If a student accidentally deletes text in an essay question, there is an option to restore it using Snapshots. This Snapshot functionality is available for students during their live Inspera exams.
Snapshot is accessed via the test editor/option panel available to students on any essay question:
The icon to retrieve Snapshots which are available is a backwards arrow around a clock face: .
Once selected, students can retrieve previous versions of their work. A new snapshot is taken every 15 minutes and is saved in the browser memory. Snapshot use is available after 15 minutes of beginning work on an essay question. Navigating away from the question, and then returning to it would not disrupt the Snapshot. Snapshots are activated per question, so using this option could not revert any other question answers to an earlier instance.
Important note: As browser-based memory is used for this feature, exiting the Inspera exam or refreshing the browser will disable Snapshots. (Note: refresh is only available in non-locked down exams).
How does it work for students?
When students click the Snapshot button, a message like the one below will appear. The student will be advised to select a snapshot and then click continue. This will enable them to retrieve prior instances of their work. Students can click the icon and select a different snapshot if their first selection is not what they were searching for.
Next steps
For academic year 2024-25, Instructions will be available to exam invigilators, these can be shared with students if needed in their exam.
Instructions are also available for students to familiarise themselves with ahead of their exams via the ‘Instructions in Inspera’ tab on the Student Inspera ASK website
Vevox have made a few additions and improvements to their features in recent product updates. Find out more about the new features available, including the introduction of number clouds, pie charts and the chance for participants to add labels to their Q&A questions. There are also some suggested use cases on the new features which are optional for use.
Rating Scale Question Type
This question type allows you to ask participants to rate multiple items on a scale of 1 up to 10 and create labels for the highest and lowest values.
Since you can ask participants to rate multiple items under one question, this reduces the need to create multiple questions.
Suggested use case: rating scale questions could be used for evaluation type questions or surveys.
Add images to options in multiple choice questions (MCQs)
It is now possible to add an image alongside every answer choice – this means you can use images as answers, or even add them for decorative purposes to help engage with participants.
Poll creation and updates within Microsoft PowerPoint and Teams integrations
The ability to create polls directly within both the PowerPoint Add-in (as well as Microsoft Teams) is now possible. This is for all question types, including the newly introduced rating scale question type and images as answer choices.
Participant-driven Q&A labels
As a session host, you can create and choose labels to share with your participants.
Participants can now add these labels to their questions/comments before adding them to the Q&A board.
Suggested use case: If you are delivering a session which includes different topics, you may want the ability for your participants to label questions per topic, so you can answer questions relating to each topic at a time.
Optional downvotes in Q&A
Within the Q&A function, the ability to like or ‘upvote’ responses is useful to see agreement within your audience on what questions to answer or what views attendees are agreeing with,
It is now possible to ‘switch on’ the option to ‘downvote’ responses.
Suggested use case: This could be used for agreeing or voting on which ‘topics’ should be explored, etc. Perhaps as an opportunity to ‘narrow down’ things.
Pie Charts
Pie charts are now available as well as bar charts for displaying results on multiple-choice polls.
They are only available for poll questions that have 10 answer options or less.
Suggested use case: Based on what you are asking, you can decide if the data would be best presented as a bar chart or a pie chart.
Number Clouds
As well as word clouds, it is now possible to host number clouds.
Interactive text wall for open text questions
The text wall is a new upgrade to how the ‘Open Text’ poll type responses are displayed.
Responses are organised into text blocks to make it even easier to view participant responses.
The blocks are also interactive, so you can quickly click on a response to spotlight it, like you can with the Q&A function.
Live/dynamic wordclouds in PowerPoint
Live word clouds are now available in the PowerPoint add-in.
This matches the functionality to see the wordcloud update as responses come in like you see when using the Dashboard view.
Additional information
For more information about Vevox, please see the dedicated Vevox webpage on the University’s Learning and Teaching website and also on Vevox’s own Blog.
Over the summer there have been a series of updates to the Inbox within Canvas.
In this blog post, we will highlight some of the key changes to the Inbox and how you can utilise these changes in your courses.
Video Overview
Add Auto Response
All users can now create an Auto Response message in the Canvas Inbox. This works similar to an email Out of Office message however this only within the internal messaging system in Canvas.
An example of this can be found below:
To do this:
In the top left corner of the Inbox, select the cog icon
From the dropdown menu select “Response On”
Add the Start and End Date
Add a Subject
Add a Message
Select “Save”
Add Signature to Messages
All users can now create a personalised signature on their Inbox messages in Canvas. This works similar to a signature in Emails and is assigned to internal messages in Canvas.
An example of this can be seen here:
As you can see above, my contact details have automatically been added to my message.
To do this in your own inbox:
In the top left corner of the Inbox screen, select the cog icon
Select the “Signature On” button
Add your personalised signature in the box provided
Over the summer there have been a series of updates to the Announcements feature within Canvas.
In this blog post, we will highlight some of the key changes to Announcements and how you can utilise these changes in your courses.
Video Overview
Mark All As Read Button
In Announcements, a Mark all as read button is available.
This update allows users to quickly and efficiently mark all announcements as read. Previously, each message would need to be manually marked then a bulk action applied. With this update, all messages can be marked as read with a single button click.
Notification for Changed Content
In Announcements, instructors can notify students when an announcement has been updated.
This feature prevents missed information, allowing users to respond promptly and appropriately to the new information.
Previously there was no way to alert recipients that there had been a change to an announcement other than posting the message again or sending another message informing students of the change.
Availability Dates
In Announcements, the delayed posting field is changed, in addition to the Available from field, instructors can add Until dates.
The update enables instructors to specify a date when the announcement will no longer be visible to students.
Announcements Timestamp
In Announcements, the Created date is hidden from students, and the Last edited date is only shown if the announcement was edited after being published. Additionally, the Posted date now reflects when the announcement became available.
This update helps prevent any confusion between the Posted and Last edited dates for students.
In the above screenshot, we can see in the teacher view, we can see the creation and the posted date (point 1).
In the student view below, we can see that we only have the posted date (point 2).
Over the summer there have been a series of updates to the SpeedGrader tool within Canvas to improve the ability to provide feedback.
In this blog post, we will highlight some of the key changes to the SpeedGrader and how you can utilise these changes in your courses.
Submission Comment Drafts
In SpeedGrader, after adding a submission comment, if this has not been saved, a Draft pill displays indicating that this comment has not been saved and a warning message is presented alerting the teacher that the comment has not been saved.
Previously there was no clear indication that a comment had been submitted and this would lead to students not seeing comments/feedback in their assignments.
With this update, it is clear for a teacher to see the status of a submission comment.
You can see in the example below that the submission comment has not been submitted and we have a draft pill alongside our comment:
When we press submit on this comment, the draft pill disappears which means the comment is visible to the student:
Rich Content Editor (RCE) In Submission Comments
In SpeedGrader, some Rich Content Editor (RCE) features are available when using submission comments. The available RCE features include:
Heading
Bold
Italic
Underline
Font colour
Insert Hyperlink
Bullets
This allows teachers to style feedback and provide further resources via linking. In the example below, you can see a link is provided to further resources to assist the student:
This functionality is available at the top of the submission comments box as demonstrated below:
Equation Editor in Submission Comments
In SpeedGrader, an Equation Editor function has been added to the Rich Content Editor. This feature enables instructors to incorporate math equations into their submission comments.
In the below example, you can see the new equation editor function within the submission comments in SpeedGrader:
Randomise Students in Submission List
In SpeedGrader Settings, instructors now have the option to randomise the order of students within each submission status. This update helps mitigate grading fatigue and biases by ensuring a random sorting of students. Additionally, it enhances grading efficiency by maintaining this random order within submission statuses.
Below are step by step instructions on how to do this:
In the top left corner of the SpeedGrader, select the cog icon
From the dropdown menu select “Options”
Within SpeedGrader options, select “randomise students within a submission status”
Select the “Save settings” button
Please note that when the randomised students, the preference is saved as the default in the browser for the course. When logging in on another device, instructors must select the sort by options again.
A question set is a group of questions created in Inspera. In Inspera you can make individual questions, or you can set up a question set and create a group of questions in there. Individual questions can also be imported into your question set.
Creating your question set
Accessing Inspera
All colleagues (and students) access Inspera via Canvas. Colleagues can either access a ‘test’ exam set up in their Canvas Sandbox area, or by going through an existing Inspera exam.
Naming your question set
You should give question sets meaningful names, e.g. ‘MOD1234 Semester 1 Exam 202425’. This makes it easier to identify the question set for the current academic year. Question sets are created in the Author tab of Inspera.
Remember to rename your individual questions too, so that you can easily find them in the question set. Each new question is automatically given the name ‘New Question’ so if you are creating question sets with multiple questions in, giving them a meaningful name will help you find specific ones later.
If you need to update a question, a meaningful name will make it easier and quicker to locate.
Adding labels to your questions
Adding labels to your individual questions can also help with locating and re-using your questions in other question sets.
If you’d like to know about adding labels and using filters to find questions, please see our dedicated label filtering blog post.
Content creation in question sets
There are various features you can use within Inspera to enhance your question sets. These are optional features you can apply within your question set.
For example, you can randomise the order in which the questions appear for students when they sit they exam. You can also use the random pulling feature to pull a sub-set of questions from a larger bank of questions, so that each student receives a different combination of questions.
If you are using both manually marked essay questions, and a set of multiple choice questions, you are able to put these into what is known as sections. This means you could apply randomisation to the multiple-choice questions only. You could also use another feature on the essay questions known as candidate selected questions.
There is a dedicated Content Creation Featureswebsite on our Learning and Teaching Inspera site which lists the full details on these different features.
Question set deadlines
Once the Module Leader has completed their Digital Exam Form to confirm the details about their Inspera Digital Exam, the next step is to start creating their question sets.
Question sets are created by the module team and shared with the Digital Exams Team via email to Digital.Exams@newcastle.ac.uk.
The question set deadlines for 2024/25 are detailed in the following table:
Semester
Question Set Deadline
Semester 1
15th November
Semester 2
7th March
Semester 1 August Resit (Semester 3)
17th April
Semester 2 August Resit (Semester 3)
8th July
A table with the question set deadlines for each semester.
Training webinars
The Digital Exams Team deliver a training webinar ‘Creating and managing exam questions in Inspera’ which colleagues can sign up to via the Elements training system. The training session covers an on-screen demos of setting up and adding questions to your question set.
In the last academic year, our cycle came to a close with the support of Resit and Deferral Digital Inspera exams. Overall, there were 103 Resit/Deferral Inspera exams which ran between 8-16 August, with 101 exams being held successfully on campus. The Digital Exams Team were delighted to see an increase in the use of content features for this period, showcasing the wide range of benefits Inspera can provide.
The removal of the minimum threshold for the August assessment period, (in 22-23 Inspera could only be used for Resits if a certain number of students were due to take the digital exam) saw a vast increase in the number of module teams using Inspera. We can confirm the removal of the minimum threshold was a success and all Inspera users can opt for a Resit in 24-25 if their Semester 1 and/or 2 assessment runs as an Inspera Digital Exam.
Inspera Training 24-25
Training for Semester 1 preparation is now available to book via the Newcastle University LMS. Please use the links below to book onto appropriate training as required:
Here are the important deadlines you need for the new academic year:
Deadlines for Semester 1 and 2 assessment periods
Task
Deadline
Deadline to complete the digital exam form for Semester 1
25 October 2024
Deadline to prepare question set in Inspera for Semester 1
15 November 2024
Digital exams: hard deadline to submit backup paper for digital exams to Exam Paper Portal for Semester 1
Within 2 working days of backup paper being sent to module team by LTDS, and no later than 6 December 2024
Deadline to complete the digital exam form for Semester 2
19 February 2025
Deadline to prepare question set in Inspera for Semester 2
8 March 2025
Digital exams: hard deadline to submit backup paper for digital exams to Exam Paper Portal for Semester 2
Within 2 working days of backup paper being sent to module team by LTDS, and no later than 11 April 2025
Deadlines for August assessment period
For Resits/Deferrals from Semester 1
Task
Deadline
Deadline to complete the digital exam form for the resit period exam (which was originally a Semester 1 exam)
17 March 2025
Deadline to prepare question set in Inspera
17 April 2025
Digital exams: hard deadline to submit backup paper for digital exams to Exam Paper Portal for the resit period
Within 2 working days of backup paper being sent to module team by LTDS
For Resits/Deferrals from Semester 2
Task
Deadline
Deadline to complete the digital exam form for the resit period exam (which was originally a Semester 2 exam)
1 July 2025
Deadline to prepare question set in Inspera
8 July 2025
Digital exams: hard deadline to submit backup paper for digital exams to Exam Paper Portal for the resit period
Within 2 working days of backup paper being sent to module team by LTDS
All information regarding deadlines for Inspera Digital Exams is also posted on the colleague facing website along with a wide range of helpful resources on all aspects of Inspera. Go to the Frequently Asked Questions section and deadline information can be found under ‘How should I prepare for an Inspera digital exam?’ and ‘Can I use Inspera for August assessment period exams?’.
Further Support for Students 24-25
ASK webpage
The Digital Exams Team have recently updated the student facing website which includes access to newly created demo exams for students to practice using Inspera.
Do you get frustrated when you click on a link and no content appears?
If you don’t hide inactive links on your Canvas courses, your course visitors could be clicking on links that have no content.
Your course navigation bar in Canvas should only include links to active items.
Hiding unused navigation links in a navigation bar has several benefits:
User Clarity: When showing only inactive navigation items, users might mistakenly click on items with no content. Hiding non-active items prevents confusion and frustration when no content appears.
Cleanliness: By hiding unused links, you declutter the navigation bar, creating a cleaner and more visually appealing menu.
Canvas Mobile App: As all links are displayed in the Canvas App, by including only active items, you will improve the usability of your course navigation.
Accessibility: Hidden links are less distracting for screen readers and visually impaired users. It ensures that the focus remains on relevant content.
