Just a few days ago, it seemed like campus was empty. Now it's teeming with people, and on Monday we'll be back in full swing.
As I participated in our annual Faculty & Staff Institute, I reflected on how the university seems to spring into being so quickly, so suddenly. How is it possible for all these faculty and students to swoop onto campus and reconstitute an operational university in such short order?
The answer, obviously, is that campus wasn't empty ten days ago. Plenty of staff members and administrators (and, yes, even some faculty) have been laboring here diligently all summer and all year round. I'm proud to count myself in that number. I was reminded that our faculty and students need the support of our hard-working staff, in order that we can even have a university.
Yet, campus seemed empty without faculty and students around. It was peaceful and quiet. I enjoyed it, but that's a temporary condition. Indeed, the illusion of peaceful emptiness was delicious precisely because of its ephemeral nature. I was reminded that staff members like myself need our faculty and students in order for our work here to have any meaning.
These are simple observations, to be sure. I merely want to affirm this simple truth: we need each other.
Our cultural summer is over, though the heat will blaze on for quite a while. In the coming school year, it's my wish that we may find that great value that we supply to each other, that we may see it, and act upon it, in service to our shared mission.
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:
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 you prepare to teach this fall, now is a good time to get started setting up your Brightspace courses. Our Information Technology Center (ITC) has created the fall courses in Brightspace.
NOTE: You should see your fall courses in the My Courses widget. If you do not see your fall courses in your My Courses widget, you should click on the link to "View All Courses" (located at the bottom of the My Courses widget). Verify that you are listed as the instructor for the course in Banner. You can find more information about the updated My Courses Widget sort logic at this link.
To get started, you can post your syllabus, course documents, announcements, and setup your Grade Book in your Brightspace courses. You can also customize your course homepage and/or course image/banner.
If you teach a course that is cross listed you will have a Brightspace course for each cross listing. You can combine the cross listed courses into one Brightspace course so that you can post course materials and grades to one combined Brightspace course. Combining courses may also work for you if you are teaching different sections of the same course and would like to have the different sections combined into one Brightspace course so that you can post course documents and grades in the one combined course. The beginning of the semester is the best time to submit a request to merge your Brightspace courses before you add course materials or grades to the courses.
Additionally, if the fall course you are teaching is the same as one of your previous courses you can copy the entire course (or copy components) into your "empty" Brightspace fall course.
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 a few updates in the July 2023/20.23.7 release that were added to our system this month:
1) Brightspace Editor – Edited images are saved with their original names to improve ease of location
With this release, images edited within Brightspace Editor are saved with their original names followed by a date-time string, which helps instructors find changed images easily in Manage Files. Changes to an image using Edit image in the floating toolbar are saved as a copy of the image with the name format "OriginalFileName_yyyyMMddHHmmss.jpg."
Click the Edit image option in HTML Editor to make changes to the image.
Previously images that were edited were given a different, random filename on saving.
2) Discussions – Consistent settings and interface of availability dates across Brightspace
This feature updates the settings and format of availability dates and states in Discussions, to align with other activity tools and create a unified content experience for both instructors and learners. This update is a continuation of the changes introduced to the Assignment list tab in June 2023 Continuous Delivery Updates.
Availability dates in the Discussions list are now displayed as a simple date range below the titles of discussion topics. Hovering over the date range text displays a tooltip that includes the information about start and end dates. Tooltips also include applied settings to explain how the discussion topic appears to learners before and after these dates.
The previous format of the availability dates in a discussion topic. The availability information appears beneath the topic title.
Previously, the availability dates in the Discussions topics did not include a hover tooltip.
The updated format of the availability dates in a discussion topic. Availability details now appear in a hover tooltip.
The corresponding update for Quizzes is planned for a future release.
This release updates the Quiz Creation experience for instructors by simplifying the quiz timing setup workflow, adding useful new features, including the ability to auto-submit, and removing obsolete quiz timing options.
With this release, learners can show or hide the timer, receive time warning messages, and access more information about their quizzes.
Note: All Quiz Timer settings behavior and User Interface changes will immediately be applied to existing and in-progress quizzes with the Continuous Delivery Update.
Instructors Workflow Changes
The following workflow changes and advanced Quiz Timing options are now available for instructors.
Simplified and redesigned Quiz Timing & Display settings
The updated settings allow instructors to choose if they want to set a time limit by selecting the Set time limit checkbox, which is cleared by default. If Set time limit is selected, instructors can add a Time Limit and edit the Timer Settings.
The previous Prevent the student from making further changes option has been changed to Automatically submit the quiz attempt. Quiz auto-submission automatically hands in quizzes on enforced time limit quizzes at the end of the set time, improving quiz integrity. This behavior is changed on all existing and in-progress quizzes with the update. Note: The Automatically submit the quiz attempt option is now the default setting for all newly created quizzes with a time limit and is used automatically if the instructor does not edit the quiz timing settings. The previous default setting was Allow the student to continue working.
The previous Allow the student to continue working option has been changed to Flag the attempt as exceeded time limit and allow the learner to continue working. This behavior is changed on all existing and in-progress quizzes with the update.
The Grace Period and Allow student to continue working but automatically score zero options are removed to further streamline the process of quiz creation. With this update, any existing and in-progress quizzes that include these settings are changed to the following new behavior:
A quiz that previously had a grace period now uses the time limit set on the quiz.
A quiz previously set to Allow student to continue working but automatically score zero now sets the quiz to Automatically submit the quiz attempt.
The Timing menu before this update. The Timing menu after this update.
The Timing & Display section displays comprehensive summary information in either collapsed or expanded view, helping instructors to find errors and to understand which settings they could change.
The collapsed view of a quiz with an enforced time limit in the Timing & Display section shows instructors a summary of their settings.
The Special Access settings are updated to simplify setup and incorporate the updated settings.
The Timing settings in the Edit Special Access menu before this update. The Timing settings in the Edit Special Access menu after this update.
Improvements for Learners
The following improved Quiz Timing options are now available for learners:
Option to show or hide the timer to reduce anxiety during quiz taking. Note: Once a learner sets their preference, the setting preserves across all quizzes.
Click the Hide Timer button beside the quiz timer to hide the timer from the view.
Warnings displayed at certain times to support awareness of time left. The following warnings are applied:
1 minute remaining on the quiz
5 minutes remaining (only on quizzes with 10 minutes or longer quiz time limit)
Half of the elapsed time (only on quizzes with 20 minutes or longer quiz time limit)
The Timer Warning dialog indicates how much longer a learner has in a quiz.
The simplified Quiz Results page appears when a learner completes a quiz attempt or returns later to view their quiz results (previously known as Submission View). The page now displays the text ‘Your work has been saved and submitted’ to all learners. This text is no longer editable by instructors. The existing text field allows adding a custom message to be displayed within the Quiz Results page under the new default message.
The Quiz Results page shows learners the status of their quiz and their score.
Option to review quiz instructions and details without leaving the quiz.
Click the Quiz Information option on the quiz page to view instructions and other information. This does not leave the quiz.
If a learner is taking a quiz at the time of the update, they will notice the user interface changes and new quiz timer setting behaviors immediately following the Continuous Delivery update. For more information about the impact to existing and in-progress quizzes, refer to the Quiz Timing Improvements – Pilot Summary blog post.
4) Quizzes – The New Quiz Creation Experience is now universally enabled
In this release, the New Quiz Creation Experience reaches the end of the adoption phase of feature development and becomes the only editing experience for all customers. The New Quiz Creation Experience is now set to on as the default with no option to opt out.
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.
Are you still using the old quiz creation experience? Did you know the old quiz creation experience will be retired soon and will no longer be available for use.
The new Quiz creation experience was one of the changes implemented with our June 2022 Continuous Delivery update. You can switch to the new quiz creation experience. Switching is simple. You can switch between the old quiz creation experience and the new experience by clicking on the arrow in the upper right corner of the create/edit quiz page.
Use the down arrow to switch from the old quiz creation experience to the new quiz creation experience.
The create and edit consistency changes that you see in Assignments and Discussions are available in the New Quiz Creation Experience. D2L’s goal with the create/edit quiz redesign is to simplify common tasks for first-time or infrequent users, while giving easy access to the advanced features that experienced power-users love.
The new quiz creation experience.
In the redesign, the primary panel on the left contains common, frequently used fields that are always displayed. These fields are most relevant to learners and are core to quiz creation. The add/edit question workflow has been brought into the primary panel, giving users the ability to easily modify quiz questions without the need to navigate to a separate interface.
The right-hand panel organizes additional, more advanced options such as start and end dates, release conditions, and special access. These options follow the same logical groupings as found in Assignments and Discussions. Other quiz-specific settings can be found in the right-hand panel including creating a password protected quiz, applying IP restrictions, adjusting quiz timing, setting display options, managing attempts, and altering evaluation and feedback settings.
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 a few updates in the June 2023/20.23.6 release that were added to our system this month:
To improve accessibility and clarity for screen reader devices, the Rubrics Confirmation dialog box that appears when users navigate away from scoring an assignment or discussion post using a rubric now features the following changes:
Screen reader-legible heading, text and buttons now appear in the dialog box.
The dialog box heading now says Unscored Rubric Criteria in place of Confirmation, to improve the workflow clarity for all users, including those using screen readers.
Previously, the text in the dialog box was not accessible to screen readers.
The confirmation dialog box appears with the previous heading Confirmation. This dialog text was not accessible to screen readers.
The confirmation dialog box now appears with the updated heading Unscored Rubric Criteria. The text in this dialog is fully accessible to screen readers.
2) Assignments – Consistent settings and interface of availability dates across Brightspace
To improve consistency in activity tools, this feature updates settings and the format of availability dates and states across Brightspace for both instructors and learners.
With this release, the Assignments List tab displays availability dates and states closely aligned with other activity tools to make a unified content experience. Availability dates are displayed below the titles of assignments and the hover tooltip includes the information about start and end dates with settings to explain how the assignment appears to learners before and after these dates.
Previously, the availability dates in the Assignments List tab did not include a hover tooltip.
The format of availability dates and states in the Assignments tool before this update.
The format of availability dates and states in the Assignments tool after this update.
The corresponding updates for Discussions and Quizzes are planned for future releases.
3) Quizzes – Improved workflows for large quizzes
This feature updates instructors' workflows for large quizzes in two ways.
Instructors can now use the Load More button on the initial page load if a quiz has more than 200 questions, sections, and question pools.
If the Load More button is shown, list operations such as moving to the bottom or adding new questions continue functioning as expected. However, to see their changes, instructors must click the Load More button to reveal the updated list.
The Load More button.
Also, instructors can now select multiple items and use drag and drop to rearrange the question list.
Multiple items selected for movement using drag and drop.
This feature implements PIE item D10368 (New Quiz Experience: Drag & Drop - Moving multiple questions at once).
Previously, quiz questions, sections, and question pools rendered slowly. Creating and editing quizzes with many items could take significant time. Moving multiple items was only possible using the Move To action menu.
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.
The new Quiz creation experience was one of the changes implemented with our June 2022 Continuous Delivery update. The create and edit consistency changes that you see in Assignments and Discussions are available in Quizzes. D2L’s goal with the create/edit quiz redesign is to simplify common tasks for first-time or infrequent users, while giving easy access to the advanced features that experienced power-users love.
The new quiz creation experience.
In the redesign, the primary panel on the left contains common, frequently used fields that are always displayed. These fields are most relevant to learners and are core to quiz creation. The add/edit question workflow has been brought into the primary panel, giving users the ability to easily modify quiz questions without the need to navigate to a separate interface.
The right-hand panel organizes additional, more advanced options such as start and end dates, release conditions, and special access. These options follow the same logical groupings as found in Assignments. Other quiz-specific settings can be found in the right-hand panel including creating a password protected quiz, applying IP restrictions, adjusting quiz timing, setting display options, managing attempts, and altering evaluation and feedback settings.
The old quiz creation experience will be retired soon and will no longer be available for use. Are you still using the old quiz creation experience? You can switch to the new quiz creation experience. Switching is simple. You can switch between the old quiz creation experience and the new experience by clicking on the arrow in the upper right corner of the create/edit quiz page.
Use the down arrow to switch from the old quiz creation experience to the new quiz creation experience.
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.
We are delighted to announce our new Faculty-in-Residence.
Faculty-in-Residence for New Faculty Support
Raven Jackson is a Clinical Associate Professor in the College of Pharmacy. She has served the university for 7 years as a faculty member within the College, a member and leader on several committees, and a strong proponent for interprofessional education and collaboration both within the university and beyond. Throughout her career, Dr. Jackson has focused not only on clinical practice, but also on practice transformation. She developed and now serves as Director of the Xavier University Telehealth Center, geared towards advancing medication therapy management services for rural clinics in Louisiana. Dr. Jackson also prides herself on empowering students through all aspects of pharmacy education. She has taught in a myriad of courses within the College of Pharmacy curriculum and has served as a recurring guest lecturer within the Department of Psychology. During her time at Xavier, Raven has been honored to work alongside faculty that have served as her former teachers and mentors, and she has transitioned into being that person for new faculty in the College. In her role as Faculty in Residence for New Faculty Support, she looks forward to advancing her efforts with new faculty in both the Colleges of Pharmacy and Arts & Sciences, introducing them to the unique culture and network that is Xavier University of Louisiana.
Welcome, Raven!
Faculty-in-Residence for Part-Time Faculty Support
Jeremy Tuman is an Associate Professor in the Department of English. He is the Director of First-year Composition and previously served as Faculty-in-Residence for Service-Learning in CAT+FD. In addition to teaching first-year writing, literature, and creative writing, Jeremy has worked extensively in the core curriculum, including designing and teaching Humanities-based service-learning courses, and helping to develop core learning outcomes for writing-based classes. He has previously served as a teaching fellow in a first-year-studies leadership cohort (then known as Freshman Seminar) and has participated as a fellow in the Faculty Communities of Teaching Scholars, sponsored by CAT+FD and the Mellon Foundation. His scholarly output includes critical essays, book reviews, and creative writing, published in outlets such as Xavier Review, Antenna/Room220, and New Orleans Review.
This just in: Camtasia 2023 has now been released. What's more, Xavier's faculty site license for Camtasia still covers the new version!
For those just tuning in, Camtasia is a tool for making videos by recording from your screen and camera. A common use for teachers is to record short lectures.
In addition to the software, we have access to TechSmith's tech support as well as extensive training materials, which are excellent.
So what are you waiting for? Yes, you can download and install Camtasia now. Here's the link.
Oh, perhaps you're already using Camtasia and everything's working just fine, and you're wondering why bother? Well, there are some new features, but you should probably check the system requirements before you consider upgrading.
Please note: You will need a Camtasia License key to unlock the software beyond the free trial period. To get the key, please contact me, Bart Everson. You can send me an email: bpeverso at you-know-where.
Did you know the Discussions tool has an @mentions feature? Within the Discussion tool, users can tag other users within the same course using @mentions. Tagged users are notified by alerts in the Minibar directing them to the thread in which they were tagged. Additionally, users can edit their notification settings and opt to receive email notifications when they are tagged in discussions.
The @mentions will identify users who match the criteria
Here are a few ways using @mentions could enhance online discussions:
Build relationships. Using an @mention is an effective way to build relationships in online discussion forums. As a result, the discussion forum becomes more welcoming and supportive. @mentions can help to build rapport and trust among your learners.
Get someone's attention. When you @mention someone, Brightspace will send them a notification that you have mentioned them. @mentioning someone is a great way to get their input, ask for clarification on a topic, ask a question, or to indicate your agreement with their comment.
Start a conversation. Start a conversation with someone by @mentioning them in your initial post. They will be more likely to respond because you mentioned them directly.
Keep a conversation going. @mention others in subsequent posts and replies. Doing so will help to keep the conversation going. It lets the people that you are @mentioning know that you are still interested in engaging them in a conversation.
Provide feedback. @mentions can be used to provide feedback on discussion posts. If you noticed someone made a comment that is not quite right or could be improved, you can @mention them and provide feedback to assist in teaching and learning.
Overall, @mention is a powerful feature that can be used to enhance online discussions. By using @mentions thoughtfully and encouraging your learners to use @mentions too, you can help to improve the quality of the discussion, build relationships among your learners, and your learners will get more out of the online discussions experience.
Tagged users receive notification in the minibar
Do you have an example of how you are using @mentions to enhance your online discussions? If so, please share it by leaving a comment on this post.
Follow these steps to do it.
To use @mentions in a discussion:
Navigate to the forum topic or thread where you want to use @mentions.
Post as normal by selecting Reply to Thread or Start a New Thread.
To tag a user, type @ and begin typing their first or last name.
The user will appear on a list under the text. Select the user to tag them.
The @mention will display the user's first and last name.
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.
![[Camtasia Logo]](https://i0.wp.com/cat.xula.edu/food/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Camtasia-logo-1201x1201-1.png?resize=300%2C300){kind=logo}
