ManageBac now has a new “look and feel”. You will notice many changes, which we are pleased to have released after several months of work, internal debates, feedback from friendly coordinators, and browser testing. This update also includes improvements to PYP, which are described in more detail below.

For the best experience possible, we recommend using Safari 5, Chrome or Firefox. If you are required to use Internet Explorer (IE) because of internal policy, we would recommend version 9 or higher. If you have the choice, don’t use IE.

Why do we keep making changes?

ManageBac’s old interface would turn five years old in September 2012. While many incremental changes have been made, we felt that it was the right time to address many usability issues and to improve the layout & styling across the system.

What has been changed?

These are the usability & design changes on this deploy:

• Usability & Consistency of Actions: On many of the worksheets, there was inconsistent navigation (e.g. to Edit/Delete a CAS Activity or Edit an EE Proposal, you had to first hover over the activity or proposal). This was confusing, and we have eliminated this convention. Whenever you have permissions to Edit or Delete, you will see the buttons in red underlined text in the top right corner.
• Approval & Completion: On the CAS, EE, ToK Paper, C &S and Personal Project worksheets, we have moved the status buttons to the top right menu and placed them together with icons to make it clearer. The approval is now visible on the tabs, so if you’re reviewing CAS reflections, you can mark completion without having to navigate back to the Summary tab.
• Top navigation menu: We have added icons on the top-nav buttons to symbolize each tab’s purpose and to make the distinction between the second nav-menu more clear.
  
• Space Optimization: The student & advisor info sections were taking up a significant amount of vertical space, we have compressed the photos to minimize the need for scrolling. Under the Student Info, you will also see a simpler navigation with green arrows for switching between students.
• Buttons, Tables & Forms: The styles have been updated to reflect a more subtle tone. The focus of ManageBac is on helping you get your work done – the system is not meant to be “flashy or bright”, so we have tried for reduce the variation in color schemes.
• Sign In: The new sign in page is simpler with a timeless style.

Key functional changes:

• Auto-Save: This keeps a local copy of your work whenever you are writing a message, working on a unit, CAS reflection, etc. so that if your browser suddenly crashes, your work is still saved when you re-open the page. Please note this only works if you are using Safari 5, Firefox 3.5 or IE 9 and higher.
  
• Interviews: We have consolidated the interviews for CAS, C&S, the Personal Project and EE onto the bottom section of the worksheet under the Message Board (now referred to as Notes & Interviews). This will enable us to eliminate a redundant set of Interview pages, and it will allow you to more easily record your Interview notes without having to navigate to a separate page.
• MYP Gradebook: If you hover over the criteria headers, you will see the full set of descriptors corresponding to each level. On the right menu, you will also find the grade boundaries from the MYP Coordinator’s Handbook (e.g. to convert to IB 1-7 grades). We have also adjusted the progress chart to show the full cumulative year-to-date progress. This was a request we received from many MYP Coordinators.

Earlier this morning, we deployed internal message notifications, which will streamline communication.

Better notifications was one of the top feature requests, so it was a priority for us to have this in place. ManageBac now sends 330,000+ e-mails a month, and message notifications will support daily summary updates and reduce e-mail volume. It will also enable us to better communicate important changes and feature updates to all users. Under the My Account > Notifications tab, you will have the option to enable or disable the types of notifications you’d like to receive.

User Interface Refresh

On March 9, we will be refreshing the user interface and deploying the new Dashboard. We hope that you like the cleaner “look and feel” for ManageBac.

The navigation flow will remain largely the same, but this is a major step towards fully harmonizing the interface across all three programmes, so that there is consistency in the way information is presented and in the styling & placement of Add, Edit and Delete buttons.

Dashboard

The Dashboard is one of the first things you’ll see in ManageBac. Our goal was to simplify the process for getting things done.

Instead of having to first navigate into your classes or IB year groups, you will be able to post messages & deadlines, add CAS activities, create assessment tasks, start a unit plan, etc. directly from the first page after signing in.

Depending on your role as an IB Coordinator, Teacher or Student, you will see a slightly different version, but the general principle is the same: less navigation, so you can get more done with fewer clicks.

You will also notice the latest activity feed, which shows activity updates across IB year groups, classes and CAS and C&S groups. If you use Facebook, this will be instantly recognizable.

Feature Request Progress Report

Since launching our feature requests forum with UserVoice in October 2011, we have received over 200 feature requests. Thank you for your suggestions and feedback.

Over the past four months, we have been working through the top 20 requests, which have received over 10 votes. The balance of ~180 requests have < 4 votes.

These are a summary of the major updates that have been completed over the past six months:

• Resource Duplication: Being able to easily add deadlines, tasks, files and messages to multiple IB groups and classes.
• Gradebook: Implementing auto-save, one-click per criterion, harmonizing the interface of the Gradebook with the rest of ManageBac in a spreadsheet style, and simplifying the grading process with the least number of clicks.
• Whole-school Curriculum Map: Making the units drag’n'drop for easy re-ordering and information hovers.
• MYP Student Learning Expectations: Allowing schools to easily customize and track their SLEs.
• Updated PDF Report Card Templates: Improving the presentation, style and typography.
• New E-mail Templates: The new styles provide a much cleaner presentation.
• PYP Curriculum Planning: Ability to track PYP Attitudes, Learner Profile characteristics and the Transdisciplinary Skills across the UoI.
• PYP Programme of Inquiry: New layout and corresponding PDF export.
• TurnItIn Integration: Updated for the new API to eliminate the need to login separately.
• IBIS DP Exam Registrations: The registration process was redesigned from scratch to support the new interface provided by the IB.

Decision Framework

If you have submitted a feature request that we have not gotten to, we would like to explain our decision framework, so that you can understand even though we like you, why it is not feasible for us implement all requests, and why it is not an instant process where we can have a few espressos and deploy a feature in a weekend:

• ManageBac is standardized, and all schools operate off of the same common system. This allows us to make changes for everyone uniformly and instantly. This standardization supports essential economies of scale – without which ManageBac would be untenable to operate or maintain.
• Prioritization: we continuously prioritize the requests that we receive. Some requests are more time-sensitive because of IB deadlines or reporting requirements, so these are implemented with greater urgency. We do our best to meet your internal deadlines whenever feasible.
• Certain feature requests are more complex, require extensive testing, and can only be phased in during the summer. For example, curriculum changes (e.g. MYP Humanities) cannot be implemented in the middle of a school year because assessment & reporting is still being done on the current (old) guide.
• School-specific adjustments, which are only applicable to an individual school, are difficult. It would not be reasonable for us to add a function that is relevant for one school only, which then confuses or clutters the system for the majority. This is always a difficult judgment, but this is our responsibility to make decisions carefully, which are in the interest of the general community.

To get setup, contact your TurnItIn support representative and ensure that you have the ManageBac option enabled for your account under the Integrations section when logged in as an Administrator (there is a nominal additional charge from TurnItIn for the integration).

For step-by-step instructions, view our setup tutorial and how to review originality reports directly on ManageBac.

We are very pleased to announce the much anticipated, updated IBIS integration with ManageBac.

The new and improved automated IBIS integration will allow you to bulk register your Diploma candidates – completely eliminating the need for manual data entry into IBIS.

It comprises three steps:

1. Students complete their Diploma Plan Worksheets on ManageBac.
2. DP Coordinators review and lock the Plan Worksheets.
3. DP Coordinators securely initiate the automated registration process.

Steps 2 and 3 will take less than 15 minutes with zero manual data entry and a maximum of three clicks per student.

A new truth is needed

Asking the right question

US$2.7 trillion of aid over 50 years to developing countries has not provided a sustainable solution for poverty. In 2010, 2.6 billion people, or 38% of the world, still live on less than US$2 a day. While aid alleviates the symptoms of poverty, it does not address the root causes or bring about inclusive prosperity.

Instead of asking ‘How do we address poverty?’ we ask a new question – ‘how do we create prosperity for everyone?’ History shows that a creative society is a prosperous society. Creativity is the source that unlocks unlimited possibilities. In a world of creativity, prosperity has no limits. This is our unique understanding.

Prosperity is the answer to poverty

-Richard Chandler

We feel it is now time to re-think CAS, and we are curious to hear your thoughts as students and coordinators.

Please note any changes we make will be opt-in, you will be able to decide whether you want to take part in CAS+ or whether you prefer to keep things as-is. We will not impose any changes.

These are the areas we aim to resolve through CAS+ on ManageBac:

• CAS should be more fun and competitive – more like a game. The perception of CAS as a ‘chore’ requirement is an outcome of this design problem. Solving paperwork was domino one, solving this is domino two, and we will see where it leads.
• We would like to create 40 sustainable activities & projects – 5 focusing on each learning outcome. The activities will be global, practical and actionable (i.e. not involving taking expensive trips). If you have ideas, please e-mail us at ideas@managebac.com. We will be setting up a voting system shortly.
• Metrics: Hours or learning outcomes? We need a better way to measure significance of an activity and whether there is sustainable impact. Impact like Karma cannot be quantified, but sustainability can – by asking basic questions ‘did this activity address any underlying problem or make tangible progress?’ or ‘was it simply applying a bandage and leaving the underlying wound unhealed?’
• Inspiration: CAS in its simplest form is pursuing excellence in a non-academic endeavor. The current learning outcomes capture this, but in an abstract way. What is lacking is fungible inspiration. People, who achieved great success, whether they are living today or part of the ‘eminent dead’ deserve to be studied and CAS provides an opportunity to learn from and emulate their greatness in creativity, action and service.

Here at ManageBac, we are inspired by Richard Chandler and his work Greatness that Matters and Bringing the Light. Chandler more than anyone we know embodies the learner profile in risk-taking, principled action, and reflective inquiry in pursuit of truth.

Within the QuickStart Wizard, you can easily archive and adjust your IB year groups. This will allow you to archive your graduated students (i.e. the DP Class of 2011) and adjust the grade levels (i.e. to move your DP one cohorts to DP two from Grade 11 to Grade 12). All of your archived IB group records are retained on the system and accesible, but archiving will ensure a correct student count on your account.

You can also archive IB groups via the Overview tab by clicking Edit Group Settings.

2) Adding New Students

You can easily import new students via the Users tab by clicking Import Students.

To get started, you can download our Student List Template by right-clicking and pressing ‘Save As’. Once you fill in the templates using Excel or Numbers, you can bulk import your lists, which will create the accounts in 10-15 minutes.

One thing to keep in mind, the column formats must remain consistent. The required fields for students (highlighted in red) are shown below:

• First name
• Last name
• E-mail Address (if you don’t have student e-mails, we can create temporary accounts for you)
• Grade (Diploma would be 11 or 12 in the American system, and 12 or 13 in the UK system)

If you are unsure about the format or need help, you can always send us your lists to support@managebac.com and we will be happy to assist you.

1) Configuring School Settings

This involves confirming your school details such as the name, programmes offered (e.g. DP, MYP, PYP), IB school code and logo. Next, you’ll be able to confirm your subject choices within each programme.

2) Preparing Student & Staff Lists

This is the most efficient way to bulk create student and staff accounts. You can download our Student List Template and Teacher List Template by right-clicking and pressing ‘Save As’. Once you fill in the templates using Excel or Numbers, you can bulk import your lists, which will create the accounts in 10-15 minutes.

One thing to keep in mind, the column formats must remain consistent. The required fields for students (highlighted in red) are shown below:

• First name
• Last name
• E-mail Address (if you don’t have student e-mails, we can create temporary accounts for you)
• Grade (Diploma would be 11 or 12 in the American system, and 12 or 13 in the UK system)

If you are unsure about the format or need help, you can always send us your lists to support@managebac.com and we will be happy to assist you.

3) Setting Master IB Deadlines

This allows you to easily build in your master calendar of IB Deadlines. These deadlines will carry forward for future years, so you won’t need to re-enter them for each new cohort.

First select the Diploma Group under the IB Manager tab. Select the Calendar tab, and click IB Deadlines & Events on the right menu.

You’re all set! Your ManageBac account is now up and running.

Our new Server Status page will provide uptime statistics for ManageBac.

You can always check this to determine whether there is an issue with our network.

Reflection questions are now referred to as CAS Questions, and CAS Evidence is now referred to as Reflections. We have also streamlined the interface on the activity summary page to make information clearer and to reduce excess white space.

Meeting Logs are now CAS Interviews. For Administrators, Teachers & Advisors, we have added a progress section, so that you can easily evaluate student progress as: (1) Excellent, (2) On-track or (3) Concern. The progress status is visible to both students and parents.

One-click to mark approval and completion. You won’t need to press save changes.

These changes in terminology were made based on recommendations from the IBAP regional office.

We have a habit of reading things backwards, and in the glossary, one of the definitions caught our eye.

Pedagogical leadership: The effective management of resources, systems or structures to ensure that teaching and learning at the school addresses the overarching mission of the school and the IB programme standards; or those responsible for its management.

(emphasis added)

This definition makes sense, and it is very clear that pedagogical leadership requires effective management; however, the implicit assumption is that there are resources, systems and structures in place with which to manage.

This assumption may seem like a given. After all you can’t lead a school without a building (e.g. structures), without properly trained staff & faculty, and without resources (e.g. textbooks, instructional materials, etc.).

But what about systems?

Systems can mean many things to many people, but moving backwards through the document, there are over two dozen references to system(s) across the IB Continuum. Here’s an example:

Standard C4: Assessment.

5. The school has systems for recording student progress aligned with the assessment philosophy of the programme(s).

6. The school has systems for reporting student progress aligned with the assessment philosophy of the programme(s).

7. The school analyses assessment data to inform teaching and learning.

To summarize standards & practices (B1, B2, C4), systems provide a way to assess, report & analyze student progress, to communicate IB requirements to the school community, and to improve collaboration among staff & faculty.

It seems straightforward enough, but in practice this is a complex problem. If one of your colleagues is working weekends to get report cards out on time, to manually convert MYP grades into local grades, to enter in exam registrations on IBIS, to manually copy & paste units onto a curriculum map, you know exactly what we mean.

The root of the problem is the absence of a single integrated system that does everything required in the IB’s standards & practices.

Requirements are being met with a bundle of systems that individually serve a well-defined purpose (e.g. ATLAS Rubicon for curriculum mapping, Edline for the parent portal, Blackboard/Moodle for posting homework, FilemakerPro/Rediker/Powerschool for your student information system).

Manual data entry (e.g. somebody’s weekends) and temporary solutions are used to tie the systems together to make things happen. In most cases, the level of integration is close to zero, so assessment data does not talk to the unit plans in the curriculum, even though logically, a teacher would want to know how to improve a unit plan based on the assessment data.

So why hasn’t an integrated system been built?

• Geographic fragmentation: IB schools are widely distributed.
• Curriculum variance: the vast majority of IB schools offer different programs (e.g. IGCSE, AP, etc.) with a diverse numbers of students (e.g. 20 to 3,000).
• Complexity: the rules change every 5 years with a new curriculum review.
• General apathy: it’s not my problem… I deal with (insert subject or work).

So you can see that the true pedagogical leaders have not just been managing systems and acquiescing to the status quo, they have been participating in the design and construction of a new system.

We know this because we have had the pleasure of working with many of these fine individuals (IB Coordinators, Teachers & Principals), whose suggestions and insights have guided the development of ManageBac.