June 22

Respondus Assessment Tool

Respondus is a powerful tool for creating and managing exams that can be printed to paper or published directly to D2L Brightspace. Exams are created offline directly in the software, then quickly uploaded to your specific D2L course. This time-saver tool is available to St. Cloud State faculty, so if you wish to use it let us know and we will instal it and give you a quick tutorial on how to use it.

Here, I will list the major features and provide 5 minute video tutorials for creating your quizzes and publishing them to your D2L course.

Authoring Features

  • Create exams and assessments offline using a Windows interface
  • Supports up to 15 question types, including calculated and algorithmic formats
  • Import questions from MS Word (including embedded images), rich-text, QTI, and tab/comma delimited formats
  • Access to thousands of Respondus-compatible publisher test banks – FREE to instructors who adopt a participating textbook

Preview, Publish and Printing Features

  • Preview questions before publishing them to D2L
  • Publish exams and assessments directly to an online course (media files are automatically uploaded)
  • Determine point values and exam settings offline
  • Print exams/surveys directly from Respondus, or save files to MS Word or rich-text format

Retrieval and Reporting Features

  • Retrieve exams from the leading learning platforms, complete with media files*
  • Retrieve custom reports, such as student scores, summary statistics, and answer distributions*
  • Download answer databases for quizzes or surveys and save them in an Excel-compatible format*
  • Archive and restore exam/survey projects (including media content) with one click — ideal for providing a colleague with a ready-to-use exam
June 21

D2L Brightspace Terminology Changes Effective August 6, 2016

D2L has changed the terminology for some Brightspace tools and features. Take a look at the screenshots of the changes at the bottom of this post.↓

  • These changes will take effect at all MnSCU D2L Brightspace Production sites as of Saturday, August 6, 2016.
  • MnSCU users will see these terminology changes in the learning environment and on D2L’s community site, including online documentation and help.
  • Students and faculty will be made aware of the changes through MnSCU Service Desk FAQs and Announcements (formerly News) at each school’s D2L Brightspace My Home page.
Current

Terminology

New Terminology as

of August 6, 2016

News Announcements
Dropbox Assignments
Edit Course Course Admin
Pager Instant Messages
New (in Content tool) Upload/Create
Add Existing Activities (in Content tool) Existing Activities

D2L will be updating its Brightspace documentation to reflect the terminology changes, and MnSCU will implement the changes to be in sync with D2L’s documentation to help users make a smooth transition.  MnSCU will implement the terminology changes in D2L Brightspace on August 6, 2016.

D2L Terminology Changes Course Admin and ContentD2L Terminology Changes Announcements Assignments Instant Messages

June 15

Educause: 7 Things You Should Know About…â„¢

EDUCAUSE 7 Things You Should Know About …â„¢ is a series of publications that provides concise information about diverse range of professional challenges in higher education IT, from updates on current developments to explorations of important overarching issues. Use these quick reads to get essential information on emerging technologies and related practices, including potential implications and opportunities. Each two-page brief focuses on a single technology or practice and how it relates to higher education.

Here are the seven questions they answer in each publication:

  1. What is it?
  2. How does it work?
  3. Who’s doing it?
  4. Why is it significant?
  5. What are the downsides?
  6. Where is it going?
  7. What are the implications for higher education?

Among the most interesting topics, which you can skim through in less then a minute yet learn a lot, are: Remote Proctoring, One-Button Studio, Institutional Self-Assessment, Universal Design, Games and Learning, Open Educational Resources, E-Books, Podcasting, and many more.

They group the topics into two themes: Campus-Wide IT and Learning Technology Topics (click on each to access the list of publications).

June 9

MediaSpace to D2L Brightspace: Step by Step Instructions

MediaspaceMediaspace is a nifty solution for using multimedia in your in class or online courses. It is very easy to put stuff from your media to D2L. You simply log in (here) with your star ID and password.

Many faculty members get frustrated with putting up an audio Power Point in their D2L course. The issues are: students cannot view them while in D2L, they have to download the PPT first. Then, many faculty do not want their PPTs downloaded so they would just upload the PDF version of their PPT to their course. This way, the idea of having a voice over Power Point is lost, and you have to settle with what works best for you.

However, using Screen Recording tool in Mediaspace Kaltura enables you to select the specific area on your screen  to record and use the mic along the way. You can record your Power Point and have the audio with it, then just upload it in your D2L course. The cool thing about it – students can view it (and hear the audio) straight from the course and cannot download it.

Bellow are step-by-step instructions of how to do a Webcam Recording or Screen Recording and then embed the video in a Content Module. For additional help and FAQs click here.

  1. Once you log in, you will see your name in the upper right corner. Next to it, to the left, you will see Add New, with the drop down menu. You can select Screen Recording or Webcam Recording (as you can see there are 3 more options, but I will cover the basic two now).Mediaspace Screen Recording tool
  2. Once you click, you will be prompted to Launch the Screen Recorder or if it is just a video – you will be asked to “Record from Webcam” where you click “Allow Camera and Microphone Access”  on the screen. Mediaspace Screen Recording launchMediaspace Record from Webcam
  3. Next, you start recording.  In Screen recording you control the pause button and once you are ready, click done. In Webcam recording, you just click anywhere to start recording and then click anywhere on the screen to stop recording. You will see a box with “Save” appear on the screen. Mediaspace Webcam recording save
  4. It is very important to Save on the screen, as that is how the video is uploaded to your media. Then, Name the video. You can also add a Description for your students.
  5. The most important thing is to always save it as Unlisted! Why – if it is Private, you will not be able to share it with anyone. If it is Published, anyone can see it right away. Therefore, always click Unlisted and then click on the blue save button below. Once it is saved, you get the option Go to Media.
  6. You will click Go to Media and it will take you to the newly recorded video/screen capture. From there, you will click Share. You want to be able to get the embed code and share it with your students in your D2L Brightspace course shell. Have your D2L course open in a new tab/new window next to it. Once you click Embed, you will get an embed code in a window and all you need to do is copy it (right click or ctrl-c).Mediaspace Webcam recording embed code
  7. Now that you have copied the embed code, open your D2L course. In Materials > Content > (any selected) Module > New > Create a File.Mediaspace Webcam recording embed to D2L 1
  8.  Once you click Create a File:  Enter a Title > (**Below the Title box there are options: The first icon in the upper left corner says  Insert Stuff**) > Click Insert Stuff > Enter Embed Code > Paste!!! what you copied in Mediaspace – your embed code > Next >  Allow > Insert. Voila, you have inserted the video in your D2L content page. Don’t forget to publish the newly created file.Mediaspace Webcam recording embed to D2L 2

We hope this post can help you navigate these resources. Again, if you have any trouble getting through the steps, we are here to help! Contact us here, by email att@stcloudstate.edu or just walk in to Miller Center 118.

June 8

Open Course: Designing and Teaching for Impact in Online Courses

Indiana University is offering a self-paced open and free for all course through Canvas network on DESIGNING AND TEACHING FOR IMPACT IN ONLINE COURSES.

The course started June 6th, but you can enroll anytime. It takes about 2 hours of work per week and you can receive a badge for completion. The course offers help with design and with online teaching. ” It explores the backward design process beginning with learning outcomes, followed by assessments, activities, and content. It also includes topics such as online presence, course structure, usability, visual design, accessibility, multimedia, syllabi, and course management. It is a non-facilitated course where participants can work through the modules at their own pace based on their own needs and interests.”

Course map Canvas credit to Indiana Univeristy Designign and Teaching for Impact in Online CoursesWe would definitely recommend it to those who are interested in the topics mentioned above, and for faculty concerned about offering a quality course online that would support student success.

June 8

ATT Summer Workshops: Updated Schedule

Summer Sessions Online Teaching Support

The Academic Technologies Team continues their series of workshops on How to get your course ready for online. Based on the attendance and input of attendees we have decided to exclude 2:30 pm sessions and to hold longer workshops that will focus on specific topics of faculty interest. Here is the full schedule with new time, room, and session details:

Date Session Description Time Place
Wednesday, June 8 Building Rubrics and Giving Feedback 11 am – 12 pm CH 455
Thursday, June 9 Essential D2L Plus Q & A Session 11 am – 12 pm CH 455
Wednesday, June 15 Intelligent Agents and Release Conditions 11 am – 12 pm CH 455
Thursday, June 16 Essential D2L Plus Q & A Session 11 am – 12 pm CH 455
Wednesday, June 22 Mediaspace Kaltura CaptureSpace Lite 11:30 am – 1 pm MC 206
Thursday, June 23 Essential D2L Plus Q & A Session 11:30 am – 12:30 pm MC 206
Wednesday, June 29 Quality Course Design 11:30 am – 1 pm MC 206
Thursday, June 30 Essential D2L Plus Q & A Session 11:30 am – 12:30 pm MC 206

We always hold an open door policy so should you need anything regarding online teaching pedagogy, D2L tools, best practices, Quality Mattersâ„¢, or anything related to online course design and digital media we are available in our office, Miller Center 118.

For any further questions email att@stcloudstate.edu or call 320-308-2302.

Also, you can click below to view some of the topics we will cover:

Your Academic Technologies Team