In its current form, no-- but the content collaboration and task management you're describing seem reasonably straightforward to implement.
Courses as they exist now are unaware of semesters or terms, and are only tied to the students enrolled. So if the students enrolled in a particular class don't change (or change very little) between two semesters, you could continue use the same course for a 2nd semester if you wanted, or you could import your students into a new class and name the new class "Class Semester 2" for example.
I'm happy to work on features to fit your use case if you're interested in offering suggestions or are looking for a better solution than your current one; my email is brad [at] gradefinity [dot] com and I'm generally pretty available to talk about features/suggestions/demo stuff, etc.
Gradefinity (https://gradefinity.com) is a kind of Blackboard + Scantron LMS alternative that is really targeted in terms of what problems it intends to solve (in-person and online tests, gradebooks, and communication).
Full disclosure: I built it-- I'm very receptive to feedback and feature suggestions though and am looking for pilot schools if anyone is interested in shaping the platform/knows someone who might be.
Moodle is a popular open source LMS (learning management system) written in PHP that could use a ton of improvement, especially on the front end. It's not necessarily bad, but it is very outdated compared to offerings by private companies.
Gradefinity is a testing solution/micro LMS which accommodates online and in-person testing: https://gradefinity.com
It was primarily built to serve as a Scantron replacement, so classroom management features are limited to online testing and course announcements.
Full disclosure: I work a full-time job (at least for now, save for any layoffs) so support would be somewhat limited. I can also take down the paywall for as long as needed for any schools affected by Covid-19
Other free options:
- Moodle (more technically involved, needs to installed/hosted by someone and setup can be challenging)
- Canvas (I haven't personally used this, but it seems to be growing in popularity. From what I understand it is somewhat similar to BlackBoard)
I built this because I was shocked at how inefficient the process of grading and entering grades was during my time as a teacher's assistant in college. If you've ever taken a multiple-choice test at a high school or university in the U.S., you've likely used Scantron forms before. These are handy for automatically grading multiple choice questions, but once they're graded the task of getting these grades into the school's LMS (i.e. BlackBoard, Canvas, Moodle) remains. As a TA, I would spend hours looking at grades printed on Scantron forms, then manually hand-keying these grades into the school's learning management system for dozens, if not hundreds of students a night. If you've ever entered grades before, you know that entering grades is a long, tedious, process.
Gradefinity makes grading easier in several ways:
1. It can be used with a regular office printer and scanner, so no specialized equipment (i.e. Scantron grading machine) is needed.
2. Each bubble sheet is pre-printed with a student ID number. When bubble sheets are uploaded, Gradefinity uses OCR to match the students' bubble sheet answers to their identity in the database, then enters the grades for the appropriate students.
3. Gradefinity also captures open-ended responses from students and displays this in an Assignment Review page for instructors to review, along with multiple choice answers. Instructors can leave feedback on these open-ended responses for the student to review later using their student log in credentials.
It also supports online testing and has quiz building tools as well. Grades can also be exported to .CSV from the online gradebook for further editing in the instructor's spreadsheet program of choice.
I'd be super grateful if any teachers or professors on HN were to make an account and provide some feedback. The site is still pretty new at the moment, so despite relentless testing I apologize in advance for any bugs that you might run into.
Thanks! The site is still fully functional, I haven’t spent much time promoting it yet, though. I still plan on keeping it up indefinitely and would be thrilled if it got some new users.
I had the urge to build a minimalist online suggestion box, so here it is. I'm curious to see if anyone here has a use case for it. It's pretty basic right now; you can create a traditional suggestion box for employees, or you can make public boxes and collect feedback from customers. Public boxes have their own link for easy sharing (i.e. you could put it in an email, send via chat, etc.).
Ideas for the future:
- QR code generator for boxes (reduces friction when getting the customer to your box)
- Voting
- Ability to show or hide your identity when submitting a suggestion
- Forms/Surveys
- Pretty much anything else-- I'm open to suggestions
We're trying to build the go-to marketplace for game devs to buy and sell video game assets. Right now when you try to buy assets online, they're usually isolated by engine (Unity Asset Store, UE marketplace) or on various creative marketplaces on the web (CGTrader, TurboSquid, Envato). Our idea is to consolidate everything for game dev under one roof. As for how we make money, we take 30% of revenue from the sales made on our site.
I'd be super grateful if any game devs on HN were to make an account and provide some feedback. The site is pretty new at the moment, so I apologize in advance for any bugs that you might run into.
It would be more like a couple of weeks or 1 month. I see what you mean here but I think that some customers may be interested in this approach because at this point they can offer suggestions for features and influence what is included in the app.
Showing them a mockup or signing them up for email updates at least would be something tangible so they have some piece of mind between the time of purchase and launch.
I just spent the last few weeks developing this site. One of the features that I thought would be interesting to have is a'Graffiti' feature. It allows any user to put their message and/or link on the home page indefinitely until the next person 'graffitis' over it. It's essentially a free form of advertising. I may monetize this feature down the road, but right now it wouldn't make sense. It's entirely free.
Besides that, it's kind of like Instagram and Hacker News put together. There's a 'Top' and a 'New' page for the most recently liked and newest posts, similar to HN. The layout is similar to Instagram, but Splindid supports text and link-only posts in addition to photos.
I don't know exactly how I'm going to monetize it yet. Right now and for the next few weeks I'll be trying to get people in front of it to see whether they use it or find value in it. I'm seeking feedback too, so please roast it as much as you like. :)
K-12 schools and universities to be specific. My app is a bubble sheet grader that grades multiple choice questions and captures free response-style answers. Much like Scantron, but with automated data entry:
https://swiftgrades.com
Courses as they exist now are unaware of semesters or terms, and are only tied to the students enrolled. So if the students enrolled in a particular class don't change (or change very little) between two semesters, you could continue use the same course for a 2nd semester if you wanted, or you could import your students into a new class and name the new class "Class Semester 2" for example.
I'm happy to work on features to fit your use case if you're interested in offering suggestions or are looking for a better solution than your current one; my email is brad [at] gradefinity [dot] com and I'm generally pretty available to talk about features/suggestions/demo stuff, etc.