Virtual Classroom and Video Assignments are two Bongo integrations directly accessed through your D2L course.
Virtual Classroom is used to schedule meetings with your students, with the option of recording and automatically saving the recording in your D2L course so students can re-watch. Virtual Classroom has similar features to Zoom, such as sharing screen, polling and breakout rooms.
Video Assignments provide an additional resource to increase student engagement by allowing students to record class presentations remotely, answer text questions with a timed video answer, and/or answer questions that overlay upon an instructor’s pre-recorded mini-lecture or video. Video Assignments allow for grading with scores passed directly to your D2L gradebook.
Below is an archived recording of this online webinar from the Teaching and Learning Center:
Knowing how and when students are interacting with course material can be invaluable and allow instructors the opportunity tweak and adjust their content during the term.
Below is an archive webinar recording from SSC’s Teaching and Learning Center focusing on various places within D2L instructors can access analytics and statistics about their courses, including looking for trends in late and missing submissions, viewing quiz questions and responses, comparing student learning between topics, confirming students are indeed accessing course material and strategic planning for intervention, if necessary.
D2L is a cloud-based learning management system that updates each month with new features and improvements. This page summarizes these monthly improvements to keep instructors up-to-date and provide information to improve course content.
May, 2022
Video/Audio
Under the advanced editing option on any video uploaded to D2L, there is now an optimize for streaming button.
D2L Pulse Mobile App
Brightspace Pulse users can now use @mention push notifications. Originally, @mentions came through the LMS but were only visible if the user opened Pulse and viewed their Subscriptions tab under Notifications. Now, the new functionality sends a push notification to the user when they are @mentioned.
Updates and subscriptions in the Pulse App are now aligned to show the same items as the Alert Bell in D2L.
April, 2022
Intelligent Agents
The Create Agent page has a new modernized user interface.
Subject line of intelligent agent emails now supports 128 characters.
March, 2022
Announcements
Course announcements now have a copy feature.
Media Library
A streaming media library is now available for D2L courses. New videos posted to a D2L course will be placed in this streaming media library. Videos previous uploaded to D2L will not be automatically transferred to this new media library, so instructors will have to manually transfer.
Workflow improvements for Media
When creating new video and audio, instructors no longer must wait for the uploaded media file to process. While the media file remains unavailable during processing, instructors can navigate away to work on other tasks. When processing is complete, instructor will be notified.
February, 2022
Content – Print and Download Buttons
The Print and Download buttons are now better positioned when viewing content within a module.
Print and Download
January, 2022
Video/Audio
What improved?
Table of Contents: Instructors can apply meaningful segments to larger videos.
Audio Generated Closed Caption: Instructors can select language, with the ability to edit.
Video Editing: Minor video editing is available – Seek, Mark and Cut.
How to implement?
Within a module in your course, select Upload/Create, then Video and Audio.
Video will take a few minutes to process after uploading.
Select Advance Settings after the video uploads to gain access to these new features.
Great news! You do not need to recreate your course content every semester. It is easy to roll it over from a previous term.
In D2L, enter your current course.
Go to Course Tools →Course Admin →Import/Export/Copy Components.
Choose “Copy Components from another Org Unit” and select “Search for offering”.
Type in your course ID you want to copy “from” (for example: BIO) and Search.
From the search list choose the course you want to copy “from”, then select “Add Selected”
At the bottom of the screen, you have two options: Copy All Components (entire course) or Select Component (perhaps you just want to copy a few quizzes).
If you choose Select Components, select what you’d like to copy then Continue.
Course content should then copy from a previous course to a new course shell.
Got questions? This page is full of resources to the questions folks are asking most frequently about 2022SP. Don’t forget to check for additional resources at https://tl.ssc.edu/ or email ssconline@ssc.edu for additional assistance.
Things You Need to Know Before the Semester Begins
Seeing triple or more? When a course that is cross-listed in Colleague is batched to D2L at least three shells are created. One shell for each of the individual courses (ART-130-003 and then ART-E77-703) and one shell with the courses combined (ART-130-003, ART-E77-703). This process allows instructors increased flexibility. If you do not plan to post material by section (ART-130-003) and only to use the combined section (ART-130-003, ART-E77-703) you can make the individual course shells inactive which will hide them from the view of both you and your students. The individual shells themselves can not be deleted without impacting the enrollment of the course.
While in the course shell you wish to hide follow these steps:
Wait until the Day Your Course Begins.
Select Course Tools
Select Course Admin
Select Course Offering Information
Uncheck the box that reads “Course is Active”
So What Does this Mean for Dual Delivery Courses for 2022SP?
You have two options for managing your D2L class shells for Spring 2022.
1) Use the individual Parent Shells for each Specific Section (usually 2 per course)
This will allow you to post different information (due dates, announcements, assignments, quizzes, etc.) to each section of that one course.
For example, you might post instructions for the virtual students (one parent section (PSY-211-002)) that are different than what the in-person students (a second parent section (PSY-211-072)) will do.
The downside is you may have common information for both groups and you would have to post this information twice (one in each parent section).
With this option you would hide the combined child section (PSY-211-002, PSY-211-072) when it becomes active on the first day of your class.
2) Use the Combined Child Shell that Includes all Parent Sections for that Course (1 per course)
This allows you to post information once and all students in the class will see the same thing, regardless of the child section they are in (i.e. virtual or in-person).
Good if each section is taking the same quizzes and doing the same assignments.
If desired, students can be sorted by sections. This can be done in D2L under Course Tools > Admin or in the Gradebook.
The downside is that if different parent sections have different information (due dates, announcements, etc.) you will have to insure each section knows which information pertains to them.
With this option you would hide the individual parent sections (PSY-211-002)(PSY-211-072) when they become active on the first day of your class (see above instructions).
Have you ever copied a previous course into the current term’s course shell and then realized it was the wrong course? Or have you ever just wanted to start from scratch in your course design of your D2L course? If so, D2L now has a course reset feature to allow faculty to “start over” with their course shell.
The course reset permanently deletes everything in the course including all content, activities, grade book items, etc., but does not affect user enrollments.
Who can reset a course and where is it found?
The course reset feature is only available to D2L Admins. If you’d like your course reset, email your request to the Teaching and Learning team at ssconline@ssc.edu. Include the course information, such as term, course id and section information in the email.
What if students have already started using the course?
If the course has started, it may be too late to start over. In that case, you will have to delete content, assignments, etc. on an individual basis.
There are times when instructors may want to share their course content with another instructor or create a backup of their course for future reference. This is done by exporting your D2L course as a Brightspace course package (zip). This package (zip) can then be shared with another instructor to import into their course or saved in a secure location as a course backup.
Step 1: Export your course as a Brightspace package
In your D2L course, go to the Course Tools > Course Admin.
Select Import/Export/Copy Components.
Select Export as Brightspace Package > Start.
Select Components to Export > Continue.
Important! – Under Additional Components to Export, select Include course files in the export package > Export.
The Export will start. You’ll be notified on the Updates Alerts icon in D2L when the export is ready to download (orange dot indicates new notification).
Select Export Finished in the Updates Alerts to download the Export Package (zip).
Click to download the Export Package (zip).
Save zip file to a secure location.
Send this zip file to the instructor you are sharing your course with.
That instructor will now go to Step 2 for directions to import the zip file into their course.
Step 2: Import the Zip file into a new D2L course
In your D2L course, go to the Course Tools > Course Admin.
Select Import/Export/Copy Components.
Select Import Components from a course package > Start.
Under Import Course Package, select Upload then browse to the zip file shared with you.
When the file upload is complete, select Import All Components.
Based on the size of the course content being imported, this process may take a few minutes. When complete, select View Content.
Once the course is imported, there are a few cleanup items you will need to check:
Syllabus: Remove the old course syllabus and upload the new course syllabus.
Announcements: delete any old announcements that was in the previous course (Course Tools > Course Admin > Announcements).
Modules: Review the content within the weekly modules to determine if content is in the proper order and is visible to students. Hide or delete any content you do not wish to use.
Assignments: Review and edit assignments. Double check the scores of each assignment to make sure they match with your syllabus. You can also change due dates individually or bulk edit to change due dates for all assignments.
Discussions and Quizzes: Just like with assignments, edit dates, scores and review content within the discussion forums and quiz questions.
Grades: Select Grades > Manage Grades to determine if the gradebook is set up properly and matches with your new syllabus.
Dual Delivery Course? If teaching a dual delivery course, set up your virtual classroom meeting dates in advance. Select Virtual Classroom > Plus sign (lower right hand) to repeating virtual meeting dates.
If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to contact the Teaching and Learning Center team by emailing: ssconline@ssc.edu.
Welcome to the Dual Delivery Student Engagement Strategy and Examples blog. The Teaching and Learning staff at South Suburban College will provide strategies and examples to assist faculty in teaching in a dual delivery format. Check back often for updates as we plan to add creative and innovative strategies throughout the term.
What is Dual Delivery at South Suburban College?
A dual delivery class provides for both limited in-person seating and virtual students attending via D2L virtual classroom. Students must choose their preferred delivery mode section when registering. Virtual students are expected to be available at the scheduled class and lab times.
What do the Virtual Students Experience?
Remember, the virtual student can only see a small portion of the physical classroom, usually the instructor and white board. The instructor can also share their screen as they showcase a PowerPoint presentation, website, or a variety of course content. But if in-class students are talking and participating in the class discussion, the virtual students may only be able to hear audio (unless the instructor moves the camera). These are considerations to keep in mind when designing your course in D2L or guiding in-class discussions.
Strategy and Example #1 – Incorporate Weekly Online Discussion Forums
The Set-up
To encourage student engagement with your virtual students, create an online discussion forum with a topic you plan to discuss in-class. This allows your virtual students to feel like they have another option to participate and be heard.
To encourage building community with both in-class and virtual students, make it a requirement that both sets of students respond to the weekly online discussion forum.
Name each weekly discussion forum Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, etc., so that the discussion forums can be easily identified.
To encourage participation, provide feedback and grading by giving the weekly online discussion forum a point value, i.e., make it worth their time.
Let students know that their online discussion forum post may be brought up during class time.
Prior to your in-class time, read the online discussion forums and take note of interesting comments by both in-class and virtual students.
During your class time, call on two students who had interesting comments in the online discussion forums or that you would like to clarify specifics of their posts.
When students respond during class time, have them mentioned their name first. This allows the virtual students to make a connection to the in-class student. The virtual student may not see those in-class students, but they may have read their online discussion forum posts.
See it In Action – Examples
“ I use the out-of-class posts to guide in-class discussions”. Dr. Jay Howard, reprint from the Teaching Professor Newsletter (December 2016)
Dr. Jay Howard is a professor of sociology and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Butler University and author of the book Discussion in the College Classroom – Getting your Students Engaged and Participating in Person and Online.
Dr. Howard uses this strategy for his traditional face-to-face courses.
According to a Reprint from the Teaching Professor Newsletter, Dr. Howard has found advantages to this strategy:
Encourages class-wide participation.
Students who might experience anxiety of being called upon in-class, may feel better organizing their thoughts in an online discussion forum first, then clarifying their thoughts in-class.
Since students know their online discussion forum posts may be brought up in-class, this encourages them to provide reflective posts.
Motivates students to complete readings required that week. Students can be assigned to provide a quote from a reading in the online discussion forum or post something that raises a question.
Since Dr. Howard is reading the online discussion forums prior to class, he can determine where students may be struggling and if more in-class discussion is required.
On that same note, he can also determine if students are on track and he can now focus on other areas of discussion.
