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Author: Janice Florent

Technology Coordinator in the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development at Xavier University of Louisiana

About Janice Florent

Technology Coordinator in the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development at Xavier University of Louisiana

Published on Leave a comment on Brightspace Tip #441: Intent to EOL SMS Notifications

the word sms in talk bubble

D2L (the company that owns Brightspace) has announced a July 2024 intent to end-of-life SMS notifications. Refer to the following frequently asked questions for more information.

What are SMS Notifications?

SMS (Short Message Service) notifications allow users to subscribe to select alert bell notifications so that they are forwarded to a mobile phone number.

Why are they ending SMS Notifications?

When D2L originally built their SMS notifications, the world was a different place. We didn’t all have smart phones! They built this using a technology service available from most providers, email to SMS. Now, this service is being deprecated by providers and they are experiencing not only inconsistent delivery times but also large-scale outages at some of the largest mobile providers in North America.

How can users get mobile push notifications without SMS?

Another difference from when D2L built their SMS notifications is that their mobile app, Pulse, wasn’t available. With Pulse, users can receive the same mobile push notifications as what were available via SMS.

Email-based notifications are not going away, so users can still receive email notifications if subscribed.

What will happen to stored phone numbers after this?

Personal Data will be deleted once it is no longer needed to send notifications.

Want more information?

Intent to EOL SMS Notifications
Brightspace Tip #430: Notifications

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 OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

Published on Leave a comment on Brightspace Tip #440: Grade Book – Bonus Points

bonus icon

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.

bonus 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.

Want more information?

About Bonus Grade Items
Extra Credit
Create a Grade Item (video)
Brightspace Tip #437: Grade Book

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: bonus png from pngtree.com

Published on Leave a comment on Brightspace Tip #439: March Continuous Delivery Updates

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 March 2024/20.24.3 release that were added to our system this month:

1) Brightspace Editor – Consistent link creation with the ability to choose link format

As of this release, inserting a link into Brightspace Editor opens the Add Link dialog which allows users to determine if their links open in a new window (set as the default) or in the current window. The text box in the Add Link dialog also allows users to add text to their link. This provides users with a consistent workflow and control over how links respond in their content.

The Add Link dialog opens when inserting links with the context menu or with keyboard shortcuts (for example, ctrl+K or command+K).

Additionally, the dialog includes a new Insert Quicklink option, allowing users to easily insert a quicklink. When using Insert Stuff > Insert Link or Insert Quicklink > Link, the same Link, Text, and Open In options are displayed ensuring consistent link creation.

Finally, this feature updates the icons shown in Insert Quicklink to ensure all icons use the new style.

Previously, adding links throughout the editor resulted in different workflows, different fields, and different behaviors in the way that links would open. The previous Whole Window option is removed, as it was being treated as the current window and thus cause inconsistent behavior. Several options have been renamed from the previous version to improve consistency:

  • The option to have links open in the current window was previously called same frame.
  • Link was previously named URL.
You can access the new Add Link dialog using the context menu, or with keyboard shortcuts.
You can access the new Add Link dialog using the context menu, or with keyboard shortcuts.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

  • D9265, D7107, and D10615 (Ability to set links to “open in new window” when inserting a link via the context menu)
  • D8186 (Link target is not available except from the Quicklinks menu)
  • D8051 and D8279 (Enhancements and better hyperlink options in HTML Editor)
  • D10602 (Consistent process for adding URL)
  • D10475 (Making Insert Quicklinks smoother and faster)

2) Quizzes - Improved experience for generating quiz reports

This release introduces a better experience for instructors when running and exporting quiz reports with large amounts of data. To avoid time-out failures and screen freezing, the following report types now run asynchronously:

  • Attempt Details
  • Question Statistics
  • Question Details
  • User Statistics
  • User Attempts

When reports are ready for downloading, Brightspace generates a notification that instructors can access from the bell icon in the navbar.

Quiz reports are generated asynchronously. Instructors are notified when they are ready for download via the bell notification icon in the navbar.
Quiz reports are generated asynchronously. Instructors are notified when they are ready for download via the bell notification icon in the navbar.

Previously, quiz reports were generated slowly and would time-out in large classes.

If you are interested in getting more information about these and all the March Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform March 2024/20.24.3 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

Published on Leave a comment on ICYMI: Secure the Testing Environment and Protect the Integrity of Online Tests

Secure the Testing Environment and Protect the Integrity of Online Tests [1:03:48]

Thanks to those of you who attended last week's "Secure the Testing Environment and Protect the Integrity of Online Tests" workshop. The workshop, the eighteenth in our #LEX Advanced series, helps you to build on the skills you learned in the #LearnEverywhereXULA course and is designed for faculty who want to secure the online testing environment and protect the integrity of students' work.

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 “Securing Testing Environment” 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 #438: Product Idea Exchange (PIE)

three pies

Pi (π) Day is celebrated on March 14th (3.14). Did you know the Brightspace Community has a PIE? Yes, there is a PIE (Product Idea Exchange) in the Brightspace Community. The PIE is a system that allows Brightspace users to share their suggestions on how to make Brightspace better. I invite you to take a few minutes to explore the Brightspace Product Idea Exchange (PIE).

We’ve put together this collection of PIE ideas you can consider upvoting so that we can add our voice to the community to make the Brightspace experience better. To get you started, here are links to articles on baking a better PIE and what makes an idea great. You can also search the PIE for ideas to upvote or submit your own idea to the PIE. Let us know if you submit your own idea to the PIE so that we can upvote it.

Want more information?

How can I access the PIE?

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: "073/365 - Pi Day Pies, 2012" by Dennis Wilkinson is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Published on Leave a comment on Brightspace Tip #437: Grade Book

grade book page

The Brightspace Grades Tool is useful for providing students with up-to-date information about their current standing in the course. For instructors, it’s useful for assigning and keeping track of student grades. Students can view grade entries and monitor their progress throughout the course.

As an instructor, you can determine how to set up your Grade Book to best reflect your approach to evaluation, including the grading system and grade scheme that is most appropriate for your course. You can select how grades display to learners, how they update in the Grade Book, and how you want to deal with ungraded items. You can create grade items for projects, assignments, discussions, quizzes, etc. to include in your Grade Book, and even associate them with other tools (e.g. Assignments, Quizzes, Discussions).

Follow these steps to do it.

Listed below are links to how-to documents to help you to use the Grades Tool:

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.

Photo Credit: Grade book by David Mulder | CC BY-SA 2.0

Published on Leave a comment on Brightspace Tip #436: February Continuous Delivery Updates

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 February 2024/20.24.2 release that were added to our system this month:

1) Question Library – Removal of the question mark icon

The question mark (?) icon that appears next to questions in Question Library is removed to prevent visual clutter. However, the folder icon that appears in Question Library next to each section remains.

This change only impacts Question Library and the question mark icon remains in other areas of Brightspace.

2) Brightspace – Branded footer on main pages

With this release, a Powered by D2L Brightspace footer now appears on select pages in Brightspace. The footer appears on the following pages:

  • D2L’s login pages
  • Org and org unit homepages
  • Portfolio
  • Brightspace for Parents and Guardian
  • Discover
  • Manager Dashboard
  • Insights Portal Dashboard

This replaces the footer that previously appeared at the bottom of the login page and removes the corresponding Do not display D2L branded footer setting from the Login Page Management tool.

To learn more, refer to the Powered by D2L blog post in Brightspace Community.

If you are interested in getting more information about these and all the February Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform February 2024/20.24.2 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

Published on Leave a comment on Are Students Tech-Savvy or Tech-Struggling? What Students Want Educators to Know

young black woman looking at a computer screen

A misconception about 21st-century students is that they are proficient with all technology, even in the absence of clear instructions. Many students know how to use online platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook for fun, but have no idea how to leverage them for academic or professional use.

In an article in the Times Higher Education, Elizabeth Losh says universities must stop presuming that all students are tech-savvy. Many educators assume that young people are digital natives and they should know how to use technology. Gen Z may be savvy about using social media personally. However, they are not as savvy about how to use tech tools academically or professionally.

I don't appreciate when professors just assume because we are young we know how to use this stuff...we are learning with y'all. - Anonymous Xavier Student

In feedback from some Xavier students, they stated that their professors assume they know how to use Brightspace when in fact they do not. To better serve our students, faculty should not assume students are digital natives. Instructors can help students learn the basics for the tools that will be used in their course by providing them links to how-to resources.

Did you know that we have a list of Brightspace how-to resources for students on our CAT FooD blog? You can find Brightspace how-to resources at the following links:

Additionally, here's an example of how you might include how-to instructions for a discussion forum in your Brightspace course:

example of a Q&A discussion forum
Example of Q&A discussion forum with instructions on how to post to the forum

In this example, instructions for the Q&A forum are provided along with instructions on how to post to the forum as well as a link to a how-to video.

Including information on how to use course tools will go a long way to helping students to be successful in your course.

Image credit: image by Aspen from Nappy

Published on Leave a comment on ICYMI: Accessibility Is Not Just for Individuals with Disabilities

Accessibility Is Not Just for Individuals with Disabilities [1:02:10]

Thanks to those of you who attended last week's "Accessibility Is Not Just for Individuals with Disabilities" workshop. The workshop, the seventeenth in our #LEX Advanced series, helps you to build on the skills you learned in the #LearnEverywhereXULA course and will give you the skills and knowledge you need to create accessible course materials that can benefit everyone.

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 “Make It Accessible” 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 #LEX Advanced Certification

#LearnEverywhereXULA (#LEX) is our 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, securing online testing environment, alternative assessments, 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 four 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.

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
  • 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
  • Ma, Dr. Timmy
  • Todd, Dr. Jason

#LEX Advanced Level 3 Certificate Awardees

  • Ayyad, Dr. Ahlam
  • Edwards, Dr. Andrea
  • Ma, Dr. Timmy
  • Todd, Dr. Jason

#LEX Advanced Level 4 Certificate Awardees

  • Ayyad, Dr. Ahlam
  • Todd, Dr. Jason

Updated: 21 May 2024

Image credits:
image by PDPhotos from Pixabay
"#LEX Advanced Certificate of Completion" by jtodd1 | CC BY 4.0