The July 2008 release of MyAccountingLab™ updated the homework and test player and added a number of enhancements designed to make teaching with MyAccountingLab even easier. These updates included an enhanced email capability to send customized messages to students who need help the most, a streamlined process for importing assignments, and more.

The updated MyAccountingLab™ Player (4.6.4.0) was released successfully 07/27/08 as scheduled. Highlights of the release included:

• Enhanced MyAccountingLab Email Functionality – Instructors will have three new email options within the XL platform: (1) email a course Announcement to all active students in the roster; (2) email a student using the easy-to-find, non-assignment-specific link at the top of all student Results pages; and (3) email one or more students based on specific criteria — for example a certain score for a specific assignment, missing one or more assignments, last login date, category average, or overall score. These emails are generated by XL rather than the learning management system (e.g. CourseCompass).
  
  
• Streamlined Process for Importing Assignments – Instructors will be able to import homework and tests or quizzes at the same time (instead of as two separate procedures). They will be prompted to specify from which course to import, thereby keeping the list of importable assignments shorter and more manageable.
  
  
• Enhanced Options for Section Instructors – On the Edit Roster page within the Gradebook, instructors can make two changes that will enhance the capabilities of Section Instructors: (1) allow Section Instructors to access and edit the class roster; (2) show Section Instructors in the Gradebook as inactive students--that is, with their names grayed out but with their work available for review.
  
  
• "Smarter" Import Previous Results – Instructors who need to import student results from previous courses will have the choice of importing "All results" or "All results except instructor-submitted zeros," which will exclude any zeros submitted by the instructor via Manage Incomplete in the previous course(s).
  
  
• Updated MyAccountingLab Player – An updated player will be released to address known issues in current courses. This is a suggested but not required update.