Teaching English via Brightspace
On this page you will find resources to support setting up your course Brightspace sites, including Instructional Videos, Suggestions for Class Set-Up, Frequently Asked Questions.
Suggestions for Class Set-Up
- We recommend that, at the very minimum, you set up a module called "Syllabus" and one called "Assignments." Keep these updated: it's fine if things change from the beginning of the semester, but your Brightspace site should include the most up-to-date version for students' reference.
- Rather than attaching documents for Assignments, we recommend that you set up your assignments within the Brightspace environment. This will mean more seamless integration with the grade book.
- Re-use the materials that have been migrated over from Blackboard, but do check them before you make them live for students. There are differences between how things look and how things work between the two systems.
- Use the email function from the classlist to contact students. At the moment, the announcements come from an no-reply inbox with an obscure name, and students have to check that their notifications are on. Emails will show your name and contact information, and so will be more likely to be seen by students.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question | Answer |
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What links can I include in my syllabus where students can get BS help/support? | Students can email lmshelp@york.cuny.edu. There are also walk-in hours at AC-4EA1 and AC-4G01, and students can call (718) 262-5219. Online Live Support Room can be found in the CTLET site in Brightspace. After logging in to Brightspace, look at My Courses > Organizations tab. |
How can I get the grade center to show a mix of numeric scores on some items and letter grades on other items? Or must it always show only one or both for each item? | |
I have lost access to the many rubrics I have labored to create over the years... or do they live somewhere in my courses that transferred? I cannot find any. | From Wenying: “If the course or organization in Bb has the rubrics and it is migrated to BrS, you should see the rubrics in More > Rubrics, or More > Course Admin > Rubrics from the top navbar. If it is not migrated, you can export the course or org from Bb and import it to your BrS course. When importing, you could choose Rubrics only if you don't need other things.” |
Under “Evaluation” when making a topic in Discussions, what does “allow evaluation of individual posts” mean? I need each student who posts and replies in the Discussion topic to earn their own grade but posting and replying have different values… | This means that you can assign a grade to each individual post, yes. As for grading replies, I can’t see a way to do that, unless a reply is a separate topic. |
For Discussion “Topics” and Assignments (essay drafts and revisions) I want to set a deadline but want students to be able to post late if needed, which isn’t an option according to the submission restrictions? | You have three options with the discussion topics. You can make them visible when the due date has passed, but not allow submissions, or you can make them visible and allow submissions, or you can hide them. I suppose the solution to this particular problem is to not include an “End Date” on the right hand menu for the submission restrictions, but include a due date on the main assignment page. |
Is Turnitin available in Brightspace (BrS)? | It is. Instructions to set it up can be found here. |
I created a TOC module for course readings. Why does it say "11% completed" on my “Texts” icon on the BS homepage? | There is a setting that allows you to remove the completion tracker for everything. Each “module” also has the option to include a completion tracker, so you can, say, put it on for Assignments but not for your reading list. Here’s the video. |
How do I make my assignments - for essay revisions - a letter grade NOT numeric? | Go to the Grades area, and on the title of the assignment, click on the little down arrowhead. Then click “Edit.” If you scroll down you will see an area called “Grade Scheme.” You can then scroll down in the menu to “York College Letter” and choose that. That will assign letter grades to that assignment. To see how it looks, here’s a video. |
How do I set assignment drafts to appear as complete/incomplete in grade center without value attached to it? | Set the grade value for the assignment at 1. Students earn a 1 if it’s complete, and 0 if incomplete. |
What is an Intelligent Agent? | It’s the means to set up automated processes. There will be no further support for Intelligent Agent use via the English Department. Let the inevitable joke ensue. |