The quarterly maintenance brings the 9.2.1 upgrade to myCourses. The changes to the public side of myCourses are outlined below.

Change: The "Insert Stuff" button has been added to the Basic tab in the HTML Editor

The Insert Stuff button in the HTML Editor enables the easy embedding of media and links, from a variety of sources, wherever the HTML Editor is used. In this release, the Insert Stuff button is available on the Basic tab of the HTML Editor, making it easier for users to discover. It can still be found on the Advanced tab, too.

New: Search YouTube from Insert Stuff

In addition to the capabilities of earlier versions for easily embedding YouTube content using a YouTube link or embed code, users can now search YouTube right from Insert Stuff.

Provost guidelines for captioning audio-visual media

Capabilities

• Rich search results – search results contain thumbnails, previews, and important metadata including Name, Description, Author, Number of views, and Duration.
• Thumbnail previews – each thumbnail can be clicked to playback the video within the thumbnail
• Preview window – each thumbnail contains an icon (on hover) that can be clicked to open a preview in a new window
• View on YouTube – each thumbnail contains an icon (on hover) that can be clicked to view the video on YouTube in a new window

New: Search Flickr from Insert Stuff

In addition to the capabilities of earlier versions for easily embedding Flickr content using a Flickr link or embed code, users can now search Flickr right from Insert Stuff.

Capabilities

• Rich search results – search results contain thumbnails, previews, and important metadata including Name, Description, Tags, Author, Number of views, Rights, and Thumbnail
• Preview window – each thumbnail can be clicked to open a new window containing a larger preview of the image
• View on Flickr – each thumbnail contains an icon (on hover) that can be clicked to view the image on Flickr in a new window
• Safe search results – the plug-in uses Flickr’s “SafeSearch” to filter out questionable content
• Proper Acknowledgement - By default, include author and license information below the image after it is inserted

Change: User interface changes

A number of user interface changes to improve usability and for consistency have been added in this release.

Discussion Message Breadcrumbs

When a user clicks a link in a Discussion Post Notification message to open a message for reading in a browser window, the message viewing screen now contains breadcrumb navigation so that the user can easily navigate to the Forum or Topic for performing other actions within the system.

“Back To” Links Made More Visible

In Content, Discussions, and Question Library, the “Back to” action links are now easier for users to find, and the text and icon usage are consistent with other tools in the system.

Two-Level Navigation Bars Updated

A number of tools have their navigation structure updated to replace multi-level navigation bars with a more consistent navigation structure with an Areas panel on the left side of the tool above the Instructions panel, and one main level of navigation at the top of the tool. Updated tools are Quizzes, Competencies, Surveys, Blog, and Self Assessments.

Additional tweaks

A number of dark heading bands have been removed from the interface in this release. The use of larger text on a white background is now consistent with other parts of the system and provides an improved, lighter, look and feel to the updated tools.

A number of tables throughout the system have been updated to soften lines between cells, providing consistency with other tables in the system and a lighter feel.