Last updated: July 9th, 2024
As Outschool continues to evolve, we’re constantly working on improvements to enhance the experience for both educators and learners. Follow along as we share a glimpse of what changes we made, highlighting specific parts of a class listing:
Remixing the Style of the Syllabus
To improve the clarity and organization of Course information, we’re revamping the styling of the syllabus section. Here’s what’s changing:
- Repositioning Badges: The “Curriculum” & “Standards” badges will be moved down to the syllabus section for better visibility and relevance. We also will call out the curriculum badge in the class experience section.
- Improved Display: Only a fixed height’s worth of lessons will be displayed, showing however many fit in the space. This ensures a cleaner and more organized presentation.
- Inclusion of Tags: Each lesson will feature tags at the bottom highlighting whether it’s a live class or self-paced. Additional information such as the duration of live meetings, total minutes of video content, and the number of assignments attached to the lesson will also be included.
- Modal for Full Syllabus: Clicking “Show all X Lessons” will open a modal that displays the full syllabus, allowing families to see the entire Course structure at a glance.
Highlighting Educator Credentials
To provide families with valuable insights into the expertise of teachers, we’re implementing changes to elevate the visibility of your expertise.
- Credential Upload: Solo teachers and organization teachers have the ability to upload their credentials directly on Outschool. You can upload a wider range of degree options and add extra info like minors, focuses, and achievements. This will enhance transparency and credibility, empowering learners and parents to make informed decisions. Organization admins have access to view the credentials uploaded by their teachers.
- Enhanced Display: The teacher section of the CDP will prominently feature educator credentials, providing learners and parents with valuable information about the background and expertise of the instructor.
Solo teacher class listing details teacher credential view:
Organization class listing details teacher credential view:
Clearer Course Descriptions
To meet the demand for clearer and more descriptive Course information, we made updates to the class edit flow. These changes empower educators to provide structured details on Course content and evaluation methods.
Improved Course Description Flow
Our goal is to make it easier for educators to communicate the value of their Courses while providing families with comprehensive information. Here’s what you can expect:
- Streamlined Information: We’re streamlining the class edit flow by restructuring how information is entered. The “Estimated time spent on the class outside of meetings,” Homework policy, Assessment policy, and Grading policy fields have been combined into new sections: “Outside of class learning” and “Class evaluation.” This allows educators to provide the same valuable information in a clearer, more organized way.
- Structured Input: Educators will be required (only for the Course class format) to specify:
- the number of outside of class learning hours per week/lesson.
- add at least one item for outside-of-class learning and one for mastery evaluation. You’ll enter: estimated time spent outside of class meetings, what learners will receive, and feedback and grading.
- provide clear details on the types of assignments included in the Course. This structured approach ensures that Course information is presented in a consistent and informative manner. This is only required for the Course class format.
- Administrative Access: The updated fields will be presented on the activity approval page for Outschool admins, ensuring compliance and consistency across Course listings. This administrative access ensures that all Courses meet the platform’s standards and guidelines.
These enhancements aim to provide a more user-friendly and informative experience for educators, learners, and parents alike. We’re committed to facilitating meaningful learning experiences through clear and transparent Course descriptions.
Enhanced Learning Goals Presentation
Our aim is to ensure that learners and parents have a comprehensive understanding of the objectives of each Course. Here’s what you can expect:
- Structured Goals: We’re moving away from the free-text field for learning goals and implementing a structured approach. Educators will now be required, for the Course class format only, to add learning goals in order of importance. This will provide a clearer picture of what learners will gain from the Course and help set appropriate expectations.
- Improved Display: The first two learning goals will be prominently displayed in the “Learning Goals” callout on the class details page. Families will have the option to view additional goals in a pop-up, allowing for a more detailed understanding of the Course objectives.
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Enhanced Navigation and User Experience
Introduction of Navigation Bar
We’re introducing a navigation element that will allow families to jump to different sections of interest within your class listing page easily. This navigation bar will remain fixed at the top of the page when scrolling, providing convenient access to key information.
Updates to Class Experience Section
Styling enhancements and the introduction of a modal for displaying additional class experience details will improve the overall usability of the class details page. These updates will ensure clear communication of Course features and requirements, providing users with a more informative and engaging browsing experience.
It’s important to note that we are initially running these changes as an experiment, so not all families will see these updates right away. As educators, if you want to see changes to your class detail page, please make sure you are logged into your teacher account.
As these enhancements roll out, we’re committed to providing educators and learners with an even more enriching and user-friendly experience on Outschool.
