Updates for Spring 2025
1. Share Content feature
All instructors and co-instructors can share their Instructor-created activities and assessments with their colleagues. However, if a school or district decides not to turn on this sharing ability, Vista Higher Learning’s Tech Support can disable it.
In the “Shared Library” they can make a copy of any content available (as long as it’s not in draft mode) and assign it “as-is” or edit it. When an instructor makes a copy, it gets added to the top of “My Content” section and in the table of contents.
2. New Student Homepage
The newly designed student homepage on vhlcentral brings a modern, engaging, and personalized look that enhances the overall user experience for your students. The new design features a sleek and intuitive interface, making it easy for students to navigate and access their courses, assignments, and resources.
The homepage is the screen students see after logging in allowing them to select a program. With vibrant visuals and streamlined functionalities, students can find what they need quickly and efficiently. The program now occupies most of the screen while the feed has been downsized. Additionally, we’ve added Search functionality that will allow students to search by program title, course name, section name, or instructor name to quickly locate their course, if they have multiple. Finally, the mobile experience has been reimagined to be more functional by reducing vertical scrolling.
3. New Enterprise for Higher Education Institutions
Enterprise is a solution for customers with large enrollments to have an improved way to manage the courses and sections at their institution. After gathering feedback from users, we decided to improve the overall user experience and meet the wide variety of needs.
With a modern look and feel, the Enterprise interface is now also more logical and user-friendly for administrators. Some of the major updates include:
- Instructor-generated content (IGC) submitted by co-instructors no longer need to be approved.
- Changes at the course level impact all sections with the elimination of “templates”.
- Enrollment for each section can be locked and unlocked by administrators, even for those they are not teaching.
- Content sharing feature has been added, with the possibility for administrators to completely disable the ability for all instructors to share IGC.
- Assignment Wizard changes:
- Some tips have been added to provide the best results for copying from a previous course.
- When a course is being copied, it will show the number of weeks included.
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- A pop-up “warning” message will show up if the selected due dates would result in fewer due dates than the copied course.
- Assigning changes:
- If a section gets added after adding assignments, all assignments will automatically be added to the new section.
- If any changes are made to assignments, it applies to all sections in the course.
4. Grading Overview update
We updated the submitted count in grading to show the number of students who have completed and submitted instructor-graded work vs. the number of students who were assigned the work, instead of a percentage. By revealing the number and standardizing the calculation across all views, the instructor now has a clear picture of the class’s progress in completing each instructor-graded activity.
5. Sync Readings and vText Audio Playback Speed Control for Improved Accessibility
With this update, students and teachers have a more personalized experience by controlling the speed of the audio in all sync readings and the vText audio player for sites published in ©2025 or later. This provides flexibility, more scaffolding, and improved accessibility to all users.
For sync readings, the option for the playback speed control is enabled once the audio starts playing. The speed options range from 0.25x to 2x, and the syncing of the audio and text reflects the selected speed.
©2025 and later audio playback speed controls for sync readings:
For the vText, when a page has the audio player available, the menu now includes the option to select the playback speed which ranges from 0.25x - 2x.
©2025 and later audio playback speed controls for vText:
Updates for Fall 2024
1. Updated Calendars' user interface
Available in all programs.
The Assignment Calendar and “Start Assigning” page have been revised:
- same calendars
- larger calendar to make it easier to read
- added activities and lessons with clickable links
- full screen with no empty space
NEW Assignment Calendar
NEW Start Assigning Calendar
2. NEW Quick Grade in Instructor Graded activities
Available in all programs.
A Quick Grade option has been added in Instructor Graded activities to make that process easier and faster. Instructors can apply either a 0% or 100% for all answers, student by student or question by question.
Student by Student
Question by Question
3. vhlcentral Design Updates - Part 2
vhlcentral supports and facilitates language acquisition for thousands of educators and millions of students. We are thrilled to announce that we are revamping the vhlcentral design to enrich the user experience. The new design is welcoming and intuitive, promoting an easy transition from the current site design. All updates are being implemented with a focus on accessibility to ensure that digital content is accessible to everyone. Users can expect to see more updates as we work towards a unified vhlcentral design. We cannot wait to hear what you think of the new vhlcentral!
Login
Password Reset
Welcome Page
School Selection
Enroll in a Course
4. Navigation Updates on vhlcentral
We’re excited to announce the latest updates to vhlcentral! Our new navigation design on the masthead and footer marks another step in our journey towards a more modern and intuitive platform. These changes build on the login and enrollment updates we introduced last summer. Now, all the tools you need are conveniently located under your user icon.
Navigation Bar
Our new design streamlines the menu items to guide users more efficiently to their desired destinations. Just like before, clicking “vhlcentral” on the left will always bring you back to your homepage. Now, rather than seeing the menu of tools across the top, users will click on their user icon in the top right corner to open the menu of tools and resources as well as the logout button.
New Design for Older Theme Pages
Account Menu
We’ve combined all self-service help options by merging them from the old help menu and footer into a single account menu, making them easier to locate. Additionally, we’ve updated some names to better match the help pages they link to, enhancing clarity and specificity.
New Design for New Theme (Available in Light & Dark Mode)
Footer
Our new footer design is more compact, yet retains all its functionality. It will appear at the bottom of the screen when the content is short, or below all content if the page requires scrolling.
5. Solo Video Recording NEW User Interface and Test Connection Feature
Only available for programs that already include solo video recording.
We improved the user interface by giving it a more modern look as well as transparency for information for the student before they begin an assessment or activity with a video recording. It now includes:
- A mandatory test connection feature so students are aware of any potential connectivity issues ahead of recording starting. The video/audio test has been enhanced as well so students can know if the audio/visuals are “good” for them to complete the assignment or activity.
- More information in the pre-test view to include the various sections and activity types on the assessment.
NEW Assessment details and Test Connection button
Test Connectivity with Internet, Video and Audio testing
Good Connectivity Result
Low Connectivity Result
6. NEW Portfolio
Only available for the following programs: Portales 2.0 Intro, Portales 2.0 Intermediate, Portails 2.0 Intro, Portails 1.0 Intermediate, Experiencias 2e Beginning packages that include WebSAM, Experiencias 2e Intermediate packages that include WebSAM.
A learning portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that shows a student’s effort, progress, achievements, and competencies gained during a course or over time. Portfolios:
- collect activities to showcase a student’s growth over time
- allow students to reflect on their own activities
- allow students to view and comment on classmates' activities
- allow instructors to view submitted activities and provide feedback
Portfolio supports active learning by encouraging students to take ownership of the learning process and develop their identity as learners. It promotes reflective learning and it allows them to tell story about the different experiences that comprise each course and how those fit together to represent this unique education they´ve received with Vista Higher Learning products. Finally, Portfolio allows for community building inside and outside of the classroom.
Accessing Portfolio Dashboard in Teaching Tools
Portfolio Dashboard
Course Homepage - “Class Portfolios”
Portfolios section
7. NEW AI-assisted Feedback for Open-Ended and Composition Activities (Beta version)
Now available for the following program: Portales 2.0 Intro. The following titles will get this new functionality in AY 2024-2025: Vistas 7e, Panorama 7e, Viva 5e, Dicho y hecho 11e, Experiencias 2e, Senderos c2023 Supersite & Prime, Senderos California c2022 Supersite & Prime, Descubre c2022 Supersite & Prime. The following titles will get this new functionality for Fall 2025: Aventuras 7e, Encuentros, Senderos Florida.
By providing AI-assisted feedback on open-ended activities, grading will take less time for open-ended writing activities and instructors can spend more time on other tasks. AI suggestions can be taken into account or not, instructors are empowered to make the call.
Once AI-assisted feedback is enabled, that choice will persist across activities as it does with the other grading options. The AI-assisted feedback will be available to instructors by the time they are ready to grade. The moment a student clicks on “submit”, their submission is sent for evaluation by the AI.