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Vantage Product Updates
Explore newly released features in SAGE Vantage.
March 21, 2022 Release Summary
Student Features and Improvements
- System Settings Check page updates to eliminate student log-in issues
- Log-in time performance improvements
- Accessibility updates for improved keyboard navigation and color contrast
Instructor Features and Improvements
- Important details about the changes within title updates are now visible during the course creation step
- Improving editing and filtering options for course coordinators
- Updated LTI Link Selection Page for LMS integrated courses
Student Features and Improvements
Updates to the System Settings Check page
- The System Settings Check page has been updated to check third-party cookies in addition to local cookies, and the language has been updated to provide users with more specific instructions.
- The system settings table has been updated to show more clearly the users settings and highlight settings that should be updated.
Performance improvements to login times
- We've made improvements to our back end systems to allow for faster login times for students.
Improved keyboard navigation and color contrast
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Improved the experience for students selecting answer options using a keyboard in Self Assessments. Students are now able to select an answer option and still see the text focus, while the screen reader will read the answer option after each prompt.
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Color contrast updates have been made for the borders of course tiles on the My Courses page.
Instructor Features and Improvements
"What's in this Update?" button added to Course Creation screen for updated titles
- Now Instructors can select this button to review details about what's included in the the updated title during the course creation process.
Coordinators can now add TAs and more easily sort courses
- Coordinators now have the ability to add Teaching Assistant to the course they create and assign. They can now add and remove as many TA's as needed.
- Coordinators can now easily sort their courses by, Course ID, Template ID, Instructor Name, etc. This help to more easily manage their courses for a given term.
- When assigning or changing instructors or TA, the system will now display user emails that are available.
LTI "Go to Vantage" button
- Allows instructors to quickly go to Vantage from the link picker by logging them in and create a course if they don't already have one. It also confirms the instructor is logged into the correct account.
Improvements to LTI Link Selection Page for LMS integrated courses
- To help instructors from inadvertently creating deep links for an entire text and its assessment, the "Select All" has been modified to only appear after an instructor has selected a filter option in the link picker.
December 16, 2021 Release Summary
Student Features and Improvements
- Enhancements to the "Help" menu on the Student Dashboard
- System Settings Check (available for both students and instructors)
- Accessibility improvements
Instructor Features and Improvements
- Enhancements to "Accept late assignments" setting
- Improvement to performance of load time for Assignments page and Gradebook
- Enhancements to the "Help" menu on the Instructor Dashboard
- Added "Mx" title option in user registration
- Improvements to Course Coordinator Course Creation process from Template
Student Features and Improvements
Enhancements to the "Help" menu on the Student Dashboard
- The Help menu now allows students to access Vantage's Technical Support resources for students, read the Vantage Student Site Accessibility Statement, and perform a System Settings Check to ensure that the user's devices/systems and browsers are set to the recommended settings.
System Settings Check (available for both students and instructors)
- Users can check their system settings from the login page or the Help menu after login to verify whether their system settings match the recommended settings for the Vantage platform.
- Users can access additional support resources should setting adjustments need to be made.
Accessibility improvements
- We are continuing to focus on screen reader navigation improvements, including improvements to how assistive technology users can interact with error messages in the Enter Access Code, Start Grace Period, and User Registration processes, as well as minor navigational fixes to the Redeem Access and Join Course user flows.
- On the content side, we made accessibility improvements to the navigation of search results displaying on both desktop and tablet devices, Data Activities, and the Citation feature in the narrative text.
Instructor Features and Improvements
Enhancements to "Accept late assignments" setting
- When an instructor sets a course to "Accept late assignments", all attempts/submissions for a student's assignment will now be taken into account for that assignment's scoring calculation. If all attempts for an assignment are submitted after the due date, the student grade for that assignment will display in red in the gradebook.
- Additional clarifying texts have been added to multiple pages in Vantage to explain and remind instructors about this feature. Instructors will see clarifying texts on the Global Settings screen during the Course Creation and Course Edit processes and in their Gradebook as an info icon.
Improvement to performance of load time for Gradebook and Assignments page
- For courses with a large number of students, the Gradebook now loads approximately 30% faster.
- The Assignments page also loads faster with this release.
Enhancements to the "Help" menu on the Instructor Dashboard
- The Help menu on the Instructor Dashboard now allows instructors to access Vantage's Technical Support resources for instructors, read the Vantage Student Site Accessibility Statement, and perform a System Settings Check to ensure that the user's devices/systems and browsers are set to the recommended settings.
- The System Settings Check is also available for instructors to access from the login page.
Added "Mx" title option in registration process
- Instructors can now select "Mx" as their title in the user registration process from the Title drop-down menu.
For Course Coordinators Course Creation from Templates
- Improvements to Course Creation menu allow Course Coordinators to create up to 25 courses at one time from a Template (previously 10).
- Check out this video walkthrough on Course Coordinator account features.
October 18, 2021 Release Summary
Student Features and Improvements
- Account creation bug fixes
- Grace period banner bug fixes and system improvements
- Matching/ordering questions bug fix
- Updated "Cite This Book" feature notation styles
- Activity Library improvements
- Accessibility improvements
Instructor Features and Improvements
- Gradebook improvements
- Course Creation and LMS link picker improvements
- Course Coordinator updates
Student Features and Improvements
Account creation bug fixes
- Resolved a bug where students registering on sagepub.com first before going to Vantage were having issues logging in. Students following this user flow will now be prompted to simply reset their password upon first attempt to log into Vantage.
- Fixed broken link to Terms of Use page.
Grace period banner bug fixes and system improvements
- Resolved persistent grace period banner bug so that the student will be able to continue completing assignments immediately after purchase. Now, rather than logging out and logging back in after purchase, the user needs only refresh their browser or click a new assignment to apply the full subscription and continue working.
- Resolved a bug where grace period banner on student dashboard disappeared even with an extended (longer than 21 days) grace period. Banner also continues to track number of completed Chapter Tests.
- Fixes and improvements made to banner notifications from the Vantage team, including making those messages responsive to screen size on mobile devices.
Matching/ordering questions bug fix
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For matching/ordering questions in multimedia activities, addressed issue with showing what students have selected (black dot marker) and pop-up warning message that warns students if they select an answer more than once.
Updated "Cite This Book" feature notation styles
- Updated "Cite This Book" feature in Notes and Highlights bar to the newest citation style recommendations for:
- APA
- Chicago
- Harvard
- MLA
Activity Library improvements
- New message indicates chapters (or parts) in the Activity Library that don't contain any activities with placeholder text.
- This behavior adapts when filters are applied to the Activity Library.
Accessibility improvements
- We continue to prioritize improvements to Vantage that makes the content accessible for all users. This release contains several dozen accessibility improvements for students using assistive technology, including improvements to screen reader focus and text for various buttons and labels, and improvements to keyboard focus for various pages and tabs. Additionally, updates have been made to the glossary term links, as well as improvements to the search feature. These fixes will improve the navigation and student experience for the following areas of the platform: Student Course Dashboard, Activity Library, Right Rail navigation, Video Activity transcripts, search feature, Student Profile page, boxed features in the narrative text, short answer questions and multiple-choice questions, and glossary pages.
Instructor Features and Improvements
Gradebook improvements
- Students are now listed in the gradebook alphabetically by last name.
Course Creation & LMS link picker improvements
- When instructors add new institution on the corporate side during course creation, they can refresh and see that new institution added and refreshes department as well.
- When instructors choose from available Vantage courses to pair to their LMS course (whether new or copied courses), their Vantage courses appear in the same order in the link picker as they do on the instructor's Vantage homepage.
Course Coordinator updates
- Coordinators are no longer prevented from creating Vantage accounts for instructors who have existing SAGE accounts but have not yet signed into Vantage. The UX for the coordinator should be no different than it would be when they create a brand new instructor account.
- Coordinators creating new instructors are now auto-approved on the back end.
July 8, 2021 Release Summary
Student Features and Improvements
- Simplified registration process
- Student self-service options
- Unlimited Chapter Test reviews
- New Grace Period rules
- New SAGE video player
- Notes & Highlights performance improvement
- Accessibility support improvements
Instructor Features and Improvements
- Hide questions in Chapter Test
- Course Coordinator role
- Course creation improvements
- Assignment and Gradebook improvements
- "Info" Button on Sample Courses Tab
Student Features and Improvments
Registration and Joining Courses
- Simplified registration process for students in Vantage standalone courses and in LMS-integrated courses
- For standalone courses: Clicking on the course link provided by an instructor will automatically put students into their instructor's course under a grace period after completing any required registration steps, simplifying the process.
- For LMS-integrated courses: Students in LMS-integrated courses can click a deep-link in their LMS course to access Vantage. If they are already a registered user in Vantage, their grace period will automatically start, so they can immediately access the assessment or the deep-linked content. If a student is a new Vantage user, they will be redirected to the registration page, and after registering, they will be redirected back to the assessment or the deep-linked content.
Student Self-Service Options
Student self-service option to find their subscription purchased via different email
- If a student purchased full access to Vantage with an email address that is different from the one they are using for their course, they will now be able to move their full access to the correct account/email without needing to contact Tech Support.
- Check out a video walkthrough.
Student self-service option to transfer between courses
- Students will now have the ability to transfer to another Vantage course using the same title as the course they are currently enrolled in, saving them the trouble of having to call Tech Support.
- Check out a video walkthrough.
Increased character limit for email and user names to 100 characters
- Bug fix to allow students with longer email addresses and usernames (up to 100 characters) to create accounts and purchase access to Vantage.
Unlimited Chapter Test Review (If Permitted By Instructor)
- If enabled by their instructor, students will be permitted to review their completed Chapter Tests an unlimited number of times. This is one of the most requested enhancements by students and instructors.
New Grace Period Rules for Students
- Students will only be able to submit 3 Chapter Tests during their Grace Period, after which they will be required to purchase access.
- They can still review any assignments they took during that time, as well as all the narrative content within their book, but if they attempt to start any other assignment, they will be told they need to purchase access before they can continue working.
New SAGE Video Player
- We have upgraded the Video Player with improved accessibility functionality, including better keyboard navigation and screen reader focus.
Notes and Highlights
- To improve performance, notes and highlights that students have made in the section that they are currently reading will be the only annotations that load in the right rail by default. This facilitates faster page loading, and users can click on subsequent chapters to open those separately.
Accessibility Support Improvements
Screen Reader Support
- Remediated navigation for screen readers for annotation functionality palette and buttons, Table of Contents menu, other anchor links on platform with missing text.
- Added a long description button to any image on the platform that includes long description (previously images in assessment pages did not have this capability).
Color Contrast
- Remediated color contrast issues in Table of Contents menu, Student Dashboard, Video Activity buttons, Login page, Activity Library, key images in Polls, and multiple-choice questions.
Instructor Features and Improvements
Hide Questions in Chapter Test
- Instructors now have the ability to hide up to 10 questions in each Chapter Test.
- To hide a question in a Chapter Test:
- Go to the Assignments page, locate the Chapter Test, and click on the preview (eyeball) icon to view the questions.
- Locate the question you wish to hide and click the "Hide Question" button.
- Once a question is hidden, students will not encounter that question in a Chapter Test.
- Students who may have already encountered the hidden question and got it wrong will be given credit automatically. The number of students impacted by hiding the question will be visible to the instructor on the confirmation pop-up window.
- Check out a video walkthrough.
- A filter has also been added to the Chapter Test assignments page to keep count of hidden/assigned questions and provide an easy way to sort the questions.
- Instructors will be alerted within the platform to when an emergency correction has been made on a question they have hidden and given the option to show the question again in the future.
- Courses copied with hidden questions (copied from Vantage or via LMS) will copy over those questions as hidden.
Course Coordinator Role
- Coordinator is a new Vantage role that allows Coordinators/Administrators at an institution to: create and edit course templates, create and assign multiple Vantage courses from that template (up to 10 at a time), search for current Vantage instructors in their assigned department, and create new Vantage instructors for the department they manage.
Course Creation Improvements
- Titles can now be listed in multiple disciplines/subdisciplines during the course creation process. This aids in discoverability for titles that apply to more than one discipline/subdiscipline.
- Instructors can now search for a title during the course creation process by typing in the author/title name into the search field or they can choose to browse for their title by discipline/course area.
- After creating a new Vantage course, for standalone Vantage courses, instructors can share a unique course link with their students. Students can join this course by clicking the link without needing to provide a Course ID.
Assignment and Gradebook Improvements
- Instructors can now accept late assignments from individual students by clicking on the student's name in the gradebook, locating the assignment in the Report log, and clicking the "Accept Late" button. They can also revoke that extension later by clicking "Revoke Due Date Extension."
- Check out a video walkthrough.
- Ability to "Expand All" sections of a Chapter on the Assignments Page, which will aid with picking assignments and setting due dates.
- Multiple chapters can also be expanded at the same time.
- In the gradebook settings, instructors can allow students to review completed chapter tests as many times as needed so they can prepare for exams.
- Instructors can now change global gradebook settings (e.g., accepting late assignments and assigning short answer questions) during the semester without affecting any individual, customized assignment settings. Please note: Changing any global assignment settings will still impact individual assignment settings. A pop-up message warns the user that if they change any global assignment settings, their assignment settings will revert to the default global assignment settings.
"Info" Button on Sample Courses Tab
- An informational pop-up message is shown on the sample courses tab for first time instructors accessing that tab. After the first access, an "info" button appears next to the "Create Sample Course" button. Users can click this "info" button to see the pop-up message and can reference it again if needed.
March 17, 2021 Release Summary
Student Features and Improvements
- Improved search functionality
- Accessibility improvements for screen reader support in Polling Activities and the Table of Contents Menu
Instructor Features and Improvements
- Assessment naming standardization
- Instructors can create Sample Courses with pre-populated student data
Student Features and Improvments
Improved Search Functionality
- When users search for terms in the search field, all instances of the search term(s) on that page are now highlighted. Additionally, when users navigate to the page with the search term(s), the search texts remain highlighted throughout the page, making it easier to spot all the locations that the texts appear on that page.
Improved Accessibility Support
- Poll Activity
- Previously, the Vantage poll activity caused some navigation confusion for users who were using screen reader support. We have redesigned the UI and accessibility support so that users utilizing screen reader support can now easily submit their responses and hear the results of the poll.
- Table of Contents Menu
- Previously, the navigation of the ToC menu was unclear for screen reader users. With this remediation, screen reader users can expand or collapse the ToC menu and navigate within the menu.
Instructor Features and Improvements
Assessment Naming Standardization
- Assessment/activity names in Vantage are now standardized across all the activity types. This means that the naming convention for all activities appears in a consistent fashion across all locations in a Vantage course (e.g. embedded in the reading text, in the titles of the activities, in the right rail navigation, and in the instructor's gradebook).
Sample Courses with Pre-Populated Student Data
- Instructors can now create Sample Courses with pre-populated student data. They can easily review Vantage titles and try out course management functionalities. Instructors can create sample courses for both full and preview titles with just a few clicks! (It takes less than 10 seconds to create a course.)
- Check out video tours of setting up sample courses, how to peruse the pre-populated sample student data, and how to use the interactive gradebook.
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