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Changelog

What's new in Teacher Elf, with the latest changes at the top.

Last updated

  • Deployed

    • Feature

      Share Activities to Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams

      The Share panel can now send a deck, check-in, learning path, or any other activity straight to Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams. Click the button, pick the class or channel in their own window, and the link is posted for you, no copying and pasting. Students open it and sign in the usual way, so their progress and responses are still saved.

    • Feature

      Explain the Answer on Check-ins and Listening

      Add an optional explanation to any check-in or listening-comprehension question. Once a student submits, your explanation appears under that question, whether they got it right or wrong, so a graded activity turns into a teaching moment instead of just a score.

  • Deployed

    • Feature

      Paste Cards from Anywhere

      Import a deck by pasting straight from a spreadsheet or another flashcard app. Put one card per line with the term and its definition side by side, and the import screen figures out how they are split, whether by a tab, a comma, or something of your own, and shows a live preview as you paste. Adjust the split if a row looks off, name the deck, and import.

  • June 202610 updates

    • Feature

      Live Quiz Accuracy Mode

      Jun 12Show details

      Live Quiz has a new game mode for classes where speed pressure gets in the way. In Accuracy mode every correct answer counts 1 point and answering fast earns no bonus, so the leaderboard simply shows how many questions each player got right. Pick it in the game lobby next to Classic and Survivor; the timer still paces each question, it just no longer decides the winner.

    • UX

      A Tidier Changelog

      Jun 12Show details

      This page now keeps the latest updates front and center: the two newest releases show in full, while older months fold into compact rows you can expand in place. A month index on the right jumps straight to any point in history.

    • Feature

      Make Decks and Lessons From a Link

      Jun 12Show details

      Paste a link to a web article, such as a Wikipedia page or a news story, and build study material from exactly what the class read. In AI Flashcards' From Notes mode, fetching a link fills the notes box with the article text, ready to trim before generating. In AI Lesson, an optional link grounds the whole lesson, vocabulary, dialogue, and quiz included, in that article's content and fills in the topic for you. You always see the extracted text before anything is generated.

    • Feature

      Duels: Matching Pairs, Hangman, Multiple Choice, or Connect Pairs

      Jun 11Show details

      Students can now challenge a classmate to a real-time duel built from any deck. From a deck's Games tab, a student picks an opponent, who gets an instant invite. Matching Pairs Duel plays on one shared board: take turns flipping cards, keep the pairs you match, and watch each other's moves live. Hangman Duel plays on five shared words: take turns guessing letters, score for every letter you reveal, and mind the shared gallows. Between hangman words both players see the word and its translation, with a full recap at the end. Multiple Choice Duel asks both players the same ten questions, each with four answers drawn from the deck; picks stay hidden until both have answered, then the correct answer is revealed before the next question, with a full recap at the end. Connect Pairs Duel drops the turns entirely: both players connect questions to answers at full speed, on one shared board where correct connections claim pairs, or in a time race on identical boards where the first to finish wins. Most points wins, a rematch is one click away, and teachers can challenge their own students too. To match, solo Hangman now hides the translation while you guess and reveals it when each round ends.

    • Feature

      A Leaner Dashboard Built Around Creating

      Jun 10Show details

      The dashboard now leads with what needs you: check-in responses waiting for review and each class's progress at a glance, next to your upcoming calendar. The shortcut grid is gone. In its place, one Create menu starts a deck, check-in, dialogue, presentation, or learning path and drops you straight into the editor with a ready-made title, so making something for class is one click.

    • Feature

      Notifications in Your Language

      Jun 8Show details

      Notifications now follow your language setting instead of staying in the language they were written in. The bell, the notifications page, and the email digest all translate, and switching languages updates your existing notifications too.

    • Feature

      Listening Comprehension Exercises

      Jun 4Show details

      A new kind of assignment built around audio. Write a passage or a multi-speaker conversation, add comprehension questions, and your students listen and answer at their own pace with the text read aloud to them. Draft one from scratch or generate a starting point with AI, decide whether the transcript shows, and assign it to your classes like any other work. Answers are graded automatically and gathered in a results view. If you let the transcript show, it follows the audio and highlights the line or sentence being read, with conversations displayed as a back-and-forth chat.

    • Feature

      Teacher Elf in 8 More Languages

      Jun 4Show details

      The app can now be used in German, French, Danish, Finnish, Dutch, Italian, and both European and Brazilian Portuguese, alongside English, Norwegian, Swedish, and Spanish. Pick your language from the flag menu in the user menu and everything follows, from buttons and menus to the help pages. Students choose their language the same way.

    • Feature

      Smart Review: Study a Deck to Mastery

      Jun 4Show details

      A new study mode that adapts to each student. Smart Review mixes multiple-choice and type-the-answer questions, leans on the cards a student hasn't mastered yet, and tracks progress toward mastering the whole deck. It sits alongside Spaced Repetition on a deck's Study tab as a second way to practice.

    • Feature

      Streaks, XP, and a Class Leaderboard

      Jun 4Show details

      Studying now builds momentum. Students earn points for every kind of practice, from flashcard reviews and deck games to learning paths, speaking practice, and Live Quiz, and a card on their home screen tracks their daily streak, daily goal, and level. Each class also gets an optional weekly leaderboard you can switch on or off, and your students list now shows each student's streak, level, and points earned this week.

  • May 202651 updates

    • Feature

      Now Available in Norwegian, Swedish, and Spanish

      May 30Show details

      Teacher Elf now speaks your language. Open the menu under your avatar, choose Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, or English, and the whole app switches over: navigation, buttons, help pages, and more. Your choice is remembered the next time you sign in.

    • Feature

      Generate a Check-in from Any Deck

      May 27Show details

      Turn any flashcard deck into a graded quiz in seconds. Choose how many questions, which types (multiple choice, true/false, written answer), and whether students answer from the question or the answer side. The generated check-in is a normal check-in you can edit, assign, and share. Start from the deck page or pick Generate from Deck when creating a new check-in.

    • Feature

      From Notes: Turn Any Text or PDF into Flashcards

      May 27Show details

      The AI Deck Builder now has a From Notes mode. Paste text from your notes, articles, or textbooks, or upload a PDF. The AI extracts the key vocabulary or concepts and builds a flashcard deck. Works for both language decks (translation pairs) and general decks (Q&A cards). Review and edit the generated cards in the deck editor before sharing.

    • Feature

      Smarter Spaced Repetition

      May 27Show details

      Study sessions now use a modern scheduling algorithm that adapts to each card individually. Cards you find easy are spaced further apart; cards you struggle with get more targeted practice without getting stuck in an endless loop. Expect around 20% fewer reviews for the same level of retention.

    • Feature

      A Refreshed Teacher Dashboard

      May 25Show details

      The home page is reorganized so you can see what's coming up and what happened recently at a glance. Each item links straight to where you need to go. The shortcut grid is regrouped into a few clear sections so the action you need is easier to find.

    • Feature

      Notification Preferences and Email Digests

      May 25Show details

      Teachers now get notified when students finish their work or join a class. Open Settings to choose which notification types you care about, or turn on an email digest to get a summary delivered to your inbox. Pick Daily or Weekly. The digest is off by default.

    • Feature

      A Smarter Calendar

      May 25Show details

      Click any assignment to preview it and move the due date. Drag assignments between days to reschedule. Busier days are shaded darker so you can spot overloaded weeks at a glance. Open the Unscheduled panel to see assignments without a due date and drag them onto a day to schedule them. You can also click a day to assign new work directly from the calendar.

    • Feature

      A Built-In Support Page

      May 22Show details

      Open the avatar menu and tap Support to send a bug report, feature request, or anything else. Your name and email pre-fill from your account. Attach a screenshot by clicking the picker or pasting one straight from the clipboard. When something errors anywhere in the app, the toast and the crash page show a Report button that opens Support with the error already in the message field, so you can describe what you were doing without copying anything.

    • Feature

      AI Deck Builder Now Generates General Study Decks

      May 20Show details

      AI Deck Builder isn't only for language pairs anymore. Switch the top picker from Language to General, pick a language for the cards, pick a card shape (Term and definition or Question and answer), type a topic, and the generator writes a study deck for any subject: biology terms, Shakespeare's plays, presidents and their years.

    • Feature

      AI Language Lesson: Generate a Deck, Dialogue, and Check-in Together

      May 20Show details

      Open AI Language Lesson from the sidebar, type a topic, pick the languages you teach in and from, and choose a level. You'll get a complete lesson back: a vocabulary flashcard deck, a dialogue, and a check-in quiz. Pick how many cards, lines, and questions you want, or leave any of the three out. The preview fills in as each piece generates; saving drops everything into a new learning path with a cover image, ready to assign to a class or share publicly.

    • Feature

      Pick a Color for Every Deck

      May 20Show details

      Decks already showed a soft tint to help you scan a long list, picked automatically from the deck. Now you can pick the color yourself. Open the deck, click the settings gear in the toolbar, and choose from six tints (or hit Auto to go back). The color follows the deck everywhere it shows up: the Decks list, the assignments rail, the deck card on a learning path.

    • UX

      Cmd+K: Cleaner Recents

      May 20Show details

      Open Cmd+K (Ctrl+K on Windows) with nothing typed and the panel leads with your recents. The full catalog stays out of the way until you start typing. Recents are grouped by what they are (Decks, Classes, Learning Paths, Check-ins, Dialogues, Students), with the page icons you already know from the sidebar. The total cap moved from 5 to 10, with up to 3 per group, so a streak of opening four decks doesn't push out yesterday's class.

    • Mobile

      Mobile Polish: Hit Areas, Notification Drawer, No Auto-Zoom

      May 20Show details

      A pass over the mobile chrome. Buttons across the navbar, dialog headers, and editor toolbars hit the 44-pixel tap-target threshold so a sloppy thumb still lands. Notifications slide in from the right as a proper sheet instead of squashing the page. The Account card on Settings stacks on phones so the export buttons get full width instead of squeezing under the title. Form inputs render at 16-pixel text so the browser doesn't zoom in every time you tap a field, and inline save validation surfaces errors next to the field that broke instead of next to the Save button.

    • UX

      Avatar Menu Refresh

      May 20Show details

      Click your avatar in the top-right and the menu opens to a panel of grouped cards. A segmented theme picker (System / Dark / Light) sits at the top with the active option highlighted in primary. Below it: Settings, What's new, and Help in one card, then Log out. Privacy, Terms, and Contact live as small footer links at the bottom. What's new and Help moved here from the side nav, so the sidebar lost two items in exchange. A small dot appears next to What's new when changelog entries have shipped since you last opened the page.

    • UX

      Settings Profile Refresh

      May 20Show details

      The Profile card on Settings now leads with a six-tile stats overview: classes, students, decks, flashcards, learning paths, and assignments. Underneath, two friendly lines tell you how long you've had the account and when you last signed in. Every section card across the page picked up a small icon to scan the page faster, and the profile photo became an explicit opt-in: the avatar stays on a generated illustration until you flip Show my profile photo on.

    • UX

      User Manual: Filter, Icons, and Workspace Help

      May 20Show details

      The /docs page got a filter box at the top, icons next to every article, and a grouped table of contents (Getting around, Teacher core, Content authoring, and so on). Click the ? help icon inside a per-item workspace (a single class, learning path, check-in, dialogue, or student) and you now land on a workspace-specific article instead of the generic index. New articles cover the per-class workspace, the learning-path editor, the check-in editor, the dialogue editor, the student detail view, and the changelog itself.

    • UX

      Changelog Screenshots Follow Your Theme

      May 20Show details

      Until today, every screenshot on this page was captured in light mode. Dark-mode readers still got a bright frame in the middle of an otherwise dark page. Today's entries (and any new ones from here on, where it makes sense) carry both a light and a dark capture of the same view, and the page swaps between them based on the theme you've picked. Older entries without a dark variant keep showing their light frame in both themes.

    • Feature

      Search anything with Cmd+K

      May 19Show details

      A search bar lives at the top of every page now. Type a few letters and you'll get matches across every class, deck, assignment, learning path, check-in, dialogue, and student you've made. Hit Cmd+K (Ctrl+K on Windows) from anywhere to open it. Recently opened items show up first so the things you keep coming back to are one keystroke away.

    • Feature

      Share Publicly: a no-sign-in link for every kind of content

      May 19Show details

      Open the Share popover on a check-in, learning path, presentation, dialogue, or deck and you'll find a second link below the student URL. Anyone you send the public link to can open the content without signing in. Check-ins still collect responses (anonymous polls land in the responses tab); other types are view only. Regenerate the link to revoke it if it leaks; Stop sharing turns it off entirely. Sharing a learning path opens up every lesson inside it for the duration of the share, including private decks.

    • Feature

      Class Insights

      May 18Show details

      New Insights tab on every class. KPI cards for active students and cards mastered against the prior period, plus two charts: cumulative class mastery over time and active students per day. Range picker for the last 7, 30, or 90 days, kept in the URL so the view is shareable.

    • Feature

      Live Quiz: per-room seconds-per-question picker

      May 18Show details

      Hosts pick between 3 and 60 seconds per question instead of the old fixed 10. Preset chips for 10s, 20s, 30s, 60s, both on the start screen and from the lobby once a quiz is opened.

    • Feature

      Every Log in CTA routes through the chooser

      May 18Show details

      Teacher (email) vs. student (username) chooser presented on every Log in button, with the return URL preserved end to end.

    • Feature

      Class-wide mastered counter in the assignments rail

      May 18Show details

      Students see an ambient count of how many cards their class is learning or has mastered together.

    • Feature

      Learning Paths: due date and visible-from in the assign dialog

      May 18Show details

      Set when an assigned path becomes visible to students and when it's due. Classes in the picker are now sorted alphabetically.

    • UX

      AI Deck Builder: one canonical name

      May 18Show details

      Sidebar, route page, page metadata, and help article all use the same name.

    • Feature

      Sidebar mode picker

      May 17Show details

      Three modes: Expanded, Collapsed, Expand on hover. Choice persists across visits.

    • Feature

      Per-line translate button on dialogues

      May 17Show details

      Each line of a dialogue gets its own translate button. Useful when a student is stuck on one line and doesn't want the whole script spoiled.

    • Feature

      Speaking Exercises renamed Dialogues

      May 17Show details

      Same feature. Cleaner name. Editor gains drag-to-reorder, undo-on-delete, an unsaved-changes warning, and a sticky save bar.

    • Feature

      Learning Path labels

      May 17Show details

      Tag paths with custom labels (matches the check-ins picker). Labels show in the rail with a filled chip style.

    • Feature

      Past bucket on every workspace rail

      May 16Show details

      Workspaces now show Draft / Assigned / Past, so older assignments stay accessible without cluttering the active list.

    • Feature

      Assignment detail: edit title, dates, and description inline

      May 16Show details

      Delete from the per-assignment page. Reschedule from the day slide-over and the mobile agenda.

    • Feature

      Check-in heatmap response view

      May 16Show details

      Replaces the individual-response list with a per-question heatmap. Compact summary cards with an avatar stack per option. Names listed for free-text answers.

    • UX

      Harmonized empty states across the app

      May 16Show details

      Every workspace, list, and detail page uses the same empty-state pattern, with a contextual help tooltip.

    • Feature

      Quick stats at the bottom of every workspace list

      May 15Show details

      Classes, slideshows, dialogues, check-ins, and learning paths each show a small summary bar at the bottom of the list rail.

    • Feature

      Class Announcements

      May 14Show details

      Compose dialog with rich text. Each post lands as a notification for every class member. Notification bell groups them. Unified Notifications inbox.

    • Feature

      Check-ins workspace with deep-link pages

      May 14Show details

      Two-pane workspace shell. Direct URLs for editor, preview, and responses keep the workspace open when you land from anywhere.

    • Feature

      Teacher Calendar with drag-to-reschedule

      May 14Show details

      Month and week views. Drag an assignment block to reschedule it. Keyboard-accessible drag. Mobile agenda view.

    • Feature

      App sidebar for signed-in pages

      May 13Show details

      Replaces the top nav for signed-in users. Mobile slide-out drawer. Persisted collapse. Highlighted active route. Auto-collapse on workspace routes. Theme toggle in the avatar menu.

    • Feature

      Learning Path PDF materials

      May 13Show details

      Attach PDFs to a lesson. Surfaced as a Materials section on the path detail and the student learn page.

    • Feature

      Global help sheet and user manual

      May 12Show details

      Help button in the navbar opens a per-page sheet. The Docs page is the full user manual, indexed for site search.

    • Feature

      Visible-formatting editor for Learning Paths descriptions

      May 12Show details

      Rich-text description editor with a Preview-as-student dialog, so teachers see exactly what students will see.

    • Feature

      Learning Paths editor refresh

      May 11Show details

      Drag-and-drop lesson reorder. Lighter lesson rows. Kebab menu in the toolbar. Row click opens the content editor. Edit-lesson modal.

    • Feature

      Per-class progress blocks

      May 11Show details

      Speaking exercises, check-ins, and learning paths all get a per-class progress section on their review/responses page.

    • Feature

      Speaking Exercises overhaul

      May 10Show details

      Waveform preview and live mic visualizer, word-level transcript feedback, click-seek and auto-stop, color-coded word feedback, equal-width waveforms, slow-playback turtle, autoplay, mic-permission states, trimmed leading and trailing silence.

    • Feature

      My Assignments becomes a class workspace

      May 10Show details

      Sidebar that auto-flows into the first incomplete lesson, due-date chips, mini-progress, hide-done. Decks and slideshows auto-complete when actually done.

    • Feature

      Public Pricing and FAQ pages

      May 10Show details

      Linked from the footer. Pricing explains how the site stays free; FAQ is a public Q&A page.

    • Feature

      Two-column lesson view with a sibling sidebar

      May 9Show details

      Lessons open in a two-pane layout. Decks, audio, slideshows, and check-ins embed inline in the right pane.

    • Feature

      Forum: markdown bodies, avatars, edit stamp

      May 8Show details

      Posts render markdown safely. Author avatars on cards. An Edited indicator appears on posts that were touched up after publishing.

    • Feature

      Public preview for learning paths, refreshed privacy and terms

      May 8Show details

      Open shared learning paths to anonymous preview. Progress is only tracked for assigned users. Privacy policy and terms expanded; an age-affirmation gate sits at the marketing top.

    • Feature

      Landing page redesign

      May 4Show details

      Screenshots, AI Tutor spotlight, sharper copy. Classes list converted to a sortable table with an Updated column. Share button on every list row.

    • Feature

      Student page redesign

      May 3Show details

      Info card with email and username, inline name edit in a dialog, teacher notes, danger zone. Assignment list polish. Class overview page replaces the old tab strip.

  • April 20269 updates

    • Feature

      AI Tutor post-session feedback and ask-questions nudge

      Apr 30Show details

      After each session, a brief feedback panel summarizes what went well and what to practice next.

    • Feature

      Mobile responsive overhaul

      Apr 19Show details

      Mobile-friendly flashcard controls. Hidden checkboxes on mobile with swipe-to-delete. Responsive sidebar widths on desktop. Teachers can rename students inline.

    • Feature

      QR-code auto-join for Live Quiz

      Apr 15Show details

      Scanning the QR code auto-joins a logged-in student. Anonymous players still confirm their nickname.

    • Feature

      Check-in images and editor polish

      Apr 15Show details

      Per-question image with a built-in stock photo picker. Preview UX improvements.

    • Feature

      Forum: posts, comments, emoji reactions, in-app notifications

      Apr 13Show details

      Categories and anonymous posting. GitHub-style reaction picker. Pinned posts. Edited indicator. Subscriptions with per-thread notification prefs. Notification bell surfaces forum activity.

    • Feature

      Slideshow canvas designer

      Apr 3Show details

      Drag and resize text, images, and shapes. Font picker, opacity, multi-select, rotation handles, z-index controls, align and distribute, cut/copy/paste, template chooser with saved custom templates, animate-in timeline, per-object narration, full undo/redo.

    • Feature

      Logged-in welcome page with cycling language headline

      Apr 2Show details

      Greeting, a cycling welcome question, and a flag picker. Pause-on-hover, native language labels, click a flag to browse decks in that language.

    • Feature

      Role-based home page after login

      Apr 2Show details

      Teacher dashboard, learner dashboard, admin shortcuts. Each role gets its own landing page.

    • Feature

      Video slideshow with narration

      Apr 2Show details

      Slideshow plays as a video with synthesized voiceover. Voice picker, playback speed control, share button.

  • March 202616 updates

    • Feature

      Account page with theme toggle

      Mar 29Show details

      Theme toggle moves to the nav. Default deck languages. Inline student name editing.

    • Feature

      Eight new games, each with its own leaderboard

      Mar 23Show details

      Anagram, hangman, listening/transcription, word search, fill-in-blank, spelling, matching pairs 2.0, connect-pairs. Each has a start screen with a leaderboard.

    • Feature

      Photo-to-flashcard import

      Mar 22Show details

      Snap a photo of a textbook page. Text is extracted and cleaned up with AI before becoming cards.

    • Feature

      Cartoon avatar picker with multiple styles

      Mar 21Show details

      Six styles, 36 avatars per style. Custom-avatar toggle. Logged-in players bring their avatar into Live Quiz.

    • Feature

      Notification bell with new-assignment alerts

      Mar 21Show details

      Bell shows new assignments and clears on visit. Items in the popover are clickable links.

    • Feature

      My Classes page, teacher demo, student demo

      Mar 21Show details

      Join-class redesigned as the My Classes page. Public demo pages for teachers and students so the homepage CTAs land somewhere real.

    • Feature

      Live Quiz survivor mode

      Mar 5Show details

      Lives system, with a heart row to track survival.

    • Feature

      Audio assignments end to end

      Mar 4Show details

      Teacher creates the dialogue, student records each line in the browser, teacher reviews. Library, classroom workflow, and per-student review UI.

    • Feature

      CSV deck import and inline table editing

      Mar 4Show details

      Import CSV to match the existing CSV export. Inline editing, add-row in table view, per-row image picker.

    • Feature

      AI Tutor chatbot

      Mar 3Show details

      Voice-driven language tutor with text-to-speech, speech-to-text, and a chat/audio mode toggle. Pre-chat setup screen, topic selection, in-line translate, difficulty levels, vocab panel, and an end-of-conversation summary.

    • Feature

      Anki deck import with language auto-detection

      Mar 3Show details

      Import Anki decks directly. Languages detected from the deck content. SRS study session refinements alongside.

    • Feature

      QR code join for Live Quiz

      Mar 3Show details

      Students point a phone camera at the lobby QR code and land directly in the room with the code prefilled.

    • Feature

      Settings redesigned with profile stats and a danger zone

      Mar 2Show details

      Account-level controls grouped: profile, appearance, default languages, danger zone.

    • Feature

      Learning Paths and the Assignments system

      Mar 1Show details

      Sequence decks, slideshows, and check-ins into ordered lessons. Teacher-managed students with credentials. Assignments tie content to classes with due dates and progress tracking.

    • Feature

      Google Forms-style check-in builder

      Mar 1Show details

      Build quick vocabulary quizzes with question templates, reorder questions, auto-complete on submit, and PDF print for the form and the responses.

    • Feature

      Live Quiz multiplayer game

      Mar 1Show details

      Mobile-friendly. Teacher can kick from the lobby. Profanity filter and length cap on nicknames.