Exciting update: Launch date confirmed for April 19, 2024
Building on the success of our recent improvements for our Assignment Review and Skill Review tools, we are thrilled to unveil another transformative change in Peer Review, Group Member Evaluation and Self-Assessment tools.
As mentioned in our March release notes, these changes will represent a significant leap forward in how we conduct reviews. We aim to provide a feedback experience that is not only more streamlined but also more comprehensive and user-friendly.
Why redesign?
You gave us valuable feedback, and we listened. The latest developments are our response to your needs and preferences. These were some of our goals:
Simplifying and elevating your feedback experience: We're transforming how students give and review feedback, making it easier and more intuitive. Navigating between ratings and reviews will be seamless, ensuring students understand their feedback effortlessly.
Increase mobile friendliness: With more students relying on mobile for assignments, we are prioritizing an even more mobile-friendly interface. This means an accessible, user-friendly experience that keeps students engaged anytime, anywhere.
New mobile friendly design
Be more consistent across our solutions: Say goodbye to navigation confusion as we harmonize flows across our tools. By implementing the same designs as in Assignment Review, Skill Review, and Portfolios, both students and teachers can enjoy a consistent and familiar experience. This streamlined approach not only simplifies navigation but also accelerates the onboarding process for new users.
Which are the new key highlights?
Student will enjoy...
Holistic review experience: Imagine an assignment requires multiple submissions per student, like a video and a document. Before, specially with the 1.0 version, students had to evaluate each individual submission separately, based on the same criteria, which became quite repetitive. With the redesign, students can evaluate their peer’s entire assignment as a whole, giving more holistic feedback. They can still provide inline feedback on precise parts of each submission.
New focused page per student, students can navigate between peers in the top right corner
Dynamic ratings widget: Students will provide accurate and helpful feedback thanks to the new rating widgets. These are more intuitive and include clear level descriptions to guide students in their evaluations.
Different types of rating widgets for Rubric, Scale-rating and Comment criterion
Clearly indicating which rating has been selected
New comparative view: Specially when working in a group, students often want to compare the reviews they are giving to different peers and adjust their ratings before submitting. With the redesign, giving feedback will be two-fold:
First, students will be presented with individual review packets to focus on the peer they are reviewing at that moment, minimizing any distractions.
At the end of the individual reviews, the new comparative view will be presented. This comprehensive overview will give a full picture of all the ratings and reviews they have given, allowing students to reconsider and make any necessary changes to their all given reviews.
Comparative view
Consolidated review packet: No more hidden review comments or jumping between multiple screens to see your feedback. Students will receive a comprehensive, consolidated review packet displaying all the feedback they have received from their peers. They will only need to scroll down, reducing clicks. Receiving and understanding feedback will be easier.
Viewing feedback received packet
Viewing feedback given (in this case, self-assessment)
Enhanced “View and Annotate” functionality: When providing inline feedback, students sometimes struggle when tagging certain comments with the right criteria. To ensure intentional and meaningful interactions, annotations will be more discoverable and tagging criteria has been refined.
Providing feedback on a submission
Providing inline feedback and selecting the right criterion
Teachers will benefit from...
Consolidated Review Packet: Teachers', TAs', and mentors' time per student is precious. In order to give personalized guidance during student consultations or when targeting students at risk, teachers must review each student's feedback individually. We wanted to make it even easier for teachers to analyze each student's feedback at a glance. When reading students' feedback, the new consolidated review packet conveniently displays all student reviews in one comprehensive packet. Spending less time navigating through different feedback screens opens up more time to dedicate to your students' needs.
As a teacher, viewing student feedback
What to expect?
The launch of the redesigned tools is planned to enhance your experience without any disruption. Here's what you can expect:
Until April 19, 2024:
Continuity for existing assignments: Any assignments created before this release will maintain their current review process configuration. Users can expect no changes to these assignments, and they will continue to function as they have in the past.
Until June 13, 2024:
Already created assignments: will not be modified. They will maintain their current look and feel.
Newly created assignments: All assignments that are created from scratch (i.e. not from Copy from Existing or Templates) will automatically adopt the new user interface and workflow.
Using or sending Copy from existing & Templates: Assignments copied from past versions (Peer Review, Group Member Evaluation and Self-assessment 1.0 and 2.0) will maintain their current review process.
After June 14, 2024:
Already created assignments with student progress: will not be modified. They will maintain their current look and feel.
Already created assignments without any student progress: will automatically adopt the new user interface and workflow.
Newly created assignments: All assignments that are created from scratch will automatically adopt the new user interface and workflow.
Using or sending Copy from existing & Templates: All newly assignments created by Copy from Existing and Templates, regardless of their origin, will transition to the newly redesigned user interface. Users will no longer have the option to revert to the old version, ensuring consistency across all assignments.
Our recommendation
We recommend creating a test assignment with a few test students to familiarize yourself with the new user interface during this transition period while maintaining the consistency of existing assignments. Alternatively, you may use the 'student preview' feature in your Learning Management System (LMS), limited version available for Canvas and Blackboard users only.
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation during this transition. We believe that the new review process will significantly improve the assessment experience, benefiting both students and teachers alike. If you have any questions, suggestions, or feedback, you may contact our Product Managers at [email protected]