Month: October 2021

September & October D2L Updates 2021
September & October D2L Updates 2021 avatar

Joseph ClampLeave a comment

Changes will be made live on October 28th.

D2L October 2021 Updates

D2L Assignment Creator Experience – Create select box grade items

Support added for creating new select box grade items. Previously, only numeric grade items could be created from the new assignment experience.

When creating a new assignment as an instructor, under Grade Out Of, click Ungraded.

Click In Gradebook, and then Select Edit or Link to Exiting

From the Edit or Link to Existing dialog, the following options may display under Create a new grade item:

  • If the Grades tool has available grade categories, the Choose Grade Category option displays. Clicking this button displays available grade categories for association. 
  • If the Grades tool has multiple grades schemes, the Change Grade Type & Scheme option displays. Clicking this button displays available grade types and schemes for association.

Click OK, and then Save.

In Gradebook Options when creating a new assignment
Edit or Link to Existing options when creating a new assignment
D2L Assignment Creator Experience – Minor Label Changes:

To make interface text more clear, the following labels have been renamed:

  • Score out of is now Grade out of
  • In Grades is now In Gradebook
  • Choose in Grades is now Edit or Link to Existing
  • Remove from Grades is now Not in Gradebook
D2L Assignments – Restricting File Extensions For Submissions

Instructors will now be able to specify the type of files that can be submitted for each assignment.

When creating an assignment with file submissions, there is a new drop down in the submissions and completion section of the new assignment creation experience. In this drop down, instructors can choose the restrictions they want. Choices include:

  • Annotatable files, which include all file types that are supported by the Annotation tool in Assignments. For more information, see File types supported by Annotations.
  • .PDF only
  • Files that can be previewed without any conversion, such as .HTM, .HTML, .MHT, .MHTML, and .BMP
  • Images and videos
  • Custom filetypes (You may enter file extensions that are allowed for file submissions. When this is set, students are given a list of acceptable file extensions when attempting to submit a file.)

Note: The current error message for a student uploading an invalid file type is a place holder and is set to be updated in the November update.

D2L Rubrics – Additional Information on Grade Tiles

When a rubric is collapsed, instructors can now see if the rubric is complete. If it is complete, the collapsed rubric shows the overall level of the rubric. If it is not complete, the number of unscored criteria appears on the tile.

Before Change:

After Change:

D2L Rubrics – Brightspace Editor Additional Functionality:
  • The Brightspace Editor toolbar now appears in the following locations:
    • Rubrics Creation and Edit experiences in the Description field
    • Rubrics Creation and Edit experiences in the Feedback field
    • Evaluation mode in the Feedback field.
  • The Insert Stuff and Insert Quicklink buttons now appear in the different views with additional formatting options.  
The Brightspace editor in the Rubrics Description Field
The Brightspace Editor in the Rubrics Feedback Field
D2L Rubrics – Copy and Delete Criteria Groups

It is now possible to copy or delete a criteria group on a rubric. The delete option is only available if there is more than one criteria group. When a rubric with attached assessment items has submissions evaluated against it, the rubric is locked and can no longer be edited or deleted.

The copy and delete options are available in the action menu on the criteria group header.
D2L Brightspace Editor – Drag & Drop / Copy & Paste Images

As the title suggests, drag & drop / copy & paste functionality of images is now available in the following areas:

  • Content Module/Topic Descriptions
  • Quiz/Survey/Self-Assessment – Description, Header. Footer
  • Grades – Description
  • Content Course Overview Descriptions
  • Discussion Forum/Topic Descriptions

D2l Brightspace Pulse – Operating System Support Update

The latest version of Brightspace Pulse is supported on devices with iOS 12+ or Android 6.0+. Older versions of Pulse will continue to work on devices with iOS11 (Iphone 5c and back) or Android 5.0 (2015~ phones and back), but they will not receive any app updates going forward.

Coming Soon! D2L Content – Adding Print Button to PDF file types

In an upcoming update, we will add the option to print PDF file types to Classic Content as no option was previously available.

The Print Button will be visible when viewing a PDF topic or the Course Overview as a PDF.

Before
After
Coming Soon! D2L Discussions – New Discussion Evaluation Experience

We will have a new discussion evaluation experience up and working in December. This will make large changes to how the Discussion Evaluation Experience looks to make it fit in line with the New Assignment Evaluation Experience that is already in use. Please note the following interface is a work in progress and may change before final release.

Also, please note this is a visual upgrade first and foremost, tool functionality will not change but where you find those tools may.

New Discussion Evaluation Experience Screen:

A screenshot of the new discussion evaluation experience

KWLA — An AVID Strategy
KWLA — An AVID Strategy avatar

Lisa MartinLeave a comment

KWLA (Know, Want to Know, Learned, and Apply):  Using a KWLA strategy/worksheet prior to the start of class can help instructors (and students) see what students already “know” about a topic and what they “want to know.” After participating in class/your lesson, the KWLA can help instructors assess what students have “learned” and if they are able to successfully “apply” the information. For a fillable KWLA worksheet that can be used in your classes, check out the “AVID Resources” page available through the Resources’ tab in D2L.

Supporting Growth Mindset
Supporting Growth Mindset avatar

Lisa MartinLeave a comment

Growth mindset is “the belief that talents and abilities can be developed through hard work and education” (“Start,” par. 4). When students have or develop a growth mindset, they are “more receptive to constructive feedback,” and they will “embrace problems as an opportunity to learn” (Bolger par.1). There are several methods faculty can use to “advocate for a growth mindset” (“Promote” par. 1). One suggestion is to provide opportunities for students to practice “core skills of the class and work with course material through low-stakes assignments or quizzes” (“Promote” par. 3). Another suggestion is to model growth mindset: “Show your passion for learning and maintain positivity as you experience challenges in front of your students” (“Start” closing par.). Additionally, we could take inspiration from Rosie Husbands who is participating in our Newberry Campus campaign of decorating doors to provide students opportunity for engagement. For her door, she added QR codes to the door that link to short videos for students to watch about growth mindset. She has updated the QR codes to use dynamic codes that can be updated to change the information that students can access without having to change the actual codes sheet.

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Photo Credit: Anita (Rosie) Husbands, Piedmont Technical College, Newberry Campus, 10.6.21

Faculty blogger Molly Bolger offers this illustration, for, as she notes, it provides a helpful visual of growth mindset that “can be helpful for senior undergraduate students and elementary age children” (Bolger par. 4):

What you know now is like a small circle inside a much larger circle of what you want to eventually know. If you learn something new, your small circle grows larger. This can only happen when you try something (with help) that you can’t easily do already. If you only practice things that you can already do (inside your small circle), your circle can’t grow.  If you try to do something that is all the way at the edge of the big circle, you won’t learn, because it is too hard. However, if you try something challenging, just outside of your small circle, your circle will grow as you learn more!

Sources:

Bolger, Molly. “Growth Mindset.” The University of Arizona Learning Initiative. University of Arizona. 20 April 2017. http://ualearningblog.blogspot.com/2017/04/personally-inever-really-realized-how.html

“Promote a Growth Mindset.” Eberly Center: Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation. Carnegie Mellon University. 2021. https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/classroomclimate/strategies/growthmindset.html

“Start the Year by Fostering Your Students’ Growth Mindset: Help Students Transition to the New Year by Teaching and Fostering Their Growth Mindset.” Avid Open Access. https://avidopenaccess.org/resource/start-the-year-by-fostering-your-students-growth-mindset/.