Fall 2020 -Getting started

Tech 4 U

Making Technology Work for You 

(Brightspace Newsletter, rebranded for YOU) 

 These past several months have put additional demands on all of you, including the need to make a rapid change to the way you deliver instruction or engage students. As your instructional technology support team, our job is to make sure you are aware of all of the resources available to you, and to provide you the support you need to feel comfortable introducing them into your classroom. 

New this fall: You have the opportunity to engage students in new ways with tools like VoiceThread, encourage academic integrity with alternative assessment ideas through tools like Turnitin and Respondus, or take advantage of the most recent updates in Brightspace. Whatever your goals, we are here to help you. 

Psst…hidden in this newsletter is an error, find it, share it with your Brightspace team, and you’ll be eligible to win a prize.  

What students say they need from us…. 

At the end of the spring semester, CCC surveyed our students on how they were coping with the challenges brought on by COVID19. We wanted to share the two key take-aways: 

  1. Students were anxious about what they needed to do to complete their work.
  2. Students desired recorded lectures.  

What we might do….

We have compiled the following resources to help you address these needs. 

Use checklists to help students keep on track  

How do I create a checklist?

Record your lectures on Zoom  

How do I create online office hours with my Zoom?

Engage students while saving yourself time and energy  

How do I set up Intelligent Agents (automated emails to students)?

Table of Contents

Course Shells in Brightspace 

Brightspace course shells are created on http://brightspace.ccc.edu before the beginning of the semester. Enrollment in Brightspace course shells corresponds to your assignment in my.ccc.edu. If there is an error, please contact the helpdesk at http://ccc.edu/help. Once a Brightspace course shell is created, students are automatically enrolled and dropped based on the records in CS9. 

You must be listed in CS9/my.ccc.edu as the instructor or you will not have access to your course shell. Check the waffle icon if you do not see all your courses on the homepage because they may be “unpinned”. 

  
Beginning of the Semester FAQs 

Below are direct links to the most common beginning of the semester issues: 

  1. How do I locate my courses? 
  2. How do I upload my syllabus?
  3. How do I change my course start and end dates? 
  4. How do I copy a course? 
  5. How do I email my students? 
  6. How do I use Grades? 

For more help, visit https://brightspaceresources.ccc.edu 

What’s New in Brightspace? 

VoiceThread 

Voicethread with Brightspace and Zoom  

Do you know about Voicethread? VoiceThread is an interactive, collaborative, web-based tool that that allows user to communicate through images, audio recordings, videos, and text. People can use VoiceThread to set up a discussion board, record a lecture, or show images. Users can add text, audio, or video comments to a VoiceThread, so students can ask questions at a specific point in a lecture or respond to discussion prompts. In addition, instructors can have students create their own VoiceThread presentations as part of an assignment.  

 Voicethread is integrated into Brightspace (Existing Activities > External Learning Tools). You can even pull in a Zoom meeting recording directly from the platform. 

To find out more, visit HOW DO I USE VOICETHREAD WITH BRIGHTSPACE?  

VoiceThread Resources: 

Respondus 

Respondus Lockdown Browser and Monitor are now available in all Brightspace courses as optional settings when creating Brightspace Quizzes for those faculty who wish to use them.  

*Please note, Respondus lockdown browser is not yet supported for students using Chromebooks. The company is looking to add support for Chromebooks this fall but no firm date has been given. 

HOW DO I PROCTOR A REMOTE ONLINE EXAM WITH RESPONDUS? 

Respondus also has a lot of great resources including live webinars  

TA/Tutor Request Form 

If your substitute, tutor, or intern need Brightspace access, Please click here to request TA/Tutor access to your online classroom. 

Discover Tool 

Allows students the opportunity to choose to connect to Student Services and more at their own discretion. 

 

Release Notes 

Every month Brightspace releases a video of new features. Keep informed and watch below! 

May 2020 Highlights 

June 2020 Highlights 

 

 

July 2020 Highlights-no video 

August 2020 Highlights-no video 

All Release Notes 

 

Training Options 

Training course description 

 Synchronous Assistance 

Workshops for Registration Week 

MONDAY 8/17 GETTING STARTED SERIES 

 Brightspace Bootcamp (2 hours) – overview of all tools 

Course Copy, Cleanup and Management to Start the Term off Right 

Designing Elements in Brightspace 

Teaching with Zoom 

TUESDAY 8/18 ASSESSMENT SERIES 

 Assignments and Discussions in Brightspace 

All About Quizzes 

Course Reporting Tools 

All About Grades 

WEDNESDAY 8/19 ENGAGEMENT SERIES 

 Communication Tools in Brightspace 

Teaching Effectively with Zoom 

Break Brightspace Burnout 

Engagement Tools in Brightspace 

THURSDAY 8/20 GRADES AND FEEDBACK 

 Full Grades Training – Part 1 

Full Grades Training – Part 2 

Brightspace Feedback Tools 

ZOOM Room used for all trainings above 
Drop-in  
Zoom Room used for all drop-in help 

1:1 Assistance 

Please click here to schedule 

Department Assistance 

Please click here to schedule 

Asynchronous Assistance 

RECORDINGS 

Visit http://bit.ly/ccctube  – CCC Instructional Technology YouTube site 

ESSENTIALS SERIES 

Foundations (these are chunked in like 10 to 15 min increments) 

Keep Teaching 

Introduction to Teaching  

Zoom for Teaching (Basics) 

Course Copy, Cleanup, and Management 

  1. Designing Elements in Brightspace 
ENGAGEMENT SERIES 

Brightspace Engagement Tools Training (checklists, awards, intelligent agents) 

Break Brightspace Burnout with these Timesaving Tricks 

ASSESSMENT SERIES 

Turnitin & Grading 

Quizzes & Grading 

  1. All About Grades Training 

Rubrics 

 

LEARNER MANAGEMENT SERIES 

Reporting Tools 

 

Knowledgebase Articles 

Visit https://brightspaceresources.ccc.edu 

Handouts 

Faculty Spotlight 

We are looking for innovative ways that instructors use Brightspace within their classes. Do you have an assignment that translates well to Brightspace? Have you incorporated some of Brightspace’s more advanced features? Do you have unique ways to communicate with students via Brightspace? We would love to showcase the great work that you’re doing. 

Doing something cool with Brightspace? Share it with us! 

Help and Resources 

  • Videos: Visit http://bit.ly/ccctube  – CCC Instructional Technology YouTube site contains CCC-created videos like a Foundations review, TII, Student overview, course copy and more for you and our students 

 

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