Improved interface and navigation, enhanced accessibility and metadata management and more.

New Project Navigation

Sidebar Navigation

The project navigation has been moved from the bottom to a left-hand sidebar, allowing for greater vertical screen space. You can switch between a minimised icon version or the full labelled version with a single toggle.

Project Selector

The look has been refreshed, keeping the same functionality to enable to easily switch between projects via a dropdown menu, where you can search or select from a pageable list.

Role Switch

The look has been refreshed, keeping the same functionality to enable to easily switch between projects via a dropdown menu, where you can search or select from a pageable list.

Enhanced Accessibility Panel

More Flexible Accessibility Criteria

Images, audio, and video assets follow less strict rules for accessibility. Images marked as decorative or containing alt-text are considered accessible. Audio and video files are accessible if transcripts or subtitles are provided.

LO Assets Overview

The LO Assets button will warn you if any asset fails to meet accessibility requirements — the red icon will display. When the dialogue is opened, the accessibility status of all assets will be visible.

New Metadata Schema Management

Dedicated Admin Page

Managing metadata schemas is now easier with a dedicated page in the admin backend. Schemas are marked as either Learning Object (LO), structure, or asset schemas. You can edit, delete, or download schemas as needed. Uploading edited XML files mirrors the asset upload process in the Media Library. The uploaded schema is validated before being applied. In the Product Types, where schemas were previously managed, they can now only be selected and deselected, as with Design Packs.

Structures Tab Enhancements

Sorting Features

You can now sort assets and Learning Objects by name, title, or last updated date within the Resources panel, making it easier to organise content.

Document Activity Enhancements

DOCX File Support

The Document activity type now supports the integration of DOCX files. Learners will not be able to edit the document, but they can select and copy text, providing more flexible document usage.

New Navigation Options for Digital Books

Skip to First/Last Page

Learners can now jump directly to the first or last page of a digital book with just one click, simplifying navigation and saving time.

Classroom View Enhancements

Global Classroom View

The Classroom View option is now a global setting, applicable across all Design Packs. When enabled, free-text input fields are represented by an underline, and recording elements are removed without replacement. These are the features currently configured for the Mercury and MercuryPrimary Design Packs; however, a Design Pack could use the option to control any other visual element of the activity.

Special Characters and Enumeration Answers

Extended Special Characters Palette

The palette now includes symbols for Set Theory, enabling more comprehensive mathematical exercises. Additionally, the Scientific characters palette has been reordered and extended.

Lower-case Alphabetic Enumeration

Enumeration Answers now supports lower-case alphabetic options, aligning them with other enumeration functionalities.

Block Google Translate for Secure Learning

Enhanced Security

By default, Learning Objects now block Google Translate and other online translation services, providing a more controlled learning environment. This option, Block Google Translate, can be enabled or disabled in the Learning Object settings.

Keep live sessions, courses and assignments under control with Avallain Magnet’s New Built-In Calendar

New built-in calendar tool within Avallain Magnet

Avallain Magnet Release 30 introduces a new built-in calendar for teachers and students to schedule and manage events within the learning platform. These events can also be synchronised with deadlines related to Assignments and Courses.

All events are created and displayed based on the teacher or student’s timezone. When a teacher or a student is invited to an event, they will receive a notification via email if they have checked the Calendar checkbox on their profiles, except for events created automatically.

Currently, the calendar offers three event categories to choose from:

• Live Sessions (video calls)
• Classroom Events (in-person events)
• Other Events
• Additionally, events are created automatically from Courses and Assignments

Note:

• The calendar is currently not supported offline or in the Kids mode.
• Users can navigate up to one year in the future and one year to past dates.
• Only teachers can send invitations to events to groups. They can only send one invitation per group, as long as the group has up to 40 members in the case of live sessions or 100 members for all other types of events.
• Students can only create Other Events for up to 100 members and only if the Message Centre is enabled for their institution, teachers are contactable and student to student messages are enabled.

Enhanced notification checkboxes and options on the user’s profile screen

Avallain Magnet 30 introduces a set of improvements to the Notifications options on the user’s profile screen.

Toggle buttons have been replaced by checkboxes and users can select the following options:

• Receive general notifications by email, including assignments and new subscriptions
• Disable chat notifications
• Receive calendar notifications by email

New User Details page and Limited Institutional Subscriptions

We have redesigned the User Details panel as a full page where Teacher Admins can intuitively manage all subscriptions assigned to a user, including limited subscriptions.

Along with this new feature, there is a new type of institutional subscription called Limited Institutional Subscriptions. These subscriptions have a limited number of seats available and are assigned by Teacher Admins. Additionally, Teacher Admins can now add limited subscriptions in the Users main page from the Apply Action menu.

Note: For more information about this new feature, visit the User Guide.

New role-based availability option for subscriptions and token batches

Avallain Magnet release 30 includes a new option for Org Admins, Org Owners and Teacher Admins to define if an open or limited institutional subscription, as well as token batches, are available to all or only specific roles.

With this option, for example, Org Admins can establish that a particular limited subscription can only be assigned to users with Student roles.

Note: Group subscriptions are not yet compatible with this feature.

New User Guide for Kids and Parents in Magnet Kids

We have added a new version of the User Guide for institutions using Magnet Kids mode, dedicated to users with Kid and Parent roles.

This new version of the User Guide provides a kid-friendly experience and information that is relevant to Kids and Parents specifically.

New kid-friendly Assignments

Avallain Magnet release 30 includes a brand-new version of Assignments dedicated to the Kids mode, which provides the same advantages of Assignments for regular students but with visual and functional features specially designed for children.

Sneak Peek: Course Discussion – Forums

Here’s a sneak peek of what’s coming in Avallain Magnet 31: Introducing the new Course Discussion – Forums! 

Teachers and students will soon be able to join discussion forums within Avallain Magnet. This new feature will enable enlightening and useful conversations between teachers and students about key aspects of courses and assignments.

Leverage the power of AI in language learning with the new Activity Class Input:Creative:Voice (Speech Assessment).

This innovative feature allows learners to record text, receive AI-validated feedback on pronunciation and content, and get detailed scores on multiple speech areas. Additionally, our new Media Library accessibility panel ensures inclusive learning for all with easy-to-see status indicators for ALT Text, Transcripts, and Subtitles.

Activity Types

New Activity Class Input:Creative:Voice (Speech Assessment)

Introducing the new Activity Class Input:Creative:Voice (Speech Assessment). This innovative activity class empowers learners by allowing them to record a text and harness the power of AI to validate their pronunciation and content. The AI provides detailed feedback on individual words, helping learners to elevate their speaking skills with precision.

In addition to real-time pronunciation feedback, the Activity Class Input:Creative:Voice (Speech Assessment) also provides comprehensive scores on multiple areas of speech, including fluency, grammar and vocabulary. Content creators can customise the assessment display for learners, ensuring that feedback is presented in the most effective way, enhancing language learning and supporting a more personalised and engaging educational experience.

Updated syntax of Identify:Select:Dropdown (Gapfill Dropdown) to support the use of the pipe character

We’ve updated the syntax of Identify:Select:Dropdown (Gapfill Dropdown) to support the use of the pipe character (|) in answers. Previously, the pipe was used for Placeholder text, that is, text that displays in the gap before the user has interacted with it. There is new syntax for this: [answer#{placeholder}**wrong answer].

Accessibility

New Asset Accessibility Panel in the Media Library

We’ve introduced a new panel to the Media Library metadata page specifically for accessibility features. This panel includes green/red icons that signal the status of ALT Text, Transcripts, and Subtitles, making it easy to see which items are accessible at a glance. 

The fields for ALT Text, Transcripts, and Subtitles have been moved from the Common section to this new panel for better organisation and greater ease of access. 

Additionally, an accessibility icon is now visible in the list view, providing a quick status indication for each item.

Please note: the rules used to calculate the pass or fail status in our new Accessibility Status and Panel feature are currently stricter than the WCAG AA compliance standards. Specifically, audio and video assets are only marked as ‘passed’ if they include alt text.

With Author Release 45, we will be making adjustments so that alt text will no longer be mandatory for audio and video assets to achieve a ‘passed’ status. Additionally, further minor design tweaks to enhance this feature will be included in the next release.

New accessibility features for the Activity Class Identify:Mark:Marking (Highlighting)

Avallain Author Release 44 introduces new accessibility features in the Highlighting activity. There is now a toggle that allows learners to switch between identifying markings by colour only or by both colour and number. This is particularly helpful for individuals who have difficulties discerning colours. 

Additionally, we’ve improved keyboard navigation to further enhance accessibility, ensuring a smoother and more inclusive user experience.

Backend

Enhanced usability in the Structures Tool

With Avallain Author Release 44, content creators can now use checkboxes to select multiple items instead of dragging and dropping each one individually.

This feature also allows selection and insertion of a mix of Learning Objects (LOs) and assets from the Media Library. Once items are selected, content creators can insert them using the Insert Items button at the top of the Resource pane. 

Note: Dragging and dropping individual items remains an option for those who prefer it.

Extended support for localised quotation marks

Avallain Author Release 44 adds support for localised quotation marks in French and Spanish. By setting the LO Option Language Attribute to the desired language, typed quotes will automatically change to the typographical style of the selected locale. This ensures that your content adheres to the correct punctuation standards for each language.

Digital Books

New Clear and Reset options for annotations in Digital Books

Learners can now manage their annotations more effectively with the new Clear and Reset options. Using the Clear button, learners can delete annotations on the currently visible pages. The Reset button allows them to delete all annotations in the book. Both buttons are conveniently located in the Annotations menu. 

Note: This feature requires Design Pack support and is fully supported in MercuryBook.

Engage young learners with Magnet Kids, the exciting new feature of Avallain Magnet 29.

Transform the learning experience for young learners by providing a user-friendly interface with customisable avatars and background colours, parent-dedicated roles with access to their child’s gradebook and more.

Magnet Kids

Avallain Magnet 29 introduces Magnet Kids, a brand-new feature that transforms the learning experience for young learners by providing a user-friendly interface with customisable avatars and background colours, parent-dedicated roles with access to their child’s gradebook and more.

Magnet Kids makes it simple and enjoyable for children to log in using QR codes, usernames, or group passwords. Parents can stay involved by accessing their child’s gradebook, while teachers can efficiently manage student accounts and create groups.

Key Features:

• Custom avatars and backgrounds: Children can personalise their experience by choosing avatars and background colours.
• Easy login options: Children can log in using QR codes, usernames and passwords, or group passwords.
• Parent role: Parents can access their child’s gradebook with a dedicated Parent role, making it easier to stay involved in their education.
• Teacher tools: Teachers can create group passwords, Parent and Kid user accounts, and generate badges for easier login.
• Kids’ interface easy customisation: ORG Admins can customise avatar options and background colours collections through the new ‘Kids Dashboard’ option in Settings in Magnet Administration.

To enable this feature, ORG Admins must toggle on the Magnet Kids option for each institution within Magnet Administration, under the Additional Features section. There, they can select the Dashboard Customisation collection that was previously created in Settings > Kids Dashboard.

Note: Parent and Kid new user accounts must be created by Teachers and Teacher Admins in their Avallain Magnet interface. For more details about how to set up and make the most of Magnet Kids, contact our Customer Success Team.

Google Classroom integration

Avallain Magnet 29 introduces a new integration with Google Classroom, enhancing the learning experience with streamlined data rostering and assignment grade synchronisation.

Key Features:

Single Sign-On (SSO): Simplified login process via Google accounts.

Automated Data Rostering: Automatic creation of institutions, users, and groups within Avallain Magnet and Google Classroom.

Assignment Sync: Automatically share and sync assignments and grades between Avallain Magnet and Google Classroom.

Important: If you are interested in leveraging this integration, contact our Customer Success Team.

Define teachers as Group owners via CSV upload

A new column called ‘Owned groups names’ will be included in the CSV upload template, allowing to define a teacher as the Group owner. 

This enhancement streamlines the process of defining Group owners directly from the CSV file, eliminating the need to manually assign them after the upload and creation of users in Avallain Magnet. Institutions can save time and reduce administrative workload, ensuring that teachers can quickly and efficiently manage their groups from the moment user data is uploaded.

Mail templates now support institutions name variable

Our email templates now support the {{institution_name}} variable, allowing institutions to further personalise communications by customising the email text to include the institution name.

If you need assistance with this feature, please contact our Customer Success Team. 

Sneak Peek: Magnet Calendar

Here’s a sneak peek of what’s coming in Avallain Magnet 30: Introducing the new Calendar feature! 

Teachers and students will soon be able to schedule virtual meetings, track important dates like assignment due dates, and create personal events. This enhancement aims to streamline organisation and improve time management for all users.

Group Centricity

Magnet 24 brings you a brand new dashboard together with a group-centric approach to your institutions, with teachers now accessing and managing their students from a single group dashboard. Students get access to their own groups page. We also see improved assignment features, Zapier integration and customisable self registration options for new users.

Group Centricity

Making the group the core of the learning process

Magnet 24 shifts the focus of learning from the course to the group making it easier for teachers to manage their students together from a single page. Teachers can pick and choose which courses they want their students to explore, from within each of their groups. 

Group dashboard for teachers

Course association

Deciding which courses the group is going to focus on is achieved via course association during the creation of the group or by editing the group later. Teachers build their own portfolios of courses and then select which courses and/or institutional subscriptions their students should have access to. If the teacher selects courses, students will need to ensure that they have their own subscription to the course. If the teacher selects a subscription, the student automatically receives a subscription.

Available courses for association with group

Available courses for association as subscriptions

Gradebooks

The new group-centric design gives the teacher the ability to assess group progress at a glance from the students progress page.

Group students tab

Selecting a student reveals the relevant gradebooks for that student.

Student gradebooks from group

Assignments

Assignments are now managed from each group and newly created assignments are by default assigned to each member of the group with the option to refine. Teachers can select lessons from any of the courses that the group is associated to, meaning that assignments can now consist of lessons from multiple courses.

Assignment showing lessons from different courses

Draft assignments

If you are not ready to send your assignment, then let Magnet keep a draft for you. Simply close the assignment and pick it up later.

Assignment card indicating that it is in draft status

Student groups page

Students get access to a brand new Groups page with a dedicated area within each group to see associated courses, group gradebooks and assignments.

Student view of one of their gradebooks from within a group

For more detailed information about groups, course association and using assignments, check out the Avallain Magnet User Guide for Org Admins or contact Customer Success.

New dashboard with tasks

Magnet 24 brings a brand new dashboard providing teachers and students simple shortcuts to where they need to go. A new Tasks feature shows the 5 most important tasks that need addressing and when there are no outstanding tasks, the Tasks area disappears.

Teacher Task area on main dashboard

Student tasks include:

– New assignment

– New course

– Resume assignment

– Resume course

– Review feedback

– Review manual marking

Teacher tasks include:

– New assignment submitted

– Pending marks

Below the Task area, is a Recent Groups section and a Recent Courses section allowing both teachers and students to jump directly to where they left off.

Teacher dashboard

For more detailed information about the new dashboard and tasks, check out the Avallain Magnet User Guide for Org Admins or contact Customer Success.

New add code button

Magnet 24 also brings with it easier access to the Add code button in addition to the standard access provided on the Courses page.

Simply click on the Admin area of the user to bring down the user admin menu with direct access to Add code.

Add code now accessible from the user admin menu

Zapier Integration

Zapier is an automation platform that allows for simple (or complex) automation between applications. With Magnet 24, Magnet is available as an official Zapier App integration, allowing seamless connection to thousands of other applications.

Zapier dashboard

Using a combination of triggers and actions, you can get other applications to react to events in Magnet, or have Magnet react to events in other apps. Currently Magnet events that trigger actions in other apps include when a user registers on the platform and when a user completes a course. Magnet can react to other apps by creating a new institution, creating a new user and creating a new subscription.

Possible use case scenarios include:

– Storing course data in external system

– Transmitting data for custom reporting needs

– Award certificates, for all completions or based on score (e.g. Accredible, Credly)

– Custom registration form built in e.g. Paperform or Google Forms

– Direct purchase from external eCommerce solution

How-to

1. You will need to create an API key in the new API section of Platform Settings in Magnet Administration.

API keys in Platforms Settings

2. Then create a free or paid account on Zapier.com and proceed to create triggers and actions on Zapier to set up your first Zap.

3. As you create your first Zap, you will be asked to authenticate your Magnet instance with the API key that you created in the first step. You will need to do the same for other apps that you wish to connect with Magnet via Zapier.

For more detailed information about using Zapier, check out the Avallain Magnet User Guide for Org Admins or contact Customer Success.

Self Registration Customisation

Magnet 24 allows you greater control over how users can self register on your platform. 

Firstly, you have the option to remove self registration altogether, thus hiding the Register tab on the institution landing page.

Sign-in page without the Register tab

Secondly, you can choose to allow self registration, with the option to allow the existing regular registration wizard in Magnet or choose a new option to point to the Register tab on the landing page to a URL of your choice. Here you can set up your own Registration form using for example Google Forms. From there, the form can be linked to Magnet via an automation tool such as Zapier.

Registration form created in Google Forms

One of the advantages of using an external form rather than the inbuilt registration wizard in Magnet, is that you can define your own questions and gain extra information about your new registrant before assigning them to a group or a course. 

How-to

To manage customised self registration:

1. Go to Institutions > Edit > Additional features > Other

2. Ensure that the Registration toggle is on

3. Select Custom registration

4. Enter the custom form URL

Other section in Institutions > Edit > Additional features

For more detailed information about using Self Registration Customisation, check out the Avallain Magnet User Guide for Org Admins or contact Customer Success.

Together is better!

Magnet 23 is all about being together; bringing students and teachers together with a new collaborative feature called Assignment Discussions which allows teachers to create discussions for students around an assignment; and bringing courses together by enabling you to import your SCORM content. 

We have also enhanced our search engine to allow students and teachers to pull together all courses, sections and lessons containing their search words and display them comprehensively on a single page.

Assignment discussions

Discussions to engage

Let teachers create a discussion in an assignment for all the participants of that assignment. This feature is a fantastic way to engage students and make the assignment that more interesting and enticing. We all know that getting students to stay engaged in elearning is the biggest challenge of all and so opening assignments to a chat or discussion feature where students can message each other about a subject set by the teacher can go a long way to relieving the possible monotony of learning online. 

Automatic notifications

Students and teachers receive notifications both from within the assignment and from the Message Centre when new messages are sent.

How-to

1. Log in as a Teacher or a Teacher Admin and create or edit an assignment.

2. Click the Discussion toggle.

The assignment is now open to discussion and will remain so until the end of the assignment (when the due-by date is reached).

For more detailed information about using assignment discussions, check out the Avallain Magnet User Guide for Org Admins or contact Customer Success.

Scorm Import

Include SCORM content both as an additional course or as additional content within a course

Import your SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004 courses in to Magnet so that your users can now gain access to any third-party content you may have access to, content that you created in the past possibly, or content that you are committed to giving to your students without building the content from scratch in Avallain Author. These run like any other Magnet course. 

Full integration with gradebook

Students and teachers can follow progress in the student gradebook as with a standard course.

How-to

1. Import your course in SCORM zip format to the Media Library.

2. Go to structures.

3. Add the file from the Media Library tab to the structure.

4. Edit the metadata of the file so that the interactivity type reads ‘Scorm’.

5. Publish to Magnet and insert onto the platform as usual.

For more detailed information about importing SCORM courses, check out the Avallain Magnet User Guide for Org Admins or contact Customer Success.

Enhanced search engine

Search from dashboard, from the course page and from a section

Now, search for course name, course description, course keywords, section name, lesson title, lesson subtitle, and lesson keywords and see all the results organised into lessons, sections and courses.

How-to

In Author, edit the metadata file to include the LO subtitle, LO description and LO key words. Search will also look up the LO title in Author LO options, as well as the course title, course description and the course keywords in Magnet Administration.

For more detailed information about using Search or setting up the metadata check out the Avallain Magnet User Guide for Org Admins or contact Customer Success.

Read me like a book

Deliver an exciting new book format to your courses with the Digital Book Experience. Integrate our existing digital book into a Magnet course to allow students to smoothly switch from the book to lessons. Let students and teacher easily track progress throughout the experience.

Now add manually marked activities in the certificate issue criteria so that certificates are only issued after the teacher has marked the student’s work.

Digital Book Experience

Magnet 22 introduces a brand-new course type exclusive to the Avallain Magnet platform called the Digital Book Experience which fully integrates the digital book into a Magnet course with indicators in the Magnet interface showing progress through each linked lesson.

Seamless Experience

Students can now work through a course as if they were following a book using an animated and intuitive design. This approach is ideal for courses that are based on already published coursebook material. It is also a novel way of engaging with your students. 

Track Progress

Access lessons via hotspots on the digital book or via the lesson icons and see at a glance what you have finished, what you have started and what is left to do.

Check out the course overview table of contents to see all of your outstanding lessons.

Full Integration with Gradebook

Students and teachers can follow progress in the student gradebook, just as with a standard course.

Fully compatible on mobile devices

Students and teachers can swipe to go from page to page or use the tabs at the top.

How-to (Simple Method)

1. In Avallain Author, create a digital book and link LOs using hotspots as per the existing procedure for digital books

2. Within the digital book, ensure you create a table of contents.

3. Create a structure and click on the FETCH EBOOK button. Select the relevant digital book to have the structure automatically created for you. 

4. Add the course type metadata in the structure.

5. Publish to Magnet.

6. Add the course to a product and subscribe students and teachers.

For more detailed information about the Digital Book Experience, check out the Avallain Magnet User Guide for Org Admins or contact Customer Success.

Manually Marked Lessons Included in Certificate Issue Criteria

Average score and passing score with manually marked activities

Magnet 22 includes an enhancement to the issue criteria for our popular integration with Accredible certificates, which was introduced in Magnet 21. This enhancement allows manually marked activities to be included with average score and passing scores.

Now, if your course contains manually marked lessons, the certificate will be issued using scores from both automatically validated lessons and those marked by the teacher.

For more detailed information about using Certificate issue criteria or certificates in general, check out the Avallain Magnet User Guide for Org Admins or contact Customer Success.

Advanced Certification

Certify students with advanced issue criteria by leveraging our brand new Passing Score option in Avallain Author, or by evaluating against average score. Open your institutions to French and informal German speakers.

Certificate issue criteria

Magnet 21 now allows you greater control of when and how a student should receive a certificate. Leveraging a new Avallain Author value called passing mark, it is now possible in Magnet Administration for Org Admins to choose from one of four possible sets of criteria for the issuing of a certificate.

1. Go to Magnet Administration and edit the course for which you want to enable a certificate by clicking on its name.

2. Scroll down to the Certificate section and in the Certificate type field, select Accredible certificate.

3. Enter the Accredible group_id.

4. Finally select the desired issue criteria and Save.

How-to

A student can be issued a certificate if they:

Complete a course

This means the student needs to view all the screens in all the lessons in a course but the scores obtained in any of the lessons are not relevant.

Achieve average score and complete course

Here the student must view all the screens in all of the lessons as well as reach a target average score. The average score is the number of points obtained by the student as a proportion of all points available in the course. The target average score is set in Magnet Administration.

Here a certificate is issued if all lessons that have been set with a passing score have been passed by the student. Any other lessons are ignored. Passing Scores is a new option in Avallain Author which enables the content developer to define if a student has passed or failed a lesson based on the overall score they get in that lesson.  

Achieve lesson passing score(s)

Here a certificate is issued if all lessons that have been set with a passing score have been passed by the student. Any other lessons are ignored. Passing Scores is a new option in Avallain Author which enables the content developer to define if a student has passed or failed a lesson based on the overall score they get in that lesson.  

Achieve lesson passing score(s) and complete course

With this criteria, the student needs to pass all lessons that have been set with a passing score AND view all the lessons and screens of the course.

Once you have set your issue criteria, be sure to include that criteria in your course content so that the student will know what they need to do to obtain the certificate!

Support for French and informal German

Magnet offers the possibility for the student and teacher to change the interface language in both Magnet and of any courses that have been published from Avallain Author via the language switch on the landing page or via the language selector in their profile.

With Magnet 21, users can switch the interface to French or informal German.

How-to

1. To enable any language in the language switch, log in to Magnet Administration and go to Platform Settings.

2. Go to Settings.

3. Locate the key called available_locales.

4. Click on the More menu (three dots to the right) to edit the key.

5. Add the following value fr for French and add de-informal for Informal German. Ensure that each value is enclosed by double quotes (“) and separated by commas (,). All values are contained in square brackets. i.e. [“en”,”de”,”de-informal”,”fr”]

6. Save.

For more information on these features, check out the Avallain Magnet User Guide or contact Customer Success.

Engage and inspire

Embellish the Magnet interface for students and teachers with customisable preview images, lesson descriptions and a new course layout design. Set the font of the Magnet interface and your courses. Share direct links with your students. Just some of the new features in Magnet 20 to become more engaging and attractive for your end-users.

Lesson updates

Lesson preview images

Magnet 20 now creates a preview image for each lesson and displays them beautifully next to each lesson title in the Magnet interface. These not only decorate the course lists, the gradebook, assignments and even the table of contents within a course, but also provide content developers with the opportunity to give learners detailed information about the lesson they are going to take. 

How-to

Lesson preview images are inserted via Avallain Author. Go to LO options for each lesson and insert an image in the Preview image field from the Media Library.

If no image is specified in LO options, then Avallain Author will automatically generate a preview image from the first activity screen of your LO. So you can decide if you want the preview image to see the first screen of your lesson or if you want to customise it with another image.

Lesson descriptions

Magnet 20 also gives you the possibility to add individual descriptions to each of your lessons, in addition to the course description. These descriptions are visible when the student and teacher clicks on the new information icon on Magnet.

How-to

To add lesson descriptions, again go to Avallain Author and open the lesson. Then edit the LO Metadata and enter your description text in the Description field.

Lesson linking

Another useful new aid for teachers, provided by Magnet 20, is the ability to share a direct link to a lesson to students or other teachers. 

How-to

Simply click on the Link icon next to each lesson and paste the link in the Message Centre or even in an email. Users will need to be registered on the platform and be subscribed to the course to be able to view the lesson.

These links are created automatically and are always visible for teachers. Students cannot copy and paste links to lessons.

New layouts

New layout for sections and subsections

Magnet can organise courses into sections and subsections and Magnet 20 has improved the way these sections are displayed. Now, when students or teachers open a section, they see only that section and need to close it to return to the main menu. This makes a less cluttered interface and focuses the student on their current work.

New layout for Institution management

We have simplified the interface for managing institutions by creating four distinct sections for you to work from; General settings, Design, Login Page and Additional Features.

Font types

Change the font type in the Magnet interface and in courses

Choose from one of eight font types for your Magnet interface.

Setting the font type in Magnet at an institutional level will automatically change the font type in any courses that the student and teacher views in that institution. You can also set the font type in your courses independently from the font type in Magnet.

To set the font in Magnet, go to the Design tab in institution settings in Magnet Administration. In the Font section, select a font type and check the preview. If you are happy, click Save.

How-to

To override the Magnet setting, go to Avallain Author and open LO options. In the Design Package Options, select a font from the Font Family dropdown menu. When you publish this LO again, the font which is set in Author will display for students and teachers. To go back to the font which is set in Magnet, simply remove the Font Family setting in Design Pack Options.

Note that to change the font in courses, the content must have been published with the latest R39 version of Author.

My favourite things

Avallain Magnet Release 19 sends you hearts to set your favourite courses. Create your own page of favourites, set certificates to show your own institution logo, and many other updates to make Avallain Magnet your favourite learning solution.

Favourites, dashboard and courses page redesign

Favourites

Now students and teachers can pick out their favourite courses so stay more focussed on what matters.  It is as simple as clicking on a heart to favourite a course and click again to remove the course from the favourites page. Magnet 19 offers an easy way for students and teachers to jump to those courses that they love.

UI enhancements

With the new Favourites tab, the To do and the Done tabs have been removed for students. All courses are now visible on the All course tab including completed courses, expired courses and courses yet to start.

Course card alignment

Course tiles are now perfectly horizontally aligned on all devices, irrespective of image size or the amount of text in the title or description. The height of each row is defined by the tallest card in the row.

Certificate customisation

Branded certificates for institutions

Following the success of our integration with Accredible to provide external and industry-recognised certification for courses, Avallain Magnet goes one step further to provide automatic institution branding . 

Students receive an institutionally-branded certificate without needing to edit the certificate design in Accredible for each institutions.

How-to

1. In Magnet, ensure that each of your institution logos has the same ratio of 4.6:1.
2. In Accredible, create two new custom attributes called Institution Logo and Institution Name and place them in your preferred position on the certificate.

That’s it. Now, each when student takes the course, they will receive a certificate with their institution name and logo.

Further enhancements for teachers

Adding users to assignments

In release 19, we have made the process easier for teachers to select students and groups when creating the assignments. Simply select the group and then, if necessary refine by selecting students from each group.

User and group report formats

Release 19 allows teacher to download reports in a new XLSX format in addition to the existing CSV format. Teachers will now be able to download a zip file which will include the reports in both formats. This should make it easier for teachers to view the reports in their preferred software.

Updates for Org Admins

System messages tracking

Send a message to all organisation users via System Message and keep a track of your message indicating who the message was sent to, how many people received the message, if the instruction was 100% successful or not and the date and time the instruction was made.

More product tours and tooltips

Magnet 19 sees the release of 5 more products tours for Magnet Administration.

• Creating a new user
• Managing users
• Managing settings
• Mail templates
• System Messages

On the Settings and Mail templates pages, you’ll also find a series of tooltips explaining the functions of each key or template.