What's new for teachers
This page is now archived. Please visit our Release Updates page to see more information about recently released features.
25 November 2020
We know that teachers use a wide variety of online tools to set tasks to their classes. This latest update means that Firefly is now able to display assignments from both Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams making it possible to share tasks with Students and Parents quickly and easily in one accessible space. Assignments will be visible in the Tasks component on the Dashboard, as well as in the Tasks List where teachers will be able to choose whether to share a task with parents. Teachers, students and parents will be able to filter according to where the task was set from the Task List page.
30 September 2020
We want to make it even easier for teachers to get the support and guidance they need to make the most out of Firefly. With this in mind we have added a new Resource Centre Button to Firefly which has can be found in the bottom left corner of the screen.
This new feature replaces the old Help Centre button and the lightbulb notifications feature, bringing everything into one, simple to access space.
As before, teachers will be able to access the Help Centre, and contact the Support Team. This new feature will also allow them to share their feedback and make feature suggestions, as well as see new Firefly announcements and connect directly to the Firefly Community space from within Firefly.
|
|
|
28 July 2020
To help teachers manage their tasks and use existing resources more easily, when a task is copied for use with another class, the associated success criteria, (rubric) will be copied along with the task. The rubric will be available in draft format in the new task so that teachers can make edits and changes should they need.
In addition, co-owners of tasks will also be able to copy tasks and rubrics, so that school leaders and heads of department can set standardised assessment criteria for use across multiple class groups.
07 April 2020
To help you support all of your students even more effectively, we are delighted to announce that we have further extended our integrations with Microsoft and made their Immersive Reader tool available within Firefly’s standard resource pages. This new feature will be available to all cloud-hosted Firefly Schools.
This new and exciting integration makes it possible for text on a Firefly page to be presented in a format which is more accessible to those users who may have particular difficulties or face specific challenges in their reading. The format of the text can be adjusted according to their needs, allowing them to:
- Change the font size, text spacing, and background colour.
- Split up words into syllables.
- Highlight verbs, nouns, and adjectives.
- Choose between two fonts optimised to help with reading.
- Read text aloud, and change the speed of reading.
Working together, Firefly and Immersive Reader make it easier for all of your students to have access to your learning resources, in the way that best suits their needs, regardless of their age or ability.
02 April 2020
If you are using Microsoft Teams Meetings to connect with your classes online, you can now create these within Firefly pages and tasks.
This new feature allows you to collect and share all of the resources and instructions your students need for a lesson, alongside an embedded link to your online meeting, making it easy for them to find everything they need in one place.
For more details read Using Microsoft Teams with Firefly
26 February 2020
Firefly’s new markbook makes it even easier to look for patterns in grades. This latest version of the markbook adds a new set of colour coding into tasks; with red - amber - green traffic lighting, you can spot at a glance where your students are excelling and are ready for extension work, or those students that have struggled and might need further support. This new colour system will also make it easier for you to identify if a student is struggling over time, by comparing the marks of the student quickly and easily across the term.
Where a piece of work stands out as different to the others, you can select that mark and get a detailed breakdown on the task within the markbook itself. If you want a detailed view across the entire term, you can opt to view all of the marks and feedback for any student and have it presented in chronological order, separate from your other students.
These latest updates to the markbook give you the immediate visibility you need to track your students progress quickly and easily, along with the ability to get further context and information whenever you require it. You will be able to spend less time tracking your students, but still have the data you need to support them in achieving their personal best.
30 January 2020
We know that a teacher’s markbook is a key feature of their day to day routine, allowing them to track and monitor the progress of their classes and individual students. To save you time and provide you with better insights into your students, we have released our latest update to the Firefly markbook. This new version of the markbook gives you greater visibility of homework within the markbook itself. Selecting an entry in the markbook allows you to view all of the activity associated with that assignment; see the original task you set alongside your student’s homework and your feedback and comments. The new Firefly markbook means it's now even easier for you to track your students' assignments with a single click.
06 January 2020
To give you more flexibility when working with Microsoft files and documents we have further developed our integration with OneDrive. As well as attaching files from OneDrive to tasks, it is now possible to embed OneDrive files directly into Firefly pages and resources. If you have editing rights over a document, you will be able to open it directly from the Firefly page, make any necessary changes and these will appear automatically within the Firefly page.
