helpful update posted for Lab 3b (plus minor updates for others)

Based on our troubleshooting experience with the new Flow version of 3b so far this Fall, we've made several clarifying tweaks to that lab that should help students have a smoother experience.

While we were at it, we did the same for 1a, 1b and 3a, too.

The 1a, 1b, 3a and 3b files in the Google Drive folder have been updated in place so you can just download them again now to have the new version.

Here's the link again so you can go directly there now:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RBHnDguzb8Jas79nXgaKoXyt5BCRs4M3?usp=sharing

None of these updates change anything the students do–these are merely tweaks to wording or the embedded screencaps to make things clearer. But they should make life easier for students and our troubleshooters too!

So thank you for getting these into your students' hands. Apologies for the hassle. We really appreciate your support!

critical update for Fall term - make sure you have latest version!

Due to impending changes in one Salesforce feature (workflow), all instructors should make sure they are distributing the most current version of the lab docs which were last updated on July 11.

As always, the most current version of the lab docs is found in that same Google Drive folder here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1RBHnDguzb8Jas79nXgaKoXyt5BCRs4M3

The new version is particularly important for Lab 3b because Salesforce is retiring the old process automation tool, Workflow, and migrating everyone to their newer, more sophisticated tool, Flow. The new 3b instructions are adapted to use Flow. We took out Steps 33-57 (Workflow) and replaced them with Steps 33-71 (Flow). The steps before that have not changed. The steps after that section are the same too–they just got pushed down so now there are 14 more steps total, ending with Step 158. That length matches 3a now which was already 158 steps.

There are some other minor clarifications made to some of the other labs and the Pre-lab has been revised to make it more concise. All postings in the Pre-lab are now 1 page or less. We're hoping students will be more likely to actually read it.

The new version of the grader has just been posted. It accounts for the Flow steps added to Lab 3b.

New, improved version of Lab 0 (Pre-lab) posted

We've just posted a new version (v13) of Lab 0, the Pre-lab reading that sets the backstory of Max.

The new version has been streamlined to improve the readability so more students will be more likely to read it all and get the most out of it. We took pains to ensure that almost all of the conceptual content was preserved, so it is still rich with important ideas and terms around innovation and it still conveys essential plot points in Max's story–it's just more concise.

We also dropped the cover page for this one to get the content out front and to avoid giving students the impression that the cover pages of all the labs would be as non-essential as it was for the Pre-lab.

We updated the links to reference sites as well so they connect to some very cool, valuable, and up-to-date supplemental content for students like this YouTube video: Personal Brand for Students – Instagram Bio Makeover.

Lastly, we added a "handwritten" note from "Prof" to the top of the first posting, encouraging students to read all the postings. And we added another one at the bottom of the last posting to inspire students in anticipation of Lab 1a.

Please download & distribute this new version to your students next time you assign the labs and please urge them to take 5-10 min to read the Pre-lab before they start 1a so they are most likely to get into the story and feel engaged in Max's exploits throughout the rest of the "episodes." Thanks!