Attention eClass Zoom users,

A known issue has begun affecting students and instructors accessing Zoom through eClass using Safari on Mac or iOS. A recent update to the eClass-Zoom integration plugin released by the vendor has been identified as the cause. 

Currently, users who try to access Zoom meetings from eClass using Safari may see an error message stating “Sorry, your session expired” or “401, unauthorized”.

The vendor is working on a permanent fix for this problem, but as a temporary work around, users can switch their browser to Chrome or Firefox. If a user MUST use Safari, it is possible to change the browser privacy settings to resolve the problem using the following steps: 

• On Mac: Safari > Preferences > Privacy and uncheck "Prevent cross-site tracking."
• On iOS: Go to Settings, choose Safari, and uncheck "Prevent cross-site tracking".

We apologize for this inconvenience. If you have any questions or continue to experience issues, please contact eClass support at eclass@ualberta.ca.

Regards,
IST eClass Support

Attention eClass users,

We have an important announcement that may impact your older credit courses on eClass.

The annual scheduled archiving of credit courses for this year has been planned for May 31st, 2021. This process, described in more detail here, mandates that credit courses can only remain on eClass for a maximum duration of four years. Non-credit courses including sandboxes, content development templates, research/collaboration courses, and eClass External courses are not affected by this process.

On May 31st, 2021, credit courses that are more than four years old will be archived off of eClass. These courses will no longer appear in a user’s course list and instructors will no longer be able to directly copy content from these courses forward into new courses. Instructors will be able to request a course be restored from the archive by contacting eClass support. Another option for instructors or students who wish to have personal copies of the content from these older courses is to copy the content from these courses manually.

The timeline and schedule below describe this process.

Anyone with questions about this process can contact eclass@ualberta.ca or by phone at 780-492-9372 for more information.

Regards,

IST eClass Support

Attention eClass users,

Please be aware that in June 2021, we will be performing a major version upgrade to eClass. This upgrade will introduce a variety of feature improvements and bug fixes across the site.

The upgrade will require a full system outage, which has been scheduled for Saturday, June 26th from 12:00AM until Sunday, June 27th at 11:59PM (48 hours).

The main system features that will change in the new version of eClass are listed below: 

Highlights

• The Activity Chooser in eClass has been redesigned. Instructors will now see a shortened list of recommended tools by default and have the option to search for and flag favourite activities and resources for easier access.
• The H5P toolset has been updated to include interactive and gradable activities for students.
• A new collaborative PDF annotation activity will be added to the site to allow instructors and students to mark up documents.
• A new icon has been added throughout the site to allow a user to return to the top of the page after scrolling down.

Quiz Improvements

• Drag-and-drop question types have received improvements to make embedded images responsive and printable. As such, the hard cap for image sizes in drag-and-drop question types has been removed.
• The page configuration options when using manual grading are now saved as preferences when the page is re-launched.
• A new setting for “Show standard instruction” has been added to Multiple Choice questions as an option to remove the  "Select one:" or "Select one or more:” text that appears before a list of answers.
• A new Quiz completion option has been added that will allow a quiz activity to be marked complete with at least one attempt taken.
• Essay question types can now have a maximum file size set.
• The Quiz timer should now scroll down the page automatically as a student navigates through the questions.

Miscellaneous Changes

• The Participants page can now be filtered by multiple conditions.
• A variety of accessibility improvements have been added, including improved image description lengths, alt text strings, and the switching of several formatting tags to more accessible options.
• Copying and pasting of images into the ATTO text editor has been improved.
• A new completion criterion called ‘previous activity with completion’ has been added to allow instructors to set release criteria based on relative references.
• A new Forum Summary Report has been added to allow a summary report of all forums in a course.
• Instructors can now duplicate grade items in the Gradebook Setup.
• Folder resources will no longer force the download of files that can be opened within the browser.
• Files in the "My private files" area can now be deleted in bulk.

This list of features may be subject to change before the upgrade takes place. We will be providing support materials to prepare users for major changes as the upgrade date draws closer.

If you have any questions about this upgrade, please contact us at eclass@ualberta.ca. If you are interested in testing the latest features coming to eClass and have not yet signed up to be involved in User Acceptance Testing, please contact us for more information.

Regards,

IST eClass Support

Attention eClass users,

This is an alert that there will be a maintenance outage for eClass on Saturday May 1st 2021 from 12:00AM - 3:00 AM. This outage is required to perform a minor version update to eClass. 

Please note that while we have booked a 3 hour maintenance window, eClass will be available as soon as the required changes are complete. We will be sending an additional announcement once access to eClass has been restored.

eClass will be unavailable for the duration of this outage. If you have any questions about this outage, please contact us at eclass@ualberta.ca.

Regards,
IST eClass Support

Attention eClass Users,

With the Winter 2021 final exam period about to start, we would like to remind instructors to review the available options for delivering exams remotely and to get in touch with eClass support as soon as possible if they require any assistance.

Of particular note, instructors should be aware of the following:

- We have constructed new documentation for handling audio accommodation exams. In addition, instructors using Assign2 can now add individual exam time accommodations for specific students.

- If your final exam will be using ExamLock for the first time this term, the increased security measures released January 2021 will now close banned applications automatically when students launch their attempts. Instructors can still use ExamLock with Smart Exam Monitor via a specific setting to allow the programs to work together.

- We have released a new digitization tool for converting MS Word exam files into eClass questions and quizzes.

- The eClass team has extended support hours for the final exam period are Monday through Friday 8:30AM - 9:00PM and Saturdays 9:00AM - 5:00PM.

- The eClass status page will be updated with timely information in case of any disruptions during exams.

Instructors are encouraged to complete this form to advise us in advance of any remote exams they have scheduled as we are using the information collected to review exam setups in advance and plan support.

If you have any questions about these updates or require any assistance with using any of these exam delivery services, please contact us at eclass@ualberta.ca. 

Regards,
IST eClass Support