LMS Weekly Update: Digital Learning Environment Knowledge Base and More….

Digital Learning Environment Knowledge Base (DLEKB)

We are continuously making strides to improve your experience with our Digital Learning Environment. We have recently launched our new knowledge base providing you with articles based on your most frequently asked questions.

This knowledge base does not replace our support team who is still available to provide the assistance you require through brightspace@algonquincollege.com. Our goal for this is to augment our ability to easily get you what you need, when you need it.

We invite you to explore our knowledge base to which we will be adding articles regularly, and let us know what you think!

Brightspace PD: Grading Workflows

LTS is offering a PD session on Grading Workflows on Monday, June 1st, from 10 am to 11:30 am. Learn and discuss different grading workflows for assignments, quizzes and discussions, whether grading within each tool, using grade book, or using Quick Eval. Click here to register for this session and also check other sessions offered by LTS.

Coming Soon: Learn How to Create H5P Digital Learning Activities within Brightspace

Algonquin has purchased H5p, a digital content creator tool that allows you to create interactive learning activities for your courses. Plans are underway to formally launch H5p and provide information and resources for its implementation at Algonquin. Watch myAC next week for more details.

Turnitin Mappings to be reset on August 21, 2020

Some of you have reported over the last year a challenge with the Turnitin QuickMarks and Rubrics, where you would either lose your Turnitin content (QuickMarks and/or Rubrics) or see another Instructor’s content when accessing Turnitin. This was caused by a configuration issue which has been fixed last February. The configuration change fixed the issue for Instructors that were linked to Turnitin moving forward, but didn’t fix the issue for Instructors linked to Turnitin prior to February 2020.

The only way to permanently fix the issue for everyone is to reset the Turnitin Mappings, which we are planning to do on August 21, 2020. After the reset, you will lose access to your Turnitin Content (QuickMarks and Rubrics). You have the option to recreate your content after the reset, or you can export your content and import it back once the reset is completed. The procedure to export and import your content is easy, and we want to take advantage of being between semesters to do this reset. The instructions on how to export your QuickMarks and Rubrics will be published in the next week LMS Weekly Update.

Please take a moment today to schedule a reminder for yourself to export the content you wish to keep before August 21st, 2020. If you have any questions or need assistance, please email brightspace@algonquincollege.com with the subject line “Turnitin Export”.


LMS Weekly Update: The Assignments Tool in Brightspace

We are repeating the LMS Weekly Update on the Assignments Tool, as this has been one of the most common questions you asked our LMS Team this past week.

  • How do I create an assignment? Click here for step by step instructions.
  • Why do I see my course Assignments under the Activities menu on the nav bar, but not under the Content area? Once in a while we see a bit of confusion about the area where you should make your assignments accessible for your students. Regardless of the way you create your assignments, they will ALWAYS exist under the Activities menu on the course nav bar. There is nothing wrong with directing your students to access the assignments from the Activities menu, but sometimes, depending on how your course is structured, you might want to make them available under one particular module, under the Content area. This is when you will be using the Existing Activities/Assignments to create a link to the existing assignments.

Important! Removing the link from the Content area and choosing the second option on the confirmation pop-up screen, will delete the assignment from your course.

  • I need to allow some of my students alternate time restrictions, due dates, etc. How do I do this? You can accomplish this by using the Special access option from within the Assignments properties screen.
  • How do I grade an assignment using a Pass/Fail scheme? An assignment can be associated only with the numeric or selectbox types of grade columns, allowing you to grade using numeric or letter grades. For a Pass or Fail grade, ensure that you use a selectbox type of grade column at the same time with a Pass/Fail Grade Sheme.
  • Can I make annotations when grading assignments? Assignment submissions will automatically load with the Annotation Tool bar withing the Evaluation Submission Screen.
  • I have different points possible for the assignment and for the grade column. What do I do?
    • If there are no submissions for the assignment, you only need to edit the associated column from Grades/Manage Grades and adjust the points.
    • If you already have graded the assignment, once you edit the grade column and change the points, the existing grades won’t get automatically adjusted. You will need to go to Activities/Assignments/View Submissions and Update the grade for each student (the same screen you use when you first graded the assignment and published the grades).
  • I deleted an assignment by mistake! To recover deleted assignments go to Activities/Assignments/More Actions/Event Log. The deleted assignment will have a Restore button available.
  • Need to grade assignment files offline? You have the option to download all the assignments files in a zip file, grade them, save the files, create a new zip file and upload all the graded files as a package file. Go to Activities/Assignments/View Submission and then the Submissions tab. Select all submissions and click Download. When you are ready to upload them, from the same screen, click on the Add Feedback Files tab and upload the zip file.
  • Grade Sync – When you enter a grade for an assignment submission in the standard or spreadsheet view of GradeBook, the grade will appear with the submission in the Assignment tool.
  • How do I check students’ assignments for plagiarism? When you create an assignment you have the option to enable Turnitin. Click here to learn how to do this.

Message from LTS on Honorlock

Honorlock is a remote proctoring solution that is integrated in Brightspace and can be used for final exams. If you are interested in using this tool, please first attend an information session. There are two sessions next week, and you can register for these sessions and the other remote teaching PD sessions offered by LTS via www.algonquincollege.com/lts/facultypd.

 

 


LMS Weekly Update: Tools for Course Delivery

Tools for Course Delivery

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.

Zoom Security Changes

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.

Remote Teaching PD

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.

Common Questions at the Beginning of the Semester

  • I don’t see my 2020 Spring/Summer course(s) when I login to Brightspace. First, make sure that you click on the 2020 Spring/Summer label in the My Courses widget. If no course displays there, then 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 after 48 hours.
  • How do I perform a Course Copy? Click here for details on how to copy the entire course content or just selected areas of the course.
  • How do I add a user to my course? Students are automatically added to your courses, but you might want to add another teacher to your course and this is how you do it.

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.

  • I copied the wrong course! How do I delete the content and perform the course copy again? Click here for information on how to delete the course content and also the course activities and gradebook columns.
  • I have access to a course as an instructor, but I would like to have the course removed from my list of courses. What should I do?

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.

  • I am teaching multiple sections of the same course and I would like an easy way to manage the common content. When teaching multiple sections of the same course, combining those sections into one shell might save you some time.

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.

 


LMS Weekly Update: Course Types in Brightspace

In addition to the regular shells you use for course delivery (online and/or face-to-face), there are other types of courses in Brightspace, such as:

1. Exemplar Course Templates

If you are redesigning your courses and need some inspiration for content layout and design, this is a reminder that we have three Exemplar Course Templates in Brightspace (20X_Exemplar Course Template A, 20X_Exemplar Course Template B and 20X_Exemplar Course Template C), which are the winners of the So You Think You Can Brightspace contest.

You can use them as examples from which to base your design and organization of course content, and you can import the elements that you like into your own courses. The templates also include a sample structure for discussion forums and a sample quiz that uses a random question pool.

Download the zip file, found under Content > Getting Started, and follow the rest of the instructions there to import the content to your own course.

Email brightspace@algonquincollege.com if you don’t have access to the Exemplar Course Templates.

2. Brightspace Essentials for Faculty Course

In this course you will find tons of video tutorials, step-by-step instructions and many tips that will help you get acquainted with Brightspace and its many capabilities.
Email brightspace@algonquincollege.com if you don’t have access to this course in Brightspace.

3. Development/Sandboxes Courses

You don’t have yet access to your semester courses, but you would like to start developing the course content and learn more about some of the tools in Brightspace. This is the time to send us an email at brightspace@algonquincollege.com and ask for a development course (please include the code/name for the course you are developing). Development courses in Brightspace are identified by an “X” in the course code/name. For instance, all development courses created this year start with 20X.

4. Combined Courses

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.

Reminder: Brightspace and Zoom PD Sessions

Learning and Teaching Services (LTS) are offering Brightspace and Zoom PD sessions: Accessible Remote Teaching, Assessments & Feedback, Communication & Engagement, Designing and Facilitating Engaging Online Classes via Zoom and much more. Note that registration is required, so please visit the site ahead of time to make sure you have the Zoom access details.

 


LMS Weekly Update: A few reminders…

Changing a Course Start Date in Brightspace

This is a reminder that all instructors can edit the default start date for their courses. While in your course, go to Tools/Course Admin/Course Offering Information and edit the date and time when your course starts.

  • If the start date is in the future, then your course will look greyed out. Students will see the course listed on their My Courses widget, but they won’t have access to course content. You can still send emails to your students from within the course, but, if you post a new announcement, it will NOT be sent as an email to your students.
  • If the course end date is in the past, then your course will be displayed to you and your students as Closed. Students can still access a Closed course, you can still send emails to your students from within a closed course, but, if you post a new announcement, it will NOT be sent as an email to your students.

When you need to make sure that your students don’t have access to your course for a limited amount of time, while you are loading the content for instance, you may choose to make it Inactive from Tools/Course Admin/Course Offering Information. Just uncheck the Course is active box. Note that your students will not view an inactive course at all in their My Courses widget.

Email Address for Brightspace Faculty Support

Please note that brightspace@algonquincollege.com is the main email address for Faculty Brightspace support. When you email us, a work order will automatically be open for you and you will be emailed a case number.

Course Copier Role in Brightspace

Whenever you ask us to give another instructor access to a previous version of a course, with the goal of copying the course content into their own shell, we would like to remind you that we will be using the course copier role. Users with this course role can not alter course content by mistake and also they don’t have access to student information (grades, assignment submissions, discussion boards, etc).

Assignment Grader Mobile App – End of Life Notice

The Assignment Grader app, which is a mobile app built for instructors to evaluate and give feedback to students using tablet devices, will be removed by D2L from the app stores on September 30, 2020. After this date the app is no longer going to be supported by D2L and by the Algonquin College LMS Support Team, although, if you already have it on your device and you find it useful, you can still use it for a while, but NO SUPPORT will be offered. Click here for details about this.

Brightspace and Zoom PD Sessions

Learning and Teaching Services will be offering Brightspace and Zoom PD sessions ahead of the Spring semester, starting on May 4th, and their website has an updated list of PD sessions. Note that registration is required, so please visit the site ahead of time to make sure you have the Zoom access details.

 


LMS Weekly Update: Common Questions, April Release and Upcoming Brightspace and Zoom PD Sessions


Common Questions this Week:

  • How do I use the Grade Entry in ACSIS ? Click here to learn how to download the final grades from Brightspace and upload them into ACSIS.
  • My Spring course starts later than the default start date of the course. Can I change it? YES! While in your course, go to Tools/Course Admin /Course Offering Information and select the date when your course starts. The course will display as Closed in your My Courses widget.

Important! Students can still access a Closed course, you can still send emails to your students from within a closed course, but, if you post a new announcement, it will NOT be sent as an email to your students.

When you need to make sure that your students don’t have access to your course for a limited amount of time, while you are loading the content for instance, you may choose to make it Inactive from Tools/Course Admin/Course Offering Information. Just uncheck the Course is active box. Note that your students will not view an inactive course at all in their My Courses widget.

  • How do I schedule an appointment and get help with my Brightspace courses? You can schedule an appointment by clicking here. Note that you need to be using your Algonquin credentials in order to access our booking form.

You can still get help by emailing brightspace@algonquincollege.com. When you email us, make sure to use descriptive subjects (avoid generic titles like “Help!”, “Problem” or “Brightspace”).

April System Update

This month’s update brings only a few minor changes to the system. First one is on the Assignments Tool page, where the New column name was changed to New Submissions. The second one is about the Pagination defaults for the Classlist and Grades tools – Now you have the option to display 25, 50, 75, 100 or 200 users per page.

Brightspace and Zoom PD Sessions

Learning and Teaching Services department will be offering Brightspace and Zoom PD sessions ahead of the Spring semester, starting on May 4th. The LTS website will be updated over the next week with session details, as well as additional resources, tips and guides relating to remote teaching.

 


LMS Weekly Update: Upcoming Changes on Appointments and Grading Final Exams

Update on the LMS Faculty Support

Message from Michel Marcheterre, Digital Learning Environment Strategist, about the Appointments Upcoming Changes.

As we settle in this new way of providing support, I’m happy to announce that our support team is growing. With the additional support specialists, it allows us to make some changes to the way we deliver support through appointments.

As of Monday, April 20th, 2020:

  • Appointments will be for 25 minutes maximum. Our extra capacity allows us to spend more time with you.
  • We still ask that you limit yourself to one appointment per day. If you require more time, our support specialist will, at the end of your appointment, establish a strategy to provide you the help you need.
  • We ask you to please cancel an appointment ASAP if you can’t make it.
  • When you book an appointment, you will not be able to select which support specialist helps you – the system will assign your appointment to the next available support specialist.

You can schedule an appointment by clicking here.

You can still get help by emailing brightspace@algonquincollege.com. When you email us, make sure to use descriptive subjects (avoid generic titles like “Help!”, “Problem” or “Brightspace”).

Common Quiz Questions Asked AFTER the Exam Week

 

  • My final exam has questions I need to manually grade. How do I grade them? Many quiz question types will be graded automatically, as long as you have provided the answer key. In some cases, you may need to manually grade a quiz. Here are the recommended steps.
  • I have students who claim they have completed the exam, but did not get to submit it. How do I see and grade their attempts? When a learner takes a quiz, but fails to submit it, Brightspace shows no submission or grade. The learner’s quiz becomes an “attempt in progress.” You can search for the attempt and then submit it by “impersonating” the learner so that the quiz can be graded.
  • Some of my students could not take the exam when it was scheduled for the entire class. How do I reopen the exam only for those students? You will need to use the Special Access options, from the Restrictions tab. Click here to learn how to do it.
  • What do I do if my students have completed the exam, but I don’t see their grades in the Gradebook? Go to Activities/Quizzes and edit the quiz. Check if you have a Grade item associated with the quiz, on the Assessment tab. If not, create one using the Add Grade Item link. In addition to this, make sure that the Allow automatic export to grades option is checked off.
  • I need to hide the Final Calculated grade column. How do I do it? Click here for details.
  • I need to hide the grades until I finish grading the exam for all students. What is the best way to do it? Make the quiz inactive (from Activities/Quizzes, edit the quiz and hide it from the Restrictions tab) AND hide the gradebook item, as well. Go to Grades/ Enter Grades view, click on the chevron for the title of the column and choose Edit. From the Restrictions tab check off the Hide from Users option.

GOOD to KNOW! Displaying how the final grade is calculated will actually give away the hidden grades. From Grades, click on the Settings option and then on the Org Unit Display Options tab. Make sure that the Display how final grade was calculated to users is not checked off.

  • My final exam is graded and students can view their grades, but now I would like my students to have access to the exam questions and their answers. The submission view settings determine how students see their completed quizzes. Click here to learn how to show quiz results using submission views.

Zoom Security Changes

As already advertised by ITS, two features will become Zoom defaults as of Monday, April 20th – Password Protection and Waiting Rooms. These settings apply to all meetings scheduled through Outlook, Brightspace, and the web portal. The password, which is auto-generated and will display when you are setting up the meeting, will be embedded in the Brightspace link to join the session, and does not need to be shared, as long as students access the session through Brightspace.

For all other questions or inquiries regarding these Zoom changes, please contact ITS at 613-727-4723 x5555 or 5555@algonquincollege.com.


LMS Weekly Update: Special Access to a Quiz, March Release, and LMS Support

Most Common Quiz Question this Week – Special Access

Use the special access options when you need to provide students with alternate time restrictions, alternate attempt limits, or alternate due dates.

GOOD to KNOW! Extending the availability of a quiz, by changing the quiz start/end dates, does not give the student more time. If you have students who need a longer time to complete a quiz, when using one of the Special Access options, make sure you change the amount of time your students are allowed (the Recommended Time Limit or the Enforced Time Limit).

Brightspace March Release

The March system release brings exciting improvements to the LMS.

Announcements – Display author information – When creating or editing an announcement, now you have the option to have your name displayed as the author of the announcement, along with the timestamp. By default, the new Display author information check box is enabled, and you can choose if would like to include your name or not. Users reading the announcement will view the original author, the original date and time of the announcement, the author who edited the announcement and the date and time of the edit.

Groups – Set exact time learners can self-enroll – When using the Groups Tool with the purpose of setting up self enrollment Group Categories, now you can also add the time when enrollment opens/ends, along with the date. Previously, you only had the option to set the date when enrollment opened or expired.

Quick Eval – Support for anonymous marking – Assignments created with the Hide student names during assessment option selected now display in Quick Eval’s Submission view with learner names and profile images hidden.

Rubrics – Confirmation message for partially un-evaluated rubrics – To prevent publishing partially un-evaluated rubrics, the publishing workflow now includes a confirmation message that warns you when the rubric is not fully evaluated. You will have the option to continue publishing, or cancel. Warning messages appear when publishing a rubric for an individual student and when bulk publishing rubrics.

Rubrics – Overall Score levels calculated after rubric criteria completion – The Overall Score level is now only calculated after all the criteria in the rubric have been assessed. This change optimizes rubric performance by eliminating the calculation of incomplete Overall Score levels until the rubric evaluation is completed, and improves the grading experience.

Brightspace Support

Please use the appointment booking form for a desktop sharing session or to be called at a specific time. After you book an appointment, you will receive an email with the appointment details, and also with a link to the Teams meeting where the session will take place. Because of the high volume of bookings, we ask that you limit yourself to booking one session per day and respect the session duration (15 minutes).

 



LMS Weekly Update: Quiz Questions, Update on Zoom Recordings and 2020 Spring/Summer Courses

Question of the Week – Quizzes in Brightspace

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:

  • Quiz documentation that exists in the Essentials for Faculty course in Brightspace – Find detailed instructions on how to create a quiz, how to import questions from the Test/Quiz Question Generator into a section in the Question Library, and available options for shuffling quiz questions. Also, you might find useful the step-by-step instructions on how to reset a quiz attempt, and how to submit an attempt in progress by impersonating the student.
  • All you need to know about Brightspace Quizzes (from a previous LMS Weekly Update) – Learn about the recommended workflow to create quizzes, find short answers to common questions (how to create a practice quiz, regrade students’ submissions, or how to hide the grades and print a quiz).
  • Ways to provide Quiz Feedback to your learners (from a previous LMS Weekly Update) – There are multiple ways of providing quiz feedback to your students, and also different ways of accessing the feedback. Learn about the overall, attempt or question type of feedback.

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.

Update to ZOOM – Where to Save the Recordings

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 NOW Available in Brightspace

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:

  • I don’t see my 2020 Spring/Summer course(s) when I login to Brightspace. First, make sure that you click on the 2020 Spring/Summer label in the My Courses widget. If no course displays there, then 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 after 48 hours.
  • How do I perform a Course Copy? Click here for details on how to copy the entire course content or just selected areas of the course.

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.

  • How do I add a user to my course? Students are automatically added to your courses, but you might want to add another teacher to your course and this is how you do it.

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.

  • I copied the wrong course! How do I delete the content and perform the course copy again? Click here for information on how to delete the course content and also the course activities and gradebook columns.
  • I have access to a course as an instructor, but I would like to have the course removed from my list of courses. What should I do?

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.

  • I am teaching multiple sections of the same course and I would like an easy way to manage the common content. When teaching multiple sections of the same course, combining those sections into one shell might save you some time.

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.

 


LMS Weekly Update: March 30

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates and Resources

Algonquin College main Coronavirus page

For all Algonquin College Coronavirus resources, including a student online learning kit, FAQs, online services, the latest updates and more, visit our Coronavirus Information page.

LTS Academic Continuity page

The purpose of this resource is to provide faculty with support for the alternative delivery of course material. This is not a directive; it is a collection of resources for alternative delivery of content and methods of assessment.

Brightspace Updates

Brightspace Support

Open a case by Email: Brightspace@algonquincollege.com
Please use a descriptive subject line when emailing us. Avoid subjects like “Help!” or “Brightspace question”.
We reply to cases during our business hours; Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm.

There is no phone or in person support during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Use the appointment booking form for a desktop sharing session or to be called at a specific time.
Because of the high volume of bookings, we ask that you limit yourself to booking one session per day and respect the session duration (15 minutes).

Most asked Brightspace questions

Recalculating the final grade when exempting a grade

It has been my understanding that if an assignment is exempted (a course now out of a possible 85% – weighted grades) then the proper grade percentage has to be calculated manually, meaning that the weighted total column shows a percentage out of 85, but not 100. Can you please confirm whether manual calculations will be necessary and/or whether those who download final grades into ACSIS will have to take any additional steps?

Here’s the answer from Tamara:

I’ve created a short video in response to your question. If you change the way in which your grade book is displayed (from “Drop ungraded items” to “Treat ungraded items as 0”), Brightspace will perform the calculation (from 85% to 100% for you).

File size limit upload for assignments

The limit is 1GB per file. This limit cannot be changed. However, there is no limit to the number of files a Learner can attach to a submission, provided the Instructor has setup the Assignment to accept multiple files.

In other words, if an Assignment is setup to accept multiple files, a Learner could upload multiple files totaling over 1GB, as long as each of these individual files are less than 1GB in size.

I need help with Zoom!

LTS has developed a great set of guides and checklists for Zoom on their Tools for Delivery page.