We started 2022 with the goal to make Classcraft the best possible version of itself, with lots of updates and improvements coming from our own research, feedback from our amazing community of educators, and even just a few fun ideas.
Let’s look back on all these changes so you can get the most out of them!
Class creation and settings
Quick setup
We created a leaner, faster onboarding process — the quick setup. When a teacher creates a class using the quick setup, all the features they need are set up and there are only a few steps to complete for it to be ready.
A new way to select behaviors
The three behavior sets we used to offer during class setup didn’t work for all teachers, so we improved the whole process. Now, single-license teachers can select up to eight areas of focus for their classroom and a template is created automatically from there.
Automatic rostering changes
Rostering through Clever and ClassLink caused some issues for teachers when creating their classes. We changed the way we create these classes so that teachers can easily find and set up the classes they want to use without having to add or remove students manually.
Moving students from one class to another
Previously, it was pretty time-consuming for single-license teachers to move students from one class to another. In 2022, we made it a dedicated feature in class settings. This significantly reduces the number of steps necessary to move students, so it’s much easier now!
Powers to fit your need
First, we provided a new grid view that allows teachers to easily see the powers that each character class earns at each level.
Also, we made it possible for teachers to customize the levels at which their students can earn which privileges (with the exception of game-based powers).
More import options
When importing settings from another class or teacher, a teacher can now decide whether they want to add the new elements to the class or replace existing ones with the new elements. This way, it’s a lot easier to curate and import the perfect behaviors or Random Events list!
Student customization
Backgrounds for every occasion
Earlier in the year, we added a few customization options for character backgrounds to start with. A bit later, we added even more backgrounds that unlock every few levels. These are picked at random so students don’t all have the same background choices at the same time.
A new pet for long-time users
Teachers who started using Classcraft before we launched the New Classcraft Experience automatically unlocked a new pet for their students — Duskrun.
Dressed to impress
This has been a recurring part of character customization already, but nevertheless, we were very pleased to once again provide special gear options for five distinct times during 2022: Winter, Valentine’s Day, April Fools’ Day, Spring, and Halloween.
New character body type
It’s very important to us to make customization flexible enough that students can really see themselves in their characters. To continue sticking to this principle, we created a new body type to give students more to choose from.
All the colors all the time
Speaking of flexibility and variety, we also introduced a color slider that any student can use to shift the colors of various elements in their character’s look. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, so we’re excited to introduce more features like this in the future!
Classcraft GO
After lots of hard work from our amazing development team, we finally launched Classcraft GO — an app that allows teachers to quickly and easily reward student behavior in class using a mobile device. More recently, we updated the app to make celebrating positive behavior even more fun.
Boss Battles improvements (part 1)
As part of the first phase of our improvements to Boss Battles in 2022, we made it possible for teachers to keep students on their toes by manually revealing the opponent after the question has been displayed. We also reduced the minimum number of Hearts for a question from 1 to 0.25.
Welcome to the Elda Training Grounds
In 2022, teacher feedback about Boss Battles allowed us to create the Elda Training Grounds, a.k.a. Quick Reviews. In addition to being available from the start of using Classcraft (rather than in the Mastery phase), this feature allows teachers to set up a formative review quickly and easily.
Boss Battles improvements (part 2)
Creating Quick Reviews gave us ideas for improving Boss Battles, so we updated them to automatically generate Bonus Rounds (which are made up of any questions left over after a boss is defeated). We also made it an option for Boss Battles to not affect student Hearts.
Quality of life changes
We made a number of small but impactful quality-of-life improvements in 2022 — this included automatic translation in Classcraft messages, a Class Store feature for Premium license teachers, the ability to mark students absent directly from the Class Dashboard’s grid view, and more!
School features
Inventory management for the School Store
Classcraft’s School Store feature combines the motivating power of Gold Pieces with the concept of the PBIS store. In 2022, we improved its inventory management features to allow for tracking of items sold. We also created a shopping cart feature that holds multiple items for students.
A cleaner student list
We cleaned up the appearance of the student list so that it looks more like the staff list, while also making room for features that we’d release later.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion template
We added a new template created by the Classcraft Equity Board to promote positive values among students. Administrators can use this template to create school kits with positive and negative behaviors, powers, and pledges.
New data analytics (beta)
Some schools have access to a beta section of their dashboard, which presents student behavior analytics in widgets: Experience Points, Hearts, Goals, and Behavior Ratio. Some of these have detailed views with a complete breakdown of behaviors or other data.
The Classcraft Hero Program
Finally, we launched our Hero Program in 2022, which can get you some cool rewards for things you accomplish in Classcraft. Learn more about the Hero Program here.
So, yes, 2022 was quite a year for Classcraft — and there’s more coming in 2023 so stay tuned!
Classroom Management - Gamification - News and Updates - Technology Integration