Spring is here. Time to shed some layers of clothing, bask in the sun (where applicable) and enjoy our brand new eFront 5.1 release (everywhere).
So what does the new update bring?
Quite a lot actually. There’s a big new development (which we can’t wait to reveal shortly below), some major new workflow enhancements and course options, a new SSO option, and a whole suite of additional teleconference integrations.
All that, plus a number of backend improvements, and the usual assortment of enhancements and polish.
Let’s open the box and see what’s inside then, shall we?
1. Native eFront for iOS: the wait is over
Our iPhone-using customers have been waiting for this for almost a year, and now it’s finally landing, launched along with the new eFront 5.1 release: a fully native eFront application for iOS.
Like its Android sibling, eFront for iOS offers a mobile-optimized streamlined interface, and focuses on mobile and offline learning, and especially microlearning (and micro-certifications).
Most of the features that you know and love from the web version of eFront are available, including Branches, Assessments, unit completion rules, SCORM. There’s also a number of mobile-only functionality, such as offline studying support (for text, images, and even video, as long as it’s not streamed), and automatic progress synchronization.
Like eFront for Android, eFront for iOS is a free download from the iOS App Store.
2. Workflow enhancements
Link content
The new “clone unit” feature gives Instructors the ability to copy training content and re-use it across various Courses ― with eFront ensuring that any updates to the original are automatically distributed to all of its clones.
Learn how to link units from different courses here.
Completion rules
A new course completion condition allows courses to be considered as “completed” based on the time that the learner spent on them.
The new option can be found in the “Add Condition” drop-down selection within a Course’s Rules edit page.
Learn all the available course completion rules here.
Course Score calculation
The same “Course Rules” edit page now also offers the option for Instructors to determine the calculation rules for the learner’s final grade for the Course.
Learn how to define a course’s final grade here.
Redo only wrong questions
When repeating a Test, the instructor now has the option to ask their learners to only answer the questions they got wrong.
Explore all the available tests options here.
3. Google SSO integration option
eFront has long had great support for all major enterprise SSO options (LDAP, Active Directory, SAML 2.0), as well as for some popular federated and social login services.
The new eFront 5.1 release adds Google Single Sign-On to the list (based on the OpenID standard).
The new SSO option should be big for companies leveraging Google’s G Suite (Google’s suite of business apps, formerly branded as “Google Apps for Work”), or for commercial eLearning vendors that can now trivially welcome hundreds of millions of Google account holders without requiring a sign-up step.
Read our step-by-step tutorial here.
4. New teleconference integrations
The new eFront 5.1 release brings support for not one, not two, but three brand new teleconference options, all part of the Citrix and LogMeIn GoTo enterprise collaboration platform.
In case you’re not familiar, each of the three GoTo apps specializes in some specific aspect of online collaboration: GoToMeeting offers online meeting, desktop sharing, and video conference. GoToWebinar focuses on interactive and pre-recorded webinars sessions. And GoToTraining handles interactive training sessions (small-group interaction, whiteboards, and so on).
Within eFront, the GoTo products offer additional support for teleconference sessions and online Instructor-Led training, on top of the existing support for WebEx, BigBlueButton, and Webinar.ru.
Learn how to integrate your portal with the GoTo apps here.
5. Support for Memcache and PHP 7.2
Last, but not least, the new release includes a couple of backend updates to the (Open Source) infrastructure eFront leverages.
First, from the 5.1 release and onwards, eFront supports Memcache (the popular in-memory store, suitable for caching data and sessions, and generally speeding up web applications).
Second, and speaking of speeding up, eFront can now run on PHP 7.2, the latest (revamped, faster, and leaner) stable version of the popular programming language. If you’re still on PHP 5, you should really consider making the jump (and if you’re using our Private Managed Cloud options, we’ll take care of that for you).
Conclusion
The eFront 5.1 release has landed and is immediately available to upgrade your eLearning experience.
eFront now supports all major mobile platforms, has gained several new content-related features, a new SSO option, and support for the Goto-family of teleconference solutions.
Update now to access the new features faster, or take your time until your IT team feels ready to make the move. eFront isn’t going anywhere.
What we do suggest you try immediately, though, is the new iOS eFront mobile application. It’s totally free, and your iOS-using learners are gonna love it!
