Product Release Notes
INSPIRE
December 20, 2024
INSPIRE Navigation and User Interface (UI) Upgrades
✨ Improved Search
The search feature throughout INSPIRE has a new look. You can search for the title of any content.
Try out the filters for content types (lesson plans, Velocity activities, or resources).
Use the SEARCH IN button to also filter what collections you want to look in.
✨ NEW Alignments view from Georgia SuitCASE
Courses, Repositories, and My Content Collections all display content alignments from the List View of the Resources or Standards sub-tabs.
The first aligned standard or skill is what will initially show as an alignment icon in the list view and clicking on the alignment icons will reveal all the framework connections made to Georgia SuitCASE.
✨ NEW Categories are available to organize My Content Collections
Now all INSPIRE learning designers, educators, and creatives can better organize their My Content Collections into groups.
Velocity Student Activities
✨ NEW Pod Mode setting for Constructed Response is available.
Pod Mode is an activity setting available for constructed response questions that supports small group or partnered submissions of responses. Watch 2 min overview video for Sparkl (a version of Velocity).
Enable the Pod Mode setting to manage student pods or choose to allow students to self organize.
The submitter’s response will copy over for all pod members for efficient teacher grading.
To allow individual students to resubmit, disable pod mode and use the resubmit button while grading if needed.
Import this sample activity (Velocity Share Code - A59169) to give it a try. Remember to edit the constructed response question for your own use.
✨ NEW Multi-Statement question with drag and drop has been released
This new question type complements our already existing quiz question options for matching and ordering but gives a feedback boost!
Multi-statement questions appear in a table format for activity authors to easily construct multi-part questions to assess a workflow, process, or set of related terms.
Feedback options are available to clear up misconceptions after each response is submitted.
Check out the activity gallery for ideas or import this question starter (Velocity Share Code - A59170).
SuitCASE feature release for districts interested in importing “outcomes” into Canvas
✨ NEW Canvas Export option is available for any framework (subject area) in SuitCASE.
Canvas has a specific format for importing Outcomes into their platform and now districts can easily create an export right from any framework (subject area) in SuitCASE in minutes.
Read the SuitCASE User Guide to learn more about how to use the Canvas Outcomes Export here.
November 18, 2024
Velocity Student Activities
✨ Content and questions with videos now have more options!
The Required Video question and insert video icon in the edit toolbar for interactions now support more link types beyond YouTube without having to use the embed code option.
✨ COMING SOON - JANUARY 2025 ✨
A NEW Sparkl question and activity option will be available, called Pod Mode. This new feature will create opportunities for partnered or small group collaboration around a response submission via constructed response questions. Watch the 2 minute overview video for Sparkl (a public version of Velocity).
A NEW multi-statement drag and drop question is in the works to enhance activity author options for ordering, matching, and multi-part questions. The goal of this question type is to give feedback each step of the way and even offer error correction if learning designers want to add question level or final feedback.
September 13, 2024
Velocity Student Activities
✨ NEW Import options to better support collaboration
Many Velocity activity authors take advantage of the Use This Activity With My Students button to revise pre-made activities or they start from a clean slate with the Create a NEW Activity options.
For those of us that like the best of both worlds, there is now a NEW menu option to import an activity using a Share Code, an activity Archive, or by Pasting an exercise part from the clipboard. This feature allows authors to combine whole activities or select particular exercises to design their new activity.
Collaborators will also find an easy to use Share Code within the hamburger menu.
July 23, 2024
INSPIRE Workflow Improvements
✨ Improved Lesson Plan layout
The Standards and Elements section of the Lesson Plan has been bumped to the top to more closely match a learning designers’ workflow and a teacher’s focus on the learning targets for a lesson.
Lesson Plan editors can continue to edit aligned standards as they appear in SuitCASE.
Hovering over the standards will still reveal the full text and clicking on them will open the SuitCASE view of the standard as it appears within its framework.
Velocity Student Activities
✨ NEW Interactive Reading options
Interactive Reading already allowed for student annotation but teachers were unable to view those annotations without creating an annotation question.
Now, the Interactive Reading annotations appear in a NEW response card view (just like constructed response and annotation questions do) with data about the time spent, completion, points earned, and a brief summary about the annotations.
Selecting the eyeglasses icon allows a teacher to drill in to the annotations a student made.
Additionally, a NEW Activity Setting was added to allow an activity author to turn off, choose, or require students to do a second read with blanks or not. A tooltip is provided to explain each option.
June 20, 2024
Velocity Student Activities
✨ NEW Constructed Response Question options are available for activity authors.
All student response options have Add Hint and Add Rubric options.
The Draw Response Interface feature now includes the option for an activity author to add a background image for students to draw or type on top of.
The background image can be created on-the-fly with the built in drawing tools, an uploaded image, a paste from your clipboard, or even the device camera.
The response options for students include the drawing tools, text, and the equation editor.
As always, teachers will be able to view and enlarge the images from the class as they respond or after their submissions.
May 23, 2024
Velocity Student Activities
✨ NEW AUDIO response option is available within Constructed Response questions.
Activity authors can choose AUDIO as a response option and set the min-max seconds for recordings.
Students can record their response, play it back, and re-record as needed.
A transcript of the audio will appear for both the student and teacher to view.
Teachers can listen to the audio and transcript to give feedback and grade responses.
Like other constructed response items, audio responses can be shared anonymously for class discussions as well.
May 6, 2024
INSPIRE Workflow Improvements
✨ NEW Archive Viewer & Unarchive Features
Previously, users could remove or delete content (lessons, activities, & resources) but did not have a way to view these items or undo the action.
Now a user can view archived content from their My Content Sandbox and restore it.
To find the Archive Viewer navigate to your My Content Collections: My Content Sandbox and choose the kebab menu:
Select View Archived Lessons and Resources
Use the kebab menu for any item to open it, show the original (if applicable) or UNARCHIVE this item.
Unarchived items will appear in their respective content category (Lessons, Student Activities, Other Resources) within your My Content Sandbox.
✨ INSPIRE Admin Updates
INSPIRE System Admin can now change a collection type
System Admin can navigate to the Site Admin Tools tab, select Content Collections and choose More Options to find a NEW Change a Collection’s Type workflow.
If a user has supplied an INSPIRE System Admin with their Collection Title (make sure to make it unique) they will be able to search for it and convert it.
The newly released Thin Common Cartridge (TCC) file export got a boost.
Check boxes have been added to allow for more choice about the content available for export (refer to previous release for more info.)
April 16, 2024
INSPIRE Workflow Improvements
✨ All copied content is automatically saved to the My Collections tab - My Content Sandbox
Previously, users might copy a lesson or Velocity Student activity from an INSPIRE Course or Repository Collection but lose track of where their copied content was saved.
Now, all copied content can be accessed in three ways (🖥️):
From the user’s My Content Collections: My Content Sandbox folder AND
The original Course or Repository Unit (folder) under the sub-tabs:
My Content where a user can continue to make revisions to lessons and activities they’ve copied while still accessing the original Course or Repository content OR
Resources where copied content continues to be highlighted in both tile or list view.
✨ Any INSPIRE Collection can be exported as a Thin Common Cartridge (TCC) file [BETA]
This NEW BETA feature will mainly be used by district leaders who want to export the content of an INSPIRE collection at a point in time for import into an LMS or other platform.
LTI linked content (e.g. Student Velocity Activities and Lessons) retain their connection to the original content within INSPIRE.
NOTE: Any organization that exports a TCC of a collection may want to periodically check for collection revisions (e.g. additions or deletions) that will not be reflected in their original TCC export.
March 13, 2024
INSPIRE Courses and Repositories
✨ An improved workflow for EDITORS of Course / Repository collections is in the works
Previously, an EDITOR of an official INSPIRE Course/Repository might accidentally or needlessly copy a lesson or activity to make edits.
Now, an editor can use the EDIT UNIT button to discover that they can revise the original lesson, activity, or resource.
NOTE: This improvement does not impact teacher or staff users editing content in their own collections. Learn more here.
February 27, 2024
Velocity Student Activities
✨ NEW Display and Sound Settings are available within the Activity Settings.
From the hamburger menu within an activity, verify that your Editing Mode is set to Expert.
Open Activity Settings from the Add Student Instructions link or hamburger menu.
NEW Display and Sound Settings (replace previous Game Mode options) appear to adjust font size, color scheme, scoring, sound effects, and more.
Saved settings become the new default for all future activities created.
✨ Improved Canvas integration allows for easy viewing of Velocity activities within Canvas
No need to choose load in a new tab when you add your Velocity activity link as an external tool
Learn more about the Canvas integration steps for Velocity here.
✨ Improved Constructed Response question options are available
Velocity-Bot is now using a newer AI model to evaluate student submissions and is better able to distinguish responses that are on- and off-topic.
Students are able to jump into full-screen mode more easily while typing their constructed response.
January 19, 2024
Math Type Available
✨ NEW Equation Editor is available for both teachers and students.
The Equation Editor icon is visible for editors in Lesson Plans, Collection Descriptions, or Unit Descriptions as well as within Velocity toolbars to make Math Type possible all across INSPIRE!
You will find the Equation Editor keyboard in any toolbar where a letter E icon is present.
Teachers and students can choose the Equation Editor keyboard and symbols they need by using the tabs, keys, and shift options.
Science can try the CHEM or advanced keyboard layouts.
✨ NEW STEM Blank option has replaced the numeric query to auto-score math type responses.
Look for the STEM Blank option (123 icon) available within Interactive Reading, Freeform Content, and Scaffolded Response questions within Velocity.
Activity authors can select the STEM Blank icon (123) to use the built in Equation Editor.
Try the added Template Response and Feedback options to scaffold, provide more context, and reinforce the correct response.'
🤩 Feature requested by STEM teachers everywhere!
December 29, 2023
My Content Collections
✨ The NEW My Content Collections tab is a place where signed in users can be the learning designers of their own Content Collections within INSPIRE. From the My Content Collections area:
Create a Content Collection with units organized into a scope and sequence (like Courses) or folders (like Repositories).
The My Sandbox Collection stores all your created or imported content prior to 12/29/23 or any sandbox content.
Create a NEW Content Collection to search, import, or create even more.
Collaborate on your collection by sharing it or adding editors using the kebab menu.
Subscribe to other collections using a subscription code from a collection author.
Courses, Repositories, and Collections
✨ NEW organization options have been unified across all collection types.
All collection creators (including teachers) can now choose between a Scope and Sequence layout (horizontal like a Course) or Folder layout (vertical like a Repository).
View a side-by-side comparison of the updates here.
Use this Create a Collection slide deck to learn more.
SuitCASE and INSPIRE
✨ NEW Google Translate options are available:
within INSPIRE in the bottom left corner of the screen
within SuitCASE from the hamburger menu
December 20, 2023
Velocity Student Activities
✨ NEW Annotation question type is available to supplement interactive reading.
Educators often ask students to find supporting evidence, mark the text, or annotate a passage for a specific purpose. When paired with an interactive reading:
Activity authors can add an annotation question after an interactive reading to prompt either open ended or model highlighting.
Annotations can be auto-scored when a model annotation is provided.
Teachers verify the final grade or set the activity to award stars for completion.
Annotations are viewable like a constructed response question which makes class discussions possible and grading easier.
🤩 Feature requested by an AP English teacher serving Dallas ISD.
December 4, 2023
Velocity Student Activities
✨ NEW Alternative Text option within Interactive Reading interactions
Many educators would like to be able to accommodate a different lexile level of a passage or article while giving all their students equitable access to grade level content.
The Alternative Text option allows an activity author to add an additional text to their interactive reading.
Students will be able to view the Alternative Text before, during, or after they complete the cloze blanks for interactive reading.
Visit the bit.ly/sparklAG for ideas about query interaction types
🤩 Feature requested by learning designers serving the Arizona Department of Education.
December 1, 2023
Velocity Student Activities
✨ NEW copy option for exercise parts or exercises
When editing an activity, authors now have the option to copy an exercise part or an entire exercise to their clipboard to use wherever they need it:
Locate the kebab menu for an exercise part or exercise
Choose the copy option “Copy this exercise / exercise part to your clipboard”
Go to the exercise, exercise part, or new activity
Choose the kebab menu option to paste
Determine if you want the pasted content before or after the content you’ve selected
🤩 Feature requested by high school educators serving Henry County Schools, GA and Dallas ISD, TX.
✨ NEW Google Translate option available in Velocity activities
The Google Translate button translates all Sparkl menus, activity directions and Velocity prompts into the selected language.
✨ NEW Expand View option for grading constructed responses
When a student uploads an image for a constructed response interaction, educators can now enlarge the view of the image to making grading easier.
🤩 Feature requested by high school Science teacher serving Impact Academy, GA.
October 17, 2023
Velocity Student Activities
✨ NEW Freeform Content option - Award stars for completion
When editing a freeform interaction (and Expert Editing Mode has been toggled on), an option to award additional stars will appear.
This option was added to accommodate activity authors who are presenting text to students, but may not be using fill-in queries, or want to be able to award stars for activity part completion.
🤩 This update was suggested by high school educators serving Henry County Schools, GA.
✨ NEW Constructed Response scoring options
There are many feedback options for constructed response questions. This new feature is intended to be used sparingly for summative or higher stakes activities where no stars are initially awarded for a student submission.
By default Velocity-bot is intended to improve student writing & give feedback by suggesting revisions, awarding initial stars from a model response to allow for edits, and initially group responses by using student comparison texts selected by the teacher.
✨ Improved Student Activity Results
Student Activity Results graphs and query charts have an updated default view showing the number of students who have completed the activity compared to All Students (who haven’t accessed the activity yet).
To change your default view, select the Show Results Table icon and toggle the setting Exclude students who haven’t accessed the activity to YES
September 24, 2023
Connect to Communities & Georgia Learns
✨ Find NEW quick access buttons to Communities and Georgia Learns from a selected subject:
Selecting a Communities or Georgia Learns icon will prompt a sign in.
Admin Tool - Add LTI Integrations
✨ NEW Admin Tool option to add district LTI integration secret and key:
This feature allows GADOE leaders to grant district access to the LTI 1.1 Integrations for Canvas and Schoology for Velocity.
September 5, 2023
Velocity Student Activities
✨ Scaffolded Response interactions now include NEW Drag and Drop questions:
When an activity author creates a scaffolded response there is an option available to convert all inserted fill-in words, multiple choice answers, numeric queries, and image labels into drag and drop selections.
Try this question type instead of standard multiple choice questions to keep students on track in a lesson and reinforce the right answers in the moment of learning.
This feature can be toggled on, off, or as a choice for a response option for students.
🤩 This update was suggested by a high school science educator serving Impact Academy, GA
SuitCASE
✨ There are NEW print options available for standards housed within SuitCASE:
Add document information to any printed item from a framework.
To avoid page breaks within items keep the checkbox default enabled.
August 30, 2023
Velocity Student Activities
✨ NEW Edit Activity Setting: Name-Only Mode option for sign in.
There is a NEW Name-Only mode sign in option for an activity that bypasses the typical google sign in or the authenticated sign in (when students access Velocity through another system, like an LMS).
To find the Velocity setting within an activity, go to the hamburger menu to select Edit Activity Settings. Select the blue tooltip to learn more and check the box to use enable it.
Once Name-Only mode is enabled, students will use the activity link to access the activity, type their name, and select their teacher.
The activity author/editor view of results will be the typed name, so teachers using this mode will want to establish norms for how names should be typed.
This mode could also be used with students from non-Google districts or by leaders doing a PD with a Velocity activity (where the students are adults trying it out).
🤩 This update was suggested by a social studies program specialist serving Georgia DOE.
August 28, 2023
Velocity Student Activities
✨ Freeform Content interactions have NEW label and query options:
NEW labels for text appear in the Freeform Content, Interactive Reading, and Scaffolded Response toolbars toolbar for inserting queries.
Labels also have a NEW note field that could be used for footnotes or definitions.
NEW labels for images appear in the image editor options (this replaces the Label Image question type).
Query edit mode options have been improved and also have a NEW feedback field that can be used to give a definition or provide more context for a response.
✨ The Question interaction menu has been updated with improved choices:
Formative Quiz questions (multiple choice, true / false, multiple select, matching, ordering, fill-in blank) can now be added to an activity within an exercise.
A NEW question checkbox appears within Formative Quiz questions to allow Full credit for any answer (which marks all answers as correct).
This option could be used as part of a two-part question where the first part has no true correct answer and students need to justify their response in a second part of the interaction.
✨ Learn more about how to use Velocity with the Getting Started Guide.
August 18, 2023
Velocity Student Activities
✨ NEW query options were added to student interactions for content and question:
Multiple choice questions now have a Final Feedback button to reinforce learning.
Model responses (within a Construct Response question) can now include images.
August 16, 2023
Velocity Student Activities
✨ Activity authors and editors can edit an activity in progress (or complete).
Students will now see a NEW update notification within Velocity when an edit has been made and will be prompted to re-do a query (or finish a constructed response) if they have not yet submitted their response before the change.
Results By Exercise and By Student were improved to show activity authors and editors the updated scores and retries.
Students will not be penalized or asked to re-do responses when they have already submitted a response before an activity edit, but student scores can improve as a result of updates made.
August 14, 2023
Velocity Student Activities
✨ A NEW Student Groups feature enables teachers to manage student access to Velocity activities by group. Choose Manage Student Groups to create your own groups, periods, or sections.
This feature may be used by a teacher that wants to start an activity as locked for all students; then unlock the activity just for Period 1; then later unlock the activity for Period 4 students.
If they wish, teachers can even unlock different parts (exercises) of an activity for a group of students during an activity to guide discussion and provide feedback.
✨ A NEW Flex option has been added to the Constructed Response question type.
This option allows a student to choose between a text or drawing response to submit their answer.
August 9, 2023
My Courses - Lessons & Resources
✨ An improvement was made to the print format for a lesson; the full text of the aligned standards will now display.
