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Did you know Special Access is an option available in the Quizzes tool that allows the instructor to grant learners special accommodations?

Special Access allows the instructor to assign specific learners a different set of quiz availability dates, late submission properties, and/or time limits. The instructor can change Start, End, and Due dates; the "Recommended Time Limit" and "Enforced Time Limit" timing settings; and the number of attempts allowed for a quiz to provide allowances for different needs of learners.

Add Special Access in the Quiz Creation Experience
Add Special Access in the Quiz Creation Experience

special access options in quizzes
Special Access options in Quizzes

  1. Select Allow selected users special access to this quiz if you want to give certain students different submission options from the rest of the class.
  2. Select Allow only users with special access to see this quiz if only certain students are allowed to see this quiz.
  3. Click Add Users to Special Access to select students who will get the special access.

NOTE: Instructors can exempt individual learners from the requirement to use the Respondus LockDown Browser when taking a quiz. Follow these instructions to add Special Access to quizzes that require Respondus LockDown Browser (RLDB).

Want more information?

Grant Special Access to Users for a Quiz (video)
Set up Availability Dates & Conditions
Add Special Access to quizzes that require Respondus LockDown Browser
Brightspace Tip #468: Quizzes – Set Accommodations by Learner for All Quizzes

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call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.

Updated: 2/28/2021

Did you know Special Access is an option available in the Assignments tool that allows the instructor to grant learners special accommodations?

Special Access permissions allow instructors to set different availability dates and times for specific learners. For example, you could extend the deadline for learners who require remedial help or who are submitting work beyond the original scope of the assignment. You can also add Special Access after an assignment’s end date has passed for learners who have a legitimate excuse for missing the deadline or for learners you want to submit additional material, such as planning notes or a bibliography. The special access icon displays on the Assignment list page beside any assignment that includes special access settings.

Add Special Access in the Assignment Creation Experience
Add Special Access in the Assignment Creation Experience

manage special access options

  1. Select Allow users with special access to submit outside the normal availability dates for this folder if you want to give certain students different submission options from the rest of the class.
  2. Select Allow only users with special access to see this folder if only certain students are allowed to see this folder.
  3. Click Add Users to Special Access to select students who will get the special access.

Want more information?

Manage Special Access for Your Assignment
Brightspace Tip #536: Simplify Assignment Collection

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or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.

Updates to the Assignment tool give instructors greater control over the behavior of availability dates for their learners. As a result, instructors can:

  • Stop late submissions.
  • Let learners view assignment information and submissions after it ends.
  • Schedule the visibility of an assignment.
  • Allow learners to view an assignment while preventing them from attempting it.
  • Post the start and end of an assignment to the Calendar.

The Assignment list page for both instructors and learners contain all activity dates and date settings, including:

  • Access restricted
  • Submission restricted
  • Hidden
The Availability Date Defaults page, the Assignment page with activity dates and date settings.
The Availability Date Defaults page, the Assignment page with activity dates and date settings

The availability date settings let instructors setup assignments to achieve a few different workflows for students:

  • To stop late submissions, set an end date that is submission-restricted. Learners will be able to see the assignment information after the end date, but will not be able to submit.
  • To let learners access their submissions after the assignment has ended, set an end date that is submission-restricted.
  • To prevent learners from attempting an assignment but still allow them to view details like instructions and attachments, set a start date that is submission-restricted.
  • To schedule the visibility of an assignment you want students to see at a specific time, set a start date that is hidden to completely hide it from students; or set a start date that is access-restricted to let students see the name and dates of the assignment but no other details.
  • To show the start and end of an assignment in the Calendar, include start and end availability dates on the assignment and select Add availability dates to Calendar.

Instructors can choose the default settings for availability dates for any new assignment. The settings are available on the Availability Date Defaults page, which can be found under Course Admin.

The Availability Dates Defaults page displaying the different options for Start and End Dates in Assignments and Discussions.
The Availability Dates Defaults page displaying the different options for Start and End Dates in Assignments and Discussions.

Important: Making a change on the Availability Date Defaults page will not affect the availability dates of any previously-created assignment or discussion, but it will affect the date properties of special access dates.

Properties of Availability Dates for Assignments

The availability dates for Assignments properties are described below. These properties align and behave the same way as the same properties available to Discussions topics and forums.

The Availability Start and End Dates each have a set of three options. Instructors can select one option for each date. By choosing an option, instructors decide whether learners can see the assignment and access it. The options are:

  1. Visible with access-restricted (before start/after end)
    • The assignment will be visible to learners before the Start Date or after the End Date, but they cannot click or open it.
    • With this setting, learners can see the name, dates, and restrictions. Learners cannot see the assignment description or attachments.
  2. Visible with submission-restricted (before start/after end)
    • The assignment will be visible to learners before the Start Date or after the End Date and they can click or open it, but they cannot submit or mark it as complete.
    • With this setting, learners can see all details about the assignment including description, attachments, and rubrics, but they cannot upload files, enter comments, or mark the assignment as complete (for observed in person/on paper submission).
  3. Hidden (before start/after end)
    • The assignment is hidden to learners until the start date is reached or after the end date passes.
    • Learners will not see the assignment anywhere across Brightspace, including corresponding Calendar events and Notifications.

The Assignment List page contains all activity dates and date settings. The hover tooltip includes the information about start and end dates with settings to explain how the assignment appears to learners before and after these dates.

The Assignment page with activity dates and date settings.
The Assignment List page with activity dates and date settings.

Assignment Special Access

The special access for Assignments screens remains unchanged. However, special access dates inherit the date properties as follows:

  • When the parent assignment has an availability date set, its date property is inherited by the corresponding special access date. For example, if the assignment is hidden before a start date, then the special access start date is also treated as hidden.
  • When the parent assignment does not have an availability date, the special access date inherits its date property from the course default. For example, if the assignment does not have an end date, then a special access end date is set for a learner. This also occurs if the course default for assignment end dates is submission-restricted, making the special access end date be treated as submission-restricted.

Note: Whenever the availability date settings are changed from the Availability Date Defaults page, those changes will immediately impact the date properties of special access dates.

Want More Information?

View current, past, and preview upcoming Continuous Delivery release notes
Instructors Quick Start Tutorial
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Request a sandbox course
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You can find Brightspace help at D2L's website.
Join the Brightspace Community.
Try these Brightspace How-To documents.
Visit our Brightspace FAQs for additional Brightspace information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.

Use the Assignments tool to help you set and manage deadlines, unclutter your inbox, and save trees!

email inbox showing there are 6763 unread messages

The Assignments tool is an efficient way to manage and collect your student's individual and group assignments digitally. Brightspace's Assignments Tool allows instructors to create a secure location for students to submit class assignments.

The Assignments tool allows instructors to set up a place for students to submit their assignments digitally, with the ability to:

  • Control the window for submission
  • Facilitate individual submissions or group submissions (provided the groups have been set up using the Groups tool first)
  • Collect and assess submissions (with a connection to the Grades tool, if needed)
  • Enable plagiarism detection through Turnitin

Additionally, you can use Brightspace's Interactive Rubrics to increase efficiency. The interactive rubrics allow instructors to establish set criteria for grading assignments. Instructors can attach rubrics to assignment submission folders so that the criteria are visible to students at any time, only after grading has been completed, or not shown to the students at all. The rubrics click-and-score simplicity saves time when grading because rubrics are built into the grading workflow. For more information about rubrics refer to Brightspace Tip #204: Interactive Rubrics.

Follow these steps to do it.

To create an assignment submission folder:

  1. On the NavBar (of the course you want to create a submission folder), click Activities and then choose Assignments from the drop-down menu.
  2. Click New Assignment.
  3. Enter a Name for your submission folder.
  4. To evaluate the assignment with a numeric value, enter a Grade Out Of. A grade item with the same name as your assignment is automatically added to your gradebook. Alternatively, you can click on the "In Grade Book" menu item to reveal a drop-down list. Select the "Edit or Link to Existing" option and then navigate to a grade item that is already in your Grade Book.
  5. Set a Due Date.
  6. Enter assignment instructions.
  7. Upload any files, link to any existing activities or external weblinks, attach any files from Google Drive or OneDrive, and record and/or upload any audio or video notes.
  8. Expand Availability Dates & Conditions and do the following:
    • Set a Start Date and an End Date.
    • Attach Release Conditions.
    • Use Manage Special Access to enable the assignment to be available only to a select group of users or to add individualized due dates for certain users.
  9. Expand Submission & Completion and do the following:
    • For the Assignment Type, specify if this is an Individual Assignment or Group Assignment.
    • Select an existing category to align your assignment to or click New category to create a category.
    • Select a Submission Type:
      • For File submissions, set the number of Files Allowed Per Submission and the Submissions rules.
      • For File or text submission, set the number of Files Allowed Per Submission and the Submissions rules.
      • For Text submissions, set the Submission rules.
      • For On paper submissions, set Marked as completed to one of the available options: Manually by learners, Automatically on evaluation, or Automatically on due date.
      • For Observed in person assignments, set Marked as completed to one of the available options: Manually by learners, Automatically on evaluation, or Automatically on due date.
    • From the Allowable File Extensions dropdown menu, select an option to restrict file extensions on submissions for the assignment.
    • Use Notification Email to receive email notifications when an assignment is submitted.
  10. Expand Evaluation & Feedback and do the following:
    • Click Add rubric and either create and attach a new rubric or add an existing one.
    • Under Annotation Tools, select the Make annotation tools available for assessment check box.
    • To enable anonymous marking, under Anonymous Marking, select the Hide student names during assessment check box.
    • Under Turnitin Integration, click Manage Turnitin to enable the Turnitin integration and click Save.
  11. To make your assignment visible to learners, click on the Visibility toggle.
  12. Click Save and Close.

Want More Information?

Assignments:

Turnitin:

Rubrics:

View current, past, and preview upcoming Continuous Delivery release notes
Instructors Quick Start Tutorial
Brightspace Known Issues
Request a sandbox course
Sign-up for Brightspace training sessions
You can find Brightspace help at D2L's website.
Join the Brightspace Community.
Try these Brightspace How-To documents.
Visit our Brightspace FAQs for additional Brightspace information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.

Image credit: image by gabrielle_cc from Pixabay

A cluster of metallic gears interlocked on a shiny surface, showcasing intricate mechanical design and engineering.

Online groups can enrich class discussion and provide a virtual environment for sharing information. You can use groups to organize users’ work on projects and assignments, or you can create special work areas for users with different learning needs. The Groups tool allows instructors to form virtual groups of students to support peer collaboration.

Users can belong to multiple groups within the same course. For example, each user can simultaneously belong to a group for class projects, a group for special interest discussions, and a group for advanced users. Each group can have its own discussion forums, assignments, and locker area to work in. You can grade members of groups individually or as a team.

Groups can be designated as Self Enrollment (allows students to add themselves to a Group), No Auto Enrollment (instructor assigns students to Groups), or random enrollment (Brightspace system distributes students equally into Groups).

Group Enrollment Type Description
# of Groups

Groups of #

Groups will be created by either number of groups (i.e., 4 groups total) or group size (i.e., groups of 4 students). Students will be randomly assigned to each group.
# of Groups - No Auto Enrollment This option allows instructors to manually assign students to groups.
# of Groups - Self Enrollment

Groups of # - Self Enrollment

# of Groups, Capacity of # – Self Enrollment

Blank groups will be created for students to sign-up for. Students will be able to see the other members of their group.
Single user, member-specific groups This option creates groups of one (1). Each group has a single user where the first name and last name of the learner is the name of the group.

To support growing class sizes, the Groups tool now allows enrollment of up to 3000 users per group within a group category. Previously, the limit was 200 users per group.

Important: Currently, there is no way to hide the names of group members from other students who are in the same group. Therefore, creating groups for remedial or disability purposes could violate confidentiality laws if group names and/or group members makes the purpose of the group obvious.

Follow these steps to do it.

To create a group category you should:

  1. On the navbar, click Groups.
  2. On the Manage Groups page, click New Category.
  3. Enter a Category Name and Description.
  4. Select an Enrollment Type from the drop-down list.
  5. Depending on the chosen Enrollment Type, enter the Number of Groups to create, the Number of Users per group, or both.
  6. To apply a distinctive prefix to each group name and code in the category, enter it in the Group Prefix field. If you do not fill in this field, the prefix defaults to "Group".
  7. Depending on the chosen Enrollment Type, to automatically enroll users to groups, select Auto-enroll new users.
  8. Depending on the chosen Enrollment Type, to randomly place users in groups, select Randomize users in groups. If you do not choose this option, users are placed alphabetically based on the Classlist.
  9. If you select an Enrollment Type that supports self enrollment, to set a deadline after which learners can no longer self enroll in the group, select Set Self Enrollment Expiry Date.
  10. Click Save.

To create a group you should:

Note: Groups reside in categories. You must create a category before you can create a group. These instructions assume you have already created a category for the group.

  1. On the navbar, click Groups.
  2. On the Manage Groups page, from the View Categories drop-down list, select the category you want to add a group to.
  3. From the context menu of the category, click Add Group.
  4. If you do not want to use the default name provided, enter a group name.
  5. If you do not want to use the default group code provided, enter a group code.
  6. Enter a description for the group.
  7. Click Save.

Want more information?

Groups Tool Quick Reference Guide (pdf)
Creating Groups in Brightspace
Create and Manage Categories and Groups
Group Enrollment Types
Create a Group (video)
Understand Group Enrollment Options (video)
Modify Group Enrollment (video)
Best Practices for Setting Up Groups

View current, past, and preview upcoming Continuous Delivery release notes
Instructors Quick Start Tutorial
Brightspace Known Issues
Request a sandbox course
Sign-up for Brightspace training sessions
You can find Brightspace help at D2L's website.
Join the Brightspace Community.
Try these Brightspace How-To documents.
Visit our Brightspace FAQs for additional Brightspace information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.

Image credit: "Cluster of Gears" created by jflorent using Microsoft Designer AI

#LearnEverywhereXULA (#LEX) is our award winning Brightspace course that is organized around the eight General Standards for Higher Education set forth in the Quality Matters Higher Education Rubric Sixth Edition. The information, activities, and assignments in the #LEX course aids faculty in developing high quality, well-designed, objective-driven courses on Brightspace for Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) students.

hot air ballons

When faculty complete the #LEX course, they have the opportunity to expand their horizons even more through #LEX Advanced certification. With the certification, faculty learn about using design and automation features available in Brightspace to apply better pedagogical practices within their courses by making them more user-friendly, accessible, and efficient.

#LEX Advanced takes a deeper dive into tools like Rubrics, Release Conditions, Intelligent Agents, HTML Templates, Awards & Badges, and more. #LEX Advanced certification also includes topics such as accessibility, academic integrity, rethinking assessment strategies in the age of AI, securing online testing environment, online discussions, group work, and video lectures.

A #LEX Advanced badge can be earned for participation in a #LEX Advanced workshop OR for completing its corresponding module in the #LEX course.

Our #LEX Advanced certification has five levels. Faculty can move up a certification level with every fourth #LEX Advanced badge they earn. Complete four modules to earn the #LEX Advanced Level 1 certification. Complete eight modules to earn the #LEX Advanced Level 2 certification. Complete twelve modules to earn the #LEX Advanced Level 3 certification. Complete sixteen modules to earn the #LEX Advanced Level 4 certification. Complete twenty modules to earn the #LEX Advanced Level 5 certification.

Faculty can view the badges they've earned by clicking on Activities in the NavBar and then click on Awards within the #LearnEverywhereXULA course.

Are you interested in becoming #LEX Advanced certified? Attend one of our upcoming #LEX Advanced workshops to start earning your badges. Alternatively, you can earn badges by completing modules in the #LearnEverywhereXULA course.

NOTE: Faculty who are not enrolled in the #LearnEverywhereXULA course can request enrollment using this enrollment request form.

#LEX Advanced Certifications

#LEX Advanced certificate

Congratulations to those faculty who have earned #LEX Advanced Certification!

#LEX Advanced Level 1 Certificate Awardees

  • Ayyad, Dr. Ahlam
  • Bailey-Wheeler, Dr. Janel
  • Bellone-Hite, Dr. Amy
  • DiMaggio, Dr. Stassi
  • Earls, Dr. Martha
  • Edwards, Dr. Andrea
  • Farudi, Dr. Giti
  • Gaudin, Dr. Wendy
  • Gstohl, Dr. Mark
  • Hammer, Dr. Elizabeth Yost
  • Helm, Dr. Amanda
  • Laborde, Dr. Katheryn
  • Ma, Dr. Timmy
  • Manley, Dr. Elizabeth
  • McFerrin, Dr. Harris
  • Nguyen, Dr. Nam
  • Plaisance-Meyers, Dr. Sierra
  • Ratnayaka, Dr. Harish
  • Rousselle, Dr. Elizabeth
  • Salm, Dr. Steven
  • Sirohi, Dr. Sunil
  • St. Julien, Dr. Danielle
  • Taylor, Dr. Ashley
  • Todd, Dr. Jason
  • Verma, Dr. Abha

#LEX Advanced Level 2 Certificate Awardees

  • Ayyad, Dr. Ahlam
  • Bailey-Wheeler, Dr. Janel
  • Earls, Dr. Martha
  • Edwards, Dr. Andrea
  • Gstohl, Dr. Mark
  • Hammer, Dr. Elizabeth Yost
  • Helm, Dr. Amanda
  • Ma, Dr. Timmy
  • Ratnayaka, Dr. Harish
  • Rousselle, Dr. Elizabeth
  • Todd, Dr. Jason

#LEX Advanced Level 3 Certificate Awardees

  • Ayyad, Dr. Ahlam
  • Edwards, Dr. Andrea
  • Gstohl, Dr. Mark
  • Hammer, Dr. Elizabeth Yost
  • Ma, Dr. Timmy
  • Todd, Dr. Jason

#LEX Advanced Level 4 Certificate Awardees

  • Ayyad, Dr. Ahlam
  • Hammer, Dr. Elizabeth Yost
  • Todd, Dr. Jason

Image credits:
image by PDPhotos from Pixabay
"#LEX Advanced Certificate of Completion" by Bart | CC BY 4.0

Learners sometimes have a hard time keeping track of everything they need to get done. They may have to jump in and out of multiple courses to figure out if there are upcoming assignments or projects with due dates in the near future (or in the past!). This can be frustrating for them, and it can also lead to missed deadlines.

The Work To Do Widget is a simple way you can help students stay on top of their work.

Example of the Work To Do widget
Example of the Work To Do widget

How the Work To Do Widget Works

The Work To Do widget is designed specifically for students and displays all their overdue and upcoming learning activities in one place. Overdue work appears at the top of the list, and upcoming items are listed below. This makes it incredibly easy for students to see what's most urgent.

All quizzes, assignments, checklists, and other activities with due or end dates automatically appear in the widget. Students can see the widget on their My Home page in Brightspace, as well as on their individual course homepages. This means they can get a quick overview of all their courses at once, or focus on just the tasks for your specific course.

Example of the Work To Do widget with no activities due
Example of the Work To Do widget showing no activities due

Making It Visible for Your Students

To ensure your students can take advantage of this helpful tool, all you have to do is make sure the Work To Do widget is enabled on your course homepage. When you use the default course homepage in Brightspace, the widget is automatically included. If you’ve customized your homepage, you may need to add it. A few minutes of effort on your part can save your students a lot of stress and help them stay organized all semester long.

The Work To Do widget can be seen by users with the role of student. Instructors will see the Work To Do widget when they view the course as a student.

Note: Instructors who have opted to customize their course homepage and want their students to be able to see the Work To Do widget on their customized course homepage, will have to add the widget to the course homepage.

For additional information and frequently asked questions about the Work To Do widget, see the following article in the Brightspace Community: Introducing the Work To Do Widget.

Want more information?

Brightspace Tip #50: Customize Your Course Homepage
Homepages and Widgets
Design a Course Homepage with Widgets (pdf)
Adding the Work to Do Widget to Course Homepage (video)
Brightspace Tip #533: Due Dates

View current, past, and preview upcoming Continuous Delivery release notes
Instructors Quick Start Tutorial
Brightspace Known Issues
Request a sandbox course
Sign-up for Brightspace training sessions
You can find Brightspace help at D2L's website.
Join the Brightspace Community.
Try these Brightspace How-To documents.
Visit our Brightspace FAQs for additional Brightspace information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.

Now that the chaos of August is past, September is a great time to invest in your professional growth. The energy of beginnings — new students, new courses, new colleagues — offers everyone an opportunity for exploring innovative teaching strategies, connecting with colleagues, and strengthening the practices that make your work most meaningful to you. Whether you need touchpoints for community and reflection, help considering AI's role in education, or finding focused time for your scholarship, this month's offerings provide multiple pathways for professional growth and collegial connection. 

Now that the chaos of August is past, September is a great time to invest in your professional growth. The energy of beginnings — new students, new courses, new colleagues — offers everyone an opportunity for exploring innovative teaching strategies, connecting with colleagues, and strengthening the practices that make your work most meaningful to you. Whether you need touchpoints for community and reflection, help considering AI's role in education, or finding focused time for your scholarship, this month's offerings provide multiple pathways for professional growth and collegial connection. 

For any event below, click on the link for more information. Some events require registration.

WEEKLY OPPORTUNITIES

  • Coffee & Chat, every Monday, 10:00-11:00
    Faculty can spend some time with members of the CAT+FD staff in our Conference Room for refreshments and conversation.
  • Fall Faculty Writing Group Lunch, every Monday, 11:00-2:00
    Members of the Fall Faculty Writing Group meet every Monday to write and dine together.
  • Walking Club, every Tuesday & Thursday, 8:30-9:00
    All members of the Xavier community are invited to gather outside the Fitness Center to get in some steps together.
  • Quarter of Quiet, every Wednesday, 2:00-2:15Members of the Xavier community are welcome in the Chapel's Meditation Room for 15 minutes of unguided contemplation. 

SEPTEMBER OPPORTUNITIES

  • Start-of-Semester Mindfulness Check-in, September 3 at 1:00 pm, CAT+FD Conference Room - 534AJoin us for an informal and open conversation about being more mindful and contemplative.
  • Create Engaging Video Lectures with Camtasia, September 3 at 3:00 pm, OnlineThis workshop will be led by Casey Seiter, Customer Success Manager for TechSmith EDU, an expert in educational video creation and digital storytelling.
  • SERG (Science Education Research Group), September 3 at 3:30 pm, NCF 568
    This monthly meeting provides space to share questions, concerns, and suggestions about pedagogy with colleagues in a supportive, multidisciplinary environment.
  • New Faculty Brown Bag, September 4 at 12:15 pm, Mellon Seminar Room - LRC 532BNew full-time faculty should attend these brown bags to learn about and engage with peers who understand the joys and challenges of the first year at Xavier.
  • Fall Faculty Writing Group Kick-off, September 4 at 5:00 pm, Mellon Seminar Room - LRC 532BFaculty enrolled in this semester's Faculty Writing Group should plan to attend. Dinner will be provided. 
  • Part-time Faculty Brown Bag, September 9 at 3:00 pm, Online
    CAT+FD welcomes all current part-time faculty to our monthly online gathering, designed with your busy schedules in mind.
  • Academic AI Statement Roundtable, September 10 at 11:00 am, Mellon Seminar Room - LRC 532B
    Engage with faculty, staff, and students to discuss the draft statement about AI use in academic settings at Xavier.
  • #LEX Advanced: Rubrics Reimagined: Save Time and Boost Feedback, September 11 at 3:00 pm, Online
    This workshop will provide you with strategies to ensure your assessments truly measure student learning in this rapidly changing educational landscape.
  • Academic AI Statement Roundtable, September 15 at 2:00 pm, Mellon Seminar Room - LRC 532B
    Engage with faculty, staff, and students to discuss the draft statement about AI use in academic settings at Xavier.
  • 2nd Year Faculty Luncheon, September 18 at 12:15 pm, Mellon Seminar Room - LRC 532B2nd-year faculty are invited to join their cohort colleagues for an informal lunch to reconnect and to learn about advising.
  • Build Your First AI Chatbot: Hands-On Workshop, September 19 at 2:00 pm, CAT+FD Teaching Lab - LRC 532AAll members of the Xavier community are welcome to join CAT+FD and the Library for an interactive workshop where you'll go from chatbot novice to creator.
  • Academic AI Statement Roundtable, September 26 at 10:00 am, Mellon Seminar Room - LRC 532BEngage with faculty, staff, and students to discuss the draft statement about AI use in academic settings at Xavier.
  • #LEX Advanced: Online Assessment Strategies in the Age of AI, September 30 at 3:00 pm, Mellon Seminar Room - LRC 532BDiscover how to adapt, innovate, and create online testing experiences that are both academically rigorous and genuinely reflective of student mastery.

OUTSIDE OPPORTUNITIES

CAT+FD is not a sponsor of any of the following. These links are provided to share additional professional development activities. 

  • 8th Annual Sparking Success Faculty Development Conference, Tulane University, January 7-8. Tulane University’s Center for Engaged Learning and Teaching (CELT) invites proposals for interactive breakout sessions for the 8th Annual Sparking Success: Faculty Development Conference, to be held Thursday, January 8, 2026. Sparking Success encourages faculty, staff, and graduate and professional students to come together, build community, and find inspiration for enhancing our lives on campus. Session proposals are due by November 1.
  • 32nd Annual HBCU Faculty Development Network Conference, Charlotte, NC, October 30-November 1. This year’s theme, “Turning Challenges into Opportunities: Advancing Faculty Development to Serve Dynamic Institutions,” invites faculty, administrators, and higher education professionals to engage in transformative dialogue and hands-on learning. Through workshops, plenaries, and networking sessions, the conference will explore innovative strategies in teaching, learning, leadership, technology, and student success—empowering participants to thrive in a rapidly changing educational landscape.
  • Brightspace D2L AcademyThe D2L Academy is a version of Brightspace available to all members of the Brightspace Community where you'll find Premium (paid) content like Certificate and Subscription Training Courses, as well as FREE Courses, Downloads and Teaching Tools. The D2L Academy is also where you can connect with Brightspace Guided Training, and the Product Idea Exchange (PIE).

Use due dates in Brightspace to help students stay on track. Students will see due dates when they look at entries in the course calendar, Work To Do Widget, and in the Pulse App.

Due dates and availability dates are generally entered when the instructor creates assignments, assessments, discussion topics and forums, etc. The dates automatically populate into the course calendar.

calendar with due today circled on Thursday the 9th

Instructors can use the Manage Dates tool to view, edit in bulk, and bulk offset date availability from one central location. You can also set the calendar status of all content topics and modules, discussion topics and forums, assignment submissions folders, grades categories and items, announcement items, quizzes, checklists, and surveys in their course in the Manage Dates tool.

Follow these steps to do it.

To add availability and due dates in Content:

  1. Get into the course you want to add availability and due dates to course objects.
  2. On the NavBar (of the course you want to change dates in), click Content.
  3. On the Table of Contents page, click Bulk Edit.
  4. For any topic or module that you want to add availability or due dates to, click Add dates and restrictions.
  5. Do any of the following:
    • Click Add start date. Enter your start date details.
    • Click Add due date. Enter your due date details.
    • Click Add end date. Enter your end date details.
  6. Click Update.
  7. Click Done Editing.

Want More Information?

Add Availability and Due Dates in Content
Set Availability and Due Dates for an Assignment
Manage Dates
Pulse App

View current, past, and preview upcoming Continuous Delivery release notes
Instructors Quick Start Tutorial
Brightspace Known Issues
Request a sandbox course
Sign-up for Brightspace training sessions
You can find Brightspace help at D2L's website.
Join the Brightspace Community.
Try these Brightspace How-To documents.
Visit our Brightspace FAQs for additional Brightspace information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.

Image credit: “due today” by jflorent is dedicated to public domain under CC0 and is a derivative of calendar by tigerlily713 from Pixabay 

the word update written on a chalk board

D2L (the company that owns Brightspace) uses Continuous Delivery to update our Brightspace system. The Continuous Delivery model gives us regular monthly updates allowing for incremental and easily integrated changes with no downtime required for our Brightspace system.

Our Continuous Delivery update occurs on the 4th Thursday of each month. D2L provides release notes to help users stay up-to-date with the changes.

Here are some of the updates in the August 2025/20.25.08 release that were added to our system this month:

1) Brightspace – New Window icon for all menu items

To help users better anticipate navigation behavior in Brightspace, a New Window icon now appears next to all menu items that open in a new tab or window. This change applies to all applicable menu items across the platform interface.

The icon design is also updated to better align with current styles used in Brightspace.

View an example of this change in the Print Thread menu in a discussion topic (see image).

The New Window icon appears in a menu. The icon is a diagonal arrow in a partial box.
The New Window icon appears beside a menu item.

From a course, navigate to a topic in Discussions, select the actions drop-down for a thread, then view the New Window icon appears beside Print Thread.

2) Groups – Enrollment limit increase

To support growing class sizes, the Groups tool now allows enrollment of up to 3000 users per group within a group category. Previously, the limit was 200 users per group.

This increased limit applies to all enrollment workflows, including:

  • Automatic enrollment during group creation
  • Automatic enrollment during Classlist enrollment, where automatic enrollment group types exist
  • Manual enrollment using the Enroll Users and Import options within the Groups tool
  • Groups enrollment via the Bulk User Management tool
  • Enrollment using Brightspace APIs

The 3000-user limit is now strictly enforced across all methods of group enrollment. Previous workarounds that bypassed the former enrollment limit will no longer function for any group that has reached the 3000-user limit.

Currently, the automatic enrollment overflow functionality enrolls users into other groups in the same category if the selected group is full. However, when the 3000-user limit is reached in all groups, further enrollment attempts will fail. To continue processing enrollments, you must add additional groups to the category.

In cases where enrollment fails due to the user limit, the following indications appear:

  • Brightspace APIs return an error
  • Bulk User Management and Group Import CSV display user-specific errors in the import results
  • IPSIS and Banner integrations report failures
  • In the Groups tool, additional users cannot be selected without deselecting users already enrolled in the group

For more information about this feature and future developments, refer to the Improving groups with increased enrollment limits blog post.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

  • D6942 (Allow for more than 200 people in a group/section)
  • D4750 (Remove 200 member cap on Self-enrolling Groups)

3) Quizzes – Print your quiz

In response to customer feedback, this update provides instructors with a simple way to print an offline quiz that supports all native Brightspace quiz question types, shuffling and randomization options, question pools, multiple versions, and an Answer Key.

The Print option selected next to a quiz name on the Manage Quizzes page.
From the Manage Quizzes page, click the drop-down beside the quiz name and select Print.

Print preview of a quiz showing formatting options.
From the Print Quiz page, select a version tab, configure formatting, and click Print [Version].

Options to support multiple quiz versions include:

  • Shuffle Quiz (under Timing & Display) to shuffle quiz sections and questions.
  • The Timing and Display settings with Shuffle Quiz option enabled.
    In the Timing & Display section of the quiz settings, select Shuffle Quiz to randomize the order of questions and sections within the quiz.

  • Shuffle questions in this section (when creating or editing a section).
  • The New Section page with Shuffle questions option enabled.
    When creating or editing a quiz section, select Shuffle questions in this section to randomize questions, sections, and pools within the section.

  • Randomize answer order when creating or editing a supported question type, for example, Multiple Choice.
  • A multiple choice question with Randomize answer order enabled.
    When creating a multiple-choice question, select Randomize answer order to present answer choices in a different order for each learner.

To help instructors quickly and easily grade printed quizzes taken offline, an Answer Key is provided for each version. It includes the correct answers and, where applicable, the grading method.

Print preview of a quiz showing answer key and formatting options.
To grade a quiz, instructors can select Show correct answers and print the required version of the quiz with an Answer Key.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

  • D362 (Print Quiz and Quiz Key)
  • D3718 (Quizzes - Generate PDF of the Quiz for Printing)
  • D5909 (Make all screens which have "forms" exportable to PDF)
  • D8049 (Printing Quiz)
  • D11794 (Quizzes: Print Test for Offline Completion)

4) PIE – Enhancement to the Product Idea Exchange (PIE)

This update enhances the Product Idea Exchange (PIE) based on customer feedback and introduces a new idea submission pipeline. D2L is refocusing on using PIE for new product ideas only. For bugs, support issues, or feedback on existing features, customers should use the Customer Support Portal or speak with your Customer Success representative. Updated guidelines for PIE are available in the Community.

This update makes it easier to:

  • Engage directly with the D2L Product Management team
  • Receive faster updates on submitted ideas with simplified statuses and streamlined process
  • Gain visibility into how ideas influence the product roadmap

Released ideas are highlighted in Brightspace Release Notes.

D2L will provide feedback on submissions that do not follow the updated guidelines to provide an opportunity to update the submissions. Submitters receive a notification and have 90 days to enhance it.

D2L is also reviewing existing PIE submissions to inform migration plans. Customers are encouraged to revisit older submissions marked as Feedback Review Window and provide comments on those still relevant.

The current PIE interface remains open for commenting until August 31, after which it becomes read-only for six months to allow historical reference and migration.

If you are interested in getting more information about these and all the August Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform August 2025/20.25.08 Release Notes.

Additionally, refer to the Brightspace Release Notes for Continuous Delivery Releases, for details about current, past, and to preview upcoming continuous delivery updates.

Want more information?

View current, past, and preview upcoming Continuous Delivery release notes
Instructors Quick Start Tutorial
Brightspace Known Issues
Request a sandbox course
Sign-up for Brightspace training sessions
You can find Brightspace help at D2L's website.
Join the Brightspace Community.
Try these Brightspace How-To documents.
Visit our Brightspace FAQs for additional Brightspace information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.

Image credit: image by geralt from Pixabay