FAQ's (How To) - Teach / Manage?

There are a number of "need to know" items that will help you efficiently use the WCLN resources for your students. Let's start with these

FAQ's (click question to jump to answer):

How to: Navigate in Brightspace?

Let's start by making sure we recognize the main Navigation features in Brightspace.



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How to: Grade Student Work?

Eventually you'll get some submissions within your Brightspace course.    Here's some general directions to get you to the grading areas.

At this point, you're in the grading area and your process for grading from here will depend on the settings for the assignments; rubrics, quick marking, essay marking, file mark-ups, etc...



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How to:  Change Tests Passwords?

In WCLN courses, the Unit Tests, Midterms, and Finals have passwords (by default).

These passwords are used to keep students from doing the tests in an insecure environment.

You will need to change the test passwords for your course, if you plan to using the tests with your students.

To Change or Remove Test Passwords

    • Go to Assessments > Quizzes > Manage Quizzes
    • Click on Quiz Name
    • Under Restrictions, Optional Advance Restrictions
    • Change password
    • Save


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How to:  Proctor Remote Tests?

Proctoring a test remotely can have challenges.    Below is a tested approach that works quite well:

These procedures are based on.

    • The teacher has Zoom Pro (for extra time and numbers).
    • You've scheduled your students into exam times.
    • You've sent your students to the video/checklist so they're ready
      (WCLN.ca > Student Support > Preparing for a Remote Exam)

Test Time:

    • As students arrive, I enter their course(s) and change the passwords to something simple.
    • As they go into tests, I change passwords back to default.
    • Give them a bit of time to settle, then start dropping into breakout rooms, checking-in.



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How to:  Adjust Individual Test Times (IEP)?

There are two ways to adjust times for students.   You can do it for individual quizzes under "Special Access."    Probably more useful is the fact that you can adjust quiz times at the course level for a particular student by using "Accommodations."   You can use it as a multiplier (eg. 1.2 = 20% more time) or by added a set time.



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How to: Communicate with Students or Parents?

Communicating with students is a key part of remote learning.

Your district or school may have standard ways to communicate with students and/or parents.

Messaging in D2L is email based, meaning that the messages aren't stored within the site.   Therefore, you might wish to get good at organizing your emails so you can keep track of communications (eg. folder for each course) .

One excellent tool for communication within Brightspace is the "Intelligent Agents."

Intelligent Agents


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How to:  Use "Sections" for Multiple Classes?

The "Section" feature in Brightspace is pretty handy if you have multiple blocks of a course and/or have two (or more) teachers sharing a course.   Note:  if you're used to using Moodle, you might want to make a "group" but a "group" has a different purpose in Brightspace.


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How to:  Add Discussion Forums? 

If you are in a scheduled (classroom or blended) setting, you'll find that discussion forums are fantastic ways to get students "talking."

Classroom teachers are often surprised by how comfortable students are within a discussion forum, not realizing how natural this form of communication is for digital natives.

Quiet students (who often avoid class discussions) will start to thoughtfully express themselves in a forum settings.   Small groups of extroverts no longer dominate the conversations.


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How to: Hide Unused Sections?

If you are only using parts of a particular course, you may wish to hide the other parts to make it easy to navigate for students.

Some teachers prefer to keep the unused units visible for students to review other areas of the course when needed.

Your strategy depends on your students and how you present.   You can change your mind at any point.


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How to: Keep Track of Student Progress?

There are a number of useful tools in Brightspace for keeping track of your students' progress within a course.


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Last modified: Wednesday, 14 December 2022, 10:32 AM