What’s new in itslearning release 57 The highlights of itslearning release 57 are:  

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Consolidation of the text editor across itslearning, updated version, design changes and easy embedding of external content Administrators can now easily create site-specific extensions (Plugins, Extensions, Modules, LTI links). They can also decide which plugins, LTI elements and applications should appear as default on the Add page for a given organisation. Minor changes to notifications

Rich-text editor changes The text editor that can be found throughout itslearning has been improved with the following changes: 

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We've reorganised the buttons in the toolbar and ensured the same options are available throughout the platform. This for example means that you can now also add video and audio recordings to a Page. We've replaced the old 'Insert web 2.0' with a new way to easily embed third-party content. The third-party component we use – called the CKEditor – has been updated. As a result, the editor is now also available in the Edge browser and on Android devices.

Toolbar changes We've made some changes to the position of the options in the toolbar. The most notable changes are: 

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The Insert button has been removed. Instead there is now a separate section in the toolbar with insert options, including links, tables, smileys, images, recordings, etc. All options that used to be behind the Insert button can now be found here. o Note: the option to add tree menu links has been disabled for tools that can be created directly in the library (such as Pages) as these can be shared and this can lead to links a user doesn't have permissions for. All options related to text mark-up – such as bold, italic, text colour, super and subscript – are moved next to each other. The cut, copy and paste actions have been moved in front of the Source button. The online help with further explanation of the editor can be opened with the help button.

Consistent editor throughout the platform Until recently there were several variants of the rich text editor used throughout the platform. This could lead to situations were people werelooking for an option they had in one tool, but couldn't find it in another. Therefore, we've made sure the same editor is available to teacher and students in the different places. This includes among others:

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The rich content block on the dashboard The planner All elements that allow rich text, such as the Note and Page tool.

Please note that for the test tool the full editor is available for the test description and the question itself, but for the question alternatives the options are still deliberately limited. The only change here is that the Insert button has been replaced with a section of the same insert options in the toolbar.

Note: In Your files it’s still possible to add and edit HTML files. We've decided not to update this editor. Embedding content There are several types of third-party content you might want to include in the rich-text editor, for example:     

a video from YouTube or Vimeo an audio fragment from SoundCloud or Spotify an image from Flickr or Instagram presentations from SlideShare or Prezi tweets from Twitter, etc.

Tip: Did you know you can find more than songs on Spotify? You can also find several historical speeches, audio books, etc. Previously there was a limited set of sources you could add content from, available under the option 'Insert > Web 2.0 content':

The number of third-party sources with content users might want to embed has skyrocketed over the last years. Therefore, we no longer offer a predefined list of sources, but now offer a low threshold way to embed all kind of sources. To embed third-party content, just click this icon in the toolbar:

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This opens a window in which you can either paste a link or the embed code the third-party service offers.

Pasting a link When you paste a link, the editor will try to embed the content behind this link. There are three possible outcomes: 1. Embed code can automatically be retrieved (via oEmbed) 2. There is no embed code behind the link, but the editor can build an object based on the metadata of the page 3. No object can be created and the link will be added as a normal link These three outcomes are clarified with examples below. The preferred outcome is that oEmbed retrieves the embed code based on the pasted URL. For example, a YouTube video can be included by simply copying the link in the address bar and pasting it in the Embed field of the editor:

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Not all sites return the embed code when a URL is pasted. However, a lot of sites do provide some generic information (OGP metadata) about a page. For example, when pasting a link to a video on SchoolTube no embed code can be retrieved. However, the metadata on this page contains a preview image, a title and a short description. Based on this video an object is created that links to this video.

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Some sites do not return embed code, nor do they provide the metadata with which an object can be created. In these cases, the link will be added as a normal link:

Pasting embed code Instead of a link it is also possible to paste the embed code a third-party site offers. For example though SchoolTube doesn't return embed code when pasting a link, they do provide embed code for their videos. When pasting this code, the video can directly be included in the rich text:

Please note that previously embedded content has not been migrated. The content is still there and can be edited just like before.

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Extensions management and default visibility We are happy to announce the latest improvements to extension management. With usage of our extensions and growing and the number of content providers who are compliant with industry standards like LTI, we hear more requests from school administrations to be able to easily add new content and manage which tools are available to their users by default. Based on this feedback, we are now excited to bring you the first set of improvements that simplifies tool management and give more control over extending content. With this release, the following will be possible: 

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Customers can create their own applications, plugins and modules directly on their own site. This includes the possibility to create their own, custom LTI tools and connect these to both any resources they have access to. Administrators can decide which tools are available by default on their users's add page and in the list of available plugins. This makes it possible to push tools and links they have access to directly to their users.

Combined, these options give our customers and users much better options for making content available.

Create and manage local extensions itslearning offers the option for any third-party to create extensions (Applications, plugins and modules) and seamlessly have these available inside itslearning. This can be done both using our own extensions API and to configure LTI tools and LTI links. However, up until now, making such tools available to users have required to submit the tools through a formal approval process, even if the tools would only be used on the customer's own site. From now on, administrators have the option to create extensions (Applications, plugins and modules) directly on their site, and make these available for their users without going through the formal approval process needed for extensions that will be available to all sites.

Define default extension availability We have also seen a lot of interest in being able to manage which plugins and applications are available by default for users. We are pleased to announce that we now give you possibility to take control over default apps and plugins. In order to enable it you should switch on the customer setting "Enable default availability for applications and plugins". Once enabled you will get additional tab “Default availability” inside “Manage apps” from which you can create rules for your users and what they would see by default when adding course elements and browsing plugins in reach text editor. All apps and plugins added manually via the developer portal and itslearning applications not enabled by default – such as Hangman and Crossword – are manageable that way.

How does it work? But does it work in practice? We'll try to illustrate with the following scenario. A school wants to make YouTube (or any other publicly available LTI resource) available as one of their standard learning resources in itslearning. They start by grabbing the Configuration URL for the YouTube LTI implementation (https://www.eduappcenter.com/apps/163#.VryXZ8c5HjA). With this URL, they have all they need to provide teachers with access to YouTube Search in their courses, simply by following these steps: 1. Go to the Developer Portal section on their itslearning site* 2. Create a basic LTI extension and set the configuration URL as the Launch URL for the tool 6

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Set the scope of the new extension to only their own site and save the extension Go to the Admin > Manage Apps > Default Availability section as an Administrator user Configure the new app, including which organisations it should be available for Voila! YouTube search is now available on the Add Page for all teachers in the selected organisations

* The developer portal must be enabled for the site, and the administrator user needs to have correct permissions to reach the developer portal YouTube available on the Add page:

And showing the YouTube search in action

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Minor Changes, enhancements and Tweaks   

Resource booking: Reminders on bookable resources now come as personal notifications Custom activity: We've added print functionality for the Custom Activity tool through a "Print" option in the settings cog wheel. Read planner lessons in Personal API: It is now possible to read topics and lessons from the planner in itslearning through the Personal API.

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