Release notes for July 18, 2024 | 3.1.51-0709 Beta

These notes provide information about the beta release of Engageli 3.1.51-0709, which focuses on making the user experience smoother and more reliable. The update includes new and enhanced features, various improvements, and resolved issues.

The Engageli 3.1.51-0709 beta release contains Beta features that partners can use and evaluate. 

We collect feedback on the implementation and use of Beta features so that we can improve them. We value any feedback, as it enables us to provide partners with the best possible product. This also helps us prepare for the launch of Engageli 3.1.51.

Note: Beta features may contain bugs. We provide limited support for them and offer no warranty. These features might change or be removed in future releases based on feedback. Future updates may add more functionality to complete the feature. Beta features are not covered by any Service-Level Agreement (SLA).

Live Classroom

• Instructor 
  • Reaction Settings
    • Instructors and TAs can deactivate the emoji reactions in the live classroom. 

• Table size
  • The maximum number of seats at a table has increased to 50 seats to support larger tables and group work. Note: In the Tables tab, tables with more than 10 participants will be displayed in List View only. 

• Screen Share Enhancements
  • The screen share preview window has been enlarged for improved visibility.

• Instructors have three options to maximize their screen share:
  • Default mode: This mode is the optimal setting for most content types including slideshows, documents and web browsers.
  • Video mode: This mode will improve the quality of the video and smoother streaming. Best for video-based presentations and sharing a window or tab with an embedded video. 
  • Text mode: This mode ensures that text is sharp and clear. Best for text-based presentations, documents, and spreadsheets.

• File Share
  • The PDF Share has been enhanced to File Share. Instructors can upload and share PowerPoint presentations. Uploaded PowerPoint files are converted to PDFs and can be presented without using the Share Screen option. Files can be saved and stored in the Content Manager. Note: Uploaded PowerPoint files will not include slide notes or embedded audio or video at this time. 

 

 

• File Share > PDF 
  • Shared PDFs now display a next-page preview. Instructors can jump to a specific page or slide by clicking the thumbnail. 

 

• Connectivity - Low Bandwidth Mode for Instructors
  • Virtual backgrounds remain in place for instructors who switch or are automatically switched to low bandwidth mode during periods of unstable network connectivity. 
  • Instructors in low bandwidth mode can select individual learner video More Actions (three dots) and select an action (mute learner, put learner on panel, block learner, etc.).

• Class Configuration Settings 
  • New settings to deactivate emoji reactions and the Recording settings have been reordered. 
  • Table size can be increased to 50 participants.

• Learner
  • Lower Hand on Podium
    • Learners on the podium when an instructor joins their table can lower their hand to leave the podium.
  • Hybrid Settings
    • Learners who are physically present and joining virtually can now join a table on Engageli together. 
• General
  • Virtual Background Settings
    • All users can easily access the virtual background settings by hovering over their video and then clicking the center. 

 

• Q&A 
  • All users can share files using the Q&A. One file can be uploaded in a post. File names cannot be edited after upload, and files cannot be uploaded to anonymous posts. 

• Instructors and TAs can pin selected posts to the top of the Q&A list. The most recently pinned item will move to the first position. Posts are ordered by recent activity. When a post is unpinned, it returns to its original position. 

• All users can click the three dots menu to mark all Q&A posts as read. 

• More Actions (three dots) Menu
  • The More Actions menu has been streamlined for a better user experience. It is now organized into clear categories, making it easier for instructors, TAs, and learners to find and use the features they need.

 

 

• Bandwidth Modes
  • All users have a bandwidth adjustment meter to ensure sessions run smoothly during periods of network instability and device resource constraints. These adjustments can be set manually or automatically as the session progresses. 
  • A new notification will alert users when their internet connection is unstable and the bandwidth mode is automatically adjusted.

• Whiteboard 
  • Yellow is the default color for the highlighter tool.

• Accessibility
  • Sign Language Interpreter Video Resolution
    • The sign language interpreter video resolution has been improved and will be maintained even in low bandwidth mode. 
  • Sign Language Video Support Gallery
    • Interpreters can see a gallery of all users receiving their support. 

 

Lobby/Login Screen

• Display Name Edits
  • For classrooms with LTI integrations to LMS systems, the edit display name option has been removed. This ensures that the name displayed aligns with your LMS or SSO provider.

LTI Integrations

Non-LTI integrated classroom

 

• Profiles Settings
  • The profile settings in the top right corner have been streamlined. Users can click their profile picture or avatar to view their name and email address and access settings.

• Mirrored Preview Tooltip
  • Users can enable a setting to show mirrored previews of their videos, providing a more natural, mirror-like experience. You can easily turn off this setting by toggling the corresponding switch to the left. 

• Test Your System
  • The system performance test now has an improved user interface. After completing a test, users can either send their results to their support team or download the log file.

 

 

• Background Settings Icon
  • The background settings icon has been updated to make it clearer and easier to use.

• New Virtual Background Options
  • There is a new set of virtual backgrounds for users. Users can also blur or upload a background.

Engageli AI

• Recent Captions Notes
  • All users can generate captions for the last 10 minutes of room discussion directly in the Notes for an easy reminder of topics discussed. 

 

• Discussion Recap Notes
  • All users can add an AI-generated recap of the past 15 minutes of room discussion directly to their private notes. 

• AI-Generated Quick Polls
  • Instructors can use AI to generate quick polls (single choice or multiple choice questions) based on captions or a shared file (PDF or PowerPoint). 

• Chat Summary
  • Primary instructors can generate a summary of chat activity during the live session. This is not available to co-instructors.

• Course Summaries
  • Course summaries provided in the class recording email and Playback Room have been updated to include structured chapter breaks that can be edited in the Playback Room. 

Playback Room

• Replay Chat
  • Users can see the associated Room chat for a recorded session. 

 

Modules

Engageli Modules have been improved to fix bugs and provide a better user experience for both instructors and learners. The enhancements ensure that adding and managing these resources is more effective and user-friendly, ultimately benefiting the learning process.

 

• For learners, the progress indicator will accurately reflect task completion as they progress through a PDF task.
• Instructors are no longer included in task progression when reviewing Poll progress. Additionally, we have ensured that the Overall Progress is now calculated correctly.
• If the task name is too long, the last digit in the number will be moved to the next line in the numbered list. The UI has been fixed to ensure that numbers larger than 10 fit correctly.
• Fix the tracking for video clips, YouTube videos, and recordings triggered by the Engageli Tag in PDFs. We have removed the tracking of these media and now only track the completion of the task.
• The module becomes unavailable if edited by an instructor who did not create it. We have updated the backend logic to allow instructors in the same class to edit together and view the latest saved items.
• The message indicating that correct answers have not been selected is displayed even when they have already been selected. We have updated the logic to remove this notification if the instructor has marked the correct answer.
• Saving the edited module fails when a recording task is deleted from it. We have fixed this bug, and now instructors can remove a task that contains a recording without issues.
• Viewing poll screenshots in assignments was broken. We have fixed this bug, and the poll screenshots are now visible.

 

Administrators

• Custom Support Links
  • Support has been added for administrators to add their institution’s help or support center’s website for Tier 1 support to the live Engageli classroom.

• New Facetime Files
  • Email address field: In the files provided, email address field is available.
  • (New) ClassLmsId: In the files provided,  classLmsId field has been added to identify where the user is coming from if there is LMS integration.
• LTI integrations - Deep Linking
  • In the Engageli Deep Linking selector the Assignment Group setting has been deprecated. Engageli will use the assignment label string as a way to group assignments. A notice is provided within the Dialog box.
• Demo Class
  • Support has been added to enable a classroom to become a demonstration class. Using this functionality, an administrator can temporarily change a classroom into a demo classroom which makes it easy for participants to join as a guest without the need to log in. Note: When enabling the Demo Class feature, attendance and participation data will not be captured for the guest user. This mode can be used for demonstration purposes.

• Guest Link
  • Keep guest email setting: Support has been added to better track guest participants’ attendance and engagement data using the Keep guest email configuration. Note: When implementing this setting with customers, ensure a unique identifier is used, there are limitations where the same name is used and causes issues by kicking out other users with the same name. 

Interaction Controls

Interaction Controls have been enhanced to offer more options for instructors. These advanced controls allow instructors to set and lock various classroom settings, improving their ability to effectively manage the class.

• Restrict Chats in the Playback Room

  • When interaction controls are enabled, learners in the Playback Room cannot chat with one another.

• Restrict Learners from File Share Navigation

  • When interaction controls are enabled, learners on the podium cannot navigate PDFs or PowerPoint files shared through File Share.

• Chat Restricted to Only Staff or Instructor

  • When interaction controls are turned on, learners in the live classroom can only chat with the staff or the instructor. Instructors can enable chat interactions between learners or between learners and their tables by toggling off the “Learner can send chat messages only to staff members” setting under Settings > Class Configuration > Chat and Q&A Settings.

 

 

Upcoming Bug Fixes 

We are committed to continuously improving our software to provide the best experience for our users. As part of our ongoing efforts, we have identified several bugs that need to be addressed in this version. Our development team is actively working on resolving these issues, and we are dedicated to deploying the fixes in upcoming updates. Below is a list of known bugs that we are currently prioritizing. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work towards enhancing the performance and reliability of our software.

Live Class

• Video Clips
  • When instructors pause a YouTube video, Chromebook users may occasionally experience it continuing to play in a loop.
• Polls
  • For AI-generated polls based on shared PDFs, the poll questions are derived from the entire document rather than just the specific shared pages.
  • During shared poll results, instructors using Chromebooks may occasionally notice a brief screen flicker.
  • The AI-generated poll is not being disabled as expected when "Allow third-party content generation" is turned off. 
  • TAs occasionally see incorrect "correct" answers displayed immediately when the poll is opened.
• Action Tag Polls 
  • For multiple-choice polls with new, redesigned action tags, some poll tags may not activate and display buttons.
  • During screen and file shares, old-style action tags for polls work consistently, while new, redesigned action tags may not always be recognized.
  • When a learner on the podium changes pages in a PDF during a File Share, the action tag for a poll does not automatically activate.
• Chat
  • Learners can edit messages to the Room channel and individual learners after “Learners can send chat messages only to staff members” is activated.
  • The "Learners can send chat messages only to staff members" feature disables the reply function for both learners and staff. Users can reply in the chat channel, but not reply to specific messages. 
  • Edited messages can include profanity even when the toxicity filter is activated.
• Hybrid
  • Main group device placement automatically transfers to the newest learner who joins the class.
  • Table presets applied during hybrid mode separate hybrid groups into different tables.
  • The "Activate hybrid mode" button in class is non-functional and only works from the lobby.
  • When learners exit and rejoin an ongoing class, the activated hybrid mode is not retained.
  • In hybrid mode, new learners do not receive a confirmation message about taking over the main mic/speaker when they enter the class.
• Notifications
  • Learners do not receive a snack bar notification when they are switched to a different table.
• Roles

• If a learner with a blocked mic is promoted to TA, the mic remains blocked.

 

Admin Portal

• Creating a time-bound class for 3 weeks sets an expiration date 4 weeks out unexpectedly.
• The Instructor Guest Link directs to the TA link instead of the Instructor link.
• In Analytics, part of the podium time is incorrectly marked as discussion time.
• Pages with analytics data by intervals cannot be opened for non-scheduled lectures.
• LMS attendance passback does not work for Moodle classes with API v2 on Substack.
• Playback attendance duration does not update after recording edits until recalculation occurs.
• Removing a guest user from the class roster also deletes the user in User Management.
• Offline attendance is shown for a session even if there is no recording available.
• The recording from the first lecture is mistakenly added to the session page of the second lecture when two lectures are conducted consecutively.
• Clicking on an Analytics chart bar does not open the page with data by interval for the selected session.
• Chat analytics fail to load properly.
• The Class Docs Action Tag is not recognized in a shared PPTX file, displaying the error message: "Engageli Action Tag not found."

 

Multistack

• Guest links
  • ​​When there are two instructors in a class in a multistack environment, the primary instructor cannot present using File Share for PDF or PPTX. The file disappears after 1 second if a guest co-instructor is also present.
  • Shared files (PDFs) fail to load for guest users, though they load successfully for regular users.
  • Video clips (.mp4 and .mov) do not load for guest users but work for YouTube and registered users.
  • Guest TAs see snack bar notification errors, including "Failed to activate hybrid" and "Could not load Q&A."

 

Playback Room

• Instances of the transcript being longer than the recording itself.
• Hosts can delete only their own chat messages, not those of others.
• Users joining collaboration space Playback Rooms do not see previously sent chat messages.
• The ‘Replay chat’ icon is not translated into other languages when the platform interface language is changed.
• The Replay chat freezes when you jump forward and then back in the recording.
• The transcript occasionally misses 25-second chunks at various times.
• Captions in videos may be missing chunks that are displayed in the transcript. 
• When a host leaves and rejoins a playback session, they no longer see the class recording, unlike other users.
• Chromebooks display action tag buttons on top of visible QR codes during action tag polls.
• Pausing and resuming in a live class causes the transcript counter to restart.
• A non-host user is unable to draw on the Whiteboard that they initiate.
• A non-host user can control the recording. 
• The distributed document share is not appearing in the recording.
• A non-host user can jump to replay chat message timestamps, but only for a few seconds.
• The table share document is not visible in the recording.
• In Modules, some tasks that have been completed may occasionally be marked as uncompleted in the task list on the right pane.

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