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Release Notes

Last updated 2022/02/23 08:35:20

This page provides the release notes for Flexible Classroom.

v2.1.0

v2.1.0 was released on February 23, 2022.

Release highlights

In v2.1.0, Agora fully optimizes the internal architecture of Flexible Classroom. Compared to earlier versions, v2.1.0 has the following advantages:

  • New features:

    • Answer Selector (Pop-up Quiz), Polling Feature, Countdown Timer, Mobile HTML5 Support, and ability to turn the whiteboard on or off in the classroom.
    • Video Gallery Rotation: Ability for teachers to configure the classroom setting to automatically rotate the on-stage student gallery view without attempting to scroll or page through the class participants.

  • Lecture Hall: Expands audience capacity up to 5,000 students, from 1,000 in the last version.

  • Web client:

    • Adds support for Safari on desktop and iPad, as well as for Chrome on the iPad.
    • Introduces EDUClassroomUIStore for customizing the classroom UI, which replaces the UIKit in previous versions.

  • Android and iOS clients:

    • Redesigns contexts for better abstraction of modular features in Flexible Classroom, where each context can be controlled separately.

    • Refactors context APIs with the following improvements:

      • Renamed APIs and parameters for intuitiveness, understandability, and consistency.
      • Improved flexibility of API calling.
      • More APIs for developers to customize their own features.
      For details, see the following docs:

Flexible Classroom v2.1.0 migration guidance

If you have made changes to your Flexible Classroom UI in earlier versions, in order to migrate to v2.1.0, Agora recommends you create a new project based on v2.1.0 and re-implement the UI changes. Please refer to the following Flexible Classroom v2.1.0 migration guides:

If you encounter any problem during the migration process, or need to migrate from Flexible Classroom earlier than v1.1.5, please contact support@agora.io so that Agora technical support team can help.

New Features

Answer selector and polling feature

To increase engagement and enhance interactivity, v2.1.0 adds the following teaching tools:

  • Answer selector: This tool is applicable to scenarios where the teacher asks a single-choice or multiple-choice question and requests the whole class to answer the question together. The teacher can set up the choices and the correct answer, and then trigger answering. The teacher can see the number of students who have submitted an answer and the percentage that are correct in real time.
  • Polling: This tool is applicable to scenarios where the teacher wants to get feedback from the whole class. The teacher can set up the subject, choices, and start and end time of the poll. Flexible Classroom also provides live visualization of polling results.

Ability to turn the whiteboard on or off in the classroom

As of v2.1.0, Agora supports turning the whiteboard on or off in the classroom. For details, see Turn the Whiteboard on or off in the Classroom. When using the APIs for this feature, after the whiteboard is closed, developers can use Flexible Classroom UIKit or UIStore to customize their unique classroom with their desired video gallery to fill the classroom window.

Video gallery rotation

Flexible Classroom gives teachers the ability to configure the classroom settings for improved student engagement and video. The Video Gallery Rotation feature lets the teacher automatically rotate the on-stage student gallery view at a desired frequency and sequence, thus eliminating the need for the teacher to scroll or page through the class participants.

Mobile HTML5 support

As of v2.1.0, students can join a lecture hall in Flexible Classroom simply by clicking on a shared webpage link within some mobile social applications that use a web view. After joining the classroom on mobile devices, students can do the following things:

  • Watch and hear the teacher's lecture, as well as presentations by students "on the stage".
  • View the whiteboard and the screen shared by the teacher.
  • Send messages to chat with other participants in the classroom.
  • Engage in class activities such as polling, answering, and viewing the teacher's count down clock.
Please note that the following features are not supported on HTML5:
  • Students raising their hands to apply for speaking on the "stage".
  • Students drawing on the whiteboard.
  • Students testing or switching their local media devices.

    • Improvements

    v2.1.0 makes the following improvements:

    • Optimizes the business logic and UI of various features in Flexible Classroom, such as students "raising their hands" for permission to speak, the class roster, and in-class reminders.
    • Increases the upper limit on the number of users in a lecture hall to 5,000.
    • Improves the compatibility of the Web client. The Web client is now supported on Safari for the desktop and iPad, as well as on Chrome for the iPad.
    • Supports displaying thumbnails and animations for the PPT files opened in the classroom.
    • When a classroom is being recorded, the recording button changes to red.

    Issues fixed

    v2.1.0 fixed the following issues:

    • (All platforms) The RTC and whiteboard usage occurred in Flexible Classroom was not showed in Agora Console.
    • (Web) Occasional failure to record the whiteboard contents in a small classroom.
    • (Web) Occasional failure to send a massage in a small classroom.
    • (Web) After the teacher joined a lecture hall, there was a possibility that the whiteboard was not loaded successfully.
    • (Web/Windows/macOS) Sometimes in a lecture hall, a student "raised a hand" to apply for making a presentation, an error occurred. And the teacher did not receive the application.
    • (Web/Windows/macOS) In a small classroom, a student went onto the "stage" and turned on the video. After the student left the room, the student's video did not disappear immediately.
    • (Windows) When a student left and rejoined the room, the student could not see the room announcement published by the teacher.
    • (Windows) In a one-to-one classroom, the student's video occasionally went black.
    • (iOS) When the teacher displayed a PPT that contained audio and video, the student on iOS sometimes neither heard the audio nor saw the video.
    • (Android) In a small classroom, sometimes if a student on Android left and rejoined the room, the student could not see the teacher's video.

    v1.1.5.1

    v1.1.5.1 was released on October 20, 2021.

    New features

    Support for customizing the video encoding configurations

    As of v1.1.5.1, developers can customize the video encoding configurations, including the width, height, frame rate, and bitrate. When calling the launch method, developers can set the videoEncoderConfig parameter in mediaOptions to customize the encoding configurations for the video stream captured by a camera or the screen-sharing video stream.

    The recommended video encoding configurations are as follows:

    • One-to-one Classroom: 320x240, 200 Kbps, and 15 fps.
    • Small Classroom and Lecture Hall: 160x120, 65 Kbps, and 15 fps, if the number of students in a classroom who send their video stream at the same time is less than or equal to six.

    Students automatically going onto the "stage"

    v1.1.5.1 adds the feature of students automatically going onto the "stage" in the Small Classroom scenario. Once the teacher or TA enables this feature, students go onto the "stage" at specified intervals.

    Support for setting the latency level of a receiver

    As of v1.1.5.1, developers can set the latency level of an audience member. By default, the latency level is ultra-low. Developers can set the latencyLevel parameter in the launch method to change the latency level:

    • Ultra-low latency: The latency from the sender to the receiver is 400 ms to 800 ms.
    • Low latency: The latency from the sender to the receiver is 1500 ms to 2000 ms.

    The charges for low latency and ultra-low latency are different. For details, see the pricing page.

    Support for setting whether students automatically send streams after going onto the "stage"

    v1.1.5.1 allows developers to control whether students automatically send audio or video streams after they go onto the "stage". By default, students do not send audio nor video streams after they go onto the "stage". You can change the default behavior by setting the streamState parameter when calling launch.

    Pre-class device test and local video preview

    As of v1.1.5.1, Flexible Classroom adds the Media Context API to allow developers to implement the pre-class test module, with which students can check whether their camera and microphone are functioning correctly and preview how they look and sound before they join a class.

    The countdown timer

    v1.1.5.1 adds a countdown timer in Flexible Classroom. The teacher can find the countdown time in the toolbox and set an initial value. After the teacher clicks the start button, students see a countdown window.

    Support for media device management

    As of v1.1.5.1, students can control whether local cameras, microphones, and speakers are on or off during the class. Agora adds the DeviceContext and IDeviceHandler classes in the Agora Edu Context and provides methods and callbacks for local device control.

    Teachers making notes on their shared screen

    As of v1.1.5.1, teachers can make notes notes on the screen that they share with the basic whiteboard tools.

    Support for custom user properties and classroom properties

    As of v1.1.5.1, developers can customize properties for users and classrooms. These properties can be updated, and the updates can be monitored. For example, developers can set the profile photo as a custom user property. To support this feature, Agora makes the following changes to the Agora Edu Context:

    • Classroom properties:

      • Add the updateFlexRoomProps method in RoomContext for adding or updating custom classroom properties.
      • Add the onFlexRoomPropsInitialized and onFlexRoomPropertiesChanged callbacks in IRoomHandler for indicating the initial custom classroom properties and subsequent classroom property changes.

    • User properties:

      • Add the userProperties parameter in AgoraEduLaunchConfig for passing in custom user properties when launching a classroom.
      • Add the updateFlexUserProperties method in UserContext for adding or updating custom user properties.
      • Add the onFlexUserPropertiesChanged callback in IEduUserHandler for indicating user property changes.

    Improvements

    • To optimize the PPT display on the students' clients, v1.1.5.1 adds the boardFitMode parameter in AgoraEduLaunchConfig for setting the PPT display mode. By default, the PPT display mode is fit, which means uniformly scaling the PPT until one of its dimensions fits the boundary. Developers can change the boardFitMode to Retain when calling the launch method. In this mode, if the student manually adjusts the PPT size, the client maintains this size no matter what class the student joins.
    • As of v1.1.5.1, Flexible Classroom supports displaying HTML5 courseware on the whiteboard.

    v1.1.0.1

    v1.1.0.1 was released on July 7, 2021.

    New features

    Media encryption

    To ensure the security during real-time audio and video transmission, v1.1.0.1 adds the mediaOptions parameter in AgoraEduLaunchConfig for supporting media stream encryption. By default, Flexible Classroom does not encrypt the media stream. To enable media encryption, use the mediaOptions parameter to choose an encryption mode and set the encryption key. Flexible Classroom supports the following encryption modes:

    • AES_128_XTS: 128-bit AES encryption, XTS mode.
    • AES_128_ECB: 128-bit AES encryption, ECB mode.
    • AES_256_XTS: 256-bit AES encryption, XTS mode.
    • AES_128_GCM: 128-bit AES encryption, GCM mode.
    • AES_256_GCM: 256-bit AES encryption, GCM mode.
    The teacher and students in a classroom must use the same encryption mode and key. If not, unexpected issues, such as a white or black screen and noise, may occur.

    Issues fixed

    v1.1.0.1 fixes the issue that the default region was not NA (North America).

    v1.1.0

    v1.1.0 was released on June 18, 2021. This is the first release of Agora Flexible Classroom with the following features:

    • Real-time audio and video interaction
    • Real-time messaging
    • Interactive whiteboard
    • Screen sharing
    • Recording and replay
    • Teaching tools, including cloud storage, classroom rewards, and the user list
    • Customizing the classroom user interfaces and embedding custom plugins in classrooms
    • Flexible Classroom cloud service for classroom and user management