What's new in March 2025 Update | With links to User Guide

This list details the changes users can expect in the upcoming SLS March 2025 Update, which will be rolled out on 19 March 2025. Please note that SLS will be unavailable from 18 March 2025 00:00 to 19 March 2025 23:00 to facilitate this update.

Features for All Users

1. Module Interface Enhancements

   1. Teachers and students can choose between "Standard” and “Wide” modes for modules under “Appearance Settings”.
   2. The left menu can be pinned for easy reference to the module plan.
   3. The navigation bar at the bottom of the module is enhanced for easier navigation across pages, activities and sections.
   4. A “Top” button is also added for quick navigation to the top of each page.

2. Digital Badges

   1. Digital badges can be earned by students and teachers (as students) upon meeting set conditions when attempting MOE Library modules.
   2. These digital badges will be displayed on their Profile subpages, which can be viewed by clicking on their avatars.

3. Class Groups

   1. Teachers and students can click on the class group icon in the top left corner of their assignment to navigate back to their class group.
   2. Teachers and students can view each class group forum topic and poll as a unique page with a unique URL.
   3. Teachers and students can search for their class groups in the Class Groups listing page using the search bar.
   4. The user interface for class groups has been enhanced. When viewing members in class groups, teachers and students can see the listing of all members, including their avatars.

4. Listing View

   1. Resource and assignment listings will default to the list view. The system will retain teachers' and students' preferred view based on their last access on the same device.

5. Upvote

   1. Teachers and students can vote for posts in discussions and class group forums. This feature can be enabled or disabled by teachers.
   2. Teachers and students can vote for modules in the MOE Library (for both teachers and students) and the Community Gallery (for teachers only). They can also sort their search results by “Most Voted ".

   Discussions and Forums

   1. Teachers and students can view the latest comments for each post in discussions and class group forums without needing to open the post. They can also sort posts by “Latest” and “Most Voted”.
   2. Avatars of teachers and students are shown next to their names in posts and comments.

   Google Enhancements

   1. When viewing Google documents, a tooltip has been added to indicate which Google Drive account the file is shared with.

   Module Credits

   1. Teachers and students can see who created the module in MOE Library (for both teachers and students) or Community Gallery (for teachers only) and to whom it is credited under the Module Details subpage. Clicking on the names of the authors and contributors will open their Profile subpages.

Features for Teachers

1. Class Groups

   1. Teachers can update their class group settings to enable direct join requests via a class group URL. They will have the ability to review and approve or reject these requests. Notifications will be sent to both teachers and students once a request has been approved.
   2. Owners and co-teachers of class groups can restore past class groups as active class groups.
   3. Teachers can now set class group expiry year to "No Expiry”.
   4. Teachers will no longer be added as liaison teachers when their Teacher-as-Student accounts are added to class groups.
   5. Teachers can see the name of the teacher who is editing the class group resource when they try to resume or edit the resource.

2. Communities

   1. Teachers can create communities to collaborate and share resources with other teachers.
   2. Teachers can search for and request to join communities in “Browse Communities”.
   3. Community owners can review and manage membership requests, approving or rejecting them as needed. Teachers will receive notifications once their requests to join the community are approved.
   4. Teachers can convert existing class groups into communities.

3. Authoring

   1. Prioritisation: Teachers can select topics/subtopics for ALS to prioritise in recommending to students in class groups, and alert students to these recommendations by sending notifications.
   2. Linked Activities: Teachers can link activities to be recommended in a series in ALS.

4. Authoring Copilot (ACP) Enhancements

   1. Teachers can upload more than one knowledge base as reference for ACP when generating content, which can be used across different sections in a module.
   2. Teachers can upload PDFs and images as part of the section knowledge base.

5. Assignments

   • Linked Assignments:
     1. Teachers can assign modules as linked assignments within and across multiple class groups. While editing the assigned module, all linked assignments will be paused, and changes made will be applied to all linked assignments.
   • Editing:
     1. Teachers can preview assignments and resources as students after they have been assigned.
     2. Teachers can edit the suggested answer field and description in rubrics for Free-Response Questions even after students have attempted them. This also applies to self-study resources.
     3. Teachers can also edit certain fields, such as the Quiz Title and Description, after the module has been assigned and students have started attempting the questions in the Quiz.
   • Google Enhancement:
     1. Teachers can access their students’ Google Response files, including those saved as drafts.
     2. There is improved handling of Google Response questions for team activities.
   • Print-to-Scan Enhancements
     1. There will be placeholders in the question paper when the question body is empty.
     2. The size of response boxes for Free-Response Questions will vary based on the response size settings.
     3. Students’ handwritten mathematical working can be evaluated using FA-Math after their response sheets are submitted using Print-To-Scan.
   • Aggregated Student Response Enhancements
     1. All responses for Free-Response Questions on the Student Responses page will be expanded by default. Action buttons in the Student Responses table will be displayed without requiring students to be selected first.
   • Heatmap Enhancements
     1. A Refresh button is added to the Heatmap for easy retrieval of the most updated Heatmap status.
     2. Visual indicators atop each question offer a quick overview of student performance; clicking an indicator takes teachers directly to the Student Responses page.
     3. Heatmap indicators now clearly show student participation in ITTs, polls and discussions.
     4. Teachers can filter for sections and activities more easily.
     5. There is improved navigation between Heatmaps and assignments. Teachers can navigate to the activity level of the question/component in the Monitor Assignment page when they click on the "Monitor" icon in interaction boards and Student Responses page.
     6. Teachers will be directed back to the previous page when they click on the back button when they are in interaction boards or Student Responses page.

6. Annotated Feedback Assistants (AFA)

   1. Teachers can use Annotated Feedback Assistant for Free-Response Questions to provide in-line feedback in the form of annotation cards on student responses.
   2. Teachers can select up to 2 feedback references (suggested answer, rubrics or error tags) for Annotated Feedback Assistant to reference when evaluating students’ responses.

7. Learning Assistant (LEA)

   1. Teachers can set up a Learning Assistant in a Discussion component to allow students to interact with.
   2. Teachers can select predetermined roles (e.g., Discussion Facilitator, Idea Generator) or customise their own instructions, set interaction limits and add knowledge base(s) for Learning Assistant to anchor its response to.
   3. Teachers can view students’ chat history with Learning Assistant.

8. Adaptive Learning System (ALS) Enhancements

   1. Teachers can create Section (Adaptive) in a module where they can select the desired learning loop, topic, and assign ALS content directly to students.
   2. Teachers can track students’ completion of Section (Adaptive) under the Monitoring Assignment page. They can also view students’ attempts of the Adaptive Learning session in Section (Adaptive).
   3. Teachers can select specific concepts for students to learn or practise in Test Myself in Section (Adaptive).
   4. Teachers can select a new “minimum required to assess your mastery” option when setting the number of questions for Test Myself in Section (Adaptive).

9. Feedback Assistant-Math (FA-Math) Enhancements

   1. Teachers can create Multi-Part FA-Math questions where question sub-parts are linked.
   2. Teachers can use FA-Math to create digital manipulatives, including models, inside text/media components and question stems of Multi-Part Questions.
   3. Teachers can use FA-Math in conjunction with Print-To-Scan to evaluate students’ handwritten mathematical working.

10. Short Answer Feedback Assistant (ShortAnsFA) Enhancements

    1. Teachers can include PDFs/images in the question body and suggested answer for evaluation using Short Answer Feedback Assistant.

11. Password/Passcode

    1. Teachers can reset password and generate temporary passcode for students from the same page.
    2. Teachers can generate temporary passcodes for selected students only.
    3. The validity of passcodes has been extended from 2 to 10 hours. Using passcodes to log in will allow students to bypass the password reset page, which appears if their passwords have expired.

12. Account Switching

    1. Teachers will be prompted to switch to their Teacher-as-Student accounts when they access Student Attempt URLs.

13. Profile

    1. Teachers’ Profile subpage will display their SLS contributions, including modules submitted to the Community Gallery, upvotes received, communities joined, and the number of reviews and votes they have given in the MOE Library and Community Gallery.

Features for Students

1. Adaptive Learning System

   1. Students can see their mastery level after completing a quiz during an Adaptive Learning session.
   2. Students can select specific concepts to learn or practise for Test Myself in Adaptive Learning.
   3. Students can select a new “minimum required to assess your mastery” option when setting the number of questions for Test Myself in Adaptive Learning.

2. Learning Assistant (LEA)

   1. Students can interact with Learning Assistant in a Discussion component.

3. Short Answer Feedback Assistant (ShortAnsFA) Enhancements

   1. Students can upload PDFs/images as part of their response for assessment by Short Answer Feedback Assistant.

4. Discussions

   1. Students will see a “My Post” page for each discussion component which shows their own posts for the discussion.

Features for Admin

1. Manage Media

   1. Content Officers (COs) and Content Approvers (CAs) can upload Media Objects (MOs) directly to “Manage Media”. They can then fill in the necessary IP details on the MO’s subpage before submitting to CAs for approval. Mandatory fields would be pre-filled for MOE-owned MOs.
   2. COs can submit MOs for approval and/or delete them directly from the “Manage Media” listing.
   3. CAs can approve and/or delete MOs directly from the “Manage Media” listing.
   4. COs and CAs can search for MOs under “Manage Media” using the MO’s Universally Unique Identifier (UUID).
   5. COs and/or CAs will receive notifications of changes to the statuses of their MOs.
   6. All members of the owner group will be notified 180 days and 1 day before their MOs expire. Once expired, MOs will be automatically unpublished.

2. Manage Modules

   1. Content Officers (COs) and Content Approvers (CAs) can create and edit MOE Library modules directly in “Manage Modules”.
   2. New Media Objects (MOs) added or uploaded to draft MOE Library modules, including Text-to-Speech or Speech Evaluation files, are automatically added to "Manage Media."
   3. COs can submit unapproved MOs and their associated draft MOE Library modules to CAs for approval. CAs can then approve or reject the unapproved MOs along with the draft modules.
   4. MOE Library modules are now attributed to their owner groups instead of just “MOE”.
   5. CAs can only download marks and responses for MOE Library modules from their owner groups.

3. Digital Badges

   1. Content Officers (COs) and Content Approvers (CAs) can add a new form of collectibles under gamification known as “Digital Badges” to MOE Library modules.
   2. COs and CAs can also create standalone digital badges and manually award them to Teacher-as-Student and Student accounts by accessing “Manage Digital Badges”. Recipients of the digital badges will be notified accordingly.

4. Community Gallery

   1. The “Replace” function for Community Gallery Admin has been removed.