This article contains this release's feature updates, user interface changes and bug fixes.

Release date	Environment
30th of December 2022	Stage (stage.ans.app)
8th of January 2023	Production (ans.app) Education (edu.ans.app)

Changes to the platform

Changes to the question insights

Summary: We have made multiple changes to the question insights:

The rank correlation has been moved to the questions tab in the assignment insights
A filter has been added to filter questions on contribution in assignment insights
The grading scheme breakdown in the assignment insights has been moved to a collapsable table
For match questions: the match breakdown in the assignment insights has been moved to a collapsable table
For multiple choice questions: the multiple choice breakdown in the assignment insights has been moved to a collapsable table
For multiple choice questions: added the Rat- and Rar-values for multiple choice alternatives

Benefits: There are multiple benefits to the applied changes. We now show more data related to questions in one place. Additionally, you have the possibility to extract specific entries with the new filter. Lastly, more insights are provided with the new values which are added.

Screenshot_2022-12-30_at_15.53.23.png

Added a warning when linking a LMS course to an Ans course and the send grades option is disabled

Summary: We now show a warning when a LMS course is linked to an Ans course and the send marks option is disabled.

Benefits: This warning informs you that the grades cannot be pushed back to the LMS.
Screenshot_2022-12-30_at_19.37.55.png

Added the possibility to connect an LMS course to multiple courses via LTI 1.3

Summary: If a LMS course was linked to multiple courses in Ans, students would always be enrolled in the first course in Ans. We now correctly link the LMS course to the course in Ans.

Benefits: This change allows you to have separate courses for summative and formative assignments from within the same LMS course.

Added a taking page overview for hand-in assignments

Summary: This change allows teachers to reopen a result for a specific student in hand-in assignments so students can resubmit the final version of their file.

Additional information: Compared to the taking page of a digital test, the hand-in assignment does not support:

Controlling whether the assignment can be started
Accessing the progress of questions
Ability to chat with participants

Removed the ability to un-submit as participant for hand-in assignments

Benefits: This change helps to prevent fraud in cases where students reload the better version of their answers after the deadline. This also helps to trace when a student handed in the final version. In addition, we have improved the warning message to make it clear for students that they are permanently submitting their assignment.

Additional information: Participants can no longer re-open hand-in assignment results by themselves. Staff with access to the taking page can re-open results by moving a result back to busy.

We now prohibit uploading files with certain file extensions

Summary: To prevent students from uploading damaging files, we no longer permit uploading system files (exe, sh, php, bat, com, cmd, inf, ipa, osx, pif, run and wsh).

Benefits: This reduces the risk that a student uploads a malicious file which could infect a teachers device.

Additional information: If students are required to upload system files, you will need to inform them to compress the file into a zip file before uploading.

Added webm videos to the accepted file types list when uploading a video to a description

Summary: Previously, we only accepted mp4 as an accepted video file when adding a video to a description of an exercise. We have now added the option to add webm videos.

Benefits: Safe Exam Browser does not allow mp4 videos to be played. By uploading webm files instead, videos can be viewed if Safe Exam Browser is enabled in your digital test.

Additional information: It was still possible to upload any other type of file through the unrestricted upload, however, this was not always clear.

Emails sent from within Ans are now sent from no-reply@ans.app instead of support@ans.app

Summary: We've changed the sending email for emails from within the platform from support@ans.app to no-reply@ans.app.

Benefits: Questions from students that replied to the daily summary email of discussions will no longer be sent to Ans support. Instead, students will be advised to contact their teacher or student support directly.

The validation of a submission's file size and type is now handled by Ouriginal

Summary: If your institution negotiates in their license with Ouriginal for file size limit to be higher than 20 MB, the file will no longer be automatically rejected by Ans if it exceed 20 MB.

Benefits: Rejection of files is now based on the terms negotiated between your institution and Ouriginal. Similarly, in the future, if Ouriginal expands the list of accepted file types, Ans will not interfere.

We now redact IP addresses in logs

Description: We only show the last two blocks of the IP address. For IPv4 this looks like "***.***.23.123" and for IPv6 this looks like "::370:7334".

Benefits: This better protects the privacy of students.

Additional info: IP addresses returned in the logs via API V2 are also redacted.

Improved the filtering at the student overview in the users tab

Summary: At the student overview in the users tab we have made the following improvements:

Added restore filter functionality to the students overview
Moved delete action to bottom of the action list at the students overview
Renamed 'clear all filters' to 'clear filters'
Renamed actions to 'mark as student' and 'mark as alumni' (beta)

Removed the option to write a feature request when asking a question

Summary: It's no longer possible to use the feature request template when asking a question. We still support asking a question, reporting a problem or sharing feedback via the platform. To perform a feature request, you can use our support email address, support@ans.app.

Renaming of multiple elements in the platform

Summary: Based on your feedback, we are working on multiple interface inconstancies and improvements. Below you can find the element(s) that have been renamed, including the place in the platform where it changed. The change is applied to all translations of the platform unless indicated otherwise.

Renamed "all students" to "all learners" for publication timeslots. This applies to the English version of the platform only.
Renamed "choices" to "alternatives" in edit layout of a written assignment. This applies to the English version of the platform only.
Rename "Opgaven" to "Flowgroepen" in "Shuffle de volgorde van de opgaven" in the edit layout part of a digital test. This applies to the Dutch version of the platform only.

Open beta changes

Added the possibility to import questions in a question bank via the Respondus format

Summary: It is now possible to import multiple choice questions to a question bank using the Respondus import format.
Benefits: The new format is in line with the Respondus standards. Respondus is a platform which allows the import and export of questions through CSV. Therefore, it will be easier to migrate from Respondus to Ans.
Additional information: The import will replace the CSV import in the near future. We have provided all necessary details in the important changes part of this article.

Bug fixes

Fixed issue where the system shows that the user submitted the result while it was automatically submitted
Now the system indicates if result was automatically submitted. This change makes the logs more precise and provides a clear description for reviewers.
Fixed an issue where the webhook was not registering any creation of appraisal results
When creating an appraisal form and creating a result, Ans only registered the result being updated if the score of a user was selected.
Fixed an issue with worksheet questions that caused the screen to scroll to the question constantly
The worksheet question had an element that was automatically put into focus upon rendering. This has been disabled and should no longer cause the screen to jump to the worksheet question, even when multiple worksheet questions are present.
Fixed an issue where an assignment would be visible for students if the assignment had trashed results
If there is no active timeslot for an assignment, the assignment is removed from assignment overview of a course for the students. However, in a specific situation, the assignment stays without a timeslot being present.
Fixed an issue where reordering exercises in a question bank assignment would get the wrong position if 'start on new' page was used
The 'start on new page' row would be included in the calculation of the position.
Fixed an issue where options would disappear on the taking page when an incident happens
Fixed an issue where it was not longer possible to add or remove a cover upload for handwritten assignments
Fixed an issue where it was possible to access an assignment without using the LTI link for LTI 1.1 integrations
Fixed an issue where the cover description would be outdated
In one assignment, the cover page did not reflect the most updated version.
Fixed an issue where the external ID would not be removed when copying an assignment
Fixed an issue where the mathematical equation solver would not recognise the correct answer