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Setting up a Gradebook – Video 3 – Adding Categories and Grade Items

January 29, 2018

Description:

This video will show how to set up categories and grade items in your gradebook.

To access the captioning for this video:

  • Move your mouse to the lower right side of the video window.
  • Click the menu item represented by three dashes
    Example Image of video options menu
  • If captions are available, click “Show Subtitles”
    Example of the Show Subtitles option on Sharestream video

 

Setting up a Gradebook – Video 1 – Overview

January 29, 2018

Description:

This video will give an overview of the various elements of a completed gradebook.

To access the captioning for this video:

  • Move your mouse to the lower right side of the video window.
  • Click the menu item represented by three dashes
    Example Image of video options menu
  • If captions are available, click “Show Subtitles”
    Example of the Show Subtitles option on Sharestream video

Viewing, Releasing, and Adjusting the Final Grade in LEARN

January 12, 2018

Viewing, Releasing, and Adjusting the Final Grade in LEARN

When you first set up your gradebook you made a decision about using a Final Calculated or Final Adjusted grade scheme. You can access these grades to view them, release them, or to adjust the final adjusted grade.

  1. Enter the course and click “Assessments”, “Grades”
  2. Enter the “Manage Grades” area.
  3. Click the action button (Framework.ContextMenu.dropArrow) next to “Final Calculated” or “Final Adjusted” grade.
  4. Click “Grade All”.
  5. You can now calculate the adjusted grade by clicking the calculator button (Small Calculator icon for re-calculating the final adjusted grade), add comments, and if you’re on Final Adjusted Grade you can release the grade to the students by clicking the check box beside their name under “Release Final Adjusted Grade”
    • You can release all the students’ grades by selecting the checkbox at the top of the list. This will select all the students and you can then click “release/unrelease” (Release or Unrelease student grades in the gradebook) to make the adjustments all at once.
    • There are several options (including Recalculate All, Transfer All, Clear All, etc.) hidden under the action button (Framework.ContextMenu.dropArrow) beside “Final Grades”.
      Final Adjusted Grades Options
    • “Recalculate All” will allow you to change how the final adjusted grade is calculated.  This will give you the opportunity to remove grade items from all students final adjusted grade.

You’re able to release these grades to the students from under the “Enter Grades” area in the same way.

You can also access an individual student’s grades by clicking their name and then adjust or release their final grade individually.
Final Calculated and Final Adjusted Grade from individual student grades view
(final calculated and adjusted grade for individual student)

Video: Adding Grades to your Gradebook

LEARN Training Menu

January 4, 2018

LEARN Training Menu

The following is a list of possible LEARN training sessions. Training is not limited to what is below, and custom training or combinations of sessions are offered.

To organize group/departmental training, or request a session be offered please contact LEARN support by emailing: learn@rrc.ca

Introduction to LEARN (1-2hrs)

This workshop will introduce LEARN (Red River College’s learning management system) and cover the basics including an overview of the most common tools and best practices for delivering your course online.

LEARN Content Area (1hr)

This workshop will introduce the basics of the LEARN content area. Learn how to upload course outlines/documents, how to organize and hide/release materials, as well as how to link to videos or external content.

LEARN Assignment Dropbox (1hr)

Students and Instructors benefit from the ease of use and features of LEARN’s digital dropbox.  Students can submit assignments online and instructors can mark from anywhere!

This workshop will focus on the Assignment Dropbox tool in LEARN. We will review the benefits of use, time-saving features, how to build and grade dropbox items, as well as how to link the dropbox to the LEARN gradebook for automatic grade transfer.

LEARN Gradebook Training (1hr presentation, 2-3hrs including “barn raising” workshop)

Today’s students expect to find their grades online and the LEARN gradebook allows you to quickly and easily calculate and deliver those grades to your students.

These sessions will review the LEARN gradebook features and best practices including entering and exporting grades, and associating LEARN assessments to the gradebook for automated marking and grade entry. This is a “barn raising” style session – you will leave with a functioning gradebook for your course. Make sure to bring your course outlines, gradebooks, or grade details so that we can build your gradebook together.  Please also email LEARN support learn@rrc.ca to request any development MASTER courses you may need before the session.

LEARN Rubric/Dropbox/Gradebook (3hrs)

This workshop will focus on how to get the most out of the LEARN gradebook, dropbox, and rubrics tools.  These 3 items combined can save face to face or distance instructors significant amounts of time (something I think we all agree we can use more of!).

Assignment Dropbox – Students and Instructors benefit from the ease of use and features of LEARN’s digital dropbox.  Students can submit grades online and instructors can mark from anywhere!

Gradebook – Does your gradebook sum to 100%?  Once set up correctly, the LEARN gradebook is easy to use and one of the most appreciated features by students.

Rubrics – LEARN supercharges rubrics with its Rubrics tool.  This will track competencies and objectives, calculate grades, trigger release conditions, and offer pre-programmed feedback to students.  All this while saving you time!

LEARN Quiz Tool (2hrs)

This workshop will focus on the Quiz tool in LEARN.  Learn to deliver quizzes, self-assessments, tests and exams in LEARN.  Learn how to create random sections using the question library, create self-marking assessments that will send the grades directly to the gradebook, and import publisher question banks to include into your assessments.

LEARN Quiz Tool – Statistics and Adjusting Grades (1hr)

This session will introduce the various statistics that are automatically tracked by the quiz tool. From quiz and question statistics to detailed individual student data including details such as exactly when a student saved a question or exited an attempt. These statistics are useful for improving future questions, confirming/diagnosing student issues, or academic integrity issues.

Sometimes a question needs to be adjusted after a student has completed an attempt. In this session, we will review how we batch update student quiz attempts when a question is changed.

LEARN Quiz Tool – Secure Assessment in LEARN (1-2hrs)

Assessment and evaluation, both online and on paper is never 100% secure and is never 100% cheat proof. However, there are steps you can take to reduce the likelihood that students will attempt to, or succeed, at cheating in your courses.

This workshop will outline settings, techniques and best practices in LEARN to ensure your online Exam/Quiz/Test is behaving the way you intended it to, and as securely as possible.

In this workshop, we will review the settings, techniques and best practices for delivering your exams, tests, and quizzes in LEARN.

Example topics to be covered include the use of the Respondus Lockdown Browser, alternate and delayed student views for review, randomization and random question libraries, alternate and special access for accommodations, and more.

We will address any questions or concerns you may have so that your assessments are ready to be delivered securely for your students!

LEARN Awards Tool (1-2hrs)

Are you interested in exploring elements of gamification or badging in your LEARN course? If so, this can now be accomplished with the new “Awards” tool available within LEARN.

This session will show how to:

  • Set up and manage awards in your LEARN course.
  • Automatically award them based on release conditions.
  • Have a group discussion on some course activities you may wish to issue awards for.

More about Badges from D2L Brightspace:

“Badges are awarded based on any criteria determined by the instructor. They are meant to provide digital markers that represent accomplishment throughout a course or program. Badges do not contribute to achieving a passing grade; however, badges are awarded for achievements that also can contribute to the type of work ethic that results in a passing grade. For example, an instructor might create a badge that is based on posting 15 discussion posts in the first month of a course, or on perfect attendance, or on academic excellence. These items are the types of trends that can help a learner to succeed in a course or program.”

LEARN – Rubrics in LEARN (1hr, 2hrs with “barn raising” workshop)

This workshop will focus on how to get the most out of the LEARN rubrics tool.

LEARN supercharges rubrics with its Rubrics tool. This will track competencies and objectives, calculate grades, trigger release conditions, and offer pre-programmed feedback to students. All this while saving you time!

This is a “barn raising” style session – bring along an existing rubric either on paper, or even better in a digital file and we will work as a group to set that rubric up in LEARN. Leave the session with a working rubric!

LEARN – Outcomes, Objectives, and Competency Tracking (2hrs)

The Competencies tool in LEARN can automatically track and report custom competencies, learning objectives, and outcomes.  This tool has a sophisticated and customizable structure that allows for objectives to be tracked based on content, grades, discussion participation, elements of a rubric, individual questions, groups of questions in a quiz, etc.

This session will introduce the tool and give an in-depth overview on how to apply it to your new or existing courses.

LEARN – Setting up a CBE (Competency-based Education) Course in LEARN (2hrs)

This course will demonstrate the concept of CBE and how to set up custom pathways for students using a combination of assessment, outcomes, and release conditions.

https://library.educause.edu/topics/teaching-and-learning/competency-based-education-cbe

LEARN – Appeal Proofing your Course with LEARN (1-2hrs)

Within LEARN there is a robust system of data tracking and collection tools. From the obvious such as grades and feedback to the more advanced such as login data, exact histories of quiz attempts, and IP address tracking. The more touchpoints a student has within the Learning Management System, the more accurate a picture can be of what really happened during a course delivery.  A student who is no longer in a course can be re-entered and will be connected to all of their data as if it was the last day of class.

This session will discuss best-practices and introduce the data tracking potential of the LEARN system.

Keeping Up-to-date with LEARN Email or Text Notifications

December 14, 2017

You are able to set up email and mobile notifications in LEARN so that you can keep as up-to-date as possible on all activities from within your courses.

As an instructor, having students set up notifications will ensure they receive News updates, or other notifications as soon as possible. This is especially useful for communicating cancellations or changes due to weather or other circumstances.

    • From within LEARN, click your username and then notifications

Accessing LEARN's notifications

  • You are then able to enable email and/or mobile notifications, and then define exactly what you will receive notifications on and from which courses.
  • Once done, click “Save”
Video:

Accessibility Account Settings in LEARN

October 19, 2017

There are a few personal Account Settings that can be configured for your LEARN experience.

Access these settings by first logging into LEARN, click your name in the upper right-hand corner of the page, and click “Account Settings”.
Selecting Account Settings in LEARN

Font Options

You are able to adjust the font size, as well as select the “OpenDyslexic” font to improve readability.
Adjusting font settings in LEARN

Settings for Assistive Technologies

Dialog Setting

By default, secondary windows are displayed in Dialog boxes. You may wish to change this to Pop-ups if you use an assistive technology (such as a screen reader, screen magnifier or voice software).
Dialog Settings in LEARN

HTML Editor Settings

You can opt to turn off the rich text editor in LEARN. The HTML editor enables you to enter text and HTML in the system. It has many additional rich text features. If you use assistive technology such as screen readers, some of these features might be difficult to navigate.

Reading Content

Some tools automatically mark content as read as you scroll it into view. If you use an assistive technology such as a screen reader then you may wish to disable this feature.

Video Settings

There is an option to optimize video presentation for programmatically-driven assistive technologies.

Discussions and Email Settings

Though not specifically accessibility settings, you are able to customize your experience using Discussions and Email within LEARN.

Access these settings by the corresponding tabs at the top of the page.
Discussion and Email account settings in LEARN

Taking a Quiz that Requires the Respondus LockDown Browser

October 16, 2017

The Respondus LockDown Browser (LDB) is an interface used to increase security during an online assessment. The LDB will “Lock” the computer to prevent files or websites from being available during the duration of your assessment.

An exam/test/quiz that requires the LDB will indicate this in the name of the assessment including the text “- Requires Respondus LockDown Browser” in its title.
example of LDB enabled quiz name

Accessing your Quiz with LDB

  1. Click the name of the assessment as you would any other. You will see that the Quiz Requirements include a link to download and install the LDB.Options to install or launch the LDB
    1. If you already have the LDB installed on your computer, simply click “Launch LockDown Browser” and skip to step #5.
    2. If you do not have it installed, click “Download and Install the latest version of LockDown Browser”
    3. If you are taking your assessment in a computer lab the LDB should have been installed prior to your assessment taking place.
  2. A new tab will open with information, a video, as well as instructions and a link to install the LDB. View whatever materials you require and click “Install Now”. The LDB installation screen
  3. Your computer will download an installation file for LDB.
    1. If you are using IE you may see a yellow prompt at the bottom of your screen asking you to save or run the installation file. Click “Run”. IE prompt to run the instalation
    2. If you are using an alternate browser to IE you may have to locate the downloaded file (usually in your downloads folder) and click to run that file.
    3. Various security prompts may come up during the installation. It’s important to review these and allow when appropriate.
  4. Once installed you will need to return to your quiz. You may have to close the installation tab in your browser by clicking the “x” on that tab. example of 2 browser tabs
  5. When you are ready to start your assessment click “Launch LockDown Browser”. It may take a few moments for the LDB to launch and open your quiz. Example of the Launch LDB button
    1. Note that some applications such as Outlook will need to be closed before launching the LDB.
    2. Your browser may prompt you to allow the launch of the LDB.IE security prompt
  6. When taking your quiz be sure to save each question as you go. In the event of computer problems or a power failure, you will be able to re-enter the quiz and pick up where you left off as long as you have been saving your questions and there is time still available on your quiz.
  7. Once you have submitted your quiz you will be prompted to close the LDB, the LDB will close and you will be returned the LEARN in your standard web browser.

Initiating the new Respondus Lockdown Browser Dashboard

September 18, 2017

The Respondus Lockdown Browser (LDB) has introduced a new integration with LEARN that has added extra features. To get started using Lockdown Browser in your course, you must follow these steps for each course using the Lockdown Browser.

  1. Click on the Lockdown Browser Tab located under Quizzes

    ldbtab

  2. Ensure there are no issues by confirming there isn’t anything to “fix”.
    You would see a fix button beside the quiz if a fix is needed.

By doing this it allows you to see if the quiz title is correct. If not, you can click the “Fix it” button. LDB quizzes all need to have the title decoration present, which is “-Requires Respondus LockDown Browser”. The loading of the Dashboard makes the quiz known to the Respondus LDB servers which reduces errors.

This loading of the Dashboard is necessary every time a course is copied. It’s also necessary if you copy in a single quiz from an older course.

For more information on the Lockdown Browser Dashboard please view this Video:

Course Image Selection

August 18, 2017

With the implementation of Daylights, you are now able to select an appropriate and tasteful course tile for your courses in LEARN. These tiles can also be used as course banners and are viewable on the landing page in your My Course widget. You should consider a few things before uploading your own image, however.

Does your image have copyright restrictions? Make sure to use images that are free to use. If you are not sure, you can always use Google or Flickr to search for images labeled for reuse. You can also try using the Creative Commons website (https://search.creativecommons.org/). You should also look at the College’s policy on Fair Dealing (http://www.rrc.ca/index.php?pid=9296).

We have configured the system to allow every instructor the ability to choose their own course tile from the Brigthspace image library as well upload their own. These settings are enabled in good faith that copyright regulations will be respected.

Here is a document with step-by-step instructions on how to change and upload course tiles, as well as design recommendations and specifications: TLTC-Uploading-a-banner-graphic.

Video:

Sending Automated Emails – Intelligent Agents

August 15, 2017

Below are a series of videos on using the Intelligent Agents within Brightspace/LEARN.

Intelligent Agents – Create an Intelligent Agent – Instructor

Intelligent Agents – Perform a Practice Run – Instructor

Intelligent Agents – Delete and Restore Intelligent Agents – Instructor

Intelligent Agents – View and Edit the Schedule of an Intelligent Agent – Instructor

Intelligent Agents – Manually Run an Intelligent Agent – Instructor

More videos and documentation available here: Intelligent Agents (IA) Tool in LEARN

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