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Contact: Linda Murrin
866-847-3405 x108
lmurrin@common-goal.com
For Immediate release
December 2012 Product Release
Elmhurst, IL (December 28, 2012) – Common Goal Systems, a leading developer of cloud-based software for schools, announces several enhancements to TeacherEase and SchoolInsight. TeacherEase is software for the digital classroom and includes: Learning Management System, Curriculum and Lesson Planning, Formative Assessment, and Standards-based Gradebook. SchoolInsight is a comprehensive student information system.
“We continue to make major improvements to our new Learning Management System,” says Pat Helmers, Vice President of Sales for the company. “The goal is to make our LMS the best solution for schools with 1-to-1 computing initiatives. It’s now easier for teachers to manage digital resources, online documents, and check student work in real-time.”
The new functionality includes:
Improved Online Documents. There have been a number of improvements in the online student workspace. Documents are now automatically autosaved. Workflow has been improved to better support teachers pushing work back to students for additional effort. A new status mechanism has been implemented to improve the accuracy of the status console. Teachers can reset assignments for individual students who accidentally delete all content from an online document.
Student Main > Assignments > work on assignment
Instructor Main > Status Console
Improved Online Document Conversion. We improved the quality and reliability of document upload and conversion. PDF documents will now always be converted into images, and students will type on top of the original assignment (like writing on a paper assignment). While the previous conversion mechanism sometimes gave good results (and students could edit the document), it often generated unexpected results and has been deprecated. Also implemented, is a preview mechanism for teachers to view and approve the converted resource. Users can choose to use the converted online document or have students download the original and work outside of TeacherEase.
Instructor Main > Assignments > Create Assignment > add resource
Improved Access to External Web Sites. Often teachers will want to give students resources located on the Internet. We’ve created a new mechanism for those web pages to be loaded inside the TeacherEase framework. This allows the status console to be updated. Teachers can see if students are still viewing those resources and better manage their 1-to-1 computing classrooms. Also support “embed codes” from other sites to better display resources.
Instructor Main > Assignments > Create Assignment > add resource
Instructor Main > Status Console
Improved Video Support. Our Learning Management System now supports uploading and streaming of video in most popular Internet formats (rather than just a few).
Instructor Main > Assignments > Create Assignment > add resource
Improved Status Console. We enhanced the underlying messaging system used by the status console. It will more reliably report correct student statuses.
Instructor Main > Status Console
Improved Transfer of Funds - Users have the ability to transfer funds between accounts for a single student, and transfer funds between siblings (in the same school or across buildings). Family wide deposits can be accepted at one building, with funds being automatically transferred to sibling accounts at other buildings. Inter-school transfers are shown separately on daily deposit report for clarity. Inter-school transfer can be enabled in options.
District Main > Options > Tuition and Fees
School Main > Accounts > edit (to allow transfers)
School Main > Student Single View > Fees > Transfer Funds
School Main > Tuition/Fees > Daily Deposit Report
Easier to see payment breakdown for course fees. Fee detail report now has the ability to breakdown fees by course when auto-generated course fees is used. Use the “Show course subtotals for associated payments” option.
School Main>Tuition/Fees>Fee Details.
A webinar to learn more about these enhancements will be held on January 8th at 4:00 PM CST. Register at: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/912102695.
Common Goal Systems (www.common-goal.com) provides web-based services for education. It provides SchoolInsight, an industry leading student information system and TeacherEase, software for the digital classroom. Using Software as a Service (SaaS), the company offers products via the Internet and is responsible for all system operation and maintenance. Founded in 2001, Common Goal Systems has hundreds of thousands of users worldwide.
- Common Goal Systems, Inc Press Release, December 28, 2012
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