Ed Tech Resources

Before final exams, you may want to hide the Final Exam (or test/assignment) column and the Final Calculated Grades column in the course Grades section of Brightspace.

• To hide the Final Exam (or test/assignment) column…
  • In Grades, choose Manage Grades at the top.
  • Beside the Final Exam, choose the drop-down arrow and select Hide from users.
  • And eye symbol with a line through it will appear beside the title.
  • Hide the column prior to the assessment grades being entered.
• To hide the Final Calculated Grade column…
  • In Grades, choose Enter Grades at the top.
  • Find the Final Calculated Grade column, select the drop-down beside the title, and choose Edit.
  • Scroll down, under the Display Options – Student View, select the box beside Override display items for this option.
  • Uncheck the boxes beside Points Grade and Weighted Grade.
  • Save and Close.

PRO TIP – Preview how the students see their grades by selecting the drop-down beside a student’s name in the Grades section – Enter Grades and select Preview.

Brightspace provides our Zoom Classroom for students and teachers to connect into a classroom together. Ensure you are using the Zoom Classroom feature to create your remote classes, as well as directing students to that location to enter the remote class. Being consistent in setting up Brightspace areas for each course within your program is important for student success. Touch base with your program coordinator if you have any questions about course consistency within your program.

To create your Zoom Classroom…

• Log into Brightspace and select your course.
• Under the Tools tab across the top, choose Zoom Classroom at the bottom of the dropdown.
• In the new tab that opens, select the blue button Schedule a New Meeting.
• Give your meeting a Topic – such as “Week 1 January 12”.
• Choose the date, time, and duration of the remote classroom.
• Save at the bottom.

To start your Zoom Classroom, go to Tools, choose Zoom Classroom, and in the new tab, select START beside the appropriate class time.

Students do the same process, except they choose JOIN instead of start.

Pro Tip – Each Zoom Classroom is password-protected, meaning we need to provide each Zoom Classroom password to students. Copy/paste the password (found in the Zoom Classroom you created above!) and provide it to students in a weekly announcement!

Ensure you set up your Zoom Classrooms a few days in advance and direct students there to join!

Did you know you can trim the start and end to your Zoom recordings?

1. Record your Zoom video and save it to the cloud.
2. Log in to Zoom.us, choose My Account on the top right, then choose Recordings on the left side.
3. Under Cloud Recordings, click on the blue title of your video.
4. Click the Play button on the appropriate video to open the video editor.
5. On the bottom right, click on the scissors icon.
6. Drag the cursor to where you would like the video to start or end.
7. Save!

Note – When you are done recording, log in to Zoom.us, choose My Account then Recordings. Choose the appropriate video and press the “Share” option on the right and toggle off to stop sharing the recording so you can edit it. When you are done editing the video, provide the new shareable link with students in Brightspace.

Please follow these step-by-step instructions on how to host Zoom classroom through Brightspace.

PRO TIP – In the Grades section, ensure you have entered your zeros in all assessments that student(s) have not completed! Leaving them blank (or a dash line) will result in a different final grade calculation. Check these before releasing final grades!

After E&P meetings are complete, follow these steps to make columns available once again.

To make the Final Grades column (or test/assignment) visible…

• In Grades, choose Manage Grades at the top.
• Beside the Final Exam, choose the drop-down arrow and select Make Visible to Users.
• And eye symbol with a line through it will disappear.

To make the Final Calculated Grade column visible…

• In Grades, choose Enter Grades at the top.
• Find the Final Calculated Grade column, select the drop-down beside the title, and choose Edit.
• Scroll down, under the Display Options – Student View, select the box beside Override display items for this option.
• Put a checkmark in the boxes beside Points Grade and Weighted Grade.
• Save and Close.

PRO TIP – Preview how the students see their grades by selecting the drop-down beside a student’s name in the Grades section – Enter Grades and select Preview.

Check-in with your students and see how they are – use Mentimeter to help!

1. Go to Mentimeter.com and create a free account.
2. Choose the blue Presentations button then select the blue +New Presentation button, top right.
3. Give your presentation a name (such as Check-in Time!) and select the blue Create Presentation button.
4. Select Word Cloud from the right.
5. Type your question on the right (such as How are you feeling starting the second part of the term?)
6. Choose the number of entries you want students to type in.
   • This autosaves – you can prepare in advance then “Present” during class time OR prepare on the go!
   • Students go to Menti.com, enter the code at the top of your Presentation slide (share screen with students once you press Present) and students enter their words!
   • Watch the word cloud create on a live screen as students enter their words! The more words students type that are the same, the larger the word appears in the Word Cloud!

Pro tip – This is a great tool to check in with students on their current state of mind, use as an Exit Card (how they feel at the end of a class after learning new content), or as an introduction brainstorming activity for a new topic to check their knowledge!

Are your Grade items in Brightspace lined up with your CSI and Outline?

Check these to make sure you’re Grades are set!

• Complete the Setup Wizard first – this will set up the calculations behind the scenes.
  • Remember – you can change any of these settings later if you need to – choose Settings on the top right of the Grades section.
• Add Categories – these should match your Outline!
  • Ex. Outline says “Assignments” or “Tests/Quizzes”
  • Remember – The Weight for each assessment should match your Outline.
• Add Items within the categories – these are your smaller assessments throughout the course. You need these in order to add marks to the assessments and to link assessments!
  • Ex. Under the “Assignment” category, you have smaller assignments, label them appropriately then “Assignment 1”, “Assignment 2”, etc.
  • Remember – Maximum Points means how many marks that assessment is out of, and the Weight for each assessment means the percent of the course that assessment is worth.
• Ensure your Grade items and categories equal 100% for the course. If they do not, you will see an Error message at the top of your Grades section, indicating it does not equal 100%.
• Remember you are creating placeholders in Grades – you do not need to know all of the assessment details to set Grades up! You can edit these if you need to later on.

Pro tip – Want to see what Grades look like for a student? Under the Enter Grades tab, choose the drop-down arrow beside a students’ name, and select Preview!

Have you loaded your assessment due dates into your course calendar for students?!

This can be done in different ways….

1. When creating a quiz, under the Restrictions tab at the top, add the end date/time, due date/time, and select the box indicating to Display in Calendar.
2. When creating an assignment, under the Restrictions tab at the top, add the end date/time or due date/time (or both) – it will automatically be added to the Calendar!
3. Add directly to the course calendar – in the course, select the Calendar button at the top. Choose the Create Event button at the top, enter the assessment name, start and end time, and select the Create button.

Select your course calendar to check out the due dates you’ve added!

Did you know – when you add assessment due dates to your course calendar, that it populates the term calendar in Brightspace by program, for each student? This means, when a student logs into Brightspace and selects the Calendar feature (without going into any courses), they will see ALL of their assessments due dates in ALL of their courses for the whole term? If we all do our part – this is a GREAT tool to support students!

Please follow these step-by-step instructions on how to create a not so easy test in Brightspace. 

Preparing your final exam (quiz!) on Brightspace? Here are some helpful tips to consider!

• Ensure you have an exam placeholder in your Grades BEFORE setting up your exam under Quizzes – you need something to link the exam to if you want Brightspace to load the marks into Grades.
• In the quiz….
  • Show students 1 question per page (1 question at a time) – put a “1” in the box and press Apply to see blue lines appear between questions. (Ensure you’ve added your questions first!)
  • Check the box to prevent students from moving backwards through pages – students cannot move back and forth between submitted questions
  • Check the box to shuffle questions at the quiz level – gives each student questions in a different order
  • Disable right-click during the test – prevents students from using copy button on mouse
  • Disable email/instant messages/alerts – from within Brightspace while quiz is being completed (however students can still open tabs/additional browsers)
  • Change Recommended time limit to Enforced time limit and add in time students have to complete the quiz, once they start
  • Change what happens after grace period to Prevent students from making further changes – when time is up, it’s up!
  • Link quiz to final exam place holder in Grades and check the boxes to allow attempt to be set as graded immediately upon completion AND allow automatic export to Grades

These are only suggestions – ensure you follow program final exam guidelines.

Don’t forget – ensure the Max Points of your final exam placeholder in Grades matches what your final exam is out of!

1. Set up Grades
   • Once your outline is approved, match the assessment breakdown in your outline with your Grades. Use your CSI to help too!
   • For example – categories could be “Assignments” from your outline and items could be the breakdown of assignments from your CSI.
   • PRO TIP – you’re just putting placeholders here. You do not need to know assessment details yet! These can be modified later. Setting these place holders up now means you can associate your assessments to Grades.

2. Set up Content – include…
   • Meet the Instructor module – add your contact information and a photo of yourself!
   • Course Documents/Information module with your CSI, schedule and any other important information for your course.
   • Weekly modules (Week # / Date / Topic title) – include files, videos, and other documents relevant by week. Include weekly learning objectives in the description of each module for students.
   • PRO TIP – you can add dates/times these modules will appear for students. This gives you time to populate them in advance of students accessing them!

3. Set up Zoom Classroom
   • Create one for each class, labelling it with a date and title to make it easy for students to access
   • PRO TIP – each Zoom Classroom generates a unique password. Create an announcement for each week with the corresponding password – then set the announcements to appear for students every Monday morning!

4. Set up Assignments & Quizzes
   • Create placeholders for each assessment with deadlines, however, make them unavailable. This gives you time to populate the assessment before students access it, however, students are aware of the different assessments and deadlines.
   • PRO TIP – add due dates to your assessments and select the box to add the assessments to the course calendar for students! This allows students to see all due dates for assignments and quizzes in the course calendar – If we all do our courses like this, then students will see all of their assessments in the program calendar too!

5. Set up a Welcome Announcement – some things to include…
   • Welcome students to the course
   • Introduce yourself
   • Overview of synchronous vs asynchronous course time
   • Resource(s) required if necessary
   • Instructions for accessing Zoom link to the first class!
   • PRO TIP – include a short video of yourself welcoming students to the course!

With our virtual course environments, this is a great opportunity to pause in our courses and ask students for some feedback on how it’s going from the learner’s perspective. We have an easy tool built into each of our Brightspaces courses to create, provide, and review three simple questions to our students in a Start Stop Continue activity.

1. Using the Survey feature found under the Activities tab in your course, select “New Survey”. Give your survey a title – such as Start Stop Continue or Feedback Survey.
2. Ensure that you check the box “make results anonymous” so students feel more comfortable in providing their ideas.
3. “Add/Edit Questions” to add new “Written Response” or “Short Answer” questions. Focus on the Start/Stop/Continue ideas such as:
   • Describe one thing in the course that is working well for you in your learning. This could be Zoom classes, learning activities, videos, course organization, etc.
   • What is one thing that could change in the course that would benefit you in your learning?
   • Provide any ideas you have that we could add into the course that would help in your learning.
4. Select “Done Editing Questions” when you have your three questions completed.
5. Provide survey completion instructions for students, such as:
   • Your feedback in the course is important to help plan the remainder of the course, as well as an opportunity for you to share your ideas in an anonymous way. Please provide clear, positive and constructive ideas in your responses. Keep in mind we cannot change our class times or that we are virtual learning this term.
6. Allow your survey to remain open a few days, perhaps a week, to give students an opportunity to complete it. Ensure the survey is visible.
7. Save & Close!

Provide this to students by directing them to the Survey tool under the Activities tab, perhaps with instructions in an announcement. Alternatively, create a module in the Content area and add an “Existing Activity” and select your pre-made survey into the module, and direct students to the Content location instead.

Pro-tip – import your survey into other courses this term too!

Then what?

Check your students’ ideas! Select Activities – Surveys, and in the drop-down beside your survey, select Statistics.

Please follow these step-by-step instructions on how to create a test using the test question generator in Brightspace. 

When setting up your Brightspace courses, ensure you have the following items included in your courses early in the term…

1. Add your CSI to a Course Information module (folder) in the Content area. Add your contact information or Instructor Bio to the Content area too!
2. Complete the Grades Set up Wizard and add a placeholder for each assessment. You do not need to know the details for each assessment yet, but putting a placeholder (that matches your CSI!) provides the students with a snapshot of what they will be assessed on and the weight of each one. If you need to, you can edit each placeholder once you have created the assessment.
   • Pro tip – ensure your course evaluations equal 100%! (No “error” message at the top of your Grades screen.)
3. Add assessment placeholders in assignments, quizzes, and discussions. This shows students where they will find their assessment details – when they are ready!
4. Add end dates and due dates into each assessment so they load into the course calendar for students.
   • Pro tip – this is the one of the top requests from students – to use the calendar feature in our courses!
5. Set up your Zoom Classrooms a few days in advance and provide students with the password in a weekly announcement.
   • Pro tip – For more information on how to use Zoom, here is the link provided for students on how to use features within Zoom – this might come in handy! algonquincollege.libguides.com/zoom/students

Ensure you are setting up your courses consistently with other teachers in your program. Touch base with your coordinator for tips on how to ensure consistency – such as how students access assignments or the format to label modules. This makes it easier for our students to navigate their resources.

Please follow these step-by-step instructions on how to host a Zoom session through a website.

Please follow these step-by-step directions on how to join a Zoom meeting. 

Please follow these step-by-step instructions on how to generate a Zoom classroom participation report.