The Spring 2021 software release (VDM 9.7 and VLS 6.7) launched in August 2021. Below is an overview of features that are included with Spring 2021 software release.
Question Validation
When you create a question in the VISION Developer module, VISION will not let you set it to “Active” status until it is complete. This means that it must have a question and an answer, as well as:
Multiple Choice questions must have at least one distractor and one answer.
Matching questions must have all items linked to at least one choice.
Scenario questions must have at least one sub question.
When you change the question’s Status to ‘Active’, VISION will check the question, and, if it finds any missing components, display an error message with the missing items and instructions on what to do next.
Answer Explanation on all Questions
We are adding an ‘Answer Explanation’ field to all types of questions (similar to the fields currently present on True/False and Multiple Choice questions). VISION will include this field on exams, answer keys, reports, documents, and searches. The Learning Station will also display this field during online exam remediation, just as it currently does for True/False and Multiple Choice questions.
Multiple Answers for Multiple Choice Questions
We are changing the way Multiple Choice questions work so that they can have multiple correct answers. Now you can enter multiple answers and multiple distractors, and select two or more correct answers for the question. You can also choose whether or not to award partial credit or negative scoring if a student doesn’t make all the correct choices. These questions are compatible with the VISION Learning Station and all of our related reports.
Select who can see a public course
When you are creating a course event you can limit the learners who will be able to register for it. This will only be applicable to course events that are “public” (not organization specific), and you will do this by selecting the organizations that can register for the course. If a learner is in any of the specified organizations, they will be able to register for the course.
Multiple Instructors for Individual Course Events
When you create a course event, you can assign one “lead instructor” and an unlimited number of “alternate instructors” to it. Alternate instructors can do any of the regular tasks of an instructor, but the Lead Instructor will be the one referenced on reports. The list of users you can select as alternate instructors will be limited by any organizations or job positions associated with the course event. You can change instructors while the course event is active without changing its approval status.
Students can Withdraw from Courses
We are adding a new Course Event option to allow learners to withdraw themselves from a course. This optional setting will allow students to withdraw from the course at any point before starting the exam. Learners will have a ‘Withdraw’ button on the course that will be active until they begin the exam. Learners who withdraw will lose all progress in the course, but VISION will warn them of this before they withdraw.
Summary Page
VISION Developer’s Program Hierarchy nodes have a new “Summary” tab, much like the “Introduction”. When outcomes (Instructor Guides, Lessons, etc.) are generated from the program node, VISION will place material from the summary tab after material from the objectives in the Design tab.
TPE Evaluator Date Adjustment
When evaluating a TPE, evaluators will be able to set the evaluation date when they enter their credentials. This setting will default to the current date, but evaluators will be able to change it.
URL Content Type
When you are working on objective content in the VISION Developer, you will be able to add a URL link to access HTML content that is stored outside of VISION (a website link, for example). This content can be added to a Learning Station course, just like PDF or Custom HTML content is now.
Content Import/Export
The Import/Export feature includes import and export of content.
Improved Password Handling
We are improving VISION Developer password handling for locked project and password protected exams. This new encryption method utilizes .NET cryptography and is compatible with the VISION Learning Station.
Cross Reference Table Print List
We are improving the Print buttons for Cross Reference Tables and Cross Reference Table Items in the VISION Developer module.
The Fall 2020 software release (VDM 9.6 and VLS 6.6) is planned to launch towards end of January or beginning February 2021. Below is an overview of features that will be included with Fall 2020 software release.
Courses and Exams
We are improving VLS exams by adding a feature that will allow learners to resume an exam from where they left off if the exam becomes unavailable suddenly (if the computer loses power, for example). This feature has automatic reentry settings and manual reentry settings to suit different security needs.
We have added a new way for instructors to assign learners to VLS course events. When assigning learners to a course event, Instructors can import a list of learners from an Excel workbook.
We are creating a database script that will move a course (including all past versions, Events, and student data) from one Organization to another.
The Course Exam Results report include the question, the number of correct and incorrect answers, and the explanation all on the same page. This will make it easier to evaluate or review a question as a whole.
Routing paths improvements: each step allows comments and attached documentation. It’s also possible to back up in the routing path to a previous step. And the full history of the original qualification is kept in store.
User Accounts
VLS users who create courses or events in VLS (Instructors, Site Admins, or Admins) are required to have VDM privileges for the VDM Project that contains the course. The Instructor of the Course Event must also have the same VDM privileges.
We are adding a new report in the Personnel area that will display VLS Users who have VDM accounts.
VLS has a new Utility to associate VDM user accounts with VLS user accounts.
In the “Courses” area, users can filter for only the courses available to them based on their VDM security access.
VLS has a new filter on the general Users menu that adds an option to search on the user’s VLS Security Role.
These features will work together to make it easy to associate VDM and VLS user accounts and identify any VLS users (Instructors, Site Admins and Administrators) who will need VDM accounts.
Automatic Emails
We are adding a list of all of the system’s automatically generated (triggered) emails in a new Configuration page.
When a VLS user assigns a VDM user to work on an Action Tracking item, VLS sends an automatic email to the VDM user.
When a learner declines the digital signature at the end of an exam, VLS sends an automatic email to the instructor associated with the exam.
Instructors can send manual emails to selected students enrolled in a course event.
When an Administrator adds a new user to VLS, the program will send two emails to the new user; one as a Welcome email and one containing a temporary Password.
Objective Hierarchy Objectives
We are making a few modifications to VISION Developer’s Objectives. These changes described here affect the Terminal and Enabling Objective nodes in VISION Developer’s Objective workbench.
On the Objective node’s Content page, VISION can now convert Power Point (PPT) content to an MP4 movies and add it as Web-based Learning content for delivery in VLS courses.
We have renamed the Objective's Consolidation page to “Analysis Links” and this page will display all Analysis item links (Direct, Consolidation, and Indirect) to the objective.
VDM no longer requires a Deselected Task (an Analysis hierarchy task node that had been linked to an objective but was removed from training) be unlinked from its Objective(s).
Program Hierarchy Nodes
When you create a new Organizer or Training Unit in the Program hierarchy, VISION will no longer force you to select a “Level Name” before you create the node. You will still be able to choose a level name, if you use that feature, on the node's General page.
As with Power Point (PPT) in Objective content, VISION can convert PPT on the Introduction pages of Program nodes to MP4 movies and store it as Web-based Learning content for delivery in VLS courses.
Reports
We are adding a new report that will identify the items in a VISION Developer Project that have been modified and need to be reviewed.
We are expanding the Report Generator Language to include information from the VLS. This will enable you to generate VISION Developer reports that include some information created in VLS:
Qualified people on a Task with associated qualification information.
VLS Courses that are based on a VDM Course and associated information.
VLS External Courses (that deliver a TU at the request of a LMS) and associated information.
You can email report scripts to FOCUS or to other customers from within VISION’s Reports.
You can save any Report Generator report in either PDF or DOCX format.
General Improvements
When you create or edit a Question node (in the Objectives hierarchy), you will no longer be prompted to change the topic (after the first time). This is a feature you will be able to turn on or off on the Main Menu’s Preferences menu.
The “Go to Hierarchy” feature in the Links Windows has been simplified so that when you use it on a shared node, the instructions for what to do next are clear and easy to use.
VISION Developer Projects that are associated with an Organization in the VLS won’t be able to be locked in the VISION Security program. Currently VDM Projects can be “locked” (made inaccessible) in VISION Security, regardless of whether they are being used in the VLS, which may cause VLS users to be locked out of a project that they are using. If you wish to lock a project in VISION Security you will still be able to do so, you will just have to remove it from the VLS Organization first.
The Spring 2020 software release (VDM 9.5 and VLS 6.5) launched in June 2020. Below is an overview of features that are included with Spring 2020 software release.
Qualification Cards
We are introducing a Change Impact rating to tasks, to records what impact a change has (or not) on training or re-qualifying for the people affected by this change.
A nightly job will send email to notify people of expiring qualifications at predetermined intervals.
In addition to the usual email paths to request trainers, we will provide an instant ‘do it now’ way to record training and evaluation live.
Moving learners to a new version of a Qualification Card is simplified.
Routing paths improvements: each step allows comments and attached documentation. It’s also possible to back up in the routing path to a previous step. And the full history of the original qualification is kept in store.
Exams: New Linked Information
Document links and Cross –reference tables will now be allowed to be associated with a test. A learner will be able to see the linked document when taking the test.
Changes in linked documents will no longer require versioning the object they are attached to.
Assessment Profiles
A new Assessment profile will allow specifying the number of questions to be selected for each objective attached to a Training Unit. VLS will use this value in generating dynamic exams.
Other Improvements
An easy way to randomize the order of multiple choice question answers
Report Security – read/write access such as for tests stored on a common drive.
Better identification of disqualified versions of a question.
Easier upload of Scantron results
Simplification of test creation workflow.
Minor improvements in DIF surveys, question remediation etc.
The Fall 2019 software release (VDM 9.4 and VLS 6.4) launched in November 2019 is in market ready for customers to download. Below is an overview of features that are included with Fall 2019 2020 software release.
Question Handling
Objective nodes now have a “life span” that begins when they are approved and lasts until a new version is created (that is, when they are moved out of Approved status to be edited). When you edit an approved question or create a new question linked to an Approved objective within the objectives lifespan, no versioning icon will be displayed and it will not disrupt tests, training unit question pools, or dynamic exams in the VISION Learning Station.
When you edit a question that is Approved, you will get a message asking if you wish to disqualify the question.
Objective Hierarchy Organizers
Several restrictions are lifted on Objective hierarchy organizers so that they can be added to Program hierarchy training units. Now, all types of objective nodes, including organizers, can be put into training units regardless of type. All of these are listed in the training unit’s Design page. VISION Learning Station can accept content from objective hierarchy organizers, but will not accept any questions from them. All nodes can be sequenced in PA type training units, but only those that are directly linked to a task will be displayed.
Help & User Guide Enhancements
In addition to the normal updates to the help and user guide, instructions for the Security module are being added, as well as instructions on how to use VISION with an LMS.
DIF Surveys
The relationship between tasks and VISION’s online DIF surveys has changed, allowing tasks to be in any status when they are put into the survey and, if they are Completed, to stay in that status through the survey. Their status will only be changed when the survey ends and the Administration period begins.
When DIF values are ready to be uploaded from a completed online survey into the VISION Developer module, VISION will upload the new DIF values to a new version of the Task. The user who updates the VDM must have a VDM account with the privileges to update a task, and an email will be automatically sent to the VDM user who changed the task last.
Evaluation Improvements
Evaluations in the VISION Learning Station are getting a number of improvements. The Evaluation Response Types are easier to use and feature a new Likert Scale option with negative, zero, and positive values. Several default Response Types are available as well.
Evaluations are no longer pre-filled with default answers when learners receive them, and the Results interface features Print and Date buttons and displays the status of an evaluation more clearly to learners when it has not been completed.
Finally, course evaluations can be required of learners before they can complete a course. If an evaluation is required, a red “required” tag will be displayed next to it so there will be no confusion about whether or not the learner must complete it.
Additional Data Fields for Tests
The Test properties window now includes a Comment field (with associated template) and a User-Defined ID (UDID) field that does not require a unique value. You can also search for tests by their user-defined IDs in the Test Search window.