News feed

GooglePad... "The return"

2012-01-24T14:58:00.000-08:00

Way back in 2008 (before our newsfeed) we released initial support for full integration with Google Docs, Calendar and a range of other services. Unfortunately, at that time - not many UK schools had found the opportunity to fully explore the services of Google and were rapidly beginning their own assessment of the diverse range of functionality that was to be provided.
We took our initial integrator offline and there it sat for two years!

We're pleased to announce that the project was revived in October 2011 and we're now embarking on phase two of integration. The new module is named "GooglePad" and it will provide access to a powerful bank of built-in sub-modules and features directly from Google.

Initially, GooglePad will provide the following directly integrated services:

Google Calendar Google Docs Google gMail

Phase 3 will provide access to:

Google Books Google Scholar Google Blogs Google Photo Google Video

All of these facilities will be exposed as 'apps' that can be used and re-used throughout the learning platform. Administrators will be able to designate availability of these features based upon the role of the user, and whether they have credentials setup for Google services.

We're looking for pilot schools - so if you use our services or not, give us a call and get involved!

Version 17 Released - "Damora"

2011-11-30T10:41:00.001-08:00

We have today released the latest edition of the My Learning Suite to the community.

Version 17, entitled "Damora" is one of the largest updates for over 18 months and comprises a mixture of requested features, user experience updates and a focus towards consolidation and ease of use.

Here is a list of the major new features you'll find:

The online editor is now equipped with a range of built-in templates that allow you to create content much more easily. Templates can be used when creating a new file, using the course manager and building websites. A simple point and click interface allows you to insert templates, change images and add video easily.

Graphical Enhancement

The entire interfacing system has been improved to provide better support for smaller screens, tablet devices and general navigation. There are a range of new themes to add greater diversity and subtle improvements to shadows and on-screen elements.

Course improvements

The course manager has undergone layout improvements in order to display more relevant information to users. New abilities to customise your course homepage and discover newly contributed content greatly enhances the user experience.

Translation Trainer

For our international users, there is a new facility to allow administrators to contribute translation changes to any part of the interface. If your school is interested in becoming a translation trainer please let us know. The system has been used successfully in Holland.

Curriculum classification

Every course, class, learning space and file on the system can now be classified to fulfill key curriculum areas using a common colour format. This means that in a future edition, resources can be searched according to their curriculum type.

Menu improvements

My Learning Plan, which is the edition that provides an interface for secondary schools, colleges and teachers now has an enhanced menu that is much easier to use, and more compatible with touch based devices such as whiteboards, tablets and touch PC's.

New file manager interaction

We discovered that 85' of users were clicking the middle of an icon in order to view their files. This used to open the file properties screen but has now been improved so that it will display the file. File properties can be accessed using a smaller 'settings% icon.

Improved user search

You can now search for users more easily by quickly accessing common groups with large easy to use icons. We've also improved the layout and order of the way that some users were listed.

New user roles

Our system now has full provision for the following role types: Student, Teacher, Non-Teaching and Governor. In order to improve the detail of the system you may wish to edit your users and select a more accurate role type for them.

Class filtering within test results

Within a course, you can now filter test results based upon individual classes. This is useful for teachers who have multiple classes enroled within a course.

In-place file upload

Each file in the file manager properties now allows you to upload a replacement file. This allows you to freshen a file that already exists and can be useful in updating Microsoft office files, images and media.

Course management upgrade

Administrators have a new option to manage course categories, users, classes and a range of new tools.

Class ownership feature

It is now possible to change the owners of learning spaces and classes by appointing a new owner. All the resources are then moved to the new owner of the resource.

Theme overhauls

Our themes have been increased and simplified to create a much cleaner and faster user experience.

There have been over 180 minor updates, fixes, tweaks and improvements which will be available in the formal release notes for registered users. As with all our releases, phase 2 will commence during the next few days to provide supplemental features and minor adjustments as the new update settles in. We hope that we have addressed many of your requests and look forward to Version 18, entitled "

Even more support for the Apple community

2011-10-26T04:40:00.000-07:00

Our development team noticed that there was a huge upsurge in users wishing to store podcasts, iPod movies and a whole range of Apple format files on the learning platform during the last month. This is brilliant, because users are now able to use the learning platform to store a range of files for many purposes.

One major problem, commonly found in many other products is that all you can do is store the files - when it comes to playing them back; you have to download software in order to play the files.

The team have just released a new update (ahead of schedule for the next release) that now adds integrated playback support for the following file types:

AVI, MOV, WMV, MP4, MPG, MPEG, M2V, M4V, 3GP, 3G2 and M2V

This means that (if transocding is enabled on your VLE, which it normally is) if you upload any of these files, our system will recompress the material into FLV format, meaning that your material can be played back online without requiring any software!

Now you can include mobile phone videos, podcasts, iPod material and a whole range of Apple produced material directly inside the learning platform. Our mobile edition can also palyback this material too (Android only at the moment).

Have fun!

Version 17 release date announced

2011-10-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

My Learning are pleased to announce that the release of the next major update to the My Learning Suite of products, entitled "Damora" will be implemented from 4pm on Tuesday 29th November.

Version 17 [Damora] contains many visual enhancements, layout improvements and a range of new features. We've radically overhauled the entire course/topic management system to provide many new options at the request of schools. Our internal development systems are already running Damora, and the feedback so far has been fantastic.

The main focus for Damora is "consolidation" and "enhancement". We decided to improve the existing modules and features rather than release another wave of new facilities! (There's already a huge amount of modules within the platform).

The launch of Damora also delivers a new sister-product to the My Learning Suite, entitled "Commune".
My Learning Commune acts as a central hub between all our clients, allowing much greater flexibility and enhanced communication between geographically different locations. More details regarding "Commune" will be released in November.

As with all our upgrades, there's absolutely nothing you need to do other than wait. The formal pre-release notes will appear on the login page of your learning platform as usual. Another new update will see the production of our monthly newsletter which will be emailed to all relevant parties on the last day of each month (optional).

We look forward to hearing your comments, ideas and feedback as always.

ML Support.

Import from Microsoft Class Server and Sharepoint

2011-10-03T10:05:00.000-07:00

We've been working hard to allow our system to now import tests and quizzes from Microsoft Class Server and Sharepoint LMS. This work has now led to some new facilities which will be available for existing clients, and new schools.

A direct import will be available in our next release "Damora" (end of November) which will allow users to bring their material from Microsoft based systems. This is a great step forward in providing our services to those schools whom feel that other LMS systems may be unsuitable from a financial sustainabiltiy or usability point of view.

Further news will be released from our labs section during the next month.

Over 100 file types now supported

2011-09-30T04:51:00.000-07:00

As users continue to use more and more open source software, and the quality and depth of this software becomes better - we are generating ever greater types of files. We are pleased to announce that we have just added support for our 100th file type (Google Sketch Up) - so now you can store these on the system too.

In due course we'll be adding very nice icon support for all these new files, so your file manager will look more like your computer and laptop desktops. If you wish to add support for new files, please email us - it only takes a few minutes to do!

Hallo en welkom - to Holland!

2011-09-30T01:49:00.000-07:00

My Learning (UK) are pleased to announce that they are deploying a high-speed server in the Netherlands in order to support our community of Dutch schools. After a very enjoyable BETT 2011 where we met with some very excited Dutch schools, we are looking forward to assisting the educational community in Holland with learning platforms, upcoming technology and exploring ICT for the 21st century.

We had recent discussions with one of Holland's leading ICT innovators, with some fantastic ideas for the next generation of the My Learning suite of products. Our team is looking forward to bringing these ideas to the digital world.

Gelukkig leerlingen!

Upgraded server in Vietnam

2011-09-30T01:42:00.000-07:00

As part of our 5 year plan to provide localised services to our international schools, My Learning (UK) Ltd is pleased to announce that we have now enhanced our Vietnam server with additional capabilities and bandwidth to accommodate schools in that region. We are pleased to welcome these schools into our community and to receive kind feedback from our "digital pioneers"!

It's been a while, but we've been busy!

2011-09-24T03:07:00.000-07:00

We didn't want to bombard everyone with news during the school holiday's - simply to provide information which was not school related. More importantly, we've been busily working away during the break on many enhancements, updates and consolidation of version 16 before our jump to the new edition.

For those of you who want to see all the patches for the latest edition, have a look in the labs. Many of the patches have been in direct response to user requests and we'll publish them all shortly.

Multi-room chat upgrades

2011-07-16T00:27:00.000-07:00

We've upgraded our entire chat engine so that it now provides multi-room chat facilities. Each teacher in the school is now able to create a new "chat instance", and each of these instances may then be attached to any shared resource within the school.
This flexible approach to the creation of a chat room, allows real-time exchanges of opinions, thoughts, feedback and quickfire re-cap sessions. As expected, the entire system retains a transcript which can be downloaded or edited, and is protected by the online censorship system.
for further details of the enhanced "Chat+" module, login as an administrator and browse to "Add-ons".

Integration with Education City

2011-07-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

My Learning have today completed their second phase of integration, with support for Education City - who provide a range of online activities and games in the UK and overseas. Administrators can activate the integration service quickly and easily - providing even more features for their students within the platform.

2 Simple integration

2011-07-03T01:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the detailed support of staff at 2Simple, My Learning are pleased to announce that we now provide integration with 2 Simple's award winning "Purple Mash". Users of our learning systems can now access their 2Simple - online documents from within the platform. Existing schools will receive an update which will allow them to activate their integration automatically.

Support for Clicker

2011-06-25T09:28:00.000-07:00

We've just added support for the storage of Clicker files within the learning platform. This means that students and teachers can now store and retrieve Clicker XML files using our file uploader.

Welcome to zip heaven

2011-06-14T14:20:00.000-07:00

We have decided to release our new zip facility ahead of the forthcoming Temenis release on June 20th. Users of our systems are now able to upload a zip file and ask the contents to be unpacked on the platform. The system will unpack the entire contents of your file online, and then preview, thumbnail and index all of the contents making them searchable and accessible.

You can also upload a zip file without unpacking it, and then browse it's contents online too. In future versions we'll enhance the system so that you will be able to unpack multiple files, and browse your entire zip file online.

Finally, as always, you can package individual files and folders and download them as a zip file too. This new system is now live, so take it for a spin and let us know any suggestions!

Integrated email now available

2011-06-10T05:57:00.000-07:00

My Learning are pleased to announce that integrated email will now be available in our next release, with multi-lingual support and an easy to use interface.

Users have access to a web friendly, fully featured email system to send and receive internet emails. Over the coming weeks, we're also performing tighter integration into the VLE to incorporate all your mail groups. This latest feature will be activated during our next major release entitled "Temenis" on June 20th.

The system can also be accessed as a separate email service just like GMail or Hotmail. This facility has been released ahead of schedule in order to provide a unified learning (and communications) environment for new schools who may benefit from this feature.

Version 16 release date announced

2011-05-31T12:49:00.000-07:00

My Learning (UK) Ltd is pleased to announce the release date of it's next version, entitled "Temenis". Version 16 provides an extensive range of new and improved features; guided, as always, by teachers, students and parents!
The release date will be Monday June 20th.

After the UK half-term break we'll be releasing an information document to all our schools explaining some of the changes that we're making to the My Learning Junior interface. Our team is making the most of the school break to press on with final phase testing to ensure the v16 release goes smoothly.

Any schools attending the Northern Grid Conference and the E2BN Conference will be amongst the first to see our new interface and features (another reason to come and see us!). This new release contains some of our most advanced features to date, and details will be posted to the public lab on June 23rd.

My Learning - Now teaching the teachers!

2011-05-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

My Learning is pleased to announce that it's core product, My Learning Junior will be used as a teacher training tool by the University of Cumbria. Trainee teachers will have full access to the entire array of tools, facilities and modules to enable true 21st century learning within classrooms of the future. This will aid potential teachers in understanding the huge potential that digital classrooms and resources can bring. My Learning are proud to be associated with such an exciting opportunity. Learn more about the University of Cumbria here

Persian (Farsi) language support

2011-05-09T15:36:00.000-07:00

We've now released access to Persian (Farsi) throughout the entire system. Persian is spoken in Afghanistan, India, Iran, Tajikistan, the United Arab Emirates, U.K and the United States of America. Currently, the translations are word-by-word - but will allow Persian readers to utilise nearly all the features of the learning platform.

Support for Promethean and Smartboard

2011-05-06T03:24:00.000-07:00

My Learning have recently updated their learning platform suite with built-in support for Promethean Flipcharts (.flp and .flipchart) and Smartboard Notebooks (nbk). Now, teachers who currently use flipcharts in school can store these files on their learning platform and access them from any location. These files can also be used by students (with required software installed).

This service is available immediately to all clients.

Updates to bookmarks

2011-04-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

We've made a minor improvement to the bookmarking facility in the learning platform. Users will now benefit from a graphical snapshot of the website when it is created. For any existing bookmarks, users can take an updated photo of their website.
The interface has also been enhanced to make it easier to browse and view websites.
Go and try it out!

Automated Error Reporting (AER's)

2011-03-28T02:36:00.000-07:00

Recently we've been researching ways of optimizing the learning platform so that any issues that are encountered do not hinder the use of the system from an end-user point of view - especially whilst teaching. Two weeks ago, we activated a new process entitled "Automated Error Reporting" which allows our system to silently make detailed observations of any issues or improvement opportunities encountered whilst using the learning platform.

The result of this new facility is that our support team are now obtaining details of unusual issues that may have been difficult to replicate or determine and are now able to correct them on demand. We have measured the improvement of the new system and it has reduced the "Time to fix" [TTF] by 50%. Goodbye bugs.

Version 15 - Release notes publically available

2011-03-11T12:53:00.000-08:00

v15 Release NotesVersion 15 of the My Learning Suite has seen a major move towards the further support and streamlining of media capabilities on the platform. We've decided to make the release notes available to non-customers so they can catch up on some of the great new features we now provide.

You can grab them from this link, or by clicking the PDF icon!

ISO 9001

2011-03-05T06:33:00.000-08:00

Perhaps not as exciting as new features, gadgets and video recording tools - but because we're now taking onboard lots of unhappy clients from other companies it makes sense to ensure that we have a solid and efficient service running behind the scenes.

We like to think that we're all perfect, so we've invited an ISO 9001 firm to come in and explain if we're good at doing things, or if we need improvement!
On a more serious note, ISO 9001 will provide further market confidence in the fact that My Learning is rapidly becoming an exciting alternative to many existing platforms. Long live the revolution!

Phase 2 of upgrades

2011-03-05T06:27:00.000-08:00

Just to advise all our users that phase 2 of our upgrade is happening this weekend. There is no downtime required and you'll find that any issues or errors with the recent large upgrade will be eliminated before Monday.
We've squashed a bug with the Audio Recorder, the Calendar updates and we'll be releasing the first edition of our entirely re-written parent portal during next week. All godd stuff!

Version 15 - official announcement!

2011-02-08T13:45:00.000-08:00

For all those schools who are waiting to hear when version 15 is being released, we have today agreed that the update will be published towards the end of the half-term on Saturday 26th February. And for all the competitors (...trial users) also following us, here's a list of some of the features we have in store!

New facilities and features:

Audio recording now built into the system - allowing voice recording from anywhere
Video recording for teachers allows creation of mini-video clips
Ability to grab images directly into the VLE from Flickr (single click)
Learning spaces/classes can now be co-authored
Ability to publish a school website from within the VLE
Multi-month calendar views
New feature to allow student and teacher blogs
More specialised themes for ages 9+ (introduced in v15.1 the following week)
Playlist exports and music/podcast sharing
We've improved the client-side runtime speed of the system
Initial support for Internet Explorer 9
A new 'virtual' web browser to allow "safe surfing" inside the VLE itself (CEOP enabled)
New handwriting practice tool
Image tracing program

Research and ongoing modules:

BETA: “Homework Streams” allow teachers to create homework easily
BETA: Google Earth explorer allows map scripting and overlay tools for teachers
BETA: Turtle/Robot and LOGO programming tool
BETA: “My Learning Bridge” is a tool underway to allow multi-school linkup’s to share content and courses.

Of course, there are literally hundreds of minor changes and tweaks which have been applied at the request of schools and 3rd parties. All clients will receive our Spring Newsletter on 15th February detailing all the changes, features and taking a look at how to make use of these new features in your lessons.

Users will be pleased to know that we'll be launching a new "Best practice vlog" which will be a Video Blog of over 50 things you can do on the system in one minute clips. An ideal way of finding out common tricks and tips to aid in using your learning platform to it's maximum potential - and making learning fun too!

Enjoy - The team @ My Learning

Did you know where we get our versions names from? Amazonian Butterflies.... Version 15 is entitled "Adelpha" representing a common, but unusual species found in Central America. Why not learning about them?

My Learning Free Edition has been launched

2011-02-01T05:01:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday February 1st, My Learning (UK) Ltd have officially launched a new FREE version of their Learning Platform specifically aimed to help schools with less than 100 pupils.

Entitled My Learning Free, it is a basic version of their highly successful Primary learning platform "My Learning Junior". The product will be provided freely to any primary school with less than 100 students. Schools then have the option of paying for any additional requirements such as training, support or extra features.

Business Development Director, Alan Sawyers advised "We receive many requests from smaller Primary schools who don't often have the budgets to be able to enjoy the services of their larger counterparts. The release of My Learning Free, allows these schools to join our community and then sculpt their learning platform inline with their budgets as they see fit. We want to help all sizes of schools, and My Learning Free enables us to do just that."

My Learning Free is available immediately, and any school (UK or abroad) with less than 100 pupils can apply directly using the link below:

http://www.mylearningltd.co.uk/view/free-virtual-learning-platform

Hybrid themes

2011-01-31T23:25:00.000-08:00

As most users will already know, our system is equipped with two methods of operation:
1) A touch/button theme system allows for single click iconic operation
2) A menu driven system is slightly more verbose with more options

Since our last major release, we've been asked if we can provide some extra themes and designs for users somewhere inbetween the two editions. So, for version 15 - you'll find a new range of themes designed exclusively for users who still want touch/button operation - but with more complex and detailed designs for their age group.

The exact release date for "Adelph" (version 15) will be announced during the coming days.

Sharing your class now becomes easier

2011-01-28T13:32:00.000-08:00

Even though the My Learning Suite is one of the easiest and most intuitive systems to use, we constantly improve the product according to user feedback. As part of the final set of updates to v14.4, teachers are now able to share their Classrooms or Learning Spaces with "co-authors".

This means that Teacher (A) can create a space, and then arrange that Teacher (B) has the same priveleges to author and maintain work. An ideal solution for split classes, or job sharing roles. The update has been applied to all users, as have the following changes:

1). Renaming a file checks for an existing file of the same name first.
2). Uploading a file will report errors if file name already exists in same location.
3). Folders now show in yellow when inside a class instead of inheriting the folder icon.
4). An occasional bug when deleting files has now been resolved.

This is the last major update before the release of "Adelph", our version 15 edition.

Audio happiness

2011-01-24T06:16:00.000-08:00

We are pleased to announce that our current edition has been updated this morning to allow the instant embedding of audio into any document or resource. With a few clicks, users can now insert their own MP3's, podcasts and clips - or resources from the shared areas. You can also instantly download the resources and... because we like cool features, you'll also get a real-time waveform display too.

So, no need to 'attach' MP3's, now you can embed them into your documents!

Version 15 is under final testing

2011-01-20T10:55:00.000-08:00

Inline with our corporate strategy to release 4 major updates per year for the community, version 15 of our platform will be released for mid-March. All of our releases use the names of Amazonian butterflies, and the next release is entitled "Adelpha". It will bring with it, the following new features:

Teachers will be able to co-own Classgroups and Learning spaces - very useful for part-time teachers or split class sharing with teaching assistants.
Our new Google Earth integration is nearing completion, which will allow teachers to embed all manner of mapping technologies.
A re-write is underway for our MP3 and podcasting engine to allow users to easily embed music, sound and narration on the platform.
We're working on a built-in LOGO emulator to help teachers discover this fascinating programming language to bring ICT lessons to life. (We're looking for test sites - so please get in touch!).
Further additional themes and graphical tweaks for the system
Enhancement to our SCORM player engine to work with mobile phones.
We're als releasing our "Video Guru" video recording tool.

Plus, the usual minor releases and updates - so stay tuned!

Editor updates

2011-01-17T14:49:00.000-08:00

As part of our ongoing promise to continually provide new features and friendly tools, we've enhanced our editor with two great new features:
1) You can now fix the position of your toolbar so that it locks to the screen, not the editor.
2) We've also provided a full-screen editing option.
Our users will also soon have access to a powerful templating tool which is still in beta-testing. Watch this blog, or find out details from "The lab"

New bandwidth limiting for v14.4

2011-01-08T04:59:00.000-08:00

As part of our micro-update to the My Learning Suite (v14.4) we will be including a new option to help schools with lower internet speeds. The system will now let the school specify the bandwidth for their entire school; choosing from 1,2,4,8,16,32 and 100mb.

It then automatically determines the active users on the VLE and will distribute a shared speed to all the current users of the platform. This is extremely beneficial if a school has 30 students clicking to access a large video; as the bandwidth will automatically be controlled. It has enormous benefits when downloading at once too.

In version 14.5, to follow in late February, administrators will be able to produce reports of detailed internet use of the VLE as part of our new reporting engine. Details for v14.5 will begin to appear in our Labratory blog.

New features at BETT

2011-01-06T12:43:00.000-08:00

We just thought we'd let all our users know some of the great new features we have this year at BETT for our suite of Learning Platforms. Things have moved on quite a bit since last year!

We will be showcasing how you can grab videos from popular video sites and pull them directly into your VLE - and now we've made the service twice as fast.

Our new graphical drag and drop file manager (which works in all common browsers, no flash!)
"Drift", our ongoing drag and drift technology for younger learners - amazing on whiteboards!
Mobile learning is on display, all editions now come with mobile learning at no extra cost.
We now support Sherston, Birchfield and Learnalot content directly within the platform. that's over 18,000 items of content (insane!)
Fantastic new Special Educational Needs support, symbols, audio and large text reading.

In fact, there are far too many other new things to list here - so pop over to W51 and just see it!

Two new video importer sites activated

2011-01-04T02:18:00.000-08:00

As most teachers are aware, our VLE is the only product to allow you to DIRECTLY import a YouTube video and make it part of the learning platform. If you didn't know this, then you do now!

During the Christmas break we've now added support for two further popular video websites:

www.dailymotion.com and www.metacafe.com

You can now directly copy the URL for any video on these sites, and our VLE will import the video (with thumbnails) straight into your system. Best of all, the entire process is now twice as fast! We're adding support for more video sites over the next 3 weeks as part of our update for v14.4.

Support for these two sites will be released on Wednesday 5th January.

Our new 2011 website just went live!

2011-01-03T07:03:00.001-08:00

Let us know what you think... good or bad!

YouTube importer updated

2011-01-01T03:26:00.000-08:00

Some users may have noticed that the YouTube importer service was offline for a few days. We've now completed an urgent upgrade on the system which will now download videos much more quickly.
Over the next few months we'll be introducing a 'queue' service which will allow you to do other things whilst the video is added to your VLE (much like FaceBook).

We have also enhanced the range of support for video downloads at YouTube and will soon be able to support the following websites too!

www.metacafe.com
video.google.com
www.photobucket.com (videos)
video.yahoo.com
www.dailymotion.com

Christmas facelift

2010-12-31T06:27:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, during the holiday period we've taken advantage of the spare time to enhance aspects of the My Learning suite. Specifically, the homework module inside courses is now much clearer and looks better. As always, we're also testing some new features that will allow teachers and administrators to create forms and templates on the VLE too.

The early part of 2011 should see some improved modules and a new blogging tool for users. As always, we'll keep you updated.

Version 14.2 released

2010-12-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

We have now released the ability for school administrators to control exactly which facilities different types of users can use. This new management tool is entitled the "Module Manager" and is available from your "Manage" menu. It currently has support for controlling what Teachers and Students can see, but will shortly have support for Parents and Governors.

Version 14.2 also consists of 23 minor updates to visuals and addresses some minor issues reported by some schools.

Issues:
Youtube videos containing a comma or apostrophe would fail.
Creating a new student user would select an invalid theme.

Additions:
Module manager allows fine grain control of the VLE
Course manager menu allows you to manage course settings directly

Drag and Drop

2010-12-14T09:02:00.000-08:00

We have now enabled drag and drop functionality within our file manager.

What can it do?
All users can drag files to any folder to move the file instantly into that location.

They can also move a file into the recycle bin to delete it or move a file over the 'back' button to move the file up one level into the folder above.

It is hoped that these features will improve the file management experience for everyone and makes things even easier to use!

Spellchecking available soon

2010-12-13T09:02:00.000-08:00

Our team is busy looking at a new spell checking facility for our editor. This will allow users to check their spelling; and receive optional suggestions. There will be three levels of spell checking.

The good news is that since we support 67 languages, we will also be adding support for 67 dictionaries! So now, you can use your spell checker in your French lesson too!

This feature will be added to all existing clients in the coming weeks.

Graphium version 14 launched

2010-12-12T09:03:00.000-08:00

The next major release of the My Learning Suite is entitled "Graphium" and will be deployed to all clients on Thursday October 28th between 3pm and 6pm.
For the Graphium introduction PDF, click here
For the release notes, click here

Feature request system

2010-12-10T09:04:00.000-08:00

New for the September term will be our feature request and bug tracking system which will allow all registered teachers and administrators to create observations, suggestions and report bugs directly to our developers.

You will be able to use your platform login details to access the system and engage with other users of the community system.

New feature for sticky notes

2010-07-26T07:40:00.000-07:00

Feedback from some of our recent meetings with schools has asked for the ability to create sticky notes with an optional expiry date. We are pleased to confirm that this ability will be added within the next day on our platform.

Users will be able to create notes from themselves, others - and groups of users and to allow the note to expire on a given date!

All existing schools will receive this update within the next 24 hours.

New instruction manuals

2010-07-18T07:33:00.000-07:00

Three days ahead of schedule, the new replacement manuals are now online and immediately available from the help menu of your learning platforms.

They include all the latest features and updates for the v13.1 patch which was applied on 17th August. Our support line is also available during the school term break for any users assembling content and courses.

Our next major update will be in mid-November with the release of v14, entitled "Graphium". Invitations will be sent to all clients in the September term asking users to identify feature requests and ideas.

Upgrade information

2010-07-17T07:34:00.000-07:00

A large update was applied to all client users of the My Learning Suite v13. Please find details of v13.1 notes:

NEW: Improved support for uploaded files of unusual and varying formats
NEW: You can now upload new files whilst editing an existing document
NEW: An enhanced homepage lists your to-do list in a better way
NEW: When creating notes, you can specify a validity period
NEW: Support for the embedding of Youtube and many other media types
NEW: Initial implementation of schools linking with other schools
NEW: Assistance for users on what QR Codes are, and how to learn more
NEW: Realtime transcoding of media files into web formats
NEW: Teachers can now create their own course modules to point to websites
NEW: Teachers can now write to entire Class Groups and Learning Spaces
NEW: A new upload guardian will detect users trying to upload viruses
NEW: Improved summary screen for regular users
NEW: An enhanced to-do list for new users of the system
NEW: Copy and paste files using the new file clipboard
NEW: Teachers can now send video popups
NEW: Users can now upload new files whilst directly editing a file
FIX: Improvements to many data lists and table displays
FIX: You can now create messages to learning spaces and class groups
FIX: Blogging tool has been enhanced in the course manager
FIX: Improvements to learning routes and importing documents
FIX: A handful of minor display bugs were found, and squashed.
FIX: Files copied using the clipboard are now editable in the document editor
FIX: Overhaul of improved support for Internet Explorer 8 (and upcoming 9)
FIX: When creating messages, leaving the subject blank would lose your message
FIX: Unable to edit your title from your user information page
FIX: When creating courses, your name would not honour your formal/informal setting
FIX: Lists of students and teachers now have less detail, and show more entries per screen

New updates for 17th August

2010-07-16T07:36:00.000-07:00

My Learning staff have been taking advantage of the UK school holiday period to accelerate their updates to our innovative learning platform:- My Learning Suite.

17th August will see a number of new features and upgrades being applied to all our clients. These micro-patches will provide subtle enhancements to popular tasks and include over 30 new updates.

You can now embed 3rd party videos and content directly into the learning platform, and we support nearly all of the popular video sharing websites. More details will be announced on August 18th.

Transcoding now released

2010-07-15T07:43:00.000-07:00

Say goodbye to incompatible files! My Learning have released their built-in file converter to all schools.

What is "Transcoding".

Transcoding is the process of changing the format of a specified file from one format to another. It can be useful when you wish to make files more compatible with other systems. For example, an AVI (video) file which runs for 5 minutes may be 100mb in size. By transcoding a file from an AVI to an FLV (web format), the size of the file will be reduced dramatically. This represents a massive reduction in file size, and bandwidth. It also means that the file will be more web compatible.

File type support

Videos
AVI, MOV, MPEG and MPG files will be converted to FLV

Images
GIF, TIF, PSD, EPS, SVG and BMP files are converted to JPG

Audio
WAV and WMA files are converted to MP3

Please note that if this facility is enabled, it will be in effect for all users of the system. We recommend activating the transcode feature for users with lots of files who wish to create their own content. A short delay is experienced when a file is uploaded, whilst the material is transcoded.

Improvements and additions

2010-07-11T07:38:00.000-07:00

We have been busy recently adding features requests from users to our range of learning platforms. See below for a few of the additions:

NEW: Teachers can now write to entire Class Groups and Learning Spaces
NEW: A new upload guardian will detect users trying to upload viruses
NEW: Improved summary screen for regular users
NEW: An enhanced to-do list for new users of the system
NEW: Copy and paste files using the new file clipboard
NEW: Teachers can now send video popups
NEW: Users can now upload new files whilst directly editing a file
FIX: A handful of minor display bugs were found, and squashed.
FIX: Overhaul of improved support for Internet Explorer 8 (and upcoming 9)
FIX: When creating messages, leaving the subject blank would lose your message
FIX: Unable to edit your title from your user information page
FIX: When creating courses, your name would not honour your formal/informal setting
FIX: Lists of students and teachers now have less detail, and show more entries per screen

Video goodness!

2010-06-28T07:44:00.000-07:00

Some great news for all our users! We will shortly be releasing an update to the platform which automatically convert any uploaded videos directly into a more compatible web format called FLV. This format is smaller, whilst retaining quality and is ideal for embedding and re-using in your work.

Users will have the option to enable or disable the feature of automatic conversion. Schools will be notified when the feature has been enabled.

Happy video-blogging!

Index your world

2010-06-27T07:45:00.000-07:00

My Learning will shortly be adding support to automatically index and read the text within uploaded PDF files so that you can search your learning platform for text contained within PDF files! Rather neat.

We already have the same facility for Microsoft Word 97 and 2003 - and soon we will upgrade the facility for Word 2007 too!

File clipboard

2010-06-26T07:46:00.000-07:00

By popular demand, and outright common sense - users of our platform can now browse the entire tree of content - such as the entire range of 2,700 activities from Sherston Software, and copy the activities directly to their personal online folders or class groups to be re-used elsewhere!

This also means that you can engineer your own courses, bristling with activities and tests within a few minutes!

Version 13 documentation release

2010-06-21T07:47:00.000-07:00

We have now released the first part of the manual, guides and documentation for the latest edition of the My Learning suite (release 13: Anteos).

Users will now find this on their "Help" menu, under "Online manuals". Currently, there are 134 pages of tutorial goodness!

Very soon we will be indexing the entire manual and it will become fully searchable from your "Shared files" area for all schools. As you can appreciate, our technical team have been working overtime (in payment of free Pizza) for their efforts!

They also keep telling us that video tutorials are coming for the summer holidays - which will be nice.

Version 13 official release

2010-05-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

Our latest and greatest version has now been applied to all clients:

File licencing - allows users to stamp their files with a licence
CEOP reporting - new option to allow users to report abuse internally, or externally
Clipart - We now provide 4,805 clipart items with each deployment! (all tagged and searchable)
QRCodes - Take your files on your phone by scanning their barcode image on the screen! (iPhone / Nokia and HTC phones)
Notes - Sticky notes are now even more fun to use, remember positions, zoomable and more on screen space
Editor - A brand new editor for teachers with even more features, much easier to use
Bridge - Teachers can now create courses within minutes with our new "Resource Importer" - make topic courses in 5 minutes
Infant - Our new My Learning Infant product is being released after half-term, with 24 cartoon characters
Search - Our updated search tool now looks through the entire system, for anything you want

Take it for a spin and let us know if there is anything you would like to see!

Licencing support in development

2010-05-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

At the request of clients, we will soon be implementing the support for users to attach a licencing type when they upload material to the learning platform.

This means that any files which you add to them system can use any of the popular licencing types, specifically with regard to Creative Commons licencing.

This allows you to protect and/or limit your files with regard to how they are used by other people on the system. We expect support for this feature to be released by the end of May 2010. The upgrade will be applied to all deployments, and will not be mandatory.

CEOP support enabled

2010-05-13T07:51:00.000-07:00

The platform now has an abuse reporting feature which can be made optionally available to students.

Users can click the "Report Abuse" button and are then guided through a series of options and ways to report potential or suspected abuse; including links to the government CEOP site.

There are also options to send a message to the school administrator, and visit the CEOP website.

This update has been applied to all existing clients in Build 210.61

New sticky notes

2010-05-09T07:52:00.000-07:00

Release: Build 210.55

For all existing users, your sticky notes have now been upgraded to included the following features:

1) Sticky notes will now remember where you move them
2) You can now zoom in to the note by clicking the magnify tool
3) School notice boards have been upgraded too. Please note that you can move everyone elses sticky notes, but the system will only record the location of your own notes!

First use: Please note that initially, your board will have been reset - so the first time you access sticky notes you will need to arrange them as you see fit. their location will then be remembered

Have fun!

Distributor channel now open

2010-05-07T07:53:00.000-07:00

My Learning (UK) Ltd are pleased to announce that we have now opened our official distributor and reseller channel for the international market.

If you are an I.T or educational service supplier in an overseas market and wish to act as a distributor, reseller; or both - then contact us to register your interest.

We provide marketing material, lead insights, technical training and support, dedicated servers, demonstration logins and full access to our distributor web service containing everything required to get started.

Benefit from generous commissions, great support and the freedom to work within territories that you understand and control.

Version 13 is on schedule

2010-04-30T07:54:00.000-07:00

The new update from version 12 to 13 is in final stages of testing and will be released to the community in the coming weeks. A quick look at some new features!

A brand new online editor allows instant podcasts, videos and images to be included in your work.
New features for calendar items and sticky notes allows users to add expiry times for notices.
Our new video recording tool is being released, allowing users to create their own videos.
A new instant gallery tool allows you to view any of your folders as a fullscreen gallery - great for slideshows and presentations.
Indexing support. Most files that you upload will now be automatically indexed, so that you can search your platform for text that resides inside your files - and see previews too!
New options for instant popups, now allow you to send notices to groups, and individuals at the same time.
Many other improvements with regard to class management, user creation, administration and support for Internet Explorer 7 and 8.

Improved support for Internet Explorer 7 and 8

2010-04-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

The My Learning development team have continued to improve features for users with Internet Explorer 7 and 8 with many upgrades to improve user management, messaging and the creation of instant popups.

Users who are still using Internet Explorer 6 must note that this browser is now 9 years old. Whilst we provide basic support for this browser, in order to benefit from an enhanced experience, we encourage all these users to upgrade before the autumn term.

5 more languages available!

2010-03-29T08:16:00.000-07:00

My Learning (UK) Ltd have this morning released 5 new languages onto the platform!

Most importantly, we now support Persian (Farsi) language characters and translations. You will find Farsi listed under the Iranian flag inside the learning platform.

For our Irish friends, we now have preliminary Irish Gaelic which was added on Friday 27th March.

We have also added Belarusian, Swahili, Malay and Macedonian.

Let us know how you get on!

New photo gallery browser

2010-03-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

By popular request, we have listened to user feedback and now offer two great ways of interacting with your images and photos.

The old gallery has been removed, and replaced with a much smarter, faster and feature rich gallery browser. Existing users can access it by clicking their "Images" button or menu.

For those with an interest in 3D, we also have a 3D photo wall replacement.

Please note that these new features will require Flash Player 9 or above. If you have still not upgraded to Flash Player 9, now may be a good time to do so as many other internet application providers are encouraging schools to upgrade!

New school directory

2010-03-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

After listening to teacher feedback we are pleased to announce that there is now a great way of adding and editing students for your classrooms and learning spaces.

We have released a new search box which allows you to list all the students, teachers and year groups with a single click.

It is now even easier to add, remove and edit students within groups.
Students also benefit from the same tool.

New personalised usernames

2010-03-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

In version 11 of the software we introduced support for students being able to choose their own login name. This was limited to the fact that you could not use a login name that another student (from another school) was already using...

Boo hoo...

So, we re-wrote the entire system; and now users can choose the same login name no matter which school they are from. So, go ahead; and make up some crazy login names!

More new features...? (yes)

2010-03-24T08:20:00.000-07:00

Indeed... we wanted to provide teachers (and students) with a quick way of accessing all the shared content on the system WITHOUT having to be enrolled into a course and formally take part in it.

For example, if a teacher simply wanted to run through some existing content for a presentation; or to assign some homework and ask students to take part in an activity.

The good news is that all schools now have that feature!

School administrators will find a new icon in their shared files called "Activities". This is a directory structure, with thumbnails, listing over 2,700 individual activities on your platform (depending upon which version of My Learning you use).

Now, any user on the system can browse this Key Stage tree, and click once to activate their content directly on-screen.

It's a great way of students being easily able to access content, and much less formal than building courses. Ideal for younger learners.

Version 12 launched

2010-03-01T08:21:00.000-08:00

After two weeks of testing, and a few late nights from our developers... we present Version 12 of the My Learning Suite:

Faster language support with client side caching
Improvements to HTML code compliance (XHTML)
A re-written user import tool which is much smarter
Welsh language support (Irish to follow shortly)
Updated right-to-left text rendering for Arabic and Farsi text
New user search tools and user directory browser
Context sensitive online help has been updated
7 new themes for older users and teacher accounts
New school notice board feature!
New school shared sticky notes too
All users now have a dashboard on their homepage
Improved mini-calendar now available
Introduction of "Recent documents" for all users
Many little graphical tweaks and technical nonsense things...

Have fun!

Welsh language support

2009-07-16T08:31:00.000-07:00

We've completely revamped our language translation engine so that it now directly supports the Welsh language. At last, Welsh schools can use our Learning Platform to fulfill their obligations to be able to teach and deliver content in dual-language.

My Learning Ltd is also working on the production of specific Welsh content ready for the Autumn term. Watch this space!

Student FaceBook...?

2009-07-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

Whether we love or loathe them... social networking websites are everywhere. In education, once has to assess their value:

1) They promote individualism and group sharing
2) They are simple and easy to access
3) they encourage diversity and creativty

Not everything is good news however...

1) There is no control of who has access to your information
2) The system cannot be controlled by the school
3) There are no forms of censorship
4) The systems can be abused

Fortunately, My Learning Ltd are all too aware of these critical issues. That\'s why we\'ve written a new extension to our range of VLE and Learning Platform products.

Our latest update now provides full support for your users to create and maintain their own social networking profile from within the system. 100% safe, moderated and censored.

Best of all, there are controls which protect and monitor your students at all times, meaning that their data stays on the platform and is NOT accessible to the entire planet!

It's a great way of empowering students and teachers to be creative, and enjoy the benefits of Social Networking, without the dangers.

New buddy groups!

2009-07-15T08:32:00.000-07:00

Now your school users can create their own "Buddy Groups" which allow your teachers and students to create their own shared areas to store files and media.

This is a great way to support after-school activities, hobby clubs, or even just as an shared folder on your Learning Platform.

Teachers can also take advantage of these informal areas, which can hold teachers, students and administrators. You can easily control who has access, and what type of permission.