Q: Will there be another Microsoft Office Release and when?

A: YES! As of September 26th, 2017, Microsoft released the following information:https://blogs.office.com/en-us/2017/09/26/the-next-perpetual-release-of-office/. Per this blog post, this next release “is scheduled for the second half of 2018.”

Q: What is Office 365 vs Office 2019 vs “Perpetual Release”?

A:****Office 365refers to the subscription version of Office. Office 365 comes in a variety of versions for home and business. Regardless of the specific Office 365 version, all subscription-based versions receive updates at a minimum of two times a year. These Office 365 versions are kept up to date and will receive the “Office 2019” changes as just another update. As Microsoft has dropped the naming convention “2016” from the current Office 365 offerings, we suspect they will not use “2019” with Office 365.

Office 2019 refers to the non-subscription or “perpetual” version. This version is a one-time purchase. We believe the Office 2019 release will be a roll-up of all the updates Office 365 users have received through July 2018. This new “perpetual” release is a way for users who purchased that type of license to get an updated version of the Office applications at least one more time before Microsoft eventually forces everyone into the 365 subscription model.

NOTE: Office 365 includes both downloaded/installed full versions of the apps and online/limited versions of the apps. Office 365 does NOT refer to the online apps only. Some users may still be confused about this and think 365 = online apps (which is not correct).

Q: Do we know if file extensions will be the same or is this a major upgrade?

A: While we do not know the answer to that for sure, if MS were making a change that large, we would know well in advance. While possible, we do not expect MS to do something to change the file extensions. We are 95% certain this will be a roll-up of all the Office 365 updates to date that the “perpetual” licenses missed out on. (With maybea user interface freshening). To perpetual license users, it may seem like a major upgrade (new features, etc.), but to 365 users who are getting constant updates anyway, it appears to seem like a normal update.

Q: Will current SIMnet users need to do anything when they switch to Office 2019?

**A:**Current SIMnet users will KEEPthe same account URL for usage and implementation.

When Office 2019 content is released, they WILL need to enable the 2019 content via:

SIMnet Course Manager>ADMINISTRATIVE SETTINGS>PRODUCTS> shift SIMnet 2019 to RIGHT.

Additionally, they will also want to enable Office 2019 textbook series options via:

SIMnet Course Manager>ADMINISTRATIVE SETTINGS>TEXTBOOKS>shift appropriate textbooks to RIGHT.

Q: How can I keep up-to-date with McGraw-Hill Education’s SIMnet 365/Office 2019 Development?

**A:**For more information on specific SIMnet 365/Office 2019 development, please continue to visit the SIMnet Blog. We will post updates as we have new information to share.

In Practice Excel Independent Project 5-4 was updated on Friday, October 20th. This update will require students who downloaded their instruction file and start file before that date to download a new start file and new instruction file in order to successfully complete the project. Students who downloaded their start file and instruction file after Friday, October 20th will not experience any issues.

To determine if a start file or instruction file was downloaded before the change, the student should view theCreated field by right clicking the file and selectingProperties. They can also view the date of the instructions by looking for the Last Updated date in the footer of their instruction file.

SIMnet now supports the same style ofAcademic Integrity DetectionforResourcefiles as Project assignments. Academic Integrity Detection is available for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access files from Microsoft Office 2013 or newer. With this feature instructors can determine if students are submitting their own file or another student’s; or if students have inserted portions of another student’s work into their own file.

To use the SIMnet Academic Integrity Detection for resource files, first upload your resource file to SIMnet from theCreateoption in theResourcessection. Academic integrity detection is only available forFiles, notLinks. When assigning the resource to a course there is a new section in theAssignment Detailspane for resources:

In theAssignment Preferences section, select theEnable Student Submissionscheck box to enable the Academic Integrity Detection options further down in the same section. Select theEnable Integrity Detection for the Start Fileto enable Academic Integrity Detection in your Resource file. If you would like to block students from uploading a file if they are submitting another student’s file or a file containing portions of another student’s work, leave theAllow Student Submissions with Integrity Violationcheck box blank. If you would like to allow students to submit a file with work that is not their own, check theAllow Student Submissions with Integrity Violationcheck box.

To view Resource submissions, click onResourceson the left menu and selectSubmissions. In theClassdrop-down menu select your class. You can view all submissions from this view or further filter by the individual resourceItemor by theFeedback Provided. This view now includes an additional column,Integrity Violation Status:

Files that only include the submitting students data are markedOK. Files that include data that does not belong to the student are marked with the Integrity Violation shield icon. Click on that icon to view theAcademic Integrity Violation Report. This report details where the data that does not belong to the submitting student originated.

Instructors may elect toSuppressan Integrity Violation. Clicking theSuppressbutton in theAcademic Integrity Violation Reportcauses the Integrity Violation icon in the Submissions section to become gray and theIntegrity Violationicon in the gradebook to be removed. Suppressed integrity violations can be flagged again at any time by viewing the violation report and clicking theFlagbutton.

Instructors can nowDownload All Submissionsfor resource files with the click of a button. In theSubmissionsview of theResourcessection, select the desired class. In the top right corner of theResultssection click theDownload All Submissionsbutton to download all of the submissions in the current view, including any appliedItemorFeedbackfilters.

TheBulk Download window guides instructors through downloading currently submitted resource files. To view each file organized in subfolders according to assignment and then student, select theNested (with folders)radio button and clickDownload Submissions. Files downloaded in this manner are named according to their attempt number, student ID, student name, and submission name.

To view each file all in a single folder, select theFlat (no folders)radio button and clickDownload Submissions. Files downloaded in this manner are named according to the item name, student name, student ID, attempt number and submission name.

SIMnet will be unavailable each morning from 3:30-6:30AM Central time on December 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 and January 1st. This maintenance has been spread across multiple days to avoid a longer, single day maintenance window. We are performing routine maintenance to improve performance, reliability and security.

Sincerely,

McGraw-Hill Product Team

New, enhanced OneDrive simulation is coming to SIMnet on Friday, September 29th. OneDrive-based Let Me Try interactivities in SIMbooks and Exam questions will feature a simulation of the OneDrive environment.

All Let Me Try questions will be replaced automatically on the 29th without any disruption. Students who have completed SIMbook questions will not need to repeat them and their grade will not change. Students who have yet to complete the questions will need to answer the new questions to get credit for their assignment.

All currently assigned Exam questions will not change. The assigned multiple-choice questions for exams will continue to be assigned to students. Instructors have carefully designed their evaluations and SIMnet will not change those evaluations. In addition to the currently available questions, a new set of simulated OneDrive questions will be available to assign in Exams. Like other simulated environments (e.g. Excel), the questions will correspond with steps in the Let Me Try environment. Starting next semester the multiple-choice questions will not be able to be assigned to new exams so that they can be slowly phased out.

On Friday, October 6th, instructors will be able to combineSIMnet simulation questionsand t**est bankquestionsinto a single exam for 2016 content. This feature is available for any SIMnet exam, SIMnet exam template, practice exam, or practice exam template.

To create a combined SIMnet simulation and test bank exam, selectExamson the left hand menu of the Course Manager, then selectCreate. Ensure that yourTypeselection isSIMnet Exam,SIMnet Exam Template,Practice SIMnet Exam, orPractice SIMnet Exam Template. On the right select the radio button for SIMnet 2016 content.

To add SIMnet simulation questions, select the desired Textbook, Module, Exam, or Template and add the desired questions. If you are adding SIMnet simulation questions by Textbook, ensure that theSIMnet Simulationradio button is selected.

To add test bank questions, select the desired textbook and chapter, then select theTest Bankradio button. You can further refine your selection by choosing a question type from theAll Question Typesdrop-down menu.

In a SIMnet exam, test bank questions will each appear on their own screen. Test bank questions can be attempted a single time only, even if the exam settings allow for multiple attempts on other questions.

Instructors can tell whether an exam question is a SIMnet simulation question or a test bank question in theModule Namesection of theAssigned Questionsbox. Test bank questions will be labeled asTest Bank Questions. SIMnet simulation questions will display the specific module they were selected from.

On Monday August 28th from 2:03 to 2:34 PM, EDT SIMnet was unavailable or experienced longer than normal load times in some North American regions. Users who were effected by this outage would have experienced long load times or been unable to load SIMnet.

This outage occurred due to technical issues experienced by our Content Delivery Network (CDN) provider. We are working with the CDN provider to ensure the continued stability of the SIMnet platform for all of our users.

We appreciate your patience and apologize for the inconvenience. Should you or your students experience any other issues, please contact our Customer Experience Group toll-free at 800-331-5094 (US Only).

Sincerely, SIMnet Product Team

SIMnet will be unavailable Sunday, August6th, 2017 from 4:00AM – 8:00AM Central. We are performing routine maintenance to improve performance, reliability and security.

Sincerely,

McGraw-Hill Product Team

A Flash Player bug has begun to cause issues for some students accessing Microsoft Office 2013, 2010, or 2007 content. When using Exams, SIMpaths, Lessons, or the Let Me Try portion of SIMbooks, the cursor may become invisible, making the content difficult or impossible to complete. This error is caused by the Hardware Acceleration setting of the Flash Player and must be turned off in that environment.

This bug is most likely to occur when users are clicking and dragging content. An example of this behavior isusing the Fill Handle to copy the contents of a cell in Excel.

To remedy the issue with, users should open their desired browser and visit theFlash Player Help Page. If Flash Player is disabled or blocked by your browser, follow the onscreen instructions to enable Flash Player. When the Flash Player is enabled, look for the Flash animation of a growing tree on that page.

Right click the image and selectSettingsfrom the menu.

Deselect theEnable hardware accelerationcheckbox and click theClosebutton. Close the browser and reopen it to complete the changes.

To read more in-depth analysis of the issues that the Flash Player Hardware Acceleration bug has caused, readherefor Firefox orherefor Chrome.

Due to recent changes to the Chrome browser, students are having issues with accessing theTeach Meportion of 2007- and 2010-based lessons. The Chrome browser has slowly made changes to the way it displays Flash content. The Chrome browser will no longer allow off-screen Flash content to load without an explicit exception from the user. Chrome browser also requires a 1-time approval of Flash content in use by the Office 2013 simulation.

The simplest way for students to access the Teach Me portion of 2007 and 2010 Lesson content is to use a different browser. Firefox, Edge, and Internet Explorer successfully load 2007 and 2010 content without additional intervention.

Please follow the followinginstructions to approve Flash content in Chrome browser:

• Click theCustomize and Control Google Chromemenu button, shaped like 3 vertical dots, in the upper right corner of the browser window.

• Next, selectSettingsfrom the drop-down menu.

• On theSettingsmenu select the**Show advanced settings…**link at the bottom.

• In thePrivacysection of the expanded menu, click the**Content settings…**button.

• On theContent settingsmenu, in theFlashsection click theManage Exceptionsbutton.

• Type**[*.].simnetonline.comin theHostname patternbox and clickDone**.

• Once you have completed these steps you can close theSettingstab.

• For2007 and 2010 Lessons, you will need to click thePuzzle pieceicon in the upper right corner of the browser and select theRun all plugins this timelink.

Once you move forward one topic, all additionalTeach Mecontent will load for that browsing session. Each time you open a new lesson or reload the lesson content you will need to click thePuzzle pieceicon and theRun all plugins this timelink.

Unfortunately, the System Requirement Check is only able to detect if Flash Player is installed, not if the plugin will be available to SIMnet.

SIMnet will complete its transition to the new gradebook onFriday, July 28th. After the 28th the old gradebook view will no longer be available to any users. The Results section on the left-hand menu will no longer display theGradebookandGradebook (new)options. The only option will beGradebookwhich will navigate to the improved gradebook.

Ourpost on May 18covers more information about the new gradebook.

NEW! SIMnet Gradebook Friday, May 19th

The new gradebook and current gradebook will be available together between May 19th and July 28th. After July 28th the current gradebook will be removed from SIMnet.

OnFriday, May 19th SIMnet will be rolling out a new and improved Gradebookto all schools. This new gradebook features quicker loading times and an enhanced feature set. We are rolling out the new Gradebook alongside our current Gradebook so that users can get a feel for the new features without throwing their current courses off track.

The new grade book appears directly below the current gradebook on the left-hand menu, with the textGradebook (new).

Simply click the Gradebook (new) option to access it. Select your class from the class list to view all the associated grades.

The first thing that you will notice is that the gradebook loads dynamically. Only information on the screen will load at a given time. Courses with many students and many columns will load significantly faster than before.

New Features

Filtering

The first new feature is the option toFiltercolumns, users, and grades. To access the filter results, click theFiltericon right below the gradebook selection. When you click the filter button the filter options are displayed.

You can filter byUsers(using any of their data – first name, last name, email, username or student ID) to see the grades of a specific student. Simply type the name of the student you want to see. As you type the course list updates with those who are still included in that search.

You can filter byColumnsto view how the whole class did on a particular assignment. Type the name of the column you wish to view. The columns will automatically refresh as you type to only include valid columns according to your search criteria.

You can also filter by grades within a specific column, or columns using theGradesfilter. Click the**+next to the drop down button in the Grades section. Choose a column from the drop-down list; then choose a calculation; then choose points. You may want to filter like this to see students who did poorly on a midterm exam. You can add additional grades to the search by clicking the+button again and adding a new column, calculation and points. If you are searching multiple grades, use themeet ALL conditionsselection if you want only results from students who meet each criterion set. Usemeet ANY conditions**if you want results from students who meet any criterion.

For example, you may elect to search by a PowerPoint and Excel Exam to see students who did well on both. To do this you would add two Grades. First you would select the PowerPoint Exam column. Select the >= calculation and then select 8/10 points. Then you would select the Excel Exam column, select the > calculation and then select 7/10 points. If you had themeet ALL conditionsselected you would see students who got better than 80% on the two exams.

To remove a filter, delete the criteria from the text box or simply click the minus button next to the individual grade filter.

To remove all filters, click theClear Filtersbutton at the top of theFilterssection.

Email Selected Users

If you have noticed through your filtering that a number of students are doing poorly in your class, you can email them directly from the gradebook. Click the check mark by the student’s name and click theEmail Selected Usersbutton.

Improved Information from Gradebook View

The gradebook now provides increased information all from the main view. Each column has the total points available in the assignment displayed to give grades a better context for the instructor.

By hovering over a grade column, you can get statistics about that grade, including the high, low, average, standard deviation and how many students have yet to submit their grade.

For gradebooks with many grades you can click the right and left arrows (in addition to the scroll bar, and arrow key shortcuts) to navigate the gradebook.

Single Student Record

Selecting a student brings up their user profile where you can see important information like their email address, recent activity and ADA information. If the student is missing modules for their course, theClick to view missing moduleslink will bring you to the Students section and show any missing licenses based on assigned courses.

Selecting theView Reportlink at the top of the User Settings menu displays the student’s data for the course. This report is now printable so that it is easier to share.

LMS Sync

Instructors can make sure that grades go from SIMnet directly to a paired LMS in the gradebook in three different ways.

First, by selecting a single student the LMS Pairing option displays with that student’s data. Click on theSync all user gradesbutton for any paired student to pair all of their grades to the LMS.

Second, an individual grade can be sent to the paired LMS by selecting the desired grade and clicking theRe-sync gradebutton.

Last, instructors can sync an assignment by selecting the entire column. The current status of a synced assignment will display grade sync statistics and inform instructors whether a sync is required. If it is, simply clickRe-sync all grades.

There are a number of new features associated with the options in the top right corner of the gradebook.

Full Screen Mode

The first option isFull Screen Mode. The gradebook will expand to hide the URL and take up the whole screen. This is designed to show more grades and students for large classes.To exit Full Screen Mode hit theEsckey.

Refresh axes & grades

The second option willRefresh axes & grades. This option is designed to pull in fresh data from a new filter or calculation without reloading the entire gradebook. This can be useful when students are completing an exam and want to confirm submission.

Export Data

The third option isExport Data.You can download the gradebook data. This option will download the entire gradebook in CSV or Excel form as you desire. Excel formatting has been updated and improved to work better with newer versions of Excel.

Help & Info

TheHelp & Infoselection will show a legend for icons in the gradebook.The icons are divided between User Icons, which appear next to a student’s name; Column Icons, which appear on a column; Grade Icons, which appear next to an individual grade.There are many icons and keeping them straight can be difficult. Bringing up this cheat sheet makes finding the correct icon simple.

In addition to the Icons, the new gradebook allows forKeyboard Shortcuts, which are available on this screen. Use keyboard shortcuts to navigate the gradebook and make edits to individual grades or columns.

Gradebook Actions & Settings

The last button is theGradebook Actions & Settingsmenu. From this menu you can edit columns, scales, scale templates and preferences on a new screen.

Column Order

TheColumn Ordertab contains options to change the order of columns in the gradebook. Columns are listed vertically from 1 to the last column in the gradebook. Click and drag theicon on each column to move it to the desired location in the gradebook. You can click theSelect in gridbutton to move directly to the column in the gradebook. TheSettingsbutton will take you directly to theColumnstab with that particular column’s settings displayed.

You can also use the Column Order tab to pin columns to the left side of the gradebook screen. Set the columns that will be pinned so that they are at the start of the gradebook, starting with column 1 and going through all columns that will be pinned. Then enter the number of pinned columns in the**# of pinned columns**text box. Pinned columns will appear yellow with a pushpin icon on the right of the column.

Columns

TheColumnsselection will let you change how individual gradebook columns behave. Each column is displayed on the menu on the left. Selecting a column displaysGeneral,Display,DataandGridsettings for that column.You can change the title, calculation display, or hide the grade until a certain date. You can also change the calculation based on a certain number of points; make the assignment extra credit; or freeze the column after the due date.

Making an assignmentextra creditis a new feature for the gradebook. The assignment points will increase a student’s grade if they are completed but will not harm the student’s grade if incomplete.

Each of these options is also accessible by clicking the column heading in the gradebook.

You can add new calculated columns which calculate the grades of other columns or custom columns which you can use to enter data manually. To edit column defaults, select the desired column and click theDefaultsbutton. Defaults automatically apply to any column that is the same type. To add a column click theCreatebutton at the bottom of the list of columns. To remove a column, click theDeletebutton.

Scales

Scales allow the gradebook to quickly sort the class into grade ranges. Typical scales are the A, B, C, D, F scale or the Pass/Fail scale. From the Scales menu you can Edit, Create, or Delete a scale.

Scale Templates

Scale templates are scales that are visible across a campus. A scale template starts as an easy jumping-off point for instructors to use when displaying their gradebooks. Create, Edit, or Delete a Scale Template the same way you create a template.

Show Hidden Columns

If you have elected to hide a column in the column’s preferences, it will not show in the Gradebook by default. You can quickly view hidden columns by selectingShow Hidden Columns. This selection will show a check when active.