This article contains a short description of each new update of the ThingLink scenario builder.
AI assistant tools for Scenarios
July 12, 2023
ThingLink is introducing new AI-powered tools aimed at simplifying content creation process, including 4 tools for scenarios:
- 'Generate questions' creates multiple-choice questions,
- 'Suggest branches' creates branching paths,
- 'Write a recap' generates a summary of the preceding text content,
- 'Rewrite' allows you to quickly rewrite a block of text.
By default, these tools are available to all users except students. If your company or institution has an organizational account, you can control access to AI tools via organization settings.
Minor update: device preview
July 3, 2023
You can now easily preview what your content looks like on different devices & screen sizes using the 'Preview on devices' feature. Learn more here.
Minor improvements package: fullscreen mode, 'Preview from block' option, and more
May 4, 2023
This update brings a number of minor improvements to the viewing & editing experience:
- Fullscreen mode: your viewers will now see a 'Fullscreen mode' button next to the 'Proceed' button that opens the scenario in fullscreen. Highly recommended for embedded scenarios & viewing scenarios on mobile. Note: fullscreen mode is not supported on iOS/iPadOS, so the button is hidden.
- 'Preview from block' option allows you to preview your scenario from a specific block rather than previewing from the very beginning. Simply hover over the block, click the three dots button and select 'Preview from block'. Note that it is not possible to share a link to specific block within a scenario yet, this feature works for the scenario author(s) only.
- You can now show a 'Restart scenario' button on the scenario results screen. The button is optional and is not shown by default; you can enable it via scenario settings.
- 'Timer auto advance' is a new setting. If turned on, the viewer will be advanced to the next block automatically when a timer runs out.
Minor update: scenario editor visual update
April 12, 2023
This update changes the visual style of scenario blocks in the editor so they are easier to read. In addition, you will now see a dashed arrow leading from Jump blocks to their target blocks:
Minor update: better mobile adaptation
April 04, 2023
Scenarios now look better on mobile or small screens in general.
Statistics update: analytics overlay
Released: March 07, 2023
This update allows you to view how your learners interacted with a scenario by enabling a visual data overlay that provides the main statistics & shows the most common learning paths at a glance:
Learn more here: Tracking learners' progress.
Mintor update: custom invitation messages
Released: December 20, 2022
When you share a scenario with someone, you can now add a custom message that will be sent to them via email. The custom message will replace the standard message. Simply check the 'Add message' button when adding users to a scenario via the "Manage access" menu, enter your message and click Done:
Sharing scenarios in different languages
Released: December 12, 2022
You now have the option to change the language of the default user interface elements in your scenario (like the 'Proceed' button) when sharing scenarios. See this article for more information.
Accessibility player for scenarios
Released: November 23, 2022
This update adds a special viewing mode for all ThingLink scenarios designed to better meet WCAG web accessibility standards. See this article for more information.
New branching type: conditional branching
Released: November 21, 2022
This update added a new type of branching called conditional branching. Unlike simple branching, conditional branching blocks allow the learner to pick multiple answers, and you can direct them down a different path based on what combination of answers they selected. See this article for more information on both types of branching and when to use them.
Note: as part of this update, 'Condition' blocks are now called 'Questions' to avoid confusion and to better represent what the block does.
Minor update: text formatting options for text blocks
Released: October 17, 2022
This update added a number of text formatting options (bold, italics, inline links, lists) for text blocks in scenarios. See the 'Text blocks' section in this article for more information.
New feature: move & clone blocks
Released: September 9, 2022.
You can now move blocks if you wish to change the structure of your scenario. You can also clone blocks if you wish to reuse the same block in different parts of your scenario. Simply hover over a block, click the three dots (...) button and select the 'Move & attach' or 'Clone & attach' options, then select the new location:
See this article for more information on these and other tools for editing your scenarios.
New feature: embed blocks
Released: September 7, 2022
You can now embed an external tool directly into your scenario. To do this, add a new block, select the 'Media' option and paste the embed code into the 'Embed code' field:
Note: the 'Media' block replaces what used to be called the 'Scene' block. The Media block can be either a ThingLink scene (if you click the 'Upload or select a scene' button and choose one of your ThingLink scenes) or an embedded external tool. See this article for more information on what kinds of tools you can embed.
Comments
4 comments
Will Scenarios ever be able to be viewed with 3D headsets?
Hi Laura Blair, you can view scenarios in a Virtual Reality headset - simply open the Share menu for your scenario, select 'View in VR', and open the link in your VR headset.
The VR mode for scenarios is very similar to the VR mode for standard ThingLink interactive media described here https://support.thinglink.com/hc/en-us/articles/360033826593-ThingLink-Virtual-Reality-VR-
What membership level is required. I believe my school already has a paid account but I am unable to share the Thinklink URL of the senario to our class VR headsets.
Laura Blair ClassVR is an exception here as they use their own system & a special integration to display ThingLink content. Unfortunately, ClassVR headsets do not support scenarios yet. If you have access to other VR headsets (e.g. Oculus Quest, Pico Neo, HTC Vive Focus), you should be able to view scenarios there.
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