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Brightspace Tip #464: Simplify Assignment Collection

Janice FlorentSeptember 3, 2024Leave a comment

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:

On the NavBar (of the course you want to create a submission folder), click Activities and then choose Assignments from the drop-down menu.
Click New Assignment.
Enter a Name for your submission folder.
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.
Set a Due Date.
Enter assignment instructions.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
To make your assignment visible to learners, click on the Visibility toggle.
Click Save and Close.

Want More Information?

Assignments:

Turnitin:

Rubrics:

Brightspace Rubrics Tool

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 Little Peace and Quiet in the Middle of the Week

Bart EversonSeptember 2, 2024January 9, 2025Leave a comment

The Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development invites you to join us for a regular group meditation. We'll meet each Wednesday afternoon throughout the 2024-2025 academic year. Drop in when you can.

What to expect?

As the meditation room is located directly beneath the bell tower, we are using the bells in our meditation. They chime quarterly, so our period of silence begins at 2PM and ends at 2:15.

But I've never done this before!

You needn't have any experience with meditating; just stop by and give it a try. There's no commitment and no pressure.

Why meditate?

Meditation has numerous well-documented benefits, including stress management, improved emotional balance, increased focus and awareness and increased responsiveness to student needs.

All welcome

This is open for everyone in the Xavier community, for people of any faith or no faith.

Date: all school year (whenever classes are in session)
Time: 2 - 2:15 PM
Location: Meditation Room, St. Katharine Drexel Chapel
Sponsor: CAT+FD

Photo credit: Bart Everson

Brightspace Tip #463: Notifications

Janice FlorentAugust 24, 2024Leave a comment

Notifications enable you to customize what methods you want to use to receive notifications, such as email, as well as what events will trigger notifications.

focused female professional looking at a mobile phone

Students can control how they receive information about course activity through their notification preferences. They can customize which actions in Brightspace will trigger a notification.

The Notification tool allows users to:

Subscribe to a summary of activity for each course and receive a daily email.
Specify your preferred email address for instant notifications and announcements.
Receive instant notifications about course activity, such as edited content, new discussion posts, assignments, grades, course announcements and upcoming quizzes.

Instructors can help their students to keep up with their coursework by encouraging them to setup their notification preferences. Additionally, there is a Getting Started for Learners Video Playlist that students should watch to get familiar with Brightspace.

Follow these steps to do it.

To customize notification preferences, users should:

From your Personal Menu (located in the Minibar), select Notifications.

Select the email address to which notifications will be sent.
Select the course activities for which you would like to receive notifications.
Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen.

Want more information?

Navigate Brightspace - Notifications - Learner (video)
Getting Started for Learners Video Playlist
Change Personal Settings in 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.

Image credit: Photo by Aspen from Nappy.co

Brightspace Tip #462: August Continuous Delivery Updates

Janice FlorentAugust 22, 2024Leave a comment

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 2024/20.24.8 release that were added to our system this month:

1) Assignments – Assessment workflows enhanced and available in all environments

Advanced Assessments help instructors and administrators to better manage courses with large class sizes and multiple evaluators, delegate and manage evaluator workflows, and reduce bias in marking.

Advanced Assessments allows instructors to:

Assign multiple evaluators to evaluate a single assignment submission when creating or editing assignments.
Choose which evaluators can publish grades for the assignment from the Assignment tool by setting them as publishers.
Match evaluators to learners.
Choose from two multi-evaluator workflows: One Shared Evaluation (Co-Marking) or Multiple Individual Evaluations.

For more information, refer to the Create an assignment topic and watch the Assign Evaluators and Publishers in Assignments | Instructor video.

Prior to the release of Advanced Assessments, there was no ability to create and evaluate delegated co-mark or multi-evaluate assignments.

In the May 2024/20.24.5 release, Advanced Assessment features were released to test, development, and staging (non-production) environments.

With this release, Advanced Assessment workflows for Assignments are available in all production environments of Brightspace. New features that are added to Advanced Assessments with the August release include:

Turnitin integrations
Accessibility improvements, including assistive technologies for keyboard-only users

Refer to the Advanced Assessment for Assignments in test, development, and staging environments of Brightspace blog post for details.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

D6901 (Restrict Teaching Assistant to Publish The Assignment Grade)
D142 (Multiple Graders in Dropbox)
D6977 (Assignments Role Permissions: Separate See/View from Submit)
D6654 (Auditor to view submissions of Assignments)

2) Assignments – Email status message no longer displayed after an assignment submission

With this release, the Confirmation Email Sent Successfully message is no longer displayed for learners in the Email Status field after they submit an assignment. However, when a learner submits an assignment, an email as a receipt of the submission is still sent to them.

The Review Assignment Submission page with the Email Status field.

The Review Assignment Submission page without the Email Status field.

Previously, even if a confirmation email was not sent to a learner, they also received the Confirmation Email Sent Successfully message in the Email Status field on their Submission History page.

3) Discussions – Reading View improvements

To improve the user experience for learners, this release introduces several updates to the learner Reading View in Discussions. These improvements include the following:

The Start New Thread button is duplicated at the bottom of the page when viewing a topic, eliminating the need to scroll back to the top of the page.
The Add Attachments section is opened by default when creating a new post or new topic. Previously learners had to open the section manually to add attachments.
The Add Attachments section is wider on screen when learners create a new thread.

This feature implements the following PIE item:

D8141 (Add a second Start a New Thread button to the bottom all threads)

If you are interested in getting more information about these and all the August Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform August 2024/20.24.8 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?

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

Brightspace Tip #461: Is Your Course Pulse Friendly?

Janice FlorentAugust 20, 2024September 29, 2024Leave a comment

Brightspace Pulse is a mobile app that can help learners stay connected and on track with their Brightspace courses. It provides one easy view of course calendars, readings, assignments, evaluations, grades, and announcement items. The app can help learners make better decisions about how to handle their workload, when to submit assignments, and when to prepare for tests. Real-time alerts can let learners know when classes are canceled, class is meeting in an alternate location, or new grades are available. The schedule view and weekly visualization enables learners to quickly at a glance view what is due today, this week, and upcoming across all their courses.

While the Brightspace Pulse app is designed for the learner, instructors can benefit too.

While the Brightspace Pulse app is designed for the learner, instructors can benefit too. When instructors enter due dates or end dates for assignments and activities the information is populated in the Pulse app enabling learners to stay connected and on track. Thus, instructors can spend less time reminding and more time teaching.

Instructors can make their courses Pulse friendly by including due dates or end dates for assignments and activities. When instructors do not enter due dates or end dates, no associated information is available in the Pulse app.

The Pulse app is great for helping students stay on track in face-to-face classes as well. Instructors can set up their face-to-face assignments and activities as events in the Brightspace course calendar. Students will get those date feeds in the Brightspace Pulse app.

Help keep students on track for success in all their courses by including a due date or end date for assignments and activities.

Want more information?

Brightspace Pulse App
Manage Your Course Workload with Brightspace Pulse - Learners
Brightspace Tip #404: Due Dates
Pulse Dates - Set Date Restrictions for Content (video)
Pulse Dates - Set Date Availability for a Calendar Event (video)
Brightspace Tip #460: Manage Dates
Brightspace Tip #248: Drip-Feeding

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 #460: Manage Dates

Janice FlorentAugust 15, 2024Leave a comment

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.

Course objects display in a grid that you can sort by any of the column headings. You can also use the Type column to sort the Manage Dates page based on the tool-specific order and use advanced filter options to work with smaller sets of objects. If you filter your course objects, any bulk changes you make apply only to the filtered results. This enables you to update multiple availability dates based on specific criteria.

In addition to managing dates, you can open each course object in a new window by clicking on its name. This launches the object's edit page where you can edit additional properties for that object without leaving the Manage Dates tool.

The Manage Dates tool can be very useful after a course copy. For example, if you copied content from one course into another course, you can use the Manage Dates tool to easily adjust dates after the course copy. Additionally, if you've entered dates on items in your course and later need to adjust dates in bulk, try using the Manage Dates tool.

Follow these steps to do it.

To edit dates in bulk:

Get into the course you want to change the dates of course objects.
On the NavBar (of the course you want to change dates in), click Course Admin.
Click Manage Dates.
Select the check box of the items for which you want to bulk edit dates.
Click Bulk Edit Dates.
In the Bulk Edit Dates dialog box, update the due dates and availability dates.
Click Save.

Want More Information?

About Manage Dates
Bulk edit dates in Manage Dates
Manage Dates - Offset Dates (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: calendar by tigerlily713 from Pixabay

Brightspace Tip #459: Copy Course or Copy Components

Janice FlorentAugust 14, 2024September 10, 2024Leave a comment

There are a some situations where you may want to copy components of a Brightspace course OR copy an entire Brightspace course into another one. For example,

You have a course from a previous semester and you would like to copy the course contents into your empty course shell for the current semester.
You have a Master Course Shell that you input content into and would like to copy the course contents into your empty course shell for the current semester.
You are teaching multiple sections of a course, you created all the content in one Brightspace course section and want to copy the content into the other sections.
You created content in one course (e.g. rubrics, discussions, quizzes, etc.) and would like to copy that specific content from one Brightspace course into another.

Copying an entire Brightspace course OR copying components of a Brightspace course into another Brightspace course is not hard. As long as you are the instructor for both courses, it is a simple process you can do.

Notes About Copying Between Courses

Here are some things to consider when copying a course or copying components of a course.

Overwriting and Duplicating Items

In general, course components already in the destination course will not be affected by copying course components. The only course component that can be overwritten is a course file, i.e., HTML pages that have been created in the course site or files that have been uploaded to it. A course file is overwritten if one of the files being copied into the course has the same name as an existing file.

If copying components from the same source multiple times, be careful not to copy the same items more than once, or this will create duplicates that may be visible to users in the course.

Student Data

: Student data is not copied from one course to another; only the course structures are copied. For example, if a Discussion topic is copied, only the prompt and discussion settings are copied, not the individual student posts.

Links and Associations between Components

: If copying linked or associated components, e.g., files attached to an Assignment Submission folder or the HTML files for pages that have been created, all of the related components must be copied at the same time. To do this, be sure to select the "Include Associated Content" checkbox when it appears. As long as that box is checked, all associated components are copied and the links between them are retained.

Copying VoiceThreads

: We have integrated VoiceThread using LTI 1.3 with deep linking, that means that your VoiceThread activities will copy automatically when the course is copied in Brightspace. Review this VT Course Copying FAQ for some important things to know about how VoiceThread course copying works.

Respondus LockDown Browser (RLDB) Settings

: Copied courses that have tests/exams with RLDB enabled require instructors to access the Respondus LockDown Browser Dashboard once after the copy to update the RLDB settings in the destination course. This has to be done before students will be able to take exams that require RLDB.

Turnitin-enabled Assignments

: When you copy course components from one course to another, confirm that all settings are configured for the Turnitin-enabled assignments in the destination course.

Turnitin PeerMark Assignments

: Our Turnitin integration does not support copying of PeerMark Assignments. You will have to recreate your PeerMark assignments in the destination course.

Follow these steps to do it.

If you want to copy an entire Brightspace course OR copy components from a Brightspace course into another course, you should:

Get into the course you want the content copied into (i.e., the target course).
In the NavBar (of the course you want the content copied to), click on "Course Admin".
Click on the "Import/Export/Copy Components" link.
Click on the "Copy Components from another Org Unit" radio button.
In the Course to Copy option, click the "Search for Offering" button.
Click on the magnifying glass in the "Search for" field OR enter the name of the course you want to copy from (i.e., the source course) in the search field.
Click on the radio button to the right of the course you want to copy content from and then click on "Add Selected".
Verify your selections are correct before proceeding.
At the bottom on the browser window you will click on either "Copy all Components" OR "Select Components" and follow the prompts.

Important:

Double-check to make sure that you are in the course you want the content copied into AND that you have selected the correct course you want to copy content from. There is no way to reverse the copy process once the wrong course is selected and the copy request is submitted.

Want more information?

About Import/Export/Copy Components
Import/Export/Copy - Copy Components video [1:31]

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.

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Brightspace Tip #458: Course Design Suggestions

Janice FlorentAugust 12, 2024Leave a comment

I usually get a lot of questions from faculty related to setting up their Brightspace courses. In the spirit of starting the academic year with less stress, I offer the following infographic with course design suggestions to reduce your course setup and management stress:

Accessible PDF version of Course Design Zen infographic.

Want more information?

Course Design Suggestions
Merging Courses
Setup your Fall Courses
Setup your Grade Book
Use Date Management
Using Quicklinks
Copy Course or Copy Components

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.

CAT+FD Wins 2024 D2L Excellence Award!

Janice FlorentAugust 11, 2024Leave a comment

Stephen Laster (D2L), Janice Florent, and John Baker (D2L)

ICYMI, the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development (CAT+FD) at Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) is proud to announce that we received the 2024 D2L Excellence Award for our work on #LearnEverywhereXULA (LEX) and #LEX Advanced. The D2L Excellence Award recognizes leaders, educators, and trainers who have used D2L Brightspace to help further the innovation, progress, and betterment of learning experiences in their organizations.

The Challenge: Advancing Faculty Expertise Through Instructional Continuity

We were faced with the challenge of preparing faculty for effective online instruction amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly because D2L Brightspace was new to us.

Our Solution: #LearnEverywhereXULA (LEX) and #LEX Advanced

To address this challenge, CAT+FD developed two innovative programs:

#LearnEverywhereXULA (LEX): This self-paced online course helps faculty members develop high-quality, well-designed courses in Brightspace. It is based on the eight General Standards for Higher Education set forth by Quality Matters. By completing the course, faculty gain the skills and knowledge they need to create effective online learning experiences for XULA students.
#LEX Advanced: This program goes beyond the basics, helping instructors explore advanced features in Brightspace. These features allow faculty to increase their presence in their courses, streamline workflows, and improve overall efficiency. Ultimately, this leads to more user-friendly, accessible, and effective online courses.

The Results: Increased Proficiency and Improved Courses

Thanks to #LEX and #LEX Advanced, XULA faculty have become more proficient in using Brightspace to deliver high-quality online instruction. This has led to increased use of the platform's tools and better alignment with Quality Matters standards.

A Note of Thanks

The CAT+FD team is grateful to D2L for recognizing our work and awarding us with the 2024 D2L Excellence Award. We would also like to acknowledge Drs. Elizabeth Yost Hammer and Tiera S. Coston for their contributions and help in developing #LEX and #LEX Advanced.

For More Information

Xavier faculty who are interested can use this enrollment request form to request enrollment in the #LearnEverywhereXULA course.

We’ve included a link to D2L’s press release and the case study.

New Year, New Director 1

Bart EversonAugust 9, 2024August 9, 20241 Comment

Every year, CAT+FD welcomes a cohort of new faculty to Xavier's campus. After many years of coordinating New Faculty Orientation, we've come to expect there will always be a few familiar faces in the group. Some faculty attended Xavier in the past. Other were hired mid-year and so already have a semester teaching here under their belt.

That seems appropriate to remember, as we welcome this year's new faculty, because we are also welcoming a new director who is nevertheless a familiar face.

Congratulations Jason S. Todd, PhD, new director of CAT+FD — Read Xavier's official announcement

Our new director, Dr. Jason Todd, is no stranger to Xavier's campus or to CAT+FD, for that matter. In fact, Jay served as Associate Director of CAT+FD for seven years. As such, his appointment as director represents a path of continuity. In the midst of hurricanes, pandemics, and disruptive technologies, a little continuity is welcome! At the same time, we know that Jay will take CAT in new directions. Continual innovation is just part of what we do in pursuit of our shared mission.

We look forward to working with Jay to support your development, as Xavier faculty, across all career stages and areas of professional responsibility.

Welcome back, Jay, and congratulations!

PS: It's also worth noting that Jay is the second CAT director named Todd. That puts our cumulative Todd ratio at something like 20%.

Follow these steps to do it.

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Assignments:

Turnitin:

Rubrics:

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1) Assignments – Assessment workflows enhanced and available in all environments

2) Assignments – Email status message no longer displayed after an assignment submission

3) Discussions – Reading View improvements

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Follow these steps to do it.

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Notes About Copying Between Courses

Overwriting and Duplicating Items

Student Data

Links and Associations between Components

Copying VoiceThreads

Respondus LockDown Browser (RLDB) Settings

Turnitin-enabled Assignments

Turnitin PeerMark Assignments

Follow these steps to do it.

Important:

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The Challenge: Advancing Faculty Expertise Through Instructional Continuity

Our Solution: #LearnEverywhereXULA (LEX) and #LEX Advanced

The Results: Increased Proficiency and Improved Courses

A Note of Thanks

For More Information

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