Teachers Spoke, We Listened: New Usability Tweaks

We've been listening to your feedback and working hard to make Typing.com even better! We're excited to share several improvements that will make your teaching experience smoother and more intuitive. Let's dive into the details of what's new and improved:

Smarter Assignment Creation

Creating assignments just got easier! Have you ever made an assignment that included lessons you'd previously disabled for your class? It used to cause confusion, but not anymore. Now, when you create an assignment, any lessons you've disabled will automatically be enabled for that class. You'll see a helpful note on the assignment summary screen letting you know which lessons have been enabled. This smart feature streamlines your workflow, eliminating the need to manually enable lessons after creating assignments. It's one less thing to worry about, allowing you to focus on what really matters – your students' progress!

Extended Custom Lesson Timed Tests

Good news for those of you who love our Custom Lesson timed tests – we've extended the maximum duration! You can now create tests up to 10 minutes long. This new 10-minute option gives you more flexibility in assessing your students' typing skills, especially for longer passages or more comprehensive evaluations. Whether you're preparing students for extended typing tasks or just want to challenge their endurance, this feature has got you covered.

Improved “Time Spent Typing” Tracking

We've fine-tuned our "Time Spent Typing" measurement to give you a more accurate picture of your students' typing activities. Now students will see a friendly pop-up message that lets them know that the timer starts when they begin typing, ensuring only active typing time is counted. We’ve also ensured our typing tests accurately record time spent typing as well, bringing consistency across all typing exercises. Don't worry about the games – they already had smart timing built in, either pausing when inactive or ending after prolonged inactivity. These updates mean you'll get a clearer view of how much time your students are really spending on their typing practice, helping you better support their progress.

Enhanced Sync Information for LMS Users

For our teachers using Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Google Classroom, we've added a new feature to keep you informed. You'll now see a "last synced on" message in the Classes view of your Teacher Portal. This addition ensures you always know when your class data was last updated from your LMS. No more guessing about whether you're looking at the most current information. It's a simple way to stay on top of your data and feel confident that you're working with up-to-date information.

Intuitive Student Profile Navigation

Remember those arrows in the top right of an individual student view that let you easily flip between students? We've made them work the way you'd expect. Now, when you use these arrows, the order of student profiles will match your most recent sort preference in the Class list. By default, students are sorted by last name, but if you've changed the sort order (say, to first name or typing speed), the toggle order will reflect that. This improvement is especially helpful when you're gathering scores for grading. No more surprise jumps – just smooth, predictable navigation through your class list.

Improved Modal Navigation

We know it's been frustrating when hitting the back button while in a modal navigated away from the page instead of closing the modal. Well, we fixed that! Now, when you hit the back button while a modal is open, it'll close the modal as you'd expect. This change aligns with natural user behavior, reducing frustration and improving your overall navigation experience within the Teacher Portal. It's a small change, but we think it'll make a big difference in your day-to-day use of the platform.

Enhanced Student Stats View

We've added two new options to the dropdown menu in the student portal's lessons page stats view: "This Week" and "Last Week". Students can now easily track their recent progress without having to calculate dates. This addition provides a more intuitive way for students to view their performance, aligning with how you, as teachers, also view their work. It encourages students to regularly check their progress and helps them set short-term goals.

We're constantly working to improve Typing.com based on your feedback. These updates are designed to make your teaching experience more seamless and effective. We hope these quality-of-life improvements will save you time, reduce frustration, and help you focus on what you do best – teaching. As always, we'd love to hear your thoughts on these improvements.

Happy typing!