Total lesson score
December 1, 2022: Teachers can now see the student's total lesson score for the assignment after a task is completed. If there are tasks with more than one attempt, the total score can be switched from First to Best. Clicking on the "i" icon opens a modal with the full details of the scoring. Learn more about scoring with this Help Doc.
New lesson page
October 19, 2022: Ellii's lesson page has a new look! It's now cleaner and simpler to navigate. This improved design allows you to toggle between the lesson’s overview, digital tasks, and PDF—all in one place. You can seamlessly present content interactively, in class and online. Read more about it in our Help Docs.
New writing task design
September 5, 2022: Ellii's writing task type (Open-Ended Questions) has a new design that matches the updated design of the Speaking task! Students can now read the reference on a split screen while answering comprehension questions. A Hide reference toggle is also available if students want to see the writing box in full.
New Speaking task design
September 1, 2022: Ellii's Speaking task has a new look and feel! References are no longer in a modal. Students can now see the reference prompt (question, photo, illustration, reading, or audio) on the screen at all times as they create their recording.
After they finish the recording, students simply slide to the next screen to review and submit. (Students can also trash their recording from the first screen and start again.)
You may want to run through the new style with your students so that they understand how to delete, edit, and submit their speaking tasks.
Watch for a similar design improvement coming to our writing and comprehension tasks soon!
Auto-Scoring (AI) open beta
August 29, 2022: Following a successful closed beta round of testing, we've officially launched an open beta test of our Auto-Scoring (AI) feature for open-ended writing questions. Ellii teachers can now opt in to use this feature in their classes to save time on grading digital tasks.
You'll find the auto-scoring opt-in checkbox when you create your class and edit it. This feature currently only works for comprehension-style writing questions where Ellii's Publishing team has provided suggested answers. These tasks will be auto-graded if you opt in, however, as a teacher, you can always edit the score if Ellii Bot doesn't grade something to your liking.
Note that you need to opt in for each class and assign to students within a class in order for the AI to work. Learn more...
That's News to Me Flashbacks
August 24, 2022: The That’s News to Me category has a new section called Flashbacks. There, teachers can find all older news articles. Take a look...
Videos and flashcards in Media Gallery
August 15, 2022: You can now find and play videos without going into lesson tasks. You will find a brand-new Media Gallery in our Materials drop-down menu. In the Media Gallery, you'll see tabs for Flashcards and Videos.
Videos are organized by sections and categories within sections, just like flashcards. When you click into a video, you can see which lesson(s) it's found in as well as a list of similar videos.
Watch for more Media Gallery updates coming soon!
Student Dashboard 6X faster
August 15, 2022: We're constantly making improvements on the student side that teachers may not notice! Our developers have been working diligently to improve the performance of the Student Dashboard for the hardest-working students at Ellii. Those who have a lot of assignments on their dashboard should now notice a sharp increase in performance.
Ellii Bot recommendations
August 2, 2022: Up till now, we've recommended content for you based on your preferences and our calendar features. Now we're also using machine learning to recommend content that you may be interested in based on teacher behavior. You'll see Recommended by Ellii Bot on your Classroom page for these types of recommendations.
Our developers will continue to improve these recommendations as we learn more about machine learning.
Grade band preferences on or off
July 18, 2022: If you teach adults, you may not want to see suggested grade bands on Ellii materials. You can now go into your Account settings and turn off Grade Bands in the Grade Band Preference area.
Organization Reports
July 8, 2022: Ellii Organization account users with admin access can now view the Reports Page! Under Organization on the top menu, there is now an option called Reports. There, admins can see all the data related to their account and connected teachers. The data goes as far back as January 1, 2022 and can be exported as a CSV file.
Please note that the Manage Teachers page has been renamed to Team and has been moved to the Organization dropdown.
Copy Ellii Folders
July 5, 2022: Teachers can now copy an Ellii Folder by selecting “Copy to My Folders” in the more options menu.
Collections index view
June 23, 2022: The Collections page has a new view! Teachers can now see the sub-pages in each category without clicking on the main page, making it easier for you to find the content you want—fast.
Class Sharing
June 22, 2022: Teachers and other educators who are part of an Organization account can now share classes! Co-teachers of a class are able to manage assignments, add feedback, grade work, view student participation, and more. Learn more…
Ellii's on Spotify
June 22, 2022: We recently launched a Spotify account! Teachers can pair our playlists with lessons found on the Ellii platform for a more engaging learning experience. Get started…
Equivalency Scale: ELD (1–6)
June 13, 2022: We added numeric proficiency levels (ELD 1–6) to our Equivalency Scale. These proficiency levels align with WIDA’s proficiency levels (Level 1 Entering, Level 2 Emerging, Level 3 Developing, Level 4 Expanding, Level 5 Bridging, Level 6 Reaching). K–12 teachers who want to see these levels on Ellii filters and labels can select ELD & Ellii in their account settings. Take a look…
Task Score
April 11, 2022: Open-Ended Questions and Speaking digital tasks now have a Task Score. If at least one question requires teacher scoring, a Partial Score warning is displayed so that the teacher knows that they need to manually import a score.
On the student side of the platform, they will see a warning symbol to indicate that their displayed score isn’t final.
Assignment Manager
April 6, 2022: The new Ellii Assignment Manager will allow teachers to easily assign tasks to their students with a simplified view. Teachers can also now leave their students a note with their homework! Learn more…
Microsoft's Immersive Reader tool
April 4, 2022: Microsoft’s Immersive Reader tool is officially available on Ellii! This highly requested digital tool helps learners improve their reading, writing, and comprehension skills by reading the text out loud. It can also be customized to offer students a more personalized reading experience. Learn more…
ESL Library is now Ellii!
March 14, 2022: ESL Library is now Ellii! We changed our name to better reflect who we are in today’s English language landscape, which is one of the most widely used content and courseware platforms for English teachers in the world. Learn more…
New Flashcards page
February 17, 2022: The Flashcards page has a whole new look! This redesign will make it easier for you to search through our flashcard categories and sections, create flashcard sets, and link to individual flashcards. Learn more...
Archiving Classes
February 10, 2022: You can now archive classes! Archiving a class allows you to hide a class without losing all the data associated with that class. In other words, you’ll still be able to see previous results and feedback from that class, even after you’ve archived it. Learn more...
Classroom page
February 10, 2022: The My Classes page is now called “Classroom.” It also has a brand new look! You’ll notice three tabs for Classes, Students, and Assignments, allowing you to toggle between them with ease. Learn more...
Updated navigation bar
February 10, 2022: We updated our platform's navigation bar to make it easy to find what you're looking for. You'll now see:
- Materials, which remains unchanged
- Class Prep, which has replaced Saved;
- Classroom, which reflects what was formally the My Classes page.
Collections in Search
February 10, 2022: Collections now appear in your searches! You can also filter the material type to see only collections using the Collections tab on the search results page.
