Product Updates
Last updated September 06, 2019
Announcements: New myON Book Reading Experience
myON player version 5 is a complete rebuild of the myON book player that introduces several new features and functionalities. In addition to improved reliability and performance, some of the significant highlights include an updated user interface (including supporting utilities such as the journal and literacy center), a new page preview thumbnail utility, enhanced word selection controls, new accessibility accommodations, and easy to use point-in-page reading controls.
A notable change in Player version 5 is that reading sequential reading of pages in books is no longer required. Students will have the ability to move freely through books to any desired page – without having to click through all the previous pages. This opens a whole new opportunity for students to enjoy books that are not linear in nature, like reference and how to books. This also allows for easier re-reading of sections of books and quick access for students and teachers to conduct group exercises in myON books.
Along with the ability for students to free roam their book choices, Player version 5 now includes a “quality completion” guideline for every book a student read. Unlike previous versions where just reaching the last page constituted a finished book, version 5 keeps track of the number of pages a student has read and the total invested time in the book. When the student has met both criteria, they can end the book with a qualified completed assignment. Of course, for those who don’t, myON will save their progress for their next reading session!
Announcements: New Planning and Parent Reports
- Student Planning Report: This report will provide teachers with specific information that can be used as a basis to develop individual learning plans. Based on the latest Star Reading assessment, it will identify where a student sits on a Learning Progression for reading from K – 12. It then offers next steps for providing guidance and support for key domain areas. Additional information will be shown to identify a student’s current performance and projections for future achievement.
- Class Planning Report: This report allows Teachers to organise students into groups of similar ability. The report will provide skill recommendations based on the median score for the group. The skill recommendations come from the K – 12 Learning Progressions we have developed for reading. Teachers can combine the information from this report with their knowledge of the students to develop group learning plans.
- Parent Report: The Parent Report offers detailed information for parents on the various scores used to gauge their child’s performance. Key information such as Percentile Rank, Reading Age, Student Growth Percentile and ZPD will give parents an understanding of how their child’s performance is measured. Giving insight into their progress and achievements relative to other students of similar age.
Announcements: Changes to Diagnostic and Growth Reports
Teachers using the Renaissance Star Maths or Renaissance Star Reading Diagnostic and Growth Reports will notice some important changes in the information these reports provide.
Star Reading Diagnostic Reports will now include —
– The time taken to complete the assessment
– Identification along a Screening Continuum of a student’s position relating to the benchmark
– The Scaled Score and which Group the student is placed into
– The Reading Age
– The Norm Referenced Standardised Score
– The Student Growth Percentile
– Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
– If there are any Test Fidelity Issues (such as the assessment being taken in a very short time) teachers will be alerted in this section.
Star Maths Diagnostic Reports will now include —
– The time taken to complete the assessmen
– Identification along a Screening Continuum of a student’s position relating to the benchmark
– The Scaled Score and which Group the student is placed into
– The Norm Referenced Standardised Score
– The Student Growth Percentile
– If there are any Test Fidelity Issues (such as the assessment being taken in a very short time) teachers will be alerted in this section.
Star Reading Growth Reports will include —
– Dates the assessments were taken
– Both Scaled Scores and the change in these
– The Reading Ages and the change in these
– PRs and the changes in these
– The Norm Referenced Standardised Scores and any changes in these
– The Student Growth Percentile
Star Maths Growth Reports will include —
– Dates the assessments were taken
– Both Scaled Scores and the change in these
– PRs and the changes in these
– The Norm Referenced Standardised Scores and any changes in these
– The Student Growth Percentile
Accelerated Reader Quizzing on iOS Devices
Renaissance Accelerated Reader® is designed to be used on any device, iOS or other, that is 7 inches or larger. Educators and students can access Accelerated Reader from a browser on these devices by using the provided URL. We hope that the following answers will help answer some of the most frequently asked questions about using Accelerated Reader on your devices.
Previously we used the Accelerated Reader iPhone and iPad apps. Will those apps be updated?
No, in August 2017, Renaissance Learning announced that we would be discontinuing support for the previously available iPad and iPhone apps for Accelerated Reader. As of August 2018, the apps were removed from the iTunes store and are no longer available for download. If your students are still using the previously installed iOS apps, you should transition to using a supported browser on those same devices. Quizzing on the retired apps will not work after June 30, 2019.
We have iPads for students to use in our classroom. How can I make it easy for students to login to Accelerated Reader on this device?
To make logging on faster for students you may consider creating a bookmark for your Renaissance site on the iPad. Please refer to the browser’s Help files for the most up to date steps. At the time this document was created, the following steps were supported for Chrome and Firefox.
Creating Bookmarks in Chrome on the iPad:
1. Open the Chrome browser and browse to the page that you want to bookmark
2. Open the Chrome options menu and touch the star icon at the top of the menu.
3. Configure the bookmark settings, then tap the “Save” button
Creating Bookmarks in Firefox on the iPad:
1. Open Firefox and browse to the page that you want to bookmark
2. To bookmark a page, tap the menu button (either below the screen on some devices or at the top-right corner of the browser) and select the star.
3. Bookmark added will appear at the bottom of the screen.
4. To rename or edit your bookmark, tap Options in the message that appears when you bookmark the page.