Summer 2021 – Start of Semester and Updates

Tech 4 U: Making Technology Work for You

Welcome to Brightspace Summer 2021


As you prepare for the start of the term, keep in mind that how you use Brightspace is up to you. You may choose to include announcements, add content like videos or files, tests/ quizzes, virtual discussions, assignment submissions, grades and more!

Highlights In this Newsletter:

  •  D2L’s Annual Fusion Conference is virtual again, which means its FREE! Register Today
  •  Beginning of Semester FAQs for Brightspace and Zoom
  •  Zoom – Reminders
  •  New in Brightspace – New experiences and updates
  •  Virtual Drop-in Help for Faculty with Brightspace and Zoom

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

Highlights

D2L | Fusion 2020 Conference is going virtual

D2L’s annual user conference, Fusion, will be held virtually this year, and is free of charge. This is a great opportunity for faculty and staff who would otherwise have not been able to attend. You can register at https://www.d2l.com/events/fusion/  (July 13-15 and July 20-22)

Beginning of Semester FAQs for Brightspace and Zoom

  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 add a Zoom link and schedule Zoom class sessions
  5.      How do I copy a course (or parts of a course) from last semester to this semester?
  6.      How do I email my students?
  7.      How do I use Grades?

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

 

Zoom – Reminders

  • Enable Live Transcription – Enable the auto-transcription option that automatically provides captions during your class in real-time. This is incredibly helpful for students who may be unable to hear clearly or who may be in a loud environment. To use this feature, enable the setting in your CCC Zoom account and then enable it during class using the CC Live Transcript setting.

  • For the best experience with Zoom, make sure you and your students are logged into the Zoom application before launching meetings and update your zoom application regularly.

  • Review the tips on “How to control my zoom meeting” and discover more resources on zoom

  • Zoom Cloud Recordings will be deleted 30 days after the term ends. If you record your class sessions or other zoom meetings using “record to the cloud” and you want to save those recordings, please download them to avoid losing them.

For more help, visit https://brightspaceresources.ccc.edu and search “zoom”


New in Brightspace

Work To Do Widget – NEW

There is a new widget on the Brightspace Homepage that will alert students to work upcoming and overdue. It is based on due dates and end dates that are added to Assignments, Checklists, Content, Discussions, Surveys and Quizzes. Make sure your students know that this is NOT all inclusive of work they may need to complete, as it only displays work with due dates/end dates. It is currently located on the main homepage on the right hand side under Announcements.

New Assignment Creation Experience

You can opt-into (or out-of) the new assignment creation experience. This experience will replace the current (or old) Assignment Creation Experience for everyone in December 2021. When we first turned on this tool, there were some limitations, however, many updates have been made. You can now use Turnitin and Rubrics with the new assignment creation experience.

  • *You might want to wait to turn on the new creation experience if you use assignment categories or grade categories as you will have to set up those categories from the Assignment tool or Grades tool separately and not during the creation process.

 

If you don’t see the option above when you create an assignment, click on the small dropdown arrow in the upper right corner

New Assignment Evaluation (Grading) Experience
You can opt-into (or out of) a new assignment grading experience*. This experience will replace the current (old) evaluation experience for everyone in August 2021. In future releases, this evaluation experience will become available in additional tools such as Quizzes and Discussions. When we first turned on this tool, there were some limitations, however, many updates have been made. You can now use anonymous marking, multiple and large rubrics and group assignments with the new assignment evaluation experience.

  • *You  might want to wait to turn on the new grading experience if you use Turnitin, use email/instant message tools while evaluating, or use the Edit a Copy function to annotate text or html submissions.

If you don’t see the option above when you create an assignment, click on the small dropdown arrow in the upper right corner

Set Quiz Time Accommodations at the Course Level

You can now set Quiz time accommodations for students at the course level. Prior to June 2021, quiz time accommodations could only be set at the quiz level, meaning an instructor would have to edit each quiz individually in order to add “Special Access” settings for students requiring additional time accommodations. Now, those accommodations can be set at the course level for a student from the Classlist.

Use Case: A student has accommodations for additional time (ie. 50%) on quizzes, tests, exams.

The HTML Editor will soon be replaced by the Brightspace Editor

A new Brightspace editor will replace the HTML editor in August 2021. Many improvements have been made, but it still has the features you know and love, they just might show up in a different place.

Explore fun & effective ways to customize your course in Brightspace

For more help, visit the knowledge base.

 

Upcoming Training and Drop-In Help

Access the complete list of Drop-ins* and Trainings

Zoom Link for all drop-ins: https://cccedu.zoom.us/j/91263470950

·        Drop-in Help for Brightspace or Zoom

§  Mondays: 3:00pm-4:00pm (Elissa)

§  Tuesdays: 12:00-1:00pm (Viviana) and 2:00pm-3:00pm (Mariana)

§  Wednesdays: 10:00am-11:00am (Charles), 11:00-12:00pm (Dale), and 2:00pm-3:00pm (Viviana)

§  Thursdays: 10:00am-11:00am (Syed) and 2:00-3:00pm (Mariana)

§  Fridays: 12:00pm-1:00pm (Elissa)

*check the calendar for the most up to date information as some dates may get canceled

  • Request an Individual Appointment

·        Brightspace Assessment Knowledge Base Resources

§  All About Assignments

§  All about Quizzes

§  All About Grades

 

What’s New in Brightspace?

Every month D2L publishes notes on new features released in Brightspace. Keep informed and see below!

·        June 2021 Release Notes

·        May 2021 Release Notes

·        April 2021 Release Notes

·        March 2021 Release Notes

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

·        Training Calendar: https://brightspaceresources.ccc.edu/trainingevents/