We’ve rolled out a fresh set of updates to make assessments more authentic, learner navigation smoother, and course design more modern. From audio and video exam responses to alignment reports and full-width layouts, these improvements are all about creating engaging learning experiences while giving educators and admins more flexibility.
Here’s a recap of what’s new:
Audio and video answers—bringing assessments to life
Educators have asked for more authentic ways to capture learner understanding beyond text. Now, we’ve introduced a Media Recording Response type that’s available in assessments.
With this update, you can:
🎤 Let learners record audio responses
🎥 Enable video or audio only responses
⏱️ Set recording time limits (up to 15 minutes)
🔄 Decide whether re-recording is allowed
📝 Review and grade recordings directly in the platform
Why it matters:
From language tasks to presentations and practical skills, this feature opens up more authentic and flexible assessment options for learners
🎯 Try it now: Head to Assessment > Question Banks in your course and select Media Recording Response to add your first audio or video question.
Easily review and archive learner engagement
Course admins can now export all comments from across a course in one file—making it simpler to audit participation, share insights, or keep records for compliance.
Why it matters:
This feature makes it easier to review learner engagement, share insights, and archive discussions for reporting or compliance.
Help learners connect with institutions more easily
Learners will now see an Institutions menu in the top bar, helping them quickly access institution landing pages.
Here's how it works:
The menu only lists institutions where the learner is a member
On white-labelled portals, the Institution menu will not appear
details are still in review
Why it matters:
This small change improves navigation and makes it easier for learners to connect with the institutions behind their courses.
Support mastery-based learning with flexible exam reattempts
The new Multiple Attempts feature allows learners to reattempt exams based on settings defined by the Assessment Designer. You can allow a fixed number of attempts or enable unlimited attempts until a learner achieves a passing grade.
What you can do:
Set attempt limits or allow unlimited reattempts
Randomise questions and answer order for each attempt
Control score and feedback visibility after submissions
Track attempt history and performance across attempts
Decide whether to grade by highest score or latest attempt
Why it matters:
This feature empowers learners to reflect, revisit content, and improve their understanding while helping educators design fair, flexible, and competency-based assessments.
🎯 Try it now: Go to Exam Setup > Overview in your course to configure attempts and grading options.
Make it easier for learners to find the right course
We’ve added a new search and filter feature to institution landing pages, helping learners quickly discover courses that fit their needs.
With this update, learners can:
Search across all of an institution’s online courses
Browse courses within categories
Sort courses by relevance, popularity, start date, price, or course name
How to enable it:
By default, course search is turned off. Institutions admins can enable the feature by going to:
Why it matters:
This update improves discoverability, making it easier for learners to explore what your institution offers and find the right course faster.
Manage learners and teams in groups more easily
We’ve added an institution group filter to the Manage Learners and Manage Teams pages. This makes it easier to organise learners, assign them to courses, and address common challenges around managing large groups.
Why it matters:
With this update, learner and team management becomes more streamlined—helping educators and admins save time when working with groups.
What's next:
Modern, responsive design for a better learner experience
OpenLearning now supports two new full-width course layouts—Customisable Banner and Minimalist—to help you deliver a cleaner, more engaging learner experience.
With this update, you’ll see:
What's next:
You can start using the new layouts immediately. As part of our Modernise UI/UX initiative, we’ll continue refining layouts based on feedback.
Audit course outcomes alignment with ease
We’ve added a new export option called Constructive Alignment Reports. This helps educators review and audit how well their course content aligns with learning outcomes—useful for both course design and compliance purposes.
With this update, you’ll get three reports in one file:
Why it matters:
These reports make it easier to check outcome alignment, spot gaps, and strengthen course quality during design or review.
🎯 Try it now: Go to Courses > Exports and download the Constructive Alignment Reports file.
From authentic learner responses and mastery-based exam attempts to modern layouts and alignment reports, August’s updates are all about giving educators more flexibility and learners a better experience.
These changes are part of our ongoing commitment to:
Log in to your dashboard to try the latest features today, or reach out to the support team if you’d like help getting started.