Skip Navigation

Features to know in Elentra ME 1.27

A galaxy

We are pleased to announce that Elentra ME 1.27 and the maintenance releases 1.26.1, 1.25.2, and 1.24.3 are now available to all Consortium participants.

These high-level release notes contain a brief description of the key changes included in Elentra ME 1.27. Additional enhancements, bug fixes and more detailed information related to this release can be found in Elentra Collaborate here (login required).

Key Changes in Elentra ME 1.27

Update to Clinical Experience

Contributors: Elentra Consortium Core Team, Queen’s University, Elentra Corporation 

1.27 includes significant changes to the Clinical Experience module. These changes include updates to the Lottery the Location Module, and Manage Instructors. The majority of the contribution comes from the Elentra Corporation with additional enhancements created by Queen’s University.  

Lottery

The new lottery module allows learners to rank their order of preferred rotations, swap schedules and/or sites and preceptors. Swapping gives learners the ability to fine-tune their clinical experiences. Administrators can quickly upload the available options for learners via CSV, making it easier to run and maintain lotteries.

Locations

The updated location module now gives administrators the power to add contacts, site visit records and agreements to their location sites, buildings, or room levels. The location module has a robust search for sorting and filtering locations. Administrators can link locations to instructors, and link locations to curriculum tags for a more nuanced and detailed rotation schedule. Learner can now view this information to get a more detailed look at sites they may encounter during their clinical experiences.

Instructors

The new instructor module provides an enhanced way for administrators to manage the information associated with clinical faculty. Administrators can associate instructors with locations and curriculum tags to surface important data about preceptors to learners. Administrators may add notes to an instructor’s profile for administrative purposes or show them to learners. Images can be added to profiles, making it easier for administrators and learners to put a face to the name. Files may be associated with instructors to allow document management for clinical faculty members, including dedicated functionality for managing agreements.

Preferred Names

Contributors: Elentra Consortium Core Team, UCLA

Users may now choose to display a preferred name in place of their first name throughout most of Elentra. First name may still appear in some areas of Elentra, as a result we recommend using this feature for shorter forms of longer names or anglicized names.

Thank you again to all of the contributing members of our Consortium community for helping to create Elentra ME 1.27.

Elentra Mobile 4.2.1 Released!

Space Galaxy

The Elentra Consortium is pleased to announce the release of the latest mobile version 4.2.1. This minor release focuses on a few minor improvements and bug fixes. More specifically:

  • Added support for confidential question types.
  • Resolved issues with searching assessment forms.
  • Increased white space between assessment and evaluation questions.
  • Internal improvements, updates, and fixes.

Features to know in Elentra Mobile 4.2.0

Aurora Borealis

The Elentra Consortium is excited to announce the release of the latest mobile version 4.2.0. This release contains core updates and fixes included with the unreleased 4.1.0 version. It also contains an improved user experience for Learners and Faculty when completing Assessments & Evaluation. More specifically: 

1. Updates to display Start and End dates.

2. An updated single-page form

3. A new progress on the header

4. A new submit button instead of the save button.

5. Auto scroll to missed item.

This version is compatible with all supported versions of Elentra and supports both SSO and local authentication. 

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play

Features to know in Elentra ME 1.24

A galaxy

On behalf of the Elentra Consortium community, I am pleased to announce that Elentra ME 1.24 and the maintenance releases 1.23.1 and 1.22.2 are now available to all consortium participants.

These high-level release notes contain a brief description of the changes you can expect to see in 1.24. Smaller enhancements, bug fixes and more detailed information related to this release can be found here.

Competency-Based Education (CBE)

Contributors: Elentra Consortium Core Team, Elentra Corporation, Queen’s University

Queen’s University with the support of the Elentra Corporation and the Core team is pleased to announce a more flexible competency-based module. This new framework will allow schools to build their curriculums using their own nomenclature.

With CBME the foundation of CBE, schools will easily be able to migrate their existing curriculums over to the new framework.

While this module was specifically developed for Competency-Based curriculums, there is functionality that may be applicable to other use cases. The Core team is happy to work with you to see if CBE is the right tool for you.

PHP 8

Contributors: Elentra Consortium Core

Release 1.24 is also now compatible with PHP 8.0, in addition to PHP 7.4.

PHP 8.0 changes that required fixes in Elentra to support it includes changes to how String to Number comparisons work, warnings that are now errors, notices that are now warnings and other backward incompatible changes in PHP 8. Schools are encouraged to test their custom changes with PHP 8 before deploying 1.24 to production. More information on PHP8 backward incompatible changes can be found here.

Although 1.24 is compatible with PHP 7.4, schools are recommended to update to PHP 8.0. Upcoming release 1.25 will only be compatible with only PHP 8+.

Register for Elentra Engage 2022, Pasadena

Learn from the experts. Share your ideas. Network with colleagues.

Elentra Engage 2022, where the community becomes our network.

Elentra Engage 2022, where the community becomes our network. Sponsored by the Elentra Consortium, this annual invitational event brings together faculty, administration, and technical staff from international medical schools and health sciences programs to provide a rich educational, leadership, and networking experience. The 2022 conference will have four tracks focused specifically on the needs of Faculty and Leadership, Administration, and Technical Professionals with some talks focused on the Elentra Corp offering. Elentra Engage is an excellent professional development opportunity for staff and faculty. You will learn applicable skills specifically related to the integrated teaching and learning platform you use every day.

Be sure to book your hotel by July 1st to get our special conference hotel rate of $209 USD. Conference registration is open, so why not register today?

Features to know in Elentra ME 1.23

Space Nebula

On behalf of the Elentra Consortium community, I am pleased to announce that Elentra ME 1.23 and the maintenance releases 1.22.1 and 1.21.2 are now available to all consortium participants.

These high-level release notes contain a brief description of the changes you can expect to see in 1.23. Smaller enhancement and more detailed information related to this release can be found here.

Exam Question Management

Contributors: Elentra Consortium Core Team, University of Ottawa

The University of Ottawa with support from the Elentra Core team has made significant changes to the exam module.

Question uploads will now support a labels feature, instead of folders. This allows your institution to apply the relevant categories directly to the question, instead of duplicating the question in different folders.

Various enhancements have been made to the user interface including:

  • Introduction of an optional mode that allows admins to define whether individual exams and/or questions are Summative, Formative, both, or neither. This may be a useful tool to ensure formative questions don’t end up on a summative assessment (and vice-versa)
  • Improved question search functionality that greatly expanded filtering options to make it easier to find the question you’re looking for
  • Improved the user experience around creating and defining questions and their content
  • Developed as a new Elentra JS 1.x module featuring an enhanced user interface

Peer Instruction

Contributors: Elentra Consortium Core Team Sponsored by University of Arizona Vet Med

We are excited to announce the inclusion of a Peer Instruction module in Elentra ME. Peer Instruction is a pedagogical tool developed to provide learners with the opportunity to examine both their own and their peers’ understanding of content. In Elentra, administrators are able to set up a pair of polls, both for the same question. The first poll establishes a baseline of knowledge, after which Learners have an opportunity to discuss their answers and rationales with their peers. Following a brief round of discussion, the second poll begins and Learners record their answers once again, incorporating any new found perspective and insight on the subject matter.

AAMC CI Report Enhancements

Contributors: Elentra Consortium Core Team, Washington State University

Significant enhancements were made to the AAMC CI Report to comply with version 10 of the Medbiquitous specifications. These changes were applied to versions 1.20, 1.21 and 1.22.

Learning Events

Contributors: various schools

Several new enhancements have been added to Learning Events including:

  • the ability to add comments and photos to the list of Learners
  • attendance tracking by location
  • display the event audience on the tooltip
  • the ability to take attendance and mark Learners as present, late or absent and send an email about their attendance status
  • the ability for Learners to mark their own attendance

Gradebook

Several bug fixes and a Gradebook enhancement will increase the file size limit for learner submissions to 250 MB for Assignment Drop Boxes. Bug fixes include:

  • fixes to the grade calculation
  • fixes to grade weighting

Course Website

Several bug fixes were completed including:

  • fixes to course rollover functions
  • fixes to allow learners to open Streaming Media links in a course website
  • fixes to display curriculum tags in the course community
  • fixes to the course website discussions

Several other bug fixes and minor enhancements have been made. For a full list, please access the Detailed Release notes here.

CBE Data Visualization and Reports Working Group

The northern lights over a mountain range

The Elentra Consortium is pleased to announce the formation of a CBE Data Visualization and Reports Working Group. The goal of these meetings is the create tools needed to understand how learners are progressing through your competency-based curriculum.  

This Working Group is open to everyone, regardless of being a consortium member. Our first meeting is schedule for February 3rd, from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. EST.

Please email [email protected] for access to the Zoom meeting link.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Features to Know in Elentra ME 1.22

Solar System

On September 13th, 2021 version 1.22 was released to the community. Below is a high-level summary of the improved features and functionality you can expect.

Microsoft Teams Learning Event Integration
Contributors: Elentra Consortium Core Team Sponsored by University of Singapore (NUS)

This exciting new integration allows Teams to be set up in a Learning Event based on the course enrolment. Once integrated, Teams Meetings may be automatically generated per Learning Event.

Updates to Learning Event Draft Schedules Including box.com Integration
Contributors: Elentra Consortium Core Team Sponsored by University of Singapore (NUS)

This enhancement includes significant changes to the user interface to provide a better experience. It also includes the ability to add event resources to draft events, which was previously unsupported. An integration with box.com was added which will allow users the ability to upload resources if they have an account.

Improved Control Over Course Pages and Events
Contributed by the Elentra Corp.

For private courses, administrators are now able to set a visible start and end date for the course website and all associated events. Learners will only be given access to course materials at a defined time.  

Improved Discussions Experience
Contributed by the Elentra Consortium Core Team

Threaded discussion pages are now available in Communities. Learners and Faculty may now reply to a reply.

Improved Evaluation Privacy and Security
Contributed by the Elentra Corp.

Individual completed evaluation tasks may now be restricted. This function may be turned on using new optional database setting. Organizations can optionally allow specific users to view completed individual evaluation tasks by adding them to a database field.

Improved Visibility of Tasks Awaiting Completion
Contributed by the Northern Ontario School of Medicine

In recognition of the frequent request by learners to view tasks they have initiated but are not yet completed by an assessor, NOSM built a view to display this information. Currently, learners will not be able to send reminders for these tasks, nor will they be able to view the task data (since it is in draft mode), but they can feel confident that the task has been generated and is awaiting action from the assessor.

Integration with Respondus LockDown Brower for Elentra Exams
Contributed by the Elentra Corp.

A new integration is available that will support Respondus LockDown Browser as a security option for exam posts.

Features to Know in Elentra ME 1.21

Carina Nebula

On April 27th, 2021 version 1.22 was released to the community. Below is a high-level summary of the improved features and functionality you can expect.

Location Management
Contributors: Washington State University, Elentra Core Team

A refreshed Location Management module has been rewritten in EJS 2. The new user interface has  an updated look and feel.

Custom Course Contacts
Contributor: UCLA

Users managing courses can now optionally define custom course contacts (i.e., label someone as a Course Assistant instead of Teacher). You can choose to show the course contact on the course website or not.

Learning Event Teaching Minutes
Contributor: Elentra Corp.

Administrative users, or faculty themselves, can optionally define the number of minutes in a learning event that a specific teacher taught. This data is captured in the relevant System Reports.

Learning Event Feedback Form Bulk Management
Contributor: Rush

Administrative users can now associate a feedback form with multiple events at once. They may now optionally generate a passcode that must be entered for learners to access the feedback form.

Course Gradebook Assessment Form Display Flexibility
Contributor: Elentra Corp.

Gradebook administrators can now decide whether to show learners assessment forms linked to gradebook assessments. They will now have the flexibility to show assessment forms before grades are entered, after grades are entered, both, or neither.

Course Gradebook Adjusted Total
Contributor: Elentra Corp.

A new column in the grade spreadsheet will now allow gradebook administrators to enter an adjusted total course grade. This can allow you to show a learner’s final grade incorporating ungraded requirements like professionalism or attendance.

Course Gradebook Ignoring Unentered Grades
Contributor: Elentra Core Team

Previously in a course gradebook, any unentered grades were automatically treated as zeros in the administrator view of the grade spreadsheet. A database setting has been introduced to allow you to decide if unentered grades should be ignored.

Learner View of Assignments
Contributor: Elentra Core Team

Updates have been made to the Assignments page to allow learners to apply filters to their view of their assignments. This allows learners to easily see which assignments are for which course and curriculum period, and which they have yet to submit.

Assessment and Evaluation Completed Form Confidentiality
Contributor: Northern Ontario School of Medicine

This new feature allows you to mark an assessment and evalution form as confidential. Confidential forms will hide the name of the assessor or evaluator whenever the form is viewed in Elentra (e.g. on the Admin dashboard for Assessment and Evaluation).

Assessment and Evaluation Task Forward Support for External Assessors
Contributor: Northern Ontario School of Medicine

Administrator can now forward existing external tasks to another assessor. The assessor may be internal, or external.  

Clinical Experience Rotation Schedule Improvements to Import and Export Options
Contributor: Queen’s University

Administrative staff can now use csv files to upload rotations. Changes include the ability to schedule learners into bookings of varying lengths, and include site and preceptor details in the csv.

Competency Based Medical Education Assessment Plan Detail Visibility
Contributor: Queen’s University

Programs and Residents using CBME dashboard will now see more EPA details, including contextual variable.

Competency Based Medical Education Visual Summary
Contributor: University of Ottawa (via University of Saskatchewan)

An exciting new dashboard will show the summary of completed CBME assessments. This enhancement is the result of the collaborative work done by the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Ottawa.