New eLab Students User Guide

The new eLab Students User Guide is what you need to stay on top of your coursework!

Based on feedback from all our users, we have updated our Student Guide to the latest version of eLab.

So what’s new?

• A condensed list of four-five key things you need before you start working in eLab.
• Expanded coverage of eLab functionality including homework and projects, resubmissions on tests and assignments, simulations questions, trial software and accessing your ebook.
• Actual screenshots for each eLab functionality to match with what you see in eLab.

You can access the latest guide from either the User Guide link in your eLab course page or “Get Started Students” section on the eLab home page.

We thank all contributors, that is our students and educators, who help us improve the eLab experience every day.

Download your copy today!

eLab improved to minimize interruptions to your work

I’m pleased to share that eLab’s infrastructure has been upgraded for increased availability and significantly reduced interruptions to your work.

Over the past few weeks, eLab experienced network delays and one of these led to a two-hour outage on Sunday 10/16. This prevented users from logging into eLab. 

We are truly sorry for the interruption in your work!

We have now upgraded our eLab infrastructure to the best available and enhanced security to minimize outages.

If, due to a reason beyond our control, eLab encounters an issue, our team will be instantly notified and initiate a fix. At the same time, eLab users will see an automated message informing them of the issue and ensuring that the fix underway. 

We thank you for your support and understanding!

Regards,

Labyrinth Learning

eLab and eLab SET maintenance this weekend

Due to planned maintenance, eLab and eLab SET will not be available on Saturday October 22, 2016 between 1:00 and 2:00 AM EST. Educators and students will not be able to access their eLab accounts during this time. We appreciate your patience and will be back soon. If you have any questions, please contact help@labyrinthelab.com.

Never lose your Payroll assignment work again!

Becoming a payroll guru just got simpler.

Labyrinth Learning has recently added a new feature for anyone using our Payroll Accounting course in eLab. The new feature will automatically save any intermediate work on all payroll assignments every 5 minutes.

That means learners will never again lose any data entered in online eLab forms—not even if they get automatically logged out of their eLab session.

Thank you to all the educators and learners who helped us add this feature to make eLab better for everyone!

Don’t take our word for it. Try out the new feature at www.labyrinthelab.com.  

And, share your feedback below!

Interested in our Payroll Accounting courseware? Learn more at our online store.

Not using eLab yet? Educators, request a demo today for eLab, our online learning and skills development product with algorithmic assessments and automatic grading.

August 2014 - Upgrade Features

New! Analytics Module - Content Tracker

• In the Reports area in eLab, select the Content Tracker Report and then select the course (section) to view
• Select all students or an individual student. A list of all selected students will be provided
• The screen report will show how much of the various resources in the content area have been viewed by the student(s)
• At the top level, you can see what percentage of the total course resources have been viewed by the student. Then drill into the data for an individual student to see the percentage that was viewed for each unit and each individual lesson. The lesson view can then be expanded to see each individual resource in the lesson and whether the student viewed that resource
• You will be able to see that at this point, the student has utilized 9.87% of the Lesson 3 resources, with 100% of the Lesson Overview, 5% of the Learning Resources, and 9.55% of the Videos utilized. And with the Videos section expended, you can see what percentage of each video has been viewed so far

Test Module Updates - Global Settings

• When creating a test, you can use the Global Setting button (as exists for assignments) in step 1 of the test creation wizard. This will use your standard set up for the first page of test details
• Settings for step 2 and 3 will still need to be done on a test by test basis

Ability to Bulk Add Tests from the Test Library

• The test library is now easier to use when setting up a course by allowing you to select multiple tests at one time to add to your course
• First choose if you would like to apply global settings to the selected tests. If you apply global settings, you will be able to make edits to the tests
• You will be brought to the first selected test to make any edits and then click a Save & Next button to quickly move through editing the other selected tests
• Note: edits to the test questions and settings from step 3 will still need to be made on a test by test basis

Ability to Bulk Edit Tests

• Select multiple tests in their course for editing. Only settings in step 1 of the test creation wizard will be able to be edited using this feature
• Upon selecting the tests and choosing Edit, the settings available in step 1 will be displayed and can be edited. These edits will be applied to all selected tests

Assignment Module Update - Sort by Submission Column

• Now you can sort assignments on the main assignment page by the submission status
• This will allow you to display assignments that have ungraded submissions at the top of the list eliminating the need to scroll through to pick out the assignments with submissions to grade

eLab Upgrade June 2014

New Feature: Add multiple assignments from the library at the same time

This new feature allows instructors to select up to 25 assignments at a time from the library to add to their course. There is also an option to apply global settings to all of the selected assignments. Instructors will be asked if they want to make edits to the assignments (i.e., the due dates). Choosing Yes takes the user to the first selected assignment for editing, and then clicking Save & Next moves the user through the remaining selected assignments.

New Feature: Simultaneously edit assignments
This new feature allows instructors to select multiple assignments and make edits that will apply to all of them (i.e., changing the assignment type, maximum point allotment, due date, and more).

New Feature: Visual Notification of Ungraded Assignment Resubmissions

This new feature adds an asterisk next to the current grade as notification to both student and instructor that there is an ungraded resubmission. Prior to this feature, if a student resubmitted an assignment, their grade for the existing submission was displayed for the assignment and in the gradebook, with no visual cue that there was an ungraded resubmission and that the current grade could change.

New Feature: Access the Concepts Review Quizzes from the Student Test Page

This new feature allows students to access the Concepts Review Quizzes from both the content area and the student test page. The quizzes will remain available in the content area, since they are designed to be part of the training content. Due to instructor feedback, the quizzes are now also available from the test area, so students can easily access them from either place. Upon course set up, the quizzes will automatically be populated on the student test page. There will be no option for instructors to set a required access point for the quizzes.

New Feature: Hide category averages in the student gradebook
This feature allows instructors to display or hide the individual category averages in the student gradebook. The option to display or hide the final course grade in the student gradebook remains unchanged.

Enhancement: Change the test availability window for individual students

This enhancement allows instructors to change the full test availability window (date available and due) for individual students, as is currently available for assignments. Instructors can use the Change Availability Window link in the test information section for specific students, which will continue to display the start and end dates for the entire class as well as for that individual student.

Update: Ability to use dashes and periods in eLab elements
Instructors may now use dashes and periods in the name of tests, assignments, and custom gradebook columns. The following special characters remain not allowed: “ ‚ ' ~ % ^ = [ ] \ { } | < >

The Heartbleed Update

What is the Heartbleed Bug? The Heartbleed security bug is reference to a significant vulnerability related to servers based on OpenSSL. The bug infiltrates servers using OpenSSL, which leads to files holding private information such as personal passwords being stolen. Did Heartbleed affect eLab? No. The Heartbleed bug affected sites that used to take SSL requests (https) and had older versions of OpenSSL. The eLab web servers do not take https requests, so users should not be concerned with this vulnerability.

Is there anything I should do as an eLab user? No action is required; however, if you would like to change to password, click the Change Password link under Account Management on your My Courses page.

eLab: Enhancements for Instructors and Students

Two new eLab enhancements are now available! Effective immediately, you can:

Add More Text for Feedback Notes.  We have increased the character limit from 500 to 1000 in the feedback field where instructors can provide feedback to students for an assignment.

Easily Submit Assignments. We have updated the page when a student views assignments from their assignment page.  Now, both the Assignment Title and Submit Assignment links go to a page that provides details about the assignment and includes a place where they can attach the files and submit the assignment.

You can view these changes by logging in to your eLab account at http://labyrinthelab.com/.

eLab Instructor Workshop - Training for Current Users

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LABYRINTH LEARNING WEBINARS eLabTM Instructor Workshop - Training for Current Users Start the year off right with an eLab Webinar Are you an instructor planning to implement eLab? Or, are you already using eLab and ready to learn advanced features? If so, take advantage of this workshop. Designed as a training session for instructors, this one-hour session will provide a brief 20-minute interactive eLab demonstration with the remainder of the session focused on answering specific instructor questions. Upcoming Instructor eLab dates: Thur Jan 9th - 12noon Pacific / 2pm Central / 3pm Eastern Fri Jan 24th - 10am Pacific / 12noon Central / 1pm Eastern Thur Jan 30th - 1pm Pacific / 3pm Central / 4pm Eastern Give your students a headstart with eLab. Starting this January, Labyrinth Leaning will host a series of eLab webinars geared to students who will be using eLab. Spread the word and help your students be more successful with tests and assignments. Upcoming Student eLab Dates: Wed Jan 8th - 11am Pacific / 1pm Central / 2pm Eastern Wed Jan 22nd - 1pm Pacific / 3pm Central / 4pm Eastern Tues Jan 28nd - 9am Pacific / 11am Central / 12noon Eastern lablearning.com

SERVER MIGRATION THIS WEEKEND – SYSTEM INTERRUPTION OVERNIGHT

To increase capacity and improve system availability, we will be migrating eLab to a new set of servers this coming weekend.   The migration will occur between midnight and 8am EST on Saturday, May 11 to minimize any impact on users.  If you have any questions or concerns regarding this upgrade please contact us as soon as possible.

eLab: Time Zones, Surveys, LMS Integration!

Three new eLab features are now available! Effective immediately, you can:

• Set Time Zone Preferences. Outside of the Eastern time zone? Your eLab courses can now be set to reflect times that align with your time zone. Update your eLab Profile to change the time zone for all courses/evaluations, or use the Manage and Course Description links to update time zones for individual courses/evaluations. The time zone selected will apply to all dates/times associated with the course or evaluation, including times for tests, assignments, mail and discussion forums. Note: If you do not change the default, it will be set to EST.  

• Conduct Surveys. Get immediate feedback from your students with this simple survey tool. Create True/False, Multiple Choice, and Short Answer/Essay questions and store them in your Question Bank for future use. Once you’ve selected the questions for your survey, a link is automatically generated that you can distribute to students via email, a website, or course postings. Completed surveys are stored for automated, detailed analysis and reporting, including individual survey responses, response distribution, and answered/skipped question counts. All survey data can be printed or exported for further analysis and/or storage.
• Integrate your LMS using LTI 1.0. Give your students a seamless learning experience with this simple, standard method to establish a secure link between eLab and any LTI compatible learning management system, including Blackboard, Moodle, D2L, Canvas, and others. With this simple integration, students can access any eLab content directly from your core LMS system with their single, LMS login.

You can view these changes by logging in to your eLab account at http://labyrinthelab.com/.

New eLab Feature: Share!

New eLab Feature: Share your course or evaluation group!

We’re pleased to announce the release of our new Share feature, allowing the sharing of courses and evaluation groups with other eLab instructors. This release follows our recent releases of Project Grader and the eLab Skills Evaluation tool.

Now, with the click of one link, you can share your course or evaluation group with any other instructor on eLab. Just click Share and enter the email associated with his or her account, and the item is shared. No need to contact Technical Support for assistance. It’s quick. It’s convenient. It’s simple.

Instructors receiving a shared course or evaluation group will find It under a new menu item: Shared Resources. Just click on the course to organize it in the category of your choice.

You’ll be able to see these changes by logging in to your eLab account at http://labyrinthelab.com  beginning Tuesday, April 2nd!

To accommodate these eLab upgrades, the Labyrinth eLab website will be unavailable between the hours of 12:01 am and 4:00 am EDT on Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013.

eLab – Project Grading Coming March 13

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We are pleased to announce the upcoming availability of automatically graded, project-based assessments for your Office 2010 courses. Future Office 2013 titles will have similar assessments.

Project Grader exercises are available for the following titles:

MS Office 2010: Brief
MS Office 2010: Essentials
MS Office 2010: Comprehensive Introductory
MS Word 2010: Comprehensive
MS Excel 2010: Comprehensive
MS PowerPoint 2010: Essentials
MS Access 2010: Essentials

Beginning Wednesday, March 13, you will be able to access Project Grader exercises through your eLab™ assignment library. All project grader exercises will include an icon    in the assignment title. In addition to the settings for standard assignments, project grader exercises will include the following options:

• Point Value. You can set a point value for each step in the exercise.
• Partial Credit Scoring. You have the option to provide partial credit for steps having multiple tasks.

All other fields are the same as when setting up other eLab assignments. Students access and submit Project Grader assignments just like they do all other eLab assignments. The only difference is that in Project Grader assignments, students will always download at least one file. Once submitted, projects are automatically graded and detailed feedback can be provided directly to the student.

To explore the new assignments, login in to your eLab account at http://labyrinthelab.com/ beginning Wednesday, March 13. And for a live demo of this new functionality, sign up for one of our upcoming eLab instructor workshops at www.lablearning.com/webinars.

- Best regards from Labyrinth Learning

Adobe FLASH Player Issues with Videos and Simulations

A new concern has arisen where a student may encounter a "you need to have Adobe Flash Player 9 installed" message upon clicking on a video or Simulation question in eLab.   The message may appear randomly at times even though the computer being used appears to have all the latest software updates available.

If the above scenario is encountered, the problem may be that you are running Microsoft Windows 64-bit edition and are using Microsoft Internet Explorer 64 bit Edition web browser but have installed the 32-bit version of the Adobe Flash Player.  Unfortunately, Adobe.com does not verify which web browser bit version you are using when you go to download Adobe Flash Player so the possibility of downloading the incorrect bit version is high.

The issue can be easily resolved by installing the 64 bit version of Flash Player. Please follow the link below for a step-by-step guide in installing the 64 bit flash player version on 64 bit Microsoft Windows computer:

http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/flash-player-64-bit-operating.html#main_Check_whether_you_have_64_bit_Internet_Explorer

eLab SET – On Demand Enrollment

Instructors now have the ability to create and enroll students into their courses via a simple form.   In you’re my evaluations, navigate to the MANAGE > MANAGE LEARNERS tab and click on the "Add Learner" button, and the following form will appear.  A Student ID field is being added also as an optional field.

eLab Dashboard Upgrade

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Effective November 19, three new usability improvements to your eLab Dashboard will be released. You’ll be able to:

• Organize your Courses and Evaluations. You will now be able to drag and drop your courses/evaluations to organize your dashboard how you want it. Move your courses and evaluations from one category to another. Re-order your categories in the order you want. Or re-order courses and evaluations within categories.

• Collapse or Expand Course/Evaluation View. Simplify your dashboard by collapsing detail for some or all courses or evaluations. One easy click to minimize detail, click again to expand.
   
• Access commonly used pages from menu links. We’ve added short-cut menu links to speed access to often used pages directly from your Dashboard.

                  

You’ll be able to see these changes by logging in to your eLab account at http://labyrinthelab.com/ beginning Monday, November 19!

To accommodate these eLab upgrades, the Labyrinth eLab website will be unavailable between the hours of 12:01 am and 4:00 am EST on Sunday, November 18.

eLab Upgrades Postponed - Network Issues

Notice: The planned October 30 upgrade with new eLab features and eLab Skills Evaluation Tool has been delayed due to network issues unrelated to eLab. We hope to complete the upgrades tonight to be live tomorrow (October 31).

eLab – More new features!

We recently told you about some new eLab features that were released October 17, and our new eLab Skills Evaluation Tool (SET) which was planned for October 29 (this has been rescheduled for October 30). You can read the full announcement of these features on our blog at http://labyrinthelab.blogspot.com/.
As we finalized plans for our eLab SET release, we were able to add some additional educator-requested improvements that will make using eLab even easier. Effective October 30, along with the eLab SET release, the following improvements will be released:

• Gradebook enhancements.

• Resubmissions - the gradebook has been updated to highlight resubmissions so you can quickly identify when an assignment has been resubmitted, and a link will take you to the specific student assignment that was resubmitted so you can quickly evaluate the resubmission and update the grade.
   
• Navigation – you will now be able to click “Back & Save” to return to the gradebook following an update to the grade 

• Student dashboard upgrade. Students will be able to view eLab license key activation history directly from their dashboard.
   
• Registration form improvement. We’ve added an email confirmation field to ensure students are entering their email address correctly when registering. 

You’ll be able to see these changes and all the features previously announced by logging in to your eLab account at http://labyrinthelab.com/ beginning Tuesday, October 30!

To accommodate these eLab upgrades, the Labyrinth eLab website will be unavailable between the hours of 12:01 am and 4:00 am EDT on Tuesday, October 30.
~ Best regards from Labyrinth Learning

eLab - New Release Coming Oct 17th.

We are continuing to improve and extend the functionality of eLab™, and two new releases are coming in October. You will see improvements to eLab for your courses, and the release of a new tool, the eLab Skills Evaluation Tool (SET), designed specifically for creating and delivering computer skills inventory tests and other evaluations.

Phase 1: Beginning Wednesday, October 17, you will be able to:

• Copy Assignments. Now you’ll have the same ability to copy assignments that you’ve had with copying tests. Copy existing assignments to any course in your account.
   
• Send Custom Messages upon Enrollment. You’ll be able to create a custom email message that will be automatically sent to students when they enroll in the course.
   
• Improve your posts in the Discussion Forum. New editors have been added for improved functionality and ease of use for both instructors and students. And now you can attach a file up to 8MB to each post. 

Phase 2: On Monday, October 29, we’ll be releasing our new eLab Skills Evaluation Tool (SET), providing everything you need to create, administer, and grade computer literacy tests to gain an accurate evaluation of student knowledge. This tool is intended for testing only – no course management or training. You can confirm pre-requisite skills for computer or online courses, or demonstrate the skills learned following a course. A few highlights:

• Flexible, Online Access. Testing can be done anytime, on any online computer. You decide when, where, and how often tests can be accessed.
   
• Pre-enrollment or On-Demand Registration. Register students in advance so they are pre-enrolled at the time of test, or register at time of testing.
   
• Comprehensive Question Library. Spanning introductory to advanced topics in computer basics, the internet, email, Microsoft Office applications, and more.
   
• Highly Realistic Simulation Testing Environment. eLab SET uses the same simulation testing environment that you currently use.
   
• Affordable licenses as low as $3 per student. eLab SET is an economical and easy way for institutions to test knowledge outside a regular eLab course.

With this release, we will be referring to your current eLab, with the complete course management functionality, as eLab Course Management System (CMS). Licenses for purchase on our website and elsewhere will be identified as eLab CMS licenses, while licenses for the Skills Evaluation Tool will be identified as eLab SET licenses. You’ll also see a few changes to your eLab interface, including the change from My Courses to My Courses/My Evaluations, and the option to create a new Skills Evaluation Test when creating a new course/evaluation.
For more information on our new eLab Skills Evaluation Tool, visit our website at http://www.lablearning.com/Store/eLab-SET/

To accommodate these eLab upgrades, the Labyrinth eLab website will be unavailable between the hours of 12:01 am and 4:00 am EST on Wednesday, October 17 and on Monday, October 29.
~ Best regards from Labyrinth Learning

Unable to view Labyrinth Videos due to network security protocols?

If you accessing the Labyrinth Learning eLab system to view video tutorials and your computer network has strong security measures in place you may encounter issues loading the video content.   The only solution is to speak with your Network Administrator and request that they add the following web addresses to their firewall or network monitoring software's "approved list" of websites so that video content from our servers is approved and can be displayed on your computer(s) upon request.  

The URLs that need to be added to the approved list are the following three:

www.labyrinthelab.com

lms.labyrinthelab.com

d1xcg46xsgz8e.cloudfront.net

If you have any questions regarding this please feel free to request assistance from our Labyrinth eLab technical team by filling out our Contact Form.

Best Regards

Labyrinth Learning eLab Technical Support