Ready to launch: New Student View option in Schoolwork, improved search results, new Library access options
Earlier this week, I promised to give you a sneak preview of some new My Big Campus features we'll be releasing in the next few days.
The first update is for everyone: we’ve made search results more relevant. In the latest update to My Big Campus, your groups, school, and district will be ranked higher in the results. This should make it easier to find people, discussions, and items.
The next feature is for teachers. A lot of you have been asking for an easy way to “preview” quizzes and assignments as a student, without the administrative burden of creating test users. You’ll now see a Student View button when you’re creating or editing a quiz or assignment. Click this button to view the schoolwork as a student. Click Your View to resume editing.
The other major new feature affects the Library. We’ve had requests, particularly from elementary schools, for controlled access to the My Big Campus Resource Library. Although we believe that filtering and manual curation makes the MBC Library safe and appropriate for students, we recognize that some school admins want more control over the age appropriateness of the library.
With the latest update to My Big Campus, administrators can enable or disable the Library with user policies. Here’s how it works:
- If you disable the Library, users will not see the top-navigation link to the Library, nor will they see Library items in search results.
- Users without Library access will only be able to see items shared by their teacher.
- Users will still be able to upload and share personal files in Your Stuff, but may not add items to the Library.
We encourage you to use this new option with care, and only in cases where no other appropriate solution will work for your students. For most middle and high schools, it’s not necessary to disable the library completely.
Rarely, a user will post something inappropriate, where it might be visible briefly until it’s removed by our staff. This is where our user community can help: If you find a Library item that violates our Terms of Use, we encourage you to use the Report Abuse link to have the item reviewed by My Big Campus staff.
I’m always interested in your ideas and suggestions to improve My Big Campus. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.