Tag: september

Students and Instructors

Brightspace Pulse – Retirement of the + button for manual dates in Work To Do

The + button for adding manual dates in the work to do page is no longer available to learners. Previously, learners could use the + button to add personal due dates for activities. Now, only activities that come through CourseLink are viewable. All users who use this feature were notified a maximum of 90 days in advance each time they interacted with the manual dates, or +, button.

Instructors Only

Classlist – Easily access and view sections for specific users

Instructors can now use the Classlist tool to view groups and sections. Previously, instructors could only view section enrollments using various filtering and sorting work flows or by searching within the Sections tool.

Quizzes – Align Quiz questions to Learning Outcomes in New Quiz Creation experience

As part of the New Quiz Creation experience, instructors can now view and edit Learning Outcome alignments in relation to quiz questions. Instructors can add or remove Outcome Alignments by selecting a question and then clicking More Actions > Align to Standards. Questions have a visual tag to indicate if they are aligned to outcomes.

Quizzes – Reduce test anxiety by creating quizzes without time limits

With this release, instructors have the option to create quizzes with no time limit. The No Time Limit option is now the default Timing setting for new quizzes.

Previously, instructors who wished to create quizzes with no time limit had to use the Recommended Time Limit option, which was selected by default and set to 120 minutes. This led to confusion for learners because the recommended time limit displayed on the quiz itself.

Instructors can create quizzes with no time limit using either the New Experience or the Classic Experience. In New Experience, under Timing & Display, click Manage Timing and select No Time Limit. In Classic Experience, in the Restrictions tab, under Timing, select No Time Limit.

Learners who take a quiz with no time limit now see No time limit under Time Allowed on the Quiz Summary page and Est. Length: No Time Limit on the quiz itself.

Release Conditions – Choose the last date of enrollment in the current org unit

To help users with more flexibility around course design, the release condition Date of enrollment in current org unit now includes the following options:

• Use first enrollment date
• Use last enrollment date

Perusall LTI 1.3 Integration

The Perusall LTI 1.3 integration has been installed in CourseLink.

There are several benefits to using the LTI 1.3 integration. First, you can still create individual assignment links, called “deep links” in LTI 1.3, which point to particular Perusall assignments even when the link and assignment do not have matching names. Second, your LMS course roster automatically syncs to your Perusall course; instructors will be able to view the full roster in Perusall even before students ever launch into Perusall. That way, instructors can set up groups in advance of the start of the semester.

Respondus LockDown Browser – Show Your Work feature

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.

*** This feature is only available if “Respondus Monitor” has been selected as the proctoring option for the exam. ***

More information and examples can be found on the Respondus Show Your Work instructor FAQ.

Microsoft OneDrive – Update to OneDrive LTI 1.3

*** This update will occur sometime during the month of October. ***

The new LTI 1.3 OneDrive application supports file browsing, navigating and sorting directories, selecting files, and switching between Microsoft accounts. Users are able to access both their personal and institutional accounts. The update introduces a file picker for OneDrive users that acts as an alternative to the current OneDrive file picker used by instructors. 

Instructors will notice a new location, under Third Party, for the OneDrive option when adding Quicklinks in the system.

Contact

If you have any questions about the updates, please contact CourseLink Support at:

courselink@uoguelph.ca
519-824-4120 ext. 56939

Students and Instructors

CourseLink – Set and view user pronouns

Users can now set their pronouns through Account Settings.

Instructors Only

Dropbox – Create select box grade items in the New Dropbox Creation Experience

This feature builds on the Add categories capability in the Dropbox Creation Experience feature released in July 2021.

With this release, the new Dropbox Creation Experience supports creating new select box grade items. Previously, only numeric grade items could be created from the new assignment creation experience.

In addition, this feature provides support for choosing a grade scheme when creating numeric or select box grade items. Grade categories now progressively display when creating a grade item. Previously, grade categories always displayed when available.

Also, to make interface text more clear, the following labels have been renamed in the new Dropbox Creation Experience:

• Score out of is now Grade out of
• In Grades is now In Gradebook
• Choose in Grades is now Edit or Link to Existing
• Remove from Grades is now Not in Gradebook

When creating a new assignment as an instructor, under Grade Out Of, click Ungraded.

Click In Gradebook, and then select Edit or Link to Existing.

From the Edit or Link to Existing dialog, the following options may display under Create a new grade item:

• If the Grades tool has available grade categories, the Choose Grade Category option displays. Clicking this button displays available grade categories for association. 
• If the Grades tool has multiple grades schemes, the Change Grade Type & Scheme option displays. Clicking this button displays available grade types and schemes for association. 

Click OK, and then Save.

Dropbox – Restricting file extensions for submissions

Instructors can now specify the extensions of files that learners can upload as dropbox submissions. When an instructor is creating a file submission assignment, there is a drop down in the Submission and Completion section of the New Dropbox Creation Experience. In this drop-down list, instructors can choose the restrictions they want. Choices include: 

• Annotatable files, which include all file types that are supported by the Annotation tool in Dropbox. For more information, see File types supported by Annotations.

Note: When a .GIF file is converted to PDF, only the first frame of the .GIF displays.

• .PDF only
• Files that can be previewed without any conversion, such as .HTM, .HTML, .MHT, .MHTML, and .BMP
• Images and videos
• Custom filetypes

If an instructor choses Custom File Extensions, they can then enter file extensions that are allowed for file submissions. When this restriction is set, learners are presented with a list of acceptable file extensions for their assignments. When a learner attempts to upload a file submission for an assignment of an file extension type that the instructor has restricted, an error message appears.

Import / Export / Copy Components – Export release conditions in course packages

Now when you export CourseLink course packages, you can export release conditions and any associations. As a result, you no longer need to re-create these release conditions when you import the course package.

Rubrics – Additional information on Grade tiles

When a rubric is collapsed, instructors can now see if the rubric is complete. If the rubric is complete, the collapsed rubric shows the overall level of the rubric, and if the rubric is not complete, the number of unscored criteria appears on the tile. 

Previously, it was only possible to see the overall score of the rubric when the rubric was expanded. 

Rubrics – Brightspace Editor Additional Functionality

This update includes the following:

• The Brightspace Editor toolbar now appears in the following locations:
  • Rubrics Creation and Edit experiences in the Description field
  • Rubrics Creation and Edit experiences in the Feedback field
  • Evaluation mode in the Feedback field. 
• The Insert Stuff and Insert Quicklink buttons now appear in the different views with additional formatting options.  

Rubrics – Copy and delete criteria groups

In response to client feedback about the New Dropbox Evaluation Experience, it is now possible to copy or delete a criteria group on a rubric. The delete option is only available if there is more than one criteria group.
Note: When a rubric with attached assessment items has submissions evaluated against it, the rubric is locked and can no longer be edited or deleted.  

After you click Copy Criteria Group, a new criteria group appears below the original criteria group. 

If you are using keyboard-only navigation, these options are available in the tab order after the criteria group name. Once the criteria group is copied using keyboard navigation, the keyboard focus moves to the new group’s name.

Note: Aligned learning outcomes are not copied when you copy a criteria group. Specific details of the evaluation criterion should be updated and re-aligned with specific learning outcomes which apply to the new criterion elements in the criteria group. 

Contact

If you have any questions about the updates, please contact CourseLink Support at:

courselink@uoguelph.ca
519-824-4120 ext. 56939

Instructors and Students

CourseLink Platform – Refreshed Components Visual Design and Accessibility Updates

To establish a modern and consistent visual design across products and tools in the Brightspace platform, this release refreshes the design of toggles.

Note: Due to the broad scope of the refreshed visual design, some user interface components were refreshed in the August 2020 release. As this work continues, you will see more user interface components refreshed in upcoming releases.

To improve accessibility in user interface components, screen readers now correctly identify switches in CourseLink as toggles. This helps more accurately identify the state of a toggle to users as “pressed” (on) or “not pressed” (off). Previously, switches were identified as radio buttons that were “On” or “Off,” which was not as accurate or helpful to users. 

Note: Implementations of this update may differ slightly between types of screen readers.

For example, when a toggle is on, an NVDA screen reader now reads the information as:
Availability   column 4  Accelerator  toggle button  pressed  checked  

And when a toggle is off, an NVDA screen reader now reads the information as:
Availability  column 4  Accelerator  toggle button  not pressed 

Brightspace Pulse for iOS – View Activity Feed Posts and Comments

To keep up to date on course activity, learners can now read Activity Feed posts and comments, if used in the course, in Brightspace Pulse for iOS. Learners can also receive Activity Feed notifications. For example, in courses with Activity Feed enabled, instructors can use Activity Feed to post reminders about upcoming assignments and links to course materials. Learners then receive notifications about those posts in Brightspace Pulse, allowing them to view post details from the course homepages. Future releases will allow learners to post or reply to posts, if they have the appropriate permissions.

From the Courses tab, tapping a course displays the course homepage. The latest post and any associated comments display in the Activity Feed.

From the Notifications tab, tapping an Activity Feed notification displays the associated post or comment in the Activity Feed.

Discussions – Visual Word Count for Discussion Posts

A visual word count is now visible in the HTML Editor for discussion posts. All words in a discussion post are counted and include filler words such as “the,” “if,” and “to.” 

The word count is dynamically displayed to learners while they type in the HTML Editor and it also appears next to posts they have created in the Discussions Reading View. Learners can view the word count for their posts only.

For instructors, the word count appears on the Assessment page during the discussions assessment process and it also appears inline with the post details in the Discussions Reading View. Instructors can view the word count for all user posts.

Instructors Only

Classlist Linked Microsoft Security Group

Classlist Linked Microsoft Security Groups are the result of a project between CCS and OpenEd. These security groups create and maintain Microsoft Security Groups whose membership match a linked CourseLink Classlist. The security group memberships are updated daily, ensuring any new or dropped students are reflected within a 24-hour window throughout the semester. These security groups can then be can be used to grant and limit access to O365 resources such as Stream videos, OneDrive resources and Teams – Live Events.

Please see the step-by-step instructions on the OpenEd support website for this topic: Microsoft Security Group

Dropbox – Additional Functionality in the New Creation Experience

Building on the functionality added to the new create and edit assignment experience in the August 2020 release, you can now do the following:

1. Add special access conditions to assignments

2. Receive a notification email when assignments are submitted

Class/User Progress -Include Pulse Activity in Usage Data

Learner activity data is now captured more accurately through the addition of a new system usage metric. Previously, Pulse usage was not tracked, and learners who accessed their courses through the app were misrepresented as having low engagement and could not access conditionally released content.

These changes affect the following areas of Brightspace:

• Class Progress has a new System Access performance indicator, which displays the number of times each course participant has accessed the system through the Learning Environment or Pulse in the last 30 days. Instructors can add System Access to the Class Progress dashboard by clicking Settings.
• User Progress has a new System Access History section, which displays the number of times the user has accessed the system through the Learning Environment or Pulse in the last 30 days. Instructors can select System Access History to display in the User Progress report by clicking Settings. 

Question Library – Attach Files in Arithmetic and Significant Figures Questions

Building on the attach files in Written Response questions functionality released in the August 2020 release, when creating arithmetic and significant figures questions, instructors can now allow learners to include external files with their responses and record audio or video responses when answering these question types.

When grading a quiz, similar to the behavior in the Discussions tool, instructors can view a list of attachments, download them, or open them in another tab. When reviewing their submission in Submission View, the learner can see their uploaded attachment if allowed to see their responses.

To support attachment responses, Quizzes data sets and quiz reporting enhancements will be released in the November 2020 release. 

Question Library – Search for and select Questions in Question Library Sections

This feature enables instructors to search for sections in Question Library by section title, as well as the ability to select and import the section in its entirety from the search results list. Previously, you could only search for questions by question text and you could not select sections in the search results.

Quiz Builder – Enhanced Question Reordering

To simplify the movement and reordering of questions in Quiz Builder, a new Move To option is visible when a question is selected. The Move To option allows questions to be moved to the Top of the Quiz, Bottom of the Quiz, or to a specific section within the quiz.

Previously, to move multiple questions into a section, instructors had to individually drag the questions into the desired section. Now, instructors can select multiple questions and move them all at once using the Move To menu. The drag and drop reordering of questions has not been affected by this feature and remains available.

Contact

If you have any questions about the updates, please contact CourseLink Support at:

courselink@uoguelph.ca
519-824-4120 ext. 56939

Students and Instructors

Dropbox – Grades entered in Dropbox and Grades are synchronized

When an instructor enters a grade for a Dropbox submission in the standard or spreadsheet view of Grade Book, the grade also appears with the submission in Dropbox. Previously, grades entered in the Dropbox tool were passed on to Grade Book; however, grades for Dropbox submissions entered in Grade Book were not passed to the Dropbox tool. This change ensures data consistency between Dropbox and Grade Book. Currently, Dropbox grades are not synchronized when the Grade Book is exported and imported.

Discussions – Grades entered in Discussions and Grades are synchronized

When an instructor enters a grade for a discussion in the standard or spreadsheet view of Grade Book, the grade also appears with the discussion post in Discussions. Previously, grades entered in the Discussion were passed on to Grade Book; however, grades for discussions entered in Grade Book were not passed to the Discussions tool. This change ensures data consistency between Discussions and Grade Book. Currently, Discussion grades are not synchronized when the Grade Book is exported and imported.

Instructors Only

Assessment Quality Dashboard Support for Question Pools

This feature includes the following updates:

• The addition of quizzes with question pools.
• The inclusion of a new column in the question statistics table that indicates whether the question is part of a question pool. Question Pool data will take two weeks to migrate following this update and then quizzes with question pools will be included.

Quick Eval – Activities View

In Quick Eval, select Activities to display a list of the assessable activities that have items awaiting evaluation in all your courses. An activity shows up in Quick Eval’s Activities view when there is an unevaluated learner submission, or when all students have not submitted to the activity. This view makes it easy to complete all assessments for one assignment, discussion, or quiz, before moving on to the next task. This feature helps evaluators who prefer to evaluate submissions in the context of an activity. Activities view displays indicators to show the progress on submissions, progress on evaluations, and progress on publishing feedback to learners. It also includes links to the evaluation page, submission page, and a publish all action.

Release Conditions – Release condition for topic completion

The Completed content topic is a new release condition that is met when a user completes a content topic. The method of completing the topic depends on the type, such as viewing a file or submitting an assignment. Similar to the currently available Visited content topic release condition, optional topics can also trigger this release condition.

This release condition ignores exemptions, meaning that if the learner completes the activity, the release condition can be met, regardless of the activity being required, optional, or exempt.

Article – Anonymous Marking

The Teaching and Learning Technologies group at OpenEd has released a new article on Anonymous Marking and how it can be used in CourseLink to the benefit of instructors and students.

Contact

If you have any questions about the updates, please contact CourseLink Support at:

courselink@uoguelph.ca
519-824-4120 ext. 56939