A conversation between Wendy Gaudin and Bart Everson on writing and publishing.
Wendy A. Gaudin is a historian and writer whose interdisciplinary work centers southern-descended, mixed-heritage, and mixed-race populations and histories. As a mixed-heritage Louisiana Creole of Color whose elders migrated to California in the first half of the twentieth century, Gaudin is deeply moved, shaped, and inspired by her expansive community’s story. She divides her time between New Orleans and Acadiana, and she teaches history at Xavier University of Louisiana.
As we approach the end of the semester there are a few things you can do in Brightspace to wrap up for the semester.
Release final course grades
Unlike other grade items and categories in the Grade Book, final grades are not available to students by default. Final grades must be released. If you did not choose to enable the automatic release of final grades when setting up your Grade Book, you will have to manually release final grades in order for students to see their final grade.
Export your Grade Book
Student access to courses is removed two weeks after the end of a semester. This process of making the courses inactive allows student work and grades to be visible to instructors but students no longer have access to the course. Courses will remain on the Brightspace system for three semesters before they are removed. You should export (download) your Grade Book to your local computer after you submit your final grades.
NOTE: The export file that is created will NOT contain any student work or instructor feedback. Only the grades in your Grade Book will be exported.
Create a master copy of your course
Courses remain on the Brightspace system for three semesters before they are removed. You can request a Master Course Shell that you can use to develop and maintain your course materials. Master Course Shells will not be removed from the Brightspace system.
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.
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 March 2025/20.25.03 release that were added to our system this month:
1) Assignments – Update to assignment annotations software version
With this release, the software that powers annotations in the Assignments tool is updated to the latest version, Nutrient 1.0.0 (formerly called PSPDFKit).
This version update resolves the following defects:
WCAG/A11y layout issues in the Layout tool are now resolved. Previously, the options were not read by the NVDA screen reader.
Cursor behavior now works as expected. Previously, the cursor would return to the start when typing notes in Assignment Annotations.
All formatted annotation text in text boxes now saves correctly. Previously, italicized and bold text elements would not save.
The annotations software no longer crashes on iPad OS versions 16 and below.
Additionally, minor UI updates are introduced in Nutrient 1.0.0. In the previous version of PSPDFKit, the following buttons displayed tooltips when hovering with a cursor:
Next Page
Previous Page
Page Mode buttons
Page Transition buttons
Page Rotation buttons
The previous version also highlighted the Search button when clicked.
Now, in Nutrient 1.0.0, the buttons tooltips are removed, and the Search button no longer highlights when selected.
In the previous version of the UI, annotations buttons appeared with a tooltip. In the updated version, the tooltip is removed.
In the previous version of Annotations, the Search bar appeared highlighted when clicked. Highlighting is no longer visible in the updated version.
2) Assignments and Discussions – Bulk feedback for instructors
This feature enables instructors to provide bulk feedback to learners directly within the Assignments and Discussions submission pages, enhancing efficiency and user experience.
Key capabilities:
Add and save bulk feedback as a draft if none exists.
Update existing drafts or published evaluations for multiple learners simultaneously.
Apply feedback to selected learners using Add Feedback or to all learners using Add Feedback to All.
Display a warning message when saving an empty Feedback dialog as bulk feedback, as this action overwrites existing drafts or published evaluations.
Notes:
Due to how Quizzes records attempts and completion summaries, bulk feedback is not supported for Quizzes
The Grid View in Discussions does not support bulk feedback.
File Attachments with Bulk Feedback
When using bulk feedback in Assignments or Discussions:
Brightspace Editor includes the Insert Stuff functionality but does not support file uploads from My Computer. Instructors can insert links to YouTube videos or other external resources. These links are stored in Manage Files.
Insert Image supports image file uploads from My Computer and the system stores them in Manage Files.
The Submissions page in Assignments displays options to add bulk feedback, including Add Feedback to All and Add Feedback (for selected learners).
The Assess Topic page in Discussions displays options to add bulk feedback, including Add Feedback to All and Add Feedback (for selected learners).
On the Assess Topic page in Discussions, select learners to add feedback, then click Add Feedback.
On the Assess Topic page in Discussions, after selecting learners and clicking Add Feedback, the Add Feedback dialog box opens, allowing feedback entry.
This feature implements the following PIE items:
D10673 (Bulk Edit Discussion / Dropbox Feedback)
D4921 (Bulk grading & Feedback in Dropbox / Assignments)
D6429 (Bulk feedback upload for non-submitted assignments)
D6739 (Assignment Bulk Edit Features)
3) Grades – Access Quiz Feedback
This new feature allows learners to quickly access quiz attempt feedback from the Grades page.
On the Grades page, click View Quiz Attempts to access feedback on quiz attempts.
Previously, learners could view quiz attempt feedback only in the Quizzes tool, depending on how the instructor configured the review process. This option remains available.
Before, learners could access quiz attempt feedback only through the Quizzes tool on the Quiz List page.
This feature implements the following PIE items:
D5170 (Learner Access Quiz feedback via Grades)
4) Media Library – New User Interface for Media Library
This release introduces a redesigned User Interface (UI) for Media Library, aligning it with the look and feel of other Brightspace tools. The updated interface allows administrators and instructors to manage media files more efficiently across multiple courses and content objects. Any change to a media file is automatically reflected in all courses it is added to, ensuring consistency and saving time.
The new UI of the Media Library page.
All the functionality of the old Media Library still exists but is now presented in a modern way:
The Add Assets button launches a dialog where users can upload new assets and record audio or video. It replaces the previous Upload and Record buttons.
In the Add Assets dialog, select Record Audio or Record Video to create new media. Alternatively, drag and drop files into the upload area or click to browse for files.
The Recycle Bin icon has been moved to the top-right corner. The updated interface now displays how long files will be stored before permanent deletion.
From the Recycle Bin page, select media items and click Restore Selected to recover them. In this example, the item is permanently deleted after 90 days.
The Source filter was removed from the Media Library due to lack of relevance.
5) Quizzes – New Quiz Evaluation Experience transitioning to default, with opt-out until July 2025
Originally released for the Quizzes tool in September 2024 / 20.24.9, this update now turns on the new Quiz Evaluation Experience by default for all clients, promoting broader adoption while still allowing users to opt out until July 2025, at which time it will be made the default experience for all users.
This update streamlines the transition to the new Quiz Evaluation Experience, enhancing grading workflows and ensuring consistency while allowing clients to adjust settings before the opt-out option is removed. Administrators can continue to offer users the choice to manually opt into the new Quiz Evaluation Experience through the June 2025/20.25.06 release. However, starting with the July 2025/20.25.07 release, all clients will be automatically transitioned to the new experience, and the opt-out option will no longer be available.
The new quiz evaluation experience is enabled by default on the quiz evaluation page. Click Turn it off to revert to the classic experience or Leave it on to continue using the new experience.
Previously, administrators had to manually enable the new Quiz Evaluation Experience as an opt-in feature.
On the quiz evaluation page, users could select Turn it on to enable the new quiz evaluation experience or Leave it off to continue using the classic version.
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.
Brightspace calculates final grades for each student based on the grading system and the students' grades that are entered into the Grade Book. If the instructor wants more control over the final grades, perhaps to adjust the final grade for a student that is on the cusp of a higher grade, then adjusted final grades can be used and released to students instead of the calculated final grade.
If the instructor decides to use adjusted final grades for one student in the course, adjusted final grades must be used for all students in the course. This does not imply, however, that final grades must be manually adjusted for all students.
Adjusting final grades are implemented by the instructor for only the student or students that are deemed to need an adjusted grade. The remaining students final grades would be the final grade as calculated in the Grade Book.
Note: The Grade Book must be configured to use adjusted final grades. If you plan to use adjusted final grades, you should make the adjustments before you release final grades.
Follow these steps to do it.
To adjust final grades for all students:
Get into the course where you want to adjust final grades and click Grades in the NavBar.
Click on the Enter Grades link.
Scroll over to the Final Calculated Grade column and click on the arrow on the right of the column name and select Enter Grades.
In the Final Adjusted Grade section for each student, enter the adjusted grades and then click Save.
Once you have ensured that students' grades are accurate, you can release the final grades.
To adjust final grades for one or more specific students:
Get into the course where you want to adjust final grades and click Grades in the NavBar.
Click on the Enter Grades link.
Scroll over to the Final Calculated Grade column and click on the arrow on the right of the column name and select Enter Grades.
Click on the arrow on the right of the Final Grades and click Transfer All, then click Yes.
In the Final Adjusted Grade section, enter adjusted scores where necessary and click Save.
Once you have ensured that students' grades are accurate, you can release the final grades.
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.
Unlike other grade items and categories in the Grade Book, final grades are not available to students by default. Final grades must be released. When setting up the Grade Book, the instructor can choose to automatically release final grades so that the students can see their final grade throughout the semester. If you did not choose to enable the automatic release of final grades when setting up your Grade Book, you will have to manually release final grades in order for students to see their final grade.
Additionally, you can selectively release final grades for some students now and release the final grades for other students later. For example, you can release the final grades for graduating seniors on one date and release the final grades for everyone else on a later date.
Follow these steps to do it.
To manually release final grades:
On the NavBar, click Grades.
On the Enter Grades page, from the Final Calculated Grade or Final Adjusted Grade context menu, click Enter Grades.
To release grades for all users, on the Final Grades page, from the Final Grades context menu, click Release All. To release final grades for a specific user, do one of the following:
Select the check box by the user name and click the Release/Unrelease link.
Select the check box in the Release Final Calculated Grade or Release Adjusted Final Grade column.
Click Save.
OR watch this video for instructions on how to release final grades:
NOTE: There is a slight change in the video instructions. The "Enter Grades" option should be used anywhere in the video where "Grade All" is referenced.
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: "final grades" by jflorent is dedicated to public domain under CC0 and is a derivative of grade by OpenClipart-Vectors on Pixabay
Organizing your Grade Book using categories offers significant advantages beyond simply creating headings for your Grade Items. One key benefit is the ability to automatically drop the lowest grade within a category. This blog post will guide you through the process of setting up Grade Categories in Brightspace specifically for this purpose. To follow along, you'll first need to have your related Grade Items grouped within a Category in your Grade Book. If you haven't done this yet, please refer to "Creating Grade Items and Categories" for instructions.
NOTE:
You can only drop grades from Categories in which the items are weighted equally:
If you are using a weighted final grade, you’ll have to distribute weights evenly within the category to drop a grade.
If you are using a total points final grade, you will have to assign equal points to all the items in the category to drop a grade. For this reason, it is not recommended to have items with different maximum point values in the same category, for example, a quiz worth 25 points and another worth 10 points.
Follow these steps to do it.
Drop Grades From a Grade Category:
From the NavBar, click on Grades.
Click New to create a new category, OR click on the arrow to the right of your category name and click on Edit to modify an existing category.
In the Distribution section, choose the “Distribute weight evenly across all items” radio button and then enter the number of low (non-bonus) Grade Items that will be dropped from the category.
Click Save and Close.
Note: The instructions in this blog post work for Grade Items in categories that are equally weighted. If the Category contains Grade Items with unequal weights, you can use the "Bulk Edit Exemptions" option to manually review each student's grades and choose the grade that you want to exempt from the final grade calculations. Step-by-step instructions can be found in this article from the Brightspace Community that explains how to manually drop the lowest grade.
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.
As the semester winds down, many faculty members find themselves knee-deep in grading. Entering grades into Brightspace may be a tedious time-consuming task, especially when you need to assign the same grade to multiple students. Whether it's a pass/fail assignment, a standardized in-class activity, or a participation grade, manually entering the same score repeatedly can be cumbersome and time-consuming.
In my last blog post, I explained how instructors should input grades and feedback in the Grade Book. Today, I'll share a helpful tip: using the "Set Grades" feature to quickly assign the same grade to multiple students.
Follow these steps to do it.
Give Multiple Students the Same Grade at the Same Time:
From the NavBar, click on Grades.
Click on the arrow on the right of the Grade Item name.
Select Enter Grades.
Select the checkboxes next to the names of the students OR select all of the students at once by clicking on the checkbox above the list of students.
Select Set Grades.
Enter a value in the Grade textbox.
Select Save.
Select Save and Close.
Give Multiple Students the Same Feedback at the Same Time:
From the NavBar, click on Grades.
Click on the arrow on the right of the Grade Item name.
Select Enter Grades.
Select the checkboxes next to the names of the students OR select all of the students at once by clicking on the checkbox above the list of students.
Select Add Feedback.
Enter feedback in the textbox.
Select Save.
Select Save and Close.
NOTE: Giving multiple students the same feedback at the same time as described in this blog post is helpful for giving multiple students, like group members, the same feedback on an assignment/activity. I do not recommend using the Add Feedback functionality in this way if you want or need to provide more personalized details to each student. In that case, you should enter the personalized feedback for each student individually.
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.
Assessments measure student achievement. They may take the form of traditional assessments such as exams, or quizzes, but may also be part of learning activities such as group projects, discussions, or presentations.
Brightspace has a number of tools instructors can use to assess learners and the Grades tool is useful for assigning and keeping track of learner grades. If you are not familiar with setting up your Grade Book, review Brightspace Tip #503: Grade Book for information.
There are multiple ways to enter grades for learner submissions in Brightspace. Three ways instructors can enter grades in their Brightspace courses are:
Using Quick Eval
Within Individual Tools
In the Grade Book
Quick Eval
Quick Eval is a tool that allows evaluators to see a list of unevaluated learner submissions from all their courses. Submissions from Assignments, Discussions, and Quizzes are displayed in one location to improve efficiency when locating work that requires evaluation and providing feedback to learners. Instructors can use Quick Eval to assess learner submissions.
Within Individual Tools
For assessments that are created using a Brightspace tool, such as Quizzes, Assignments, and Discussions, instructors will associate the assessment with a Grade Item in the Grade Book. The association is made within the tool itself. When you are ready to grade the student’s work, you will grade it within the tool and the grade will automatically transfer over to the Grade Item in the Grade Book.
In the Grade Book
For assessments that occur outside of Brightspace, instructors have to create a Grade Item in the Grade Book, and then manually enter student grades into the Grade Book. Examples of in-class assessments where you may need to manually enter grades in the Grade Book include participation grades, tests administered on-paper, presentations, and demonstrations.
Instructors can manually enter grades for assessments in the Grade Book’s Standard View or Spreadsheet View.
Standard View
The Standard View allows instructors to enter grades by grade item for all students in the course or for an individual student.
The standard view allows instructors to evaluate individual learner submissions. Each submission type has a unique icon and new learner submissions are identified with a dot on the corner of the icon.
Learner submission icons with a new submission indicator dot on the discussion icon
Click the associated icon next to the learner submission to evaluate the submission.
Spreadsheet View
The Spreadsheet View allows instructors to enter grades for all students and all grade items in a single spreadsheet view. For quick edits, click “Switch to Spreadsheet View” (the button toggles back and forth between “Standard View” and “Spreadsheet View.”)
The Spreadsheet View allows instructors to manually enter or modify grades in cells. Instructors can also override previously-entered grades using the Spreadsheet View.
Entering the new or updated grade in the field for the learner and the submission
Spreadsheet View is ideal for entering grades for assessments that occurred outside of Brightspace. Once you’ve entered the grades, save the changes before leaving the page.
Entering Feedback
You can enter feedback by clicking on the arrow to the right of the grade item (column) you want to add feedback to, then select Enter Grades.
Locate the name of the student you want to provide feedback for, then select the pencil icon under the Feedback column and enter the feedback.
The pencil icon opens the feedback dialog box
Once you’ve entered the grades and feedback, save the changes before leaving the page.
NOTE: When entering feedback you have the option to enter private comments that will only be visible to you and users with grading privileges. Learners cannot see private comments.
Important
Remember tool-based assessments should be graded using the respective assessment tool.
Use the Enter Grades tab to easily view all learner grades, grade categories and grade items. From the Enter Grades tab, instructors can assess and evaluate grades for activities conducted outside of Brightspace.
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.
I am writing this blog post as a follow up to my Brightspace Tip #504: Grade Book - Bonus Points blog post. I've received a few questions about bonus items in a weighted grading system. This blog post addresses how bonus items work in a weighted Grade Book.
Bonus refers to optional activities. Students are NOT penalized for skipping the activity. Points earned for Bonus activities will improve the student’s grade. Checking the Bonus option means that any points earned will be added onto the Final Calculated Grade. Bonus items appear in the Grade Book with a Star next to them.
Bonus grade items are not included in the maximum points for a category or final grade. They are added on top of the calculated grade. The Can Exceed option must be selected in order for users' grades to exceed the maximum points specified.
The Can Exceed and Bonus options can both be selected for a grade item.
If you allow an item to exceed 100% or include Bonus items, but do not check the box "Can Exceed" in the category and/or “Final Calculated Grade” settings, then extra credit will count but it will be limited to no more than 100% for the category or “Final Calculated Grade.”
If you create a “Bonus” item with no category, limit its weight to the most you wish to add to the final course percentage. For example, if you do not want to add more than 3% to any given final grade, limit the Bonus item’s weight to 3%. The bonus points can be any number of points because the weight makes the difference in the overall calculation.
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.
There are two ways to give extra credit in Brightspace. The first is to allow the grade item to exceed the maximum number of points for the assignment. The other option is to indicate the grade item is a “Bonus” item.
The differences between the two options are explained here:
Can Exceed means in grading an item you are able to add extra credit to the assignment, quiz, or any item in the Grade Book. You indicate this by checking the Can Exceed box.
The Can Exceed option can boost student’s score on activity making it feasible to earn more than 100%. For example, on a grade item where the maximum points is 10 and the Can Exceed option is selected, a grade of 12/10 is a perfect score with 2 extra credit points added.
When you choose Can Exceed for a grade item in the Grade Book, you should also select Can Exceed for the Category in which the grade item resides.
Bonus refers to optional activities. Students are NOT penalized for skipping the activity. Points earned for Bonus activities will improve the student’s grade. Checking the Bonus option means that any points earned will be added onto the Final Calculated Grade.
Bonus items appear in the Grade Book with a Star next to them.
Bonus grade items are not included in the maximum points for a category or final grade. They are added on top of the calculated grade. Bonus grade items cannot make users' grades exceed the maximum points specified, unless the Can Exceed option is selected.
The Can Exceed and Bonus options can both be selected for a grade item.
NOTE: When you place bonus items in a category in your Grade Book, you should make sure to edit the category and select "Can Exceed" for the category because you want the category to exceed 100%. This way the student’s bonus points will count toward their final grade, and not just the category.
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: “bonus” by jflorent is licensed under CC0 and is a derivative of image by ElisaRiva from Pixabay
