This is the first major update to Schoology since the inception of our pilot programs on August 21, 2009. Changes include:

Interface Changes

• “Courses” has been combined with “Course Setup” and placed in the left navigation as “Courses” – All academic tools are now on the left navigation
• “Groups” has been moved to the top navigation – All social tools are now on the top navigation
• Inactive courses (those that do not have active sections) are listed in a separate section below active courses on the “Courses” page
• Course Documents are no longer listed on the “My Documents” page
• When editing section information, course information is hidden by default and can be shown by clicking “show course information”
• “Home Feeds” is now “Home”
• “Share” tab of the home page smart box is now “Announcement”
• Sample students will now appear in the Gradebook and Attendance areas when there are no enrolled students
• Sample assignments will now appear in the Gradebook when there are no assignments
• Add attachments form in the assignment profile is now always displayed
• Select date calendar drop-down and select boxes have been enlarged for easier use
• Change password has been moved from the profile editor to its own tab in “Settings”

Additional Features

• Email notifications have been added to the messaging system
• Administrator interfaces have been added to manage, (bulk) create, and delete users
• New posts are highlighted directly after submission from the home page smart box
• Photo attachments can be viewed in the browser without download
• A course switcher is available in the upper-right corner when editing a course section
• A “return to course profile” link is also available in the upper-right corner when editing a course section
• Teachers can now define “office hours” for their course sections
• Assignments and Events that are posted for the same course within a 24 hr period are now grouped together into a single feed post (click to view a list of the assignments and events that have been posted)
• “Announcements” are not grouped and will appear in the home/course feeds as its own post
• Identical assignments or events that are created for multiple sections of the same course will now be grouped together in the upcoming feed (click to see section specific assignments or events)
• Course profile now displays the course administrator’s name and thumbnail in the right column
• Students now have a gradebook to view their grades

Bug Fixes

• Course sections and Groups can now be deleted
• Attachment form on the front page smart box now resets after submitting a post, assignment or event
• Select date calendar drop-down now appears when setting due dates for assignments or events on the home page smart box
• Discussion comment box will no longer delete text when clicking in and out of the text field
• Text fields in the profile info editor and edit posts will now autogrow