What's new on SmartClass Version 8?

Explore the exciting new capabilities of Version 8, the latest release of the world's leading teaching and language platform!

 

 

Teacher Live

• Better Video and Sound Quality

When a teacher shares/broadcasts their video and sound, it is now of better quality.

• Launch Web Link to All Students

The Launch Application button now opens the "Launch URL link in a Browser" panel. Within this new menu, the teacher can select Edge or Chrome browser to launch a web link on each student's computer. 

You can access the traditional menu by clicking the "Launch other program" button

• Improved Chat Experience

The chat box is now 100% bigger vertically, with a font size increased from 12 to 14 points.

• Fixed 3rd Display Connection Issue

We fixed the problem of the Teacher LIVE Dashboard on Monitors with Windows Scaling > 100%

          

Teacher Hub

• Size/Maximize/Zoom HUB window

The user has full control of:

• The size of the HUB app window (including Maximize)
• The Zoom factor to adjust the size of the HUB app UI and its content (text, graphics...)

They can now resize the HUB app window just like any other Windows application by pressing the expand button.  

With this functionality, there is also an auto-zooming function, meaning that when the HUB app window increases/decreases, the app will automatically adjust the zoom of its UI and content depending on the screen resolution.

However, the user can manually zoom by clicking Ctrl + and - or using the mouse scroll wheel to increase/decrease the zoom factor by increments of 10% from 100% to 200%. Once the user starts setting the zoom factor manually, the auto-zooming function of the HUB app is disabled.

This flexible sizing and zooming functionality of Desktop HUB apps required major work in structural changes of the app code. However, as demanded by users, it now delivers a much better User Experience, particularly when running on high-resolution screens 1080p Full-HD and higher.

• Grade Book: 

Teachers now have access to the updated Grade Book concept in the install.

Click on the grade book icon, and all information for that folder of activities is compiled in an easy-to-use grade book. See which students are missing which activities at a glance. See which activities still need to be graded by the teacher. See color coding of grades to give an immediate picture of which students or activities may need further attention.

• Filtering Activities:

Teachers can now filter and import activities from selected SmartClass content libraries (including Licensing enforcement). Just like on the web, teachers who are using our content as supplemental materials will easily be able to filter and find activities they can add to their classes, organize in their folders, and then assign to their students. The activities are copied into their Created Activities section of the platform and need to be organized into a folder before assigning. If the teachers want to keep the structure of the content, then we suggest downloading the full curriculum and taking the activities out of the folders that they don’t want to use. 

 

• Disabled AI Conversation Activities in Install

"AI Conversation" activities cannot be opened on the desktop Hub for teachers or students. They will receive a message that says: The AI Conversation activities are only supported in the HUB Web app. If a teacher still assigns this activity and the student uses the web app, the student will be able to complete the activity. If the teacher assigns this activity and the student does not access it using the web app, they will receive the same message. 

• LTE Grammar Videos - Playable in Install

We fixed the playback problem of YouTube videos embedded inside the instructions of our Let’s Talk! English activities. As a reminder, many of our grammar charts have a link to a YouTube video where Chelsea breaks down the grammar rules on that topic to assist teachers and students alike in learning the English grammar topic.

• Translation Files Updated

All translation files have been updated.

Student Live

• Student Top Panel

This was flagged as an issue. The student Live panel would pop up on top and cover browser tabs that students may need to access. The panel can now be moved horizontally out of the way so that students can decide where this tab sits while they are connected. The student just clicks anywhere on the panel, slides left/right, and releases the mouse button. 

• Improved Chat Experience

The chat box is now 100% bigger vertically, with a font size increased from 12 to 14 points.

• Launch Application

The Launch Application button now opens the "Launch URL link in a Browser" panel. Within this new menu, the teacher can select Edge or Chrome browser to launch a web link on each student's computer. 

You can access the traditional menu by clicking the "Launch other program" button. 

• Disconnect Student Computers

There is now a way to disconnect a computer in a LIVE setting if the teachers do not need to use it or if a student is in the lab working on something for another class. This was a request from a college as the lab is half used for classes and the other half of the computers are for students from other classes to use throughout the day.

Student Hub

• Student Notifications:

Just like the Student HUB Web app, the Notifications have 4 elements:

#1) The Folder displays an Activity Counter with the number of Activities Done vs. Total Activities of the folder (example: 2/7).

#2) The Folder also displays an Icon showing the level of completeness of activities (example 6/6 = All Done, and the icon is green).

#3) Font changes: If an activity is new or yet to be done, it will have a bold font. Once a student submits the activity, it will have a checkmark and be in regular font. 

#4) A blue dot next to an activity notifies students of a new message and/or grade from the teacher.

• Maximize Hub Window 

Just like Teacher HUB, the new Student HUB app has a Maximize/Re-sizable and Zoomable UI window. Students can also use this functionality if they are working on a Hub activity that was launched via Teacher Live.

• Vertical Activity Scroll

Activities are presented to students in the HUB app as full-width tokens that are scrolled vertically. No longer a horizontal scroll. 

• Updated Folder and Activity Behaviours

Students can now click on the folder or activity icon as well as the folder or activity name in order to open it. Before, the icon had to be clicked to open either. Now this functionality expands to the title as well. Also, like on the web, students can now collapse and expand all folders by clicking on the respective folder icons above the assigned activities.

• Updated “My Performance” Icon

Students now have the blue circle with the graph icon for their “My Performance” information. It is now consistent with what the teachers see in their Hub.

Some bug fixes and improvements in version 8.43

• Fix for the double-click issue when a teacher is creating pairs or groups 

In older Live versions, when a teacher used double-clicking to select a student station to create a new pair or group of 3 or 4, Live became unstable, causing audio issues.

It is now fixed in version 8.43 and newer.

• Mechanism to restart the Student Live after the student's PC loses network access for a long time  

When a student PC loses network access during a Live class session for a long time and the student icon disappears from the teacher Live, students can restart the Student Live by holding down the right-side CTRL + SHIFT keys and double-clicking on the Student LIVE blue icon. Student LIVE app will restart and reconnect to Teacher LIVE app, keeping the student logged in to the Live class.

• Adjustment to help maintain "Fast Video" playback synchronization on slower networks

• For College Board AP testing 

Alphanumeric numbers are now accepted, and the panel to Review and Export student recordings will open correctly. 

• Added/updated translation files (including French, Japanese and Vietnamese languages)