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Revision history

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What is revision history?

Revision history in Trelson is a feature that automatically saves versions of the student's work while they are writing their assignment. This allows them to focus on their answers without worrying about losing anything due to unexpected events, such as internet outages or device issues. Revision history also makes it possible for you as a teacher to monitor the student's progress in the assignment both during and after submission. Let's explore how it works in more detail, in a simple and understandable way.

How does it work?

Imagine your students are writing their assignment. Every time they make a change, our system automatically saves their work. If they write continuously, the work is saved every 20 seconds. If they pause, the work is saved every 8 seconds. Even if the internet connection is temporarily lost, students can continue writing their assignment as usual, and when the connection is restored, their changes are automatically uploaded to the cloud as a new version.

How do you find the revision history?

During the assignment, students can see in the lower left corner that their work is continuously being saved to the cloud. 

During and after the assignment, only you as a teacher can access these revisions. You can find up to the latest 50 revisions and thus see how the student's work has developed over time.

To access the revision history during an ongoing assignment, follow these steps:

  1. Open Trelson as a teacher.
  2. Find and open the specific assignment your students are working on.
  3. Inside the assignment, click on the "Students" tab to see the list of students.
  4. Identify the student whose work you want to review. Look for the eye icon located on the right side of the student's information.
  5. Click on the eye icon to monitor the student's progress while they write.

To access the revision history for a submitted assignment, follow these steps:

  1. Open Trelson as a teacher.
  2. Find and open the specific assignment your students are working on.
  3. Inside the assignment, click on the "Students" tab to see the list of students who have submitted their work.
  4. Identify the student whose submission you want to review. Look for the document icon located on the right side of the student's information, which indicates they have submitted their work.
  5. Click on this document icon to access the Feedback module.
  6. In the upper right corner of the Feedback module, you will see an icon that looks like a clock. Click the icon to display a log called "Revision History" with several revisions listed in chronological order (see image), with the latest revision at the top. Click on any revision to browse through the student's progress.

Understanding timestamps

The timestamps on these saved revisions tell a story. For example, if the assignment started at 10:00 and you find a saved version from 11:00 with 2000 characters, it means the student wrote those 2000 characters between 10:00 and 11:00. This does not mean they logged in at 11:00 and added 2000 characters.

NOTE! Submissions appear as revisions at the bottom. This can make it look as if the student added a large amount of words between the two revisions. The occurrence of a "gap" in time is because Trelson only saves the 50 most recent versions in the revision history. If the students have written a large amount of text, the new versions have simply "pushed away" the older versions created between those two points in time. This is normal behavior when students write a lot and is seen across multiple students. 

See the example below.

Flagged revision

As of 2026, Trelson has a feature that helps teachers detect text that may have been created in an unnatural way. The purpose is not to judge, but to provide teachers with a good basis for starting a dialogue with their student or reviewing the work more closely.

The system tracks specific parameters in the background while the student writes. If something deviates from a common human writing pattern, a flag is created in the revision history.

Remember! A flag is an indication, not proof of cheating. Use the information as support in your professional assessment and in conversation with the student.

 

It is also possible to filter for flagged revisions in the event log; read more about this in our article: For teachers: event log.

Using revision history: A word of caution

The revision history can be used as a support feature if you suspect cheating, but it should not be considered a foolproof method for determining if the student has cheated. It only shows the latest 50 changes, and while it provides valuable insight, it is not reliable enough to make any accusations.

Checking student activity after assignment submission

To check a student's activity, you can use the event log. It shows when students enter and exit the assignment, and gives you a clear picture of the student's activities during the assignment.

Summary

The revision history ensures that students' work is continuously saved during the course of the assignment, while allowing you to follow their progress in detail. After the assignment, only you as a teacher can review these saved versions to understand their writing process. The timestamps and event logs provide valuable context and help you assess their work. Remember that the revision history is not a definitive tool for detecting cheating.