations are shared with all co-assessors and reviewers as well as with the individual participant
This October, we will be releasing a new assessment setting on the flow level which will allow managers to overwrite the licence setting and set a different default on an individual flow for how annotations, comments and rubrics are shared. As before, assessors and reviewers will have the option to change the default setting for individual comments and annotations or the rubric directly in the marking tool.
For further details, please read the section on Default Sharing State of Marking Work in our article Managing Assessors, Reviewers and Marking Settings
Scheduling Direct Messages
When creating a new direct message, managers and invigilators will have the ability to choose whether the message should be sent immediately or if it should be scheduled to be sent to participants at a chosen date and time (e.g. send a reminder message to participants 15 minutes before the participation period ends). When scheduling a direct message, it will be possible to choose how many days, hours or minutes from the general participation start or end date a message should be sent.
Further details can be found in our article Direct Messaging to Participants.
Marking
Grade Audit Trail
A key focus over the coming releases will be to enhance flexible marking processes by providing support for customising and monitoring the marking process.
As a first step in this process, a grade audit trail will be made available with the October release which will record all actions related to finalising the grade of a participant by assessors, reviewers and managers. Managers and reviewers can access the full revision trail and assessors can see their own actions leading to their submitted grade. Any actions completed prior to the release of this new feature on Friday 8 October 2022 will not be recorded in the Grade Audit Trail.
Assessors
Assessors will see the audit trail for every participant in the marking overview, displaying their submitted, conflicting or finalised grade.
When entering or submitting a grade, it will also be possible to add an internal note to the grade/mark submission for individual participants. The mark/grade and internal note will be visible to managers and reviewers but not any co-assessors. Furthermore, assessors can also withdraw submitted grades before their are finalised, for example when marking with co-assessors or reviewers approving the final grades.
For information how the grade audit trail looks for assessors, review the information in the article Marking Overview (Submission of Marks and Grades).
How the grade audit trail can be used by reviewers, is explained in the article Reviewer Tools and Processes.
Managers
Managers can view the audit trail (e.g. (conflicting) grades submitted by several assessors, withdrawn grades, internal assessor notes) when managing assessors or reviewers. A new column, Grade Audit Trail can be included in the Work distribution overview.
How the grade audit trail can be used by managers, is explained in the article Managing Assessors, Reviewers and Marking Settings.
New API endpoints to access the audit trail will complement this feature. Please also read the information on New API Endpoints further below.
Marking Offline for Reviewers
With this release, reviewers will be able to bulk download scripts for offline marking as well as download a spreadsheet to carry out grading outside of WISEflow. The same functionality is already available to assessors, for more information read through the article Offline Functionality.
Adjustments, Improvements & Maintenance
Sycamore and Theme Work: Overview for the Plans to Evolve WISEflow
We have recently introduced a new Product Board, which is used to map out our longer-term plan for the WISEflow product and provides a more structured approach to how we prioritise future enhancements, in order to move towards our long-term goals.
To support the Product Board, we have deployed a ‘Theme’ based approach to WISEflow feature developments. Each theme focuses on a specific area of the system, so that there is a shared understanding, both internally and with our customers, of the priority system enhancements we expect to deliver in the short-to-medium term. The themes are determined based on both internally driven enhancements and trends in customer wishes as captured in Sycamore – our internal system for logging and processing user needs.
We have also introduced a public-facing page of the Sycamore site. This page currently provides a high-level overview of the existing themes and provisional timelines. However, over time, we intend to enhance the page, providing users with more information on planned new features and system enhancements. The release overview shows which features are included in coming and past releases before the release notes are circulated two weeks prior to a scheduled release date.
New API Endpoints
API endpoints are continuously released to the production system, independent of the general release cycle for features and functionalities. An up to date list of API endpoints can be found here. An icon will determine whether these endpoints have already been released to the production system () or will be coming soon (). In the future, you will be able to subscribe to this page to be informed on any new API endpoints that are being released.
There are several articles explaining the WISEflow API; the technical documentation on the API endpoints can be found here.
Language Improvements
After we made changes to the English terminology and language with the March 2022 release, we are taking a look at the other languages with a special focus on the German terminology within WISEflow. We will review the terms and language used and will implement changes with the March 2023 release. A list of the changed terms will be circulated well in advance so institutions can adjust their internal documentation accordingly.
Removal of Get Started Guides from Service Centre
Our Service Centre has been overhauled to provide you with a comprehensive guide of helpful articles on using WISEflow. With all information now contained in the main articles, our Get Started Guides are no longer required. We will remove the guides after 7 October and recommend that you download any of the guides before that date. Please remember that they were last updated with enhancements delivered in the October 2021 release and you will need to update them with any relevant changes to WISEflow. Here is the link to all Get Started Guides in the Service Centre.