What's New in WorkExpo v10

WorkExpo 10.0 introduces a range of new features and functionality that make it easier than ever to manage school-to-work programs in Australian schools.

New Features

Support for Vista And Office 2007

Windows Vista: Unlike previous versions of WorkExpo, version 10 is designed to install trouble-free on Windows Vista. Security in Vista is not an issue due to WorkExpo's digital signature confirming that the software is virus-free and from the company it purports to be. Vista opens the door for WorkExpo. Of course, WorkExpo will also continue to install on Windows XP. You can use the same WorkExpo CD to either install a fresh copy of WorkExpo or upgrade an existing copy.

Office 2007: Microsoft radically redesigned the core Microsoft Office products with the release of Office 2007. Previous versions of WorkExpo did not function well within Office 2007. If you install an older version of WorkExpo with Office 2007 it may at first appear to have installed correctly but there are several subtle issues that may cause problems. For example, the toolbars and menu-bars at the top of screen may disappear.

All of these issues have been addressed in WorkExpo 10 which means you can concentrate on running your school-to-work program and not worrying about problems with the WorkExpo and Office.

User Interface Redesigned

WorkExpo version 10 has a superior user-interface design. The design is based on the old design but now incorporates higher resolution for today's high resolution monitors. The minimum screen resolution required for WorkExpo is now 1024 x 768

All of the Department's laptop computers for the last few years have met this specification. This means WorkExpo is now able to utilize more screen 'real-estate' making it easier for you to see the information at a glance. If you have a laptop computer more than five years old you may need to replace it or adjust its screen resolution to a higher setting.

Major Safe@Work Enhancement

WorkExpo is now able to handle the Safe@Work requirements much more effectively. In previous versions you were required to add General Modules in the Students window and Industry modules in the Arrangements window only once a student actually had a placement. Now you can add both general and industry modules in either window and WorkExpo synchronizes between windows for you.

Students are required to undertake the General module at least once every twelve months. WorkExpo now allows you to enter the date the student completed the module and you can add multiple general modules per student. You can flag a General module as 'General' or 'Review' thereby keeping track over time of what the student has achieved within the Safe@Work general module framework.

Within the same Students window you can now add multiple Industry modules for the student. In fact,  with a single click you can optionally add all Industry modules for a student. Later, when this same student is placed, WorkExpo will find the required module in the Arrangements window based on the mapping between work types and industry. WorkExpo will show that the student has completed the necessary Industry module and the date completed, without you having to do anything.

You can easily view lists of students by General or Industry module and add/edit these lists. If necessary, you can now flag all students as having completed the General module with a single mouse click.

New Work Experience Forms

WorkExpo 10 includes the new Work Experience Forms as released in 2008. The Victorian Work Experience forms form part of the Education And Training Reform Act 2006 Ministerial Order No. 56: Work Experience Arrangements Education and Training Reform Act 2006 Ministerial Order No. 55: Structured WorkPlace Learning.

Previous versions of WorkExpo have the older forms.

New Fields

Students: In the Students window the State field is now visible. Other new fields for students include Student Mobile Phone. This student mobile phone number also appears on the Visiting Teacher Proforma. This means a visiting teacher now has the student's mobile phone number on their information sheet.

In addition, a new parent email address is also available within the Students window.

Employers: In the Employers window the State field is now visible.

When selecting a student with a preference in the Employers window WorkExpo now highlights the preferences tab in the student's window allowing faster navigation between screens.

A new optional Mail Contact Details in the Employers window includes Contact Name, Contact Title and Contact Details (phone, fax, email). Similar to the existing postal address feature, this new feature allows you to address employer correspondence to a specific person at the same, or different location. This avoids the problem of mail being forwarded to a central office but being incorrectly addressed to the local Contact.

For example, a student undertakes work experience at a local Police Station in Gardenville. The Police Station contact is Sgt. Smith who will be the student's supervisor. However, all correspondence must be sent to a Ms Jones at St. Kilda Rd, Headquarters. WorkExpo now allows the addressing of correspondence to Ms Jones, while maintaining all the details of the placement at the local level in Gardenville.

This is very useful when dealing with a bureaucracy located away from the placement itself and is something that has been requested by several schools.

Additionally, now when addressing employers you can choose to address them formally 'Dear Ms. Jones' or informally 'Dear Sally' in correspondence. You can set this for all employers or for each employer on an individual basis.

Arrangements: There's now a new field in the Arrangements window to denote the Status of a placement e.g. 'active', 'cancelled' or 'postponed' etc.  You can sort and group placements by Status.

There's also a new Created Date and Last Edited Date for Arrangements. This handy feature allows you to find the most recently edited arrangements and also who last edited the arrangement. A new dialog box displays a list of recently edited placements for easy navigation.

A new field Registered Training Organization (RTO) is now also available in the Details tab in the Arrangements window. This field may be useful for Structured Workplace Learning placements. Double click this field to add/edit or delete new RTO records. Double-click again to edit details (contact, fax or phone) for each RTO.

Placement statistics are now fixed. Some statistics in certain circumstances were showing incorrect information.

New logic detects incorrectly entered dates in placements. For example, if date is incorrectly entered as 12/12/9002 instead of 12/12/2009, WorkExpo is now sensitive to this and other date entry errors.

Students under 15 with active placements have their age highlighted in the Arrangements window once their placement is created.

A new simple Flag checkbox is now available in Arrangements. You can flag an arrangement, add a quick note, then later view all flagged placements for follow up. This is separate from the existing Follow-Ups feature and much simpler.

Follow-Ups are still supported as a separate feature in WorkExpo 10.

New Students Under-15 Report

A new feature which appears in both the Students and Arrangements windows allows you to identify students who will be under fifteen years of age at the start of their work experience placement in order to arrange Child Employment Permits.

A new menu item shows details of students who will be under fifteen at placements start date or any given date. This new Under 15 report is available when in the students window, arrangements window and also available via the Print wizard.

Minor Enhancements

Postcodes Updated: Postcodes have been updated for this version of WorkExpo in accordance with the 2009 Australia Post official postcode list.

Several bug fixes: Several minor issues have been resolved in this release from previous versions. For example, there was an issue with importing and using digitally-scanned signatures in previous versions of WorkExpo. Sometimes these images would work with certain letters and frustratingly they would behave differently on other documents. This issue, and several others, have been resolved.

Quick Overview: In version 10 when you open WorkExpo you will be be able to see a new dashboard where you can instantly gain a quick overview of your current program. With a single click you can see who's currently out on placement, who's about to go and who has returned to school. Other information is also available in the same screen. If necessary, you can hide this dashboard. A redesigned quick tips component displaying tips and tricks using WorkExpo can also be hidden if necessary.

NSW Specific

On the Student Placement Form in section 5 'School Approval', the option now exists to specify Deputy Principal OR Teacher name.

Other New Features

Code Optimization: Support for runtime code optimization allowing for smoother transition between screens and reports.

Improved screen layout: A large viewable area. Less cluttered interface. Screen resolution is now in line with modern flat-panel monitors and laptop computers.

More reporting options: Subtle changes to the Print wizard makes it even easier to print your letters, documents, proformas, reports and listings than ever before. Several options can be saved to avoid repetitive tasks.

Counselling enhanced: The counselling module in the Students window is now color-coded, making it easier to identify that you have the correct interface open for recording interactions with students for counselling purposes.

Tips Updated: The list of tips viewable from within WorkExpo's Main Menu has been updated in this release. You also now have the option of turning these Tip on or off.

School Holiday Dates Updated: The in-built list of school holidays has been updated for the next two years for all major Australian states. These holiday lists are referred to by the system when creating placements and optionally can warn you about dates which may fall on public holidays.
The option also exists in Version 10 to view and print a list of school holidays for any state.

Continued Support

Each new purchase or upgrade of WorkExpo includes comprehensive support for schools and teachers using the program. In addition to general website resources (such as PDF User Manuals and Utilities) teachers and office staff can phone or email Terry Chapman directly on his direct line for immediate help and assistance.

If necessary, support also includes help with importing student records via your school's main database system into WorkExpo. There is no additional charge for this service. Please understand that support for Version 9.0 has now expired and is renewed by upgrading to version 10.

Support lasts for at least twelve months from date of purchase and continues until a newer version is released or twelve months passes from date of purchase, whichever is the later.

Why Upgrade?

Help & Assistance: Purchasing and upgrading WorkExpo always includes personal, priority support via direct phone, email or fax. If you choose not to upgrade then please understand that your WorkExpo support will lapse.

Software Support: WorkExpo continues to evolve to support the latest operating systems and security software requirements. Using outdated versions of WorkExpo on newer systems may not prove optimal.

Improved Efficiency: The latest version of WorkExpo has been designed with efficiency and productivity in mind. Teachers are busier than ever before. WorkExpo lets teachers concentrate on managing their work, not on managing the software.

Australian Company: Info Plan Software is proudly an Australian company. Purchasing WorkExpo means that you are supporting Australian commerce.

Peace of Mind: Let Info Plan Software worry about the technical side of database system management while you get on with the job of managing students.