Edsby is thrilled to announce the introduction of exciting new features that have been implemented in recent months. These updates have been thoughtfully selected based on input from teachers and administrators within our community.
Our focus for September 2024 includes significant updates in key product areas: Class Groups, Gradebooks, Evidence and Report Cards.
To provide you with a deeper understanding of these changes, we've developed new documents and videos that provide detailed insights. These are all available in the support section of our website; click your role to see the resources available to you.
Please keep sharing your feedback and suggestions; they help us continue to make Edsby the best platform for teachers, students, parents, and administrators worldwide. And... the best way to do that now is our new Idea Management System, directly within Edsby. For details, read below.
Contents
New features for teachers
Edsby Evidence and Single QR codes
Edsby professional development modules
AI assistant for teachers (limited beta)
New features for school admins
Correcting archived report cards sheets
Changes to the Assistant Teacher role
New features for teachers
Class Groups
Classes have a new feature to support student collaboration with special groups created within a Class. The teacher can create groups that allow student participation, or to provide targeted resources to a group of students. Through the assessment form, the teacher can enable one submission per group.
The teacher can also create Class Groups only visible to the teachers of the class. These hidden groups can be used to create individualized assessments.
Class Groups are accessed from the Students panel and are created through a form. Permissions are easily managed through the form, giving educators full control over group access and visibility.
In this example, the teacher has created Class Groups to enable students to collaborate on a group presentation. The teacher can access the groups by clicking on the group name.
Additionally, the teacher has created Class Groups based on the courses the students are enrolled in. These groups will be used to speed up the creation of assessments. The teacher can choose to keep these hidden from students.
To create a Class Group, click New Group Category. After naming the group category, the following form appears. The teacher sets the student visibility by selecting one of the following options:
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Students see all the groups |
The students can see the name of the groups in this category and see the names of which students are in the groups. |
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Students only see the groups they are in |
The students can only see the name of the groups they are a member of. The students can see the names of the other members. |
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Hide groups from students |
Only the teachers of the class can see the groups and the membership list. The groups can be used to create individualized assessments. |
The teacher sets the student participation level by selecting one of the following options:
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Students in group may open and participate |
Students see the group listed in their Groups panel. Students can post messages, create events, and contribute to the Knowledge base. |
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Students in group may open but not participate |
Students see the group listed in their Groups panel but can only read content created by the teacher. |
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Students cannot open the group |
Students see the group listed in their Groups panel but cannot open the group. This setting can be used to temporarily block access to the groups. The group can be removed from the students’ home screen by changing the visibility option. |
The teacher can select which group or groups the student is a member of by clicking the radio button. The teacher can also randomly put the students into groups by clicking “Randomly put students in the group”.
Once the form is saved the groups are created and the visibility and participation options are set. Teachers can make changes by clicking the gear icon and making adjustments to the form.
Using Class Groups in assessments
The assessment form gives the teacher the option of selecting a subset of students. If the teacher has created Class Groups, they will have the option to select one or more of the groups. If the assignment enables the students to submit a file, the teacher can choose to have one submission per group.
Edsby Evidence and single QR codes
Students can submit learning evidence to any class their teachers choose. Items submitted are immediately visible in the student’s own Learning Story and the teacher’s Evidence page. Parents only see the items once they are shared to their child’s Learning Story by the teacher.
Students only need one QR code to submit to any class with evidence capture enabled. Students no longer need to scan different QR codes for different classes.
For example, a homeroom teacher can enable evidence submission in English, French, and Visual Arts and then provide each student with a single unique QR code. The code can be printed from either the English, French, or Visual Arts classes. The student scans the QR code, takes a photo or video, and then is presented with a list of valid classes. If only one class is enabled, no list is presented, the item is simply uploaded to the class.
Students submitting evidence through Edsby Capture can scan the QR code found in their Learning Story. Students can also choose to submit evidence through Edsby by selecting from a list of classes.
Idea Management System (coming soon)
An Idea Management System (IMS) called Frill has been incorporated into Edsby to enable teacher and district staff users to submit, vote for, and discuss feature requests with other teacher and district staff users and the Edsby team. The goal is to create a collaborative environment where the needs and preferences of educators and administrators can be effectively communicated and considered.
Several important points should be noted regarding this new capability:
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Students and parents do not have access, ensuring that it remains a dedicated space for teachers and school district personnel.
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It is not intended for bug reporting, so any technical issues should continue to be addressed through existing channels.
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Names and email addresses are shared with the third-party platform, but only the first name and last initial are visible to other users.
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It is recommended to set notification preferences to stay updated on relevant discussions and developments.
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Staff members can access the IMS from their personal menu in an Edsby browser login. Selecting “Suggest a new feature” will display a form to submit a new feature idea. The system is not yet available on mobile.
Edsby professional development modules
Edsby professional development curriculum has been created to support school staff, including teachers, school administrators, and attendance office personnel, in enhancing their understanding and use of the Edsby platform. These courses are presented using Edsby, within Edsby, and are designed to be self-paced, allowing participants to engage with the material at a time and pace that suits their schedules. As part of ongoing efforts to expand learning opportunities, more courses will be developed over time.
Available modules are presented through the Group Recommender panel, ensuring that they are visible and readily accessible to those who may benefit from them. Once initiated or completed, modules appear in a user’s Group list for future reference.
Art Boards (coming soon)
Art Boards will be introduced as a richer way to capture evidence of student learning, offering a dynamic tool for educators. This feature will support templated activities, enabling a structured approach to documenting and sharing student work. Designed for versatility, Art Boards will be usable beyond the primary levels, making them suitable for various educational settings. Whether incorporated into lessons, shared through feed posts, or used in personal messages, Art Boards will provide a flexible and engaging way to enhance teaching and learning experiences.
AI assistant for teachers (limited beta)
Edsby has developed a new optional Teacher AI Assistant, a set of tools to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of educators in their daily tasks. These tools are available exclusively to staff; students and parents do not have access. The development of this set of features has been guided by a strong commitment to security and privacy, prioritizing the protection of user data.
The AI tools being introduced offer a comprehensive range of capabilities designed to assist educators in various aspects of their work. These tools include writing assistance that provides grammar and spell check, tone adjustments, content generation, and writing critique. Additionally, the assistant can generate progress narratives, summarize conversations, and translate languages, making it a versatile resource across educational settings.
In this illustration, the teacher has copied curriculum codes into a Note and used the AI assistant to create a student friendly version to post as the course outline.
Within the Grader, the teacher has asked for a list of spelling and grammar issues present in the student’s submitted PDF file.
These AI features are integrated into key areas such as class and group feed posts, replies, the gradebook, grading processes, report card comments, content building and quiz sheet generation.
The Teacher AI Assistant is currently in a limited beta phase and will be offered as an add-on service at an additional cost when available. Access to the feature during this phase is limited to allow for testing and refinement.
More information about Edsby’s Teacher AI Assistant here.
This feature is the first deliverable in Edsby’s larger vision of AI described here.
New features for school admins
Correcting archived report cards sheets
Corrections can now be made to archived report card sheets. If the sheet is published, it can be corrected and republished. Republishing the sheet does not generate a notification. If the sheet was either submitted or approved, it can be returned to these states, but not published.
The Senior Admin or Office Head must first access the archives and then navigate to the Report Cards Zoom. Reporting periods from previous years are visible in the picker.
To make corrections:
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Open the report card sheet that requires the correction.
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Select "Restore from Archive."
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Make the desired corrections.
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If the sheet has been previously published, click "Republish." The student and parent will have access to the updated report card.
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If the sheet was not published, click "Submit" or "Approve." An updated report card can be printed.
Attendance enhancements
Planned absences
Ongoing and upcoming planned absences are now included in the student’s Attendance List View.
Sign out
When the student is signed out, the current period’s attendance sheet will be updated to show an absence starting at the sign out time.
Changes to the Assistant Teacher role
The Assistant Teacher has been adjusted to better suit school-based employees who work in the classroom but should not have access to personal or academic information about students at the school.
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The Assistant Teacher can be added to a Class and when assigned the class-based role of Assistant has a read-only view of the class. The names of Assistants do not appear in the Teachers panel of the class.
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The role can be added to groups and will see any groups open to All Staff. This role cannot create groups.
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The role does not have access to any Zooms.
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The role can view the School page but cannot submit an article.
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The role can view the Profile page of any staff, student, or parent either through a search or by clicking on a name. The Profile page contains the user's name and photo.
New class-based role added
We’ve introduced a new class-based role called Assistant, which provides read-only access to the class. If a Teacher is assigned the class-based Assistant role, they can take attendance but will otherwise have read-only access. This can be useful for mentoring purposes.
For those with the Assistant Teacher user role, assigning the Assistant class-based role is the recommended choice for School admins or teachers when granting class access.
View of a class for the user role of Assistant Teacher and the class-based role of Assistant
When assigned to a class as an Assistant, the Assistant Teacher can view a read-only version of the class feed, Planner, Content, and Seating Plan. The Assistant Teacher has a reduced mini-profile. The availability of the Send Message option is controlled by the District.
View of a class for the user role of Teacher and the class-based role of Assistant
When assigned to a class, the Teacher can take attendance and view a read-only version of the class feed, Planner, Content, and Seating Plan. Those assigned the class-based role of Assistant are not listed in the Teachers panel. The mini profile is based on the Teacher role and remains unaffected by the class-based role.
