Course shells for the Winter 2021 courses have been created and made available to instructors in Brightspace. If you don’t see your course(s) in Brightspace, please check with your department and make sure that you have been scheduled in Genesis, prior to emailing us.
This week’s DLE Weekly Update contains information on Common Questions at the Beginning of the Semester and DLE Support Hours over Holidays.
Updated November 2nd, 2020
We are putting this process on hold for now. Deploying this new process had some unforeseen consequences that need to be addressed. Therefore, we reverted back to the old rollover process. This means that you will not see your Winter 2021 courses appear in Brightspace before the first week of December 2020 as per usual.
We will continue working on this much needed improvement, and we’re hoping to be able to have the process streamlined in time to deploy the Spring/Summer courses at the beginning of the Winter 2021 semester.
Stay tuned.
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This week a new Semester Rollover Process has been deployed, and Winter 2021 courses have been created in Brightspace. This new process works in two phases, this being the first phase, which allows us to create next semester’s courses one full semester in advance. The advantage is that you may start designing your courses earlier, using the actual course space, and therefore eliminating the need for you to request bridging spaces.
To find out more about this topic, please read the Better Semester Rollover Process article.
GOOD TO KNOW! There are times when you need to add other teachers to your courses, with the intention to have them do a course copy to their courses, but you would like to make sure that your course content does not get altered by mistake. Instead of adding them with the instructor role, please use the new course copier role. Don’t forget to remove them from the course once the copy is completed.
Option 1: If you also see this course on your list of courses in ACSIS, first you need to talk to your department and make sure you have not been assigned by mistake to that course in Genesis. Then you can remove yourself from the course, using the Classlist option, from the Tools menu. Click on the checkbox beside your name and choose Unenrol.
Option 2: If you have been added by another fellow instructor, just remove yourself from that course. No need to email our LMS support.
When emailing us your requests, we would appreciate if you could ensure that all information relevant to your issue is provided. Please take a moment to read our How to get assistance page for the Dos and Don’ts of opening a case with us.
If you are looking for a centralized webpage with lots of great information on Brightspace, Zoom and other educational technologies (Honorlock, Padlet, Kahoot, Adobe Spark, Mentimeter, etc), please visit the LTS website.
Please be aware that, as first announced in April, password protection and waiting rooms have been turned on by default for all Zoom meetings. We encourage you to schedule whole class meetings via the Zoom Classroom in Brightspace. If you do this, you will never need to share the link or password with students, as they can access the meeting via Tools > Zoom Classroom in your course.
Learning and Teaching Services will continue to offer PD sessions on how to use Brightspace, the Zoom Classroom and other educational technologies throughout the semester. You can find all of the details and updates on their PD webpage.
GOOD TO KNOW! There are times when you need to add other teachers to your courses, with the intention to have them do a course copy to their courses, but you would like to make sure that your course content does not get altered by mistake. Instead of adding them with the instructor role, please use the new course copier role. Don’t forget to remove them from the course once the copy is completed.
Option 1: If you also see this course on your list of courses in ACSIS, first you need to talk to your department and make sure you have not been assigned by mistake to that course in Genesis. Then you can remove yourself from the course, using the Classlist option, from the Tools menu. Click on the checkbox beside your name and choose Unenrol.
Option 2: If you have been added by another fellow instructor, just remove yourself from that course. No need to email our LMS support.
Send an email to brightspace@algonquincollege.com if you would like us to combine your courses and please include your preference in the request. Please make sure you give us the complete course code (include section numbers, too), the option you would like us to use when we combine them (into an existing shell or into a new one – read here details on this), and also if you would still need to keep the individual sections available to you and students.
We have made a summary of our documentation on quizzes, hoping that this will provide you with a quicker answer before you set up an appointment with one of our LMS Faculty Support Team members:
Q. While taking an exam, if the screen freezes, or there is a short moment of no Internet connection, how will my students and I deal with this situation?
A. Once the problem is fixed, students will need to login again to Brightspace, access your course and click on the exam link. They will be allowed to continue the exam from where they left off, as answers are automatically saved, but the quiz timing will still go on while the student is out of the quiz. If they won’t be able to continue that quiz attempt, in an “one attempt” quiz situation, they will need to contact you, the teacher, and you will need to reset the attempt.
We now have additional storage in the Zoom Cloud and are recommending that you save your recordings there – if done through the Zoom Classroom in Brightspace, the link will appear automatically and your students will have access to the recording from the Zoom Classroom, under the Tools menu. If your Zoom Meeting was hosted outside Brightspace and your need to share the link with the recording with your students, you may post it under the course Content or include it in a Brightspace Announcement.
Check the Zoom Security and Privacy Guidelines for Faculty Members file for recommendations on how to configure your Zoom account, how to conduct a meeting, and how to record and share online class sessions.
2020 Spring/Summer course shells have been created and made available in Brightspace. In addition to the answers provided below, you might want to also check out the Brightspace Course Readiness Checklist in the Brightspace Essentials course.
Common questions at the beginning of the semester:
GOOD TO KNOW! Existing announcements are sent as emails during a complete course copy
If you are performing a complete course copy after May 12th, when the Spring/Summer 2020 courses will automatically become available to students, be aware that all the announcements that are getting copied over into the new course will also automatically be sent as emails to all the students enrolled in your new course, as expected with announcements in Brightspace.
To avoid this, you could make the course temporarily inactive (Tools/Course Admin/Course Offering Information) for the duration of the course copy, or use the Select Components button when doing the Course Copy and exclude the announcements from the list of course components to copy.
GOOD TO KNOW! There are times when you need to add other teachers to your courses, with the intention to have them do a course copy to their courses, but you would like to make sure that your course content does not get altered by mistake. Instead of adding them with the instructor role, please use the new course copier role. Don’t forget to remove them from the course once the copy is completed.
Option 1: If you also see this course on your list of courses in ACSIS, first you need to talk to your department and make sure you have not been assigned by mistake to that course in Genesis. Then you can remove yourself from the course, using the Classlist option, from the Tools menu. Click on the checkbox beside your name and choose Unenrol.
Option 2: If you have been added by another fellow instructor, just remove yourself from that course. No need to email our LMS support.
Option 1: Combine your course sections into an EXISTING course shell – For instance, if you teach 20S_ABC000_010 and 20S_ABC000_020, the 020 section will be merged into the 010. The 010 section will be renamed 20S_ABC0000_010_020 or 20S_ABC0000_AllSections. You and your students will have access only to one course section. Note that, if you already have content in both sections, merging them will ONLY transfer the student enrollment and not the content. It is recommended to ask for a merged course before the course start date.
Option 2: Combine your course sections into a NEW course shell (the way we used to combine them in Blackboard). A new 20S_ABC0000_010_020 or 20S_ABC0000_AllSections course shell will be created for you. Note that this option would work when multiple course sections are taught by multiple teachers. Students and teachers will have access to the combined course, at the same time with the individual section(s).
Send an email to brightspace@algonquincollege.com if you would like us to combine your courses and please include your preference in the request. Please make sure you give us the complete course code (include section numbers, too), the option you would like us to use when we combine them (into an existing shell or into a new one – read here details on this), and also if you would still need to keep the individual sections available to you and students.
When asking for combined courses, please make sure you give us the complete course code (include section numbers, too), the option you would like us to use when we combine them (into an existing shell or into a new one – read here details on this), and also if you would still need to keep the individual sections available to you and students.
Click here for details on how to copy the entire curse content or just selected areas of the course.
Important: Existing Announcements are Also Sent as Emails during the Course Copy!
Whenever you are performing a complete course copy into an active course, be aware that all the announcements that are getting copied over into the new course will also automatically be sent as emails to all the students enrolled in your new course, as expected with announcements in Brightspace.
To avoid this, you could make the course temporarily inactive (Tools/Course Admin/Course Offering Information) for the duration of the course copy or use the Select Components button when doing the Course Copy and exclude the announcements from the list of course components to copy.
If your Brightspace Calendar is populated with events from older courses or other courses that you have been enrolled in (for instance, the Exemplar Template courses), please note that you can remove them from your list of courses displayed in the Calendar list. In the Calendar tool view, the drop down list will display ALL your courses. Clicking on the X beside the course code, will remove those course calendar events from your main calendar.
As the semester start is always a busy time for our LMS Support Team, please learn about all the multiple resources available to assist you:
The LMS Support team is available to help you between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday. When the ELX has extended hours, basic Brightspace help is offered at the front desk.
Have a Wonderful Semester!
In additions to the questions addressed below in this weekly update, please check out the Brightspace Course Readiness Checklist in the Brightspace Essentials course. If you don’t have access to this course, send an email to brightspace@algonquincollege.com.
Note: There are times when you need to add other teachers to the courses that you are developing, with the intention to have them do a course copy from your course to theirs, but you would like to make sure that your course content does not get altered by mistake. Instead of adding them with the “instructor” role, please use the new “course copier” role. Don’t forget to remove them from the course!
Option 1: If you also see this course on your list of courses in ACSIS, first you need to talk to your department and make sure you have not been assigned by mistake to that course in Genesis. Then you can remove yourself from the course, using the Classlist option, from the Tools menu. Click on the checkbox beside your name and choose Unenrol.
Option 2: If you have been added by another fellow instructor, just remove yourself from that course. No need to email our LMS support.
Option 1: Combine your course sections into an EXISTING course shell – For instance, if you teach 19F_ABC000_010 and 19F_ABC000_020, the 020 section will be merged into the 010. The 010 section will be renamed 19F_ABC0000_010_020 or 19F_ABC0000_AllSections. You and your students will have access only to one course section. Note that, if you already have content in both sections, merging them will ONLY transfer the student enrollment and not the content. It is recommended to ask for a merged course before the course start date.
Option 2: Combine your course sections into a NEW course shell (the way we used to combine them in Blackboard). A new 19F_ABC0000_010_020 or 19F_ABC0000_AllSections course shell will be created for you. Note that this option would work when multiple course sections are taught by multiple teachers. Students and teachers will have access to the combined course, at the same time with the individual section(s).
Send an email to brightspace@algonquincollege.com if you would like us to combine your courses and please include your preference in the request. It makes it easier and quicker for us, if you already know which option would work for you. This file has more info on how to work with a combined course.
It has been decided to have the Algonquin College banner removed from the Brightspace homepage in order to leave more room for other widgets.
LMS Support Team will NOT be available for support starting December 24th, 2019 at noon, until January 2nd, 2020 at 8:00 am.
Starting January 1st, 2020, D2L will end the support for Internet Explorer. All versions of Internet Explorer will no longer be able to access Brightspace. We recommend using Chrome while working with Brightspace.
We Need Your Help
The Brightspace Support team are receiving an extremely high number of support requests (emails, phone calls, walk ins and appointments), and therefore the response time will be increased. If you have already sent an email to us, please know that you are in the queue. We ask that you please don’t send a follow up email, as this generates another ticket in the queue. Also, please check the Brightspace Essentials course for step by step instructions, or ask a colleague professor to share their Brightspace knowledge with you, as you can perform many of the necessary actions as a course instructor.
Important Links for Beginning of the Semester
Combined Courses
Before asking us to combine courses, please read about the 2 possible ways that we can combine the courses for you and include your preference in your request. It makes it easier and quicker for us, if you already know which option works for you.
Brightspace Support Hours
Brightspace Support is available from 8:00 a.m to 8:00 p.m., Monday to Thursday, and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Employees can book an appointment here, walk in to C123, call 613-727-472 ext. 6943, or email brightspace@algonquincollege.com for support.
Fall 2019 course shells have been created and made available in Brightspace as of July 25th!
If you don’t see courses in Brightspace, check ACSIS and/or with your support officer to ensure your course(s) are assigned to you. Email us at brightspace@algonquincollege.com if you still don’t see them listed.
Also, check out the Brightspace Course Readiness Checklist in the Brightspace Essentials course for steps you need to get your course ready for your students!
If you don’t have access to the “Brightspace Essentials for Faculty” course, please send an email to brightspace@algonquincollege.com.
Development Courses in Brightspace
As the 2019 Fall courses will be created in Brightspace only in the first week of August, you might want to request development courses any time before August, by emailing the LMS support team at brightspace@algonquincollege.com.
Combined Courses in Brightspace
When teaching multiple sections of the same course, combining those sections into one shell might save you some time. To learn more about the two options available and also how to deal with the content of a combined course, click here.
Email brightspace@algonquincollege.com once the Fall courses exist in Brightspace and request to have your course sections combined.
Did You Know?
Instructors have access to the course feedback provided by students at the end of a course, through the same course link students use to access the Course Eval: Tools>Student Course Feedback