We rolled out a series of updates designed to give educators more control, simplify technical workflows, and bring transparency to the learning experience.
Here’s a breakdown of what landed in your portal:
1. Competency-Based Grading for Assessments
What's New
Gradebook now supports two assessment systems, so educators can choose how learners are evaluated:
- Score-based: Learners receive numerical scores on weighted assessments (this is the default for existing courses).
- Competency-based: Learners are assessed as “Competent” or “Not yet competent” based on demonstrated skills. To pass, learners must meet competency across all criteria.
Note: Any courses created before this release will continue using Score-based grading. Competency-based is available for new class setups, or for classes where no learners have been evaluated yet.
Why It Matters
- Match your grading approach to the learning outcomes you’re teaching, whether that’s numeric scoring or skills mastery.
With Competency-based grading, learner reports show competency status (rather than numerical scores), making expectations clearer for mastery-based courses, such as those delivered by RTOs.
🎯 Try it now: Set up your assessment system
2. Subscribe to OpenLearning Webhook Events via the Webhook Connector UI
You can now subscribe to OpenLearning webhook events directly through the Webhook Connector UI—no manual setup or backend configuration required.
Admins can select the events they want to listen to, configure endpoints, and manage subscriptions all in one place.
Why It Matters
This makes integrations faster, safer, and more accessible:
- No developer bottleneck – integrations can be set up without engineering support
- Greater visibility and control – easily view, update, or disable webhook subscriptions
- Faster system integrations – receive real-time updates for enrolments, assessments, course activity, and more
- Lower risk of misconfiguration compared to manual webhook setups
Overall, it significantly reduces the friction of connecting OpenLearning with external systems like CRMs, analytics platforms, or internal workflows.
Where to Find It
Go to Institution Settings → Connected Apps →Webhook Connector → Select an existing connector, then create or manage your webhook subscriptions directly from the UI.
3. Enhanced Control Over Learner Posts
We’re giving course creators more authority over how learners interact with their own contributions. New settings on Activity widgets (Post widgets) now allow you to decide exactly if and when a learner can modify their work.
Here's how it works:
You will find two new toggles within the Post settings of any Activity widget:
- Allow learners to delete posts: Controls whether a user can remove a post once it’s live.
- Allow learners to edit reflections: Controls whether a user can refine their thoughts after the initial submission.
Default Behavior
To ensure a smooth transition, we’ve applied these settings based on whether your content is new or established:
- New Activity widgets: Both options are OFF by default. This ensures posts remain permanent unless you choose otherwise.
- Existing Activity widgets: Both options are ON by default. This maintains the current experience for your active learners so there are no surprises in ongoing courses.
Why It Matters
Not every learning moment is the same. These settings allow educators to:
- Maintain Academic Integrity: Prevent learners from altering posts during assessed or time-bound activities.
- Encourage Iteration: Enable editing for reflective journals or "work-in-progress" activities where evolving thought is the goal.
Where to Find It
Navigate to Activity widget → Post settings to adjust these permissions.
4. Total Transparency: Enhanced "Late Post" Indicators
We’ve upgraded the Late stamp on posts to provide instant context. Instead of a simple "Late" label, learners and assessors now see the specific data behind the status, removing any guesswork from the grading process.
What’s New?
When a post is submitted after a deadline, the Late indicator now reveals:
- Post Timestamp: Exactly when the learner hit "Post."
- Activity Due Date: The specific deadline that was set for that activity.
By putting these two dates side-by-side, it’s immediately clear to everyone involved exactly why a post was flagged.
Why It Matters
- Streamlined Assessment: Assessors can see if a post was two minutes late or two days late without leaving the page to check activity settings.
- Reduced Friction: Clearer data means fewer "Why was I marked late?" questions from learners.
- Better Context: Provides immediate clarity for moderation and late-penalty applications.
Where You’ll See It
The enhanced info appears directly on the Late stamp within any activity that has a set due date.
Note on Existing Posts: This feature applies to all posts created after this release.
5. Import Exams & Quizzes via IMSCC and MBZ (Institution Level)
Moving assessments to OpenLearning just got a whole lot faster. Institutions can now skip the manual rebuild and import exams and quizzes directly using industry-standard IMSCC (Common Cartridge) and MBZ (Moodle Backup) files.
What’s New?
We’ve expanded our import capabilities to include complex assessment structures. This update allows you to:
- Import Exams & Quizzes: Bring over questions, banks, and quiz structures from other platforms.
- Institution-Level Imports: Administrators can now handle bulk migrations and setup easier.
- Multi-Platform Compatibility: Whether you are moving from Moodle or another LMS that supports Common Cartridge, your transition is now significantly smoother.
Why It Matters
- Drastically Reduced Setup Time: Eliminate the need to manually copy-paste quiz questions or re-configure assessment settings.
- Data Integrity: Minimize human error during the migration of sensitive exam data and grading structures.
- Scalable Onboarding: Ideal for large-scale institutional transitions, allowing you to get your Gradebooks and assessments up and running in a fraction of the time.
Where to Find It
To start an import, navigate to: Institution Settings > Courses > Add new course > Import course from a file
6. Foundational Support for Course Codes
We have officially rolled out the first phase of Course Codes. This update allows Course Admins to assign external identifiers (e.g., MATH1001 or BUS102) to their courses.
While this initial release focuses on laying the technical groundwork for the TCS iON SMS Importer App, it marks the beginning of more advanced course management and integration capabilities.
Current Functionality
- Optional & Unique: Course codes are optional but must be unique within your institution.
- Flexible Assignment: Course Admins can easily add, save, or re-assign a code from one course to another (provided they have admin access to both).
The Roadmap: What’s Next?
This is just the start. We are actively working on expanding this feature to include:
- Enhanced Search: The ability to find courses via code.
- Improved Visibility: Displaying course codes directly on the "Manage Courses" screen.
- Powerful Integrations: Using course codes to streamline data imports and API workflows for learners and course data.
Where to Assign a Course Code
Navigate to Course Setup > General to begin assigning codes to your curriculum.
Ready to explore these updates?
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.