Skip to content

Month: September 2022

Published on Leave a comment on Brightspace Tip #348: Quizzes – Set Accommodations by Learner for All Quizzes

Did you know a new quiz accommodations feature was introduced in our February 2021 Continuous Delivery Updates? This new feature enables instructors to grant quiz accommodations to learners through the Classlist tool. Instructors can assign accommodations to specific learners that apply across ALL quizzes instead of applying them on a quiz-by-quiz basis. The accommodations option allows the instructor to give the learner more time to complete quizzes at the course level.

The Edit Accommodations option in the Classlist
The Edit Accommodations option in the Classlist
The Edit Accommodations dialog box
The Edit Accommodations dialog box

Once granted, the accommodations apply to all quiz activities in a course for that learner. The additional time can be applied in terms of quiz time multipliers (for example, 1.5 x quiz time) or +minutes (for example, an additional 30 minutes) on every quiz in a course.

Accommodations for Instructors:

  • An icon appears next to the learner’s name in the Classlist to indicate that the learner has an accommodation.
  • Instructors can filter the Classlist by Accommodations.
  • Instructors can also Print or Email a list of users with accommodations by adding the filter to those pages.

Accommodations for learners:

  • An icon appears next to learners’ own names in the Classlist to indicate they have an accommodation. To view accommodation details, learners can click My Accommodations from their learner context menu.
  • When commencing a quiz, the accommodation icon appears next to a learner’s quiz time to indicate that their accommodation has been applied. If a learner’s time accommodation has been overridden by a quiz-specific special access, this icon does not appear.
Example of a Classlist page highlighting the Learner has Accommodations icon
Classlist page highlighting the Learner has Accommodations icon
Example of accommodations reflected in the quiz's time allowed.
Learners can see accommodations reflected in the time allowed when taking quiz

Quiz-specific special access can overwrite an accommodation for any user on a quiz-by-quiz basis. When you overwrite an accommodation and then click Save, a warning describing the impact of overwriting the accommodation appears. Accommodations set for learners in Classlist are displayed in the Special Access for the quiz.

Accommodations indicator in Special Access
An example of how Accommodations set for a learner in Classlist will show up in the Special Access for a quiz

Want more information?

Set Up Brightspace Accommodations by Learner for All Quizzes
Brightspace Tip #207: Quizzes – Special Access
Grant Special Access to Users for a Quiz (video)
Resources for the Quizzes Tool
Brightspace Tip #254: Tests and Quizzes
Best Practices: The Quiz Tool
Quizzes FAQ

View all the Brightspace training recaps
Instructors Quick Start Tutorial
Continuous Delivery release notes
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.

Published on Leave a comment on Brightspace Tip #347: September Continuous Delivery Updates

update

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 a few updates in the September 2022/20.22.9 release that were added to our system this month:

1) Quizzes – Reduce test anxiety by creating quizzes without time limits

With this release, instructors have the option to create quizzes with no time limit. The No Time Limit option is now the default Timing setting for new quizzes.

Previously, instructors who wished to create quizzes with no time limit had to use the Recommended Time Limit option, which was selected by default and set to 120 minutes. This led to confusion for learners because the recommended time limit displayed on the quiz itself.

Instructors can create quizzes with no time limit in the Restrictions tab, under Timing, select No Time Limit.

Learners who take a quiz with no time limit now see No time limit under Time Allowed on the Quiz Summary page and Est. Length: No Time Limit on the quiz itself.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

  • D4998 (Quiz: "No Time Limit" option)
  • D3582 (Hide the quiz timing information (Est Length) in the student UI when there is no Enforced Time limit)
  • D4441 (No Time Limit Enforced Reinstated for Quizzes)
Instructor view of the New Quiz page with the new default No Time Limit option selected
Instructor view of the New Quiz page with the new default No Time Limit option selected
Learner view of a quiz attempt in progress before this update, displaying the recommended time limit
Learner view of a quiz attempt in progress before this update, displaying the recommended time limit
Learner view of a quiz attempt in progress after this update, with no recommended time limit displayed
Learner view of a quiz attempt in progress after this update, with no recommended time limit displayed

2) Release Conditions – Choose the last date of enrollment in the current org unit

To help users with more flexibility around course design, the release condition Date of enrollment in current org unit now includes the following options:

  • Use first enrollment date
  • Use last enrollment date
The Release Conditions menu with the choice of the date of enrollment in the current org unit highlighted
The Release Conditions menu with the choice of the date of enrollment in the current org unit highlighted

This feature can also be used to set an Intelligent Agent; e.g., for learners who have been enrolled more than once in the course, you can decide if the agent applies based on the first time or the last time they were enrolled.

Intelligent Agent with enrollment date used
Intelligent Agent with enrollment date used

Previously the release condition for Classlist Date of enrollment in current org unit was based on users’ first enrollment into the org unit.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

  • D6684 (Reset IA schedule run dates upon reenrollment)
  • D8405 (Allow Intelligent Agents to check days based off the latest enrollment date, not the first)

If you are interested in getting more information about these and all the September Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform September 2022/20.22.9 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
View all the Brightspace training recaps
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

Published on Leave a comment on Brightspace Tip #346: Simplify Grading and Giving Feedback

hands of a male student on keyboard with another person's hand with finger pointing at screen

Giving students timely, useful feedback can greatly enhance learning and improve student achievement. ICYMI, read my Give Students Feedback That Helps Them Learn blog post for information on providing better feedback.

Are you looking for ways to simplify grading and for providing feedback on assignment submissions? These Brightspace tools can help:

Annotations Tool
The Annotations tool allows instructors to provide feedback directly in submitted assignments. Feedback can be provided as text highlighting, freehand drawing, text annotation, and note annotation.

The use of a stylus is not required when using the Annotations tool. However, it could help to speed up the process of marking up the assignment submissions.

For more information, refer to this how to use the Annotations tool blog post.

NOTE: The Assignment Grader app allows instructors to make annotations on assignments. The Assignment Grader app is no longer available for download to new users. Existing users may continue to use the app if they have it installed on their device, but no further updates or support will be made available by D2L and the app is scheduled to be removed from app stores. As an alternative mobile grading option, D2L recommends using the Quick Eval tool.

Rubrics
Rubrics allow instructors to establish set criteria for grading assignments. Using the rubrics click-and-score simplicity saves time when grading. With a rubric you can provide consistent evaluation and contextual feedback to students. You can add additional personal feedback to each criterion, expanding on why you chose that level and what additional work would be required to improve on it.

For more information, refer to this using interactive rubrics in Brightspace blog post.

Video Notes
Audio and video feedback can provide richer and more detailed feedback than may be possible through written comments. Visual or audio feedback also provides a more personal way of giving feedback. You have the option to provide audio and/or video feedback in Brightspace. Use Video Notes to provide short, video-based feedback, comments, or instructions.

Here are a couple of blog posts with more information:

Quick Eval
Quick Eval 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.

For more information, refer to this blog post on using Quick Eval.

The Orange Room

Have you visited The Orange Room (Brightspace Educator Share Showcase)? The Orange Room is a community where educators can learn from each other about efficient and innovative ways to use Brightspace. Several of your colleagues shared tips and suggestions already. Here are two contributions that may be of interest to you:

Want more information?

Brightspace Tip #329: Simplify Assignment Collection
Brightspace Tip #143: Annotate Assignment Submissions
Brightspace Tip #204: Interactive Rubrics
Brightspace Tip #299: Video Notes
Brightspace Tip #320: Video Notes – Closed Captions
Brightspace Tip #120: Quick Eval

View all the Brightspace training recaps
Instructors Quick Start Tutorial
Continuous Delivery release notes
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.

Photo credit: photo by #WOCinTech Chat is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Published on Leave a comment on ICYMI: Engagement Strategies for Online Discussions in Brightspace

Engagement Strategies for Online Discussions in Brightspace [49:09]

Thanks to those of you who attended last week's Engagement Strategies for Online Discussions in Brightspace workshop. The workshop, the eleventh in our #LEX Advanced series, helps you to build on the skills you learned in the #LearnEverywhereXULA course. The focus of this workshop was to show you how you can take advantage of Brightspace's discussion tool to help you facilitate meaningful online discussions and build community in your courses.

In case you missed last week’s training session or if you attended the training session and want to recap what was covered, a copy of the workshop recording and resources referenced in the workshop are available. You can find the workshop recording and other resources in support of the workshop on the CAT+FD wiki.

Additionally, if you did not get the opportunity to earn a digital badge for participating in the workshop, it's not too late to earn that badge. We have a corresponding “Online Discussions” module in the #LearnEverywhereXULA (#LEX) course that you can complete to earn a digital badge for this topic. The badge will count towards your #LEX Advanced certification.

Published on Leave a comment on Brightspace Tip #345: Use Private Discussions for Journaling

journal with ink pen

Many instructors are using reflective journaling as a teaching strategy. Reflective journaling is used as a means of aiding reflection, deepening students' understanding and stimulating critical thinking.

Brightspace does not have a Journal tool. However, you can setup private discussion forums for journaling using the Groups and Discussions tools. A private discussion forum is the same as any other discussion forum, except that only the instructor and an individually assigned student have access to the posted threads and replies. A private discussion forum ensures that students cannot see each other’s posts, but instructors can still respond and assign grades to the discussion threads.

IMPORTANT: Each group in Brightspace has a maximum capacity of 200 participants and is restricted to 200 groups per category. You WILL NOT be able to set up private discussions for journaling if your enrollment is more than 200.

Follow these steps to do it.

To setup private discussions for journaling:

Want more information?

Use Private Discussions for Journaling (video)
Setup Private Discussion Boards for Individual Students

View all the Brightspace training recaps
Instructors Quick Start Tutorial
Continuous Delivery release notes
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 CharuTyagi from Pixabay

Published on Leave a comment on Brightspace Tip #344: Recognize Learner Accomplishments

Are you looking for a way to recognize learner accomplishments in your courses? The Awards tool enables instructors to provide merit-based awards to students. Instructors can use the Awards tool to provide students with a reward, in the form of a digital badge, that acknowledges an achievement, whether it is a skill, competency, or completed task.

bee pollinating a flower

Dr. Christopher Jones, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Washburn University, uses the Awards tool to recognize individual students in his courses. A few years ago, he stopped grading participation and started issuing badges to recognize learner accomplishments instead. A few of the badges he issues to learners in his courses are:

  • Bumblebee: Like a bumblebee, you work extremely hard in ways that aren't always appreciated.
  • Mantis shrimp: The mantis shrimp has the strongest punch and the widest visual color spectrum in the animal kingdom. Like the mantis shrimp, you see things from a lot of different angles and you aren't afraid to say so.
  • Crow: Crows are highly intelligent and they use their loud voices to stay connected to each other. Like a crow, you share your intellect and insight freely in ways that help others stay connected to the conversation.

If this has piqued your interest and you are looking to reward your students for positive behaviors, check out the sample awards in his award badges twitter thread!

Additionally, we conducted a workshop on how you can use Brightspace Awards to engage learners. In case you missed it, you can view the Engage Students Using Awards in Brightspace workshop recording at this link.

Also, we have a corresponding “Awards & Badges” module in the #LearnEverywhereXULA (#LEX) course that you can complete to earn a digital badge for this topic that will count towards your #LEX Advanced certification.

Want More Information?

The Usefulness of Digital Badges in Higher Education
Why Use Gamification in your Courses?
Issue Brightspace Awards to Recognize Learner Accomplishments
Awards Tool How-to's
Create a New Award
Brightspace Tip #237: Release Conditions

View all the Brightspace training recaps
Instructors Quick Start Tutorial
Continuous Delivery release notes
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 Peggychoucair from Pixabay