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Brightspace Tip #356: October Continuous Delivery Updates

Janice FlorentOctober 27, 2022Leave a comment

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 October 2022/20.22.10 release that were added to our system this month:

1) Brightspace Pulse – Access links and images in module descriptions when you’re on-the-go

To help improve the overall experience in Brightspace Pulse, users will be able to view module descriptions in a web view that displays images and preserves links. This presents a new user experience that is more aesthetically pleasing and functional.

Previously, users could only view module description text without any rich text elements or HTML. This meant that any links or images placed in a module description in Brightspace were not preserved or available in the module description while using Brightspace Pulse.

The new View description option in Brightspace Pulse with images and functional links.

2) Brightspace Pulse – Personalize push notifications

To help improve the flexibility of push notifications in Brightspace Pulse, users will be able to choose which push notifications they receive. Previously, it was not possible to limit or control push notifications.

This feature implements PIE item D8239: Controlling Pulse Notifications from the Student’s Profile Notifications/Settings Page.

Push Notifications settings in Brightspace Pulse.

3) Grades – Removal of unused and duplicated grade schemes in Grades

Building on the Grades – Copy grade items only copies unique or in-use grade schemes | Updated feature released in the July 2022 / 20.22.7 release, this update performs a one-time deletion of all unused or duplicate grade schemes, leaving only unique grade schemes. This ensures increased performance during grade scheme copies and reduces errors when attempting to access grade schemes in existing org units where a large number of grade schemes exist.

Instructors may see their lists of grade schemes reduced as part of the release.

If you are interested in getting more information about these and all the October Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform October 2022/20.22.10 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

Spooky Learning

Elizabeth Yost HammerOctober 23, 2022October 21, 2022Leave a comment

Tis the season, for me at least, of haunted houses and scary movies. I like to engage in what psychologists have recently termed recreational fear. This is the fun of being scared. A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education by Sarah Rose Cavanagh applies this research to the classroom. She argues that there are four pedagogical lessons we can learn from haunted houses.

We never go into haunted houses alone. In times of anxiety and threat we tend to find safety in others. The same holds for the anxiety produced in learning environments. Creating collaboration opportunities with classmates and communal class environments can enhance learning.
Pleasurable arousal happens when we are scared, but not too scared. Cavanagh calls this “pleasurable disquietude,” and it's the appropriately uncomfortable spaces in our classrooms and disciplines that allow students to progress to the next level in their learning.
Fear and motivation have physiological similarities. As instructors we can harness student anxiety to move them forward and deepen their learning.
Finally, we grow stronger by facing our fears. Students must confront challenges in the classroom in order to grow. So instructors need to provide appropriate challenges for them.

Cavanagh provides some nice examples of what this might look like in our classrooms. Teach well, and enjoy spooky season!

Brightspace Tip #355: Grade Book – Search

Janice FlorentOctober 21, 2022Leave a comment

Have you ever met with a student and wanted to review that student’s grades with the student, but couldn’t because the Grade Book shows the grades of all the other students? This isn't a problem in Brightspace. You can use the Grade Book search to temporarily hide the grades of all the other students and only show the grades for a single student.

Follow these steps to do it.

To display one row in the Grade Book:

On the NavBar, click Grades.
On the Enter Grades page, enter the first and last name of the desired student in the Search For field and then click on search icon.
When done, you should only see the selected student.

Note: If you have more than one student with the same name, you can enter the 900 # of the desired student in the Search For field. Ultimately, your search results should yield the row with the desired student's record.

To display all rows in the Grade Book:

On the Enter Grades page, click on the Clear Search link.

Want more information?

Brightspace Tip #351: Grade Book
Understanding the Grades Tool

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: "Search Key" by GotCredit licensed under CC BY 2.0

Brightspace Tip #354: Pronouns

Janice FlorentOctober 17, 2022December 30, 2022Leave a comment

group of people each with one foot in a circle showing off their colorful socks and shoes

Wednesday, October 19th, is International Pronouns Day. International Pronouns Day is celebrated on the third Wednesday of October and seeks to make respecting, sharing, and educating about personal pronouns commonplace. Referring to people by the pronouns they determine for themselves is basic to human dignity. Being referred to by the wrong pronouns particularly affects transgender and gender nonconforming people. For more information about International Pronouns Day visit pronounsday.org.

ICYMI, read Bart’s “Yes, you should totally tell your students your pronouns” blog post.

Did you know, users now have the option to indicate their pronouns in their Brightspace user profiles? Brightspace user profiles are visible to anyone who shares a course with a particular user, including students, instructors, administrators, etc.

The area under Account Settings, where you can set your pronouns — The area in your Account Settings, where you can set your pronouns

A user profile card with the pronouns displayed

Classlist showing pronouns highlighted to the right of the name of a learner — Pronouns display in the 'Last Name, First Name' column of Classlist, to the right of the user's name, in parentheses. User name text is blue, pronoun text is grey.

Celebrate International Pronouns Day by entering your pronouns into Brightspace and invite your students to do the same.

If you are looking for a good pronoun primer on inclusive teaching, check out this Gender Diversity and Pronouns resource from the University of Michigan.

Also, check out name.pn if you or your students are looking for an easy way to share how you would like people to use your name. You can create a URL that links to information to help users get your preferred pronouns, title, and the pronunciation of your name correct.

Follow these steps to do it.

To enter your pronouns:

From your Personal Menu click on Account Settings.
Check the Allow others to see my pronouns box.
Click on the Use different pronouns radio button and enter your pronouns.
Click on Save and Close.

Want more information?

Navigate Brightspace Learning Environment - Account Settings – Learner (video)

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: "Footwear" by Julie Falk is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Brightspace Tip #353: Grade Book – Preview Learner Grades

Janice FlorentOctober 16, 2022

The instructor’s view of grades is not the same as the learner's view of grades. Did you know you can get a preview of what a learner sees when they view their grades in your course?

To verify what a learner sees when they view their grades, an instructor can Preview the learner's grades.

Follow these steps to do it.

To Preview a learner's grades you should:

On the NavBar, click Grades.
On the Enter Grades page, select "Preview" from the contextual menu associated with a learner name from the table. The Grades will appear in a new pop-up window.

NOTE: If you are meeting with a student and want to hide the grades of the other students, you should use the Grade Book Search to do so.

Want more information?

Preview Learner Grades
Brightspace Tip #351: Grade Book
Brightspace Tip #211: Grade Book – Search
Understanding the Grades Tool

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: "preview key" by jflorent is licensed under CC BY 4.0 and is a derivative of "Education Keyboard Button" by GotCredit used under CC BY 2.0

ICYMI: Rethinking Multiple-Choice Tests for Better Learning Assessment

Janice FlorentOctober 13, 2022Leave a comment

hand holding pencil over a bubble answer sheet with some answers bubbled in

Traditional testing relies on multiple choice, true/false, and written response type questions. In authentic assessments, students apply concepts to real world situations by completing meaningful task-based assessments. This type of assessment engages a variety of skills and effectively measures higher levels of learning than traditional assessment.

Authentic assessments are widely viewed as pedagogically superior, yet multiple-choice assessments are often preferable to instructors and students alike.

In an Inside Higher Ed opinion piece, Eric Loepp challenges instructors to rethink the premise that multiple-choice questions cannot meet the standards of authentic assessment. He argues that there are situations where higher-order multiple-choice questions can be used for assessment. If this has piqued your interest, you can read more in his “The Benefits of Higher-Order Multiple-Choice Tests” opinion piece for more information.

Image credit: Exam by Alberto G. licensed under CC BY 2.0

Brightspace Tip #352: Respondus Monitor – Show Your Work

Janice FlorentOctober 12, 2022October 12, 2022Leave a comment

pencil, eraser, and graph paper with hand written math problems

One of the top requests from math and science faculty using Respondus LockDown Browser / Respondus Monitor is a way for students to show their work at the end of an online exam. This feature is now available!

The "Show Your Work" feature allows students to upload hi-resolution images of worksheets they've prepared during their exam. If this setting is enabled by the instructor, the student will be given the opportunity to upload photos of their work immediately after they submit their exam.

Respondus Monitor: Show Your Work Feature [2:11]

Want More Information

Using the "Show Your Work" feature in Respondus Monitor
Brightspace Tip #200: Respondus LockDown Browser / Respondus Monitor

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 Dx21 from Pixabay

Brightspace Tip #351: Grade Book

Janice FlorentOctober 11, 2022December 22, 2022Leave a comment

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?

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

Brightspace Tip #350: Quick Eval

Janice FlorentOctober 6, 2022October 6, 2022Leave a comment

Do you want to see the coursework that needs to be graded all on one page in Brightspace? The Quick Eval tool can help.

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.

Evaluators can sort, filter, and search submissions to prioritize their evaluation work. Sorting can be done using the first or last name of the learner, Activity Name, Course Name, and Submission date. Filtering can be done using one or more of the following categories: Activity Name, Course Name, and Submission Date. Clicking on a user’s name opens an evaluation screen directly from the Quick Eval list where the evaluator can complete their assessment. The search function in Quick Eval allows evaluators to locate submissions for evaluation by searching for a specific user, assignment, quiz, discussion topic, or course.

When learner submissions are evaluated and published, they no longer show up in the Quick Eval list. An empty Quick Eval list gives educators confidence that no learner submissions are pending evaluation.

Quick Eval Widget

Did you know that Quick Eval can be added to your course homepage as a widget? The Quick Eval widget displays a list of up to six activities with submissions to evaluate. The activities are sorted by due date, with the earliest date first. The icon indicator in the widget shows the type of activity (assignment, discussion, or quiz), and the number of unevaluated submissions for each activity.

Activities dismissed in the Quick Eval tool are not displayed by the Quick Eval widget.

The Quick Eval widget on course homepage displaying no submissions needing evaluation

The Quick Eval widget on the Organization homepage displaying unevaluated activities from multiple courses

If you interested in customizing your course homepage with widgets, here are some blog posts with information that explains how to do it:

Follow these steps to do it.

To access the Quick Eval page:

On the NavBar, click Activities, then click Quick Eval.
All ungraded submissions will be displayed. You can sort submissions by first and last name, activity name, course, or submission date. You can also filter results.
Click the learner's name to evaluate the submission.
To return to Quick Eval page, click Back to Quick Eval.
As you complete and publish evaluations they will no longer appear in Quick Eval.

Want more information?

About Quick Eval
Grade Submissions Using Quick Eval (video)
Evaluating Activities Using Quick Eval

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 Tip #349: Assignments

Janice FlorentOctober 5, 2022October 5, 2022Leave a comment

There were some changes with the New Assignment Creation Experience that has led to a few questions about creating assignments. I’m writing this blog post to address those questions.

When you create an Assignment with the new Assignment Creation Experience, the default when you enter points in the “Grade Out Of” field is that the “In Grade Book” option will be automatically selected.

The “In Grade Book” option will automatically create a grade item (column) in the Grade Book. The grade item is created with the same name as the Assignment.

Example showing the “In Grade Book” option when points are entered.

If you setup your Grade Book before creating the Assignment and you already have a grade item (column) for the Assignment in your Grade Book, you would associate the Assignment to the grade item by using the "Edit or Link to Existing" option and then navigate to the grade item in your Grade Book that you want to associate the Assignment with.

Example showing the “Edit or Link to Existing” option in the drop-down list.

Example showing the option to “Link to an existing grade item” with the grade item selected.

If you DO NOT want the system to create a column for the Assignment in your Grade Book, then you should select the "Not in Grade Book" option.

Example showing the “Not in Grade Book” option in the drop-down list.

The drop-down menu also allows you to reset the Assignment to ungraded, if necessary.

NOTE: Even though the new Assignment Creation Experience can automatically create a grade item (column) in your Grade Book, we still suggest you setup your Grade Book first and when you create your Assignments then choose the option to “Edit or Link to Existing” grade item in your Grade Book and navigate to the grade item that you want to associate the Assignment with.

Choosing to automatically create grade items in your Grade Book may present a problem when viewing your Grade Book from the Enter Grades tab. If you find the extra wide column headings that are created because of a long assignment name to be problematic, then you can edit the grade items and enter a shorter name for them. You can edit the grade items one at a time or edit them in bulk.

Example showing a grade item being edited to enter a short name for it.

You can edit grade items in bulk from the Manage Grades tab. First, select the grade items you want to edit and then click Bulk Edit.

Example showing grade items being selected for a bulk edit.

Example showing short names entered for grade items on the bulk edit items and categories page.

You will see the short names when you view your Grade Book from the Enter Grades tab.

Want more information?

Brightspace Tip #329: Simplify Assignment Collection

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.

1) Brightspace Pulse – Access links and images in module descriptions when you’re on-the-go

2) Brightspace Pulse – Personalize push notifications

3) Grades – Removal of unused and duplicated grade schemes in Grades

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To display one row in the Grade Book:

To display all rows in the Grade Book:

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Quick Eval Widget

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