This article contains this release's feature updates, user interface changes and bug fixes.
Release date | Environment |
5th of July |
Stage (stage.ans.app) |
21st of July | Production (ans.app) Education (edu.ans.app) |
Important changes
15th of September 2024 - Deprecation warning: Changes to student account creation permissions
Currently, staff, department admins, and administrators can create student accounts. Staff can create accounts based on their privileges, and department admins can view and edit students in courses related to their departments. However, when staff and department admins invite new students, these students are not directly added to the courses. Consequently, staff and department admins can see the added student accounts but not manage them.
To enhance manageability and security, we are updating the permissions for creating new accounts. Starting from the 15th of September, only administrators will be able to create and manage student accounts. Staff and department admins will only be able to view students within their specific courses. This ensures that student accounts are managed exclusively by administrators, providing better control and consistency.
What do you need to do?
- Direct any new student account creation requests to your administrators.
- Administrators should prepare to handle all student account creation processes.
We understand this change may require adjustments to your current workflow, and we appreciate your cooperation. Our support team is available to assist with any questions or concerns during this transition.
18th of August 2024 - The functionality to remove exercises from a question bank assignment from the exercise overview will be removed
With the release of August 18th, the ability to remove exercises from a question bank assignment directly from the exercise overview will be removed. This change aims to simplify the actions available on the exercise overview. The current process lacks clear indications of which exercises are being removed, leading to potential confusion. To remove exercises from assignments, please go directly to the question bank assignment.
The overview of all important changes that may require an action from administrators can be found here.
Changes to the platform
Released 'Live chat' out of beta
This feature allows students to ask questions and can be used to send announcements during a digital test. The live chat feature is disabled by default and can be enabled in the accessibility settings of a test. For more information on how to use this feature, check out the article.
Improved the styling and positioning of the search bar in the 'Exercise', 'Grading scheme' and 'Objectives' tabs
The search bar in the 'Exercise', 'Grading scheme' and 'Objectives' tabs has been replaced with an enhanced design and position.
The reCAPTCHA will now be skipped if the IP address is registered as a school location and the user is signing in from a custom domain
We will no longer display a reCAPTCHA to users signing in from a custom domain if their IP address is registered as a school location. This change aims to prevent reCAPTCHA prompts, particularly during crucial times such as when students are signing in with a one-time password in an exam room.
Enabled our Content Security Policy (CSP)
As communicated previously, we have now enabled our Content Security Policy (CSP) after running it in report-only mode for the past several months. The CSP functions as a security guard for our platform, instructing the browser on which content, such as images, scripts, or styles, is safe to load. This ensures that only approved content is displayed, enhancing the overall security of our platform.
The option "Show multiple choice instructions" is now enabled by default
Previously, multiple choice instructions for written assignments had to be manually enabled in order for them to appear on the cover page. The multiple choice instructions will now be added by default for every new written assignment. The instructions can still be hidden by unchecking the "Show multiple choice instructions" checkbox via the Customise layout menu in the preview of the written assignment.
Open beta changes
Enhanced the school log
We have significantly improved our school log to provide more detailed information about changes made on school level. The updates now include additional details, indicating if any of the following have changed:
- General: language, time zone of the school, start of the school year, name sorting
- Review options: automatic scoring, marking formula, minimum mark, maximum mark, pass limit, rounding, guess correction, apply guess correction to answered questions only, review period
- Domain names: enforce custom domain
- Security: enforce Single Sign-On (SSO), require two-factor authentication (2FA), student ID number length
- Single Sign-On: don’t activate employee accounts at creation, prevent SSO from creating or updating accounts
Bug fixes
-
Fixed an issue where 'Use same grading' could be enabled for peer-reviewed and self-reviewed assignments
Previously, it was possible to have the setting 'Use same grading' enabled for peer-reviewed and self-reviewed assignments. Since these assignment types should not have the possibility to grade with identical answers, this setting can no longer be enabled for these assignment types.
-
Added support for staff with the 'Reviewer' role to access plagiarism reports
Previously, it was only possible for instructors or participants to view the plagiarism report. Now, reviewers that have been assigned to an exercise or group that contains plagiarism reports, can also view the plagiarism reports.
-
Fixed an issue that prevented students from being added as instructors via LTI when the ‘Allow students to be invited as instructor’ option is disabled
Previously, students in Ans with an ‘instructor’ role in the LMS could still access courses as instructors, even if the ‘Allow students to be invited as instructor’ option was disabled. Now, these users are restricted from entering courses as instructors when this option is disabled.
-
Added "(macOS only)" to the ''Files" heading in the Safe Exam Browser settings
Clarified that unchecking the “Allow downloading and uploading files” checkbox in the Safe Exam Browser integration only affects tests taken on macOS devices.
-
Fixed an issue where the notifications (bell) icon did not display the unread message indicator
Previously, the notifications icon did not display the unread message indicator triggered by events (commenting, tagging, mentioning, assigning or adding). Now, the icon will display an indicator for new unread messages.
Version | Date | Information |
v1.0 | 05-07-2024 | Initial version |
Comments
0 comments
Article is closed for comments.