Wednesday Wisdom

Do your students know about the Brightspace Mobile App?

The app is called Pulse!

Brightspace Pulse is a mobile app that can help learners stay connected and on track with their courses in Brightspace. It provides one easy view of course calendars, readings, assignments, evaluations, grades, and announcements.

For more information: https://community.d2l.com/brightspace/kb/articles/16502-about-brightspace-pulse

Organize Your Course Using Modules

 

Students like how course content is organized into modules, making it easier to navigate and understand the progression of the course.

Faculty actively teaching in Brightspace have found that this layout of modules and sub-modules makes it easy for students to navigate the course and find needed materials. (Please note that the Course Overview section cannot be viewed in the Pulse mobile app. It is recommended that if the syllabus is included in the Course Overview area, you also include it in another section.)

EXAMPLE:

COURSE ORIENTATION (module)

  • Syllabus (sub-module)
  • Introductory discussion (sub-module)
  • Links to university resources (sub-module)
  • Required readings (sub-module)

WEEK 1 (module)

  • Week 1 Readings (sub-module)
    • Week 1 Reading 1 (content)
    • Week 1 Reading 2 (content)
    • Week 1 Reading 3 (content)
  • Week 1 Slides (content)
  • Week 1 Assignment

WEEK 2 (module)

  • Week 2 Readings (sub-module)
    • Week 2 Reading 1 (content)
    • Week 2 Reading 2 (content)
    • Week 2 Reading 3 (content)
  • Week 2 Slides (content)
  • Week 2 Quiz

Lets Connect the Dots!

Happy fall semester!

Be sure to connect your assessments to your grades!

One of the first things instructors should do when setting up a course in Brightspace is set up the Grades. This will make the rest of your course setup a breeze!

 

Create your categories FIRST, then each assessment you add can be designated to a category that you created. Nice and easy!

For more information on how to do so:

https://it.stonybrook.edu/help/kb/setting-up-your-brightspace-grade-book

 

Pre semester checklist for Instructors using Brightspace

Our Fall semester is quickly approaching!  If you are new, welcome!   If you are returning, welcome back!

In keeping with our back to school news tradition, our team has updated our Brightspace checklist which you can find here:

image of a checklist that links to: https://it.stonybrook.edu/help/kb/start-of-the-semester-top-10-brightspace-tips  when clicked on.
Start of the semester checklist

Over the next few weeks, we will posting updates here based on  questions we receive from you so please check back from time to time.

We look forward to working with you this Fall!

Releasing Final Grades

In order for student to see their grades in Brightspace, you’ll need to automatically or manually release final grades. (Note, releasing final grades in Brightspace does not send grades to SOLAR; you can either import your final grades Or enter them in SOLAR)

Before releasing final grades to students, you must first check your Grades settings to determine which type of grade will be release and if final grades are set to be released automatically. Alternatively, you can choose to manually release final grades.

For more information: https://it.stonybrook.edu/help/kb/releasing-final-grades-in-brightspace

Wednesday Wisdom

Creating Letter Grades in Brightspace

It’s time for Wednesday Wisdom….on a Thursday! We apologize for the late post, however we have a great tip for you this week. Did you know that you can create letter grades schemes in Brightspace? With these schemes, you can automatically show a letter grade next to each student’s score on a graded assignment. To learn more, check out this article!

Wednesday Wisdom

 

Customizing the Navbar in Your Course

Did you know? If you use Groups in Brightspace, your students can’t see the group tool in their red navbar unless you manually customize it. Fortunately, customizing your navbar in Brightspace is a straightforward process that puts you in control of what your students can access with ease. By tailoring the nav bar to suit your specific course needs, you can enhance the user experience and streamline access to important resources.

With Brightspace’s customization options, instructors can add or remove shortcuts to various areas of the platform directly from the navbar. Whether you want to prioritize quick access to the Content tool, Discussions, Quizzes, or any other component within Brightspace, customization empowers you to tailor the nav bar according to your teaching style and course requirements. Additionally, instructors can rearrange the order of these shortcuts, ensuring that the most frequently used tools are prominently displayed for both you and your students. By taking advantage of these customization features, instructors can create a more intuitive and efficient learning environment within Brightspace. To learn more on how to customize your navbar, check out this article.