Login to wentworth.brightspace.com.

Start with the Brightspace Toolkit.

Next, enroll in the faculty model course. To enroll in the course search, "Faculty Model Course" in the Discovery section of your Brightspace homepage.

You can also check out the Getting Started for Instructors page on D2L.

Finally, feel free to book a consultation with one of our Instructional Designers; email lit@wit.edu, stop by Beatty 318, or call 617-989-5428.

Before or at Start of semester you may wish to copy content from a previous course into a new one. 

Use the Import/Export/Copy Components tool in Brightspace. Copy course components

Submit a ticket to lit@wit.edu and we can help!

Send your request to lit@wit.edu and we can help! Include the first and last name, email (if you have it), what course section(s) you want to add them to, and the role. I.e. Tutors, Course Assistant…

We have Qwickly Attendance that you can use and which will create a grade center column. There’s information and video tutorials on our website at: https://wit.edu/about/lit/toolkit/qwickly

Check out the blogpost. If you still need help, book a grading consultation with one of the Instructional Designers.

Grade categories organize and group related grade items into sections in your grade book, for example, a Writing Assignments grade category to group assignment items and a Class Participation grade category to group discussion items. Grade categories display in Manage Grades.

Grade items in your grade book represent all the work that you want to evaluate users on in a course. Grade items can exist independently in your grade book, or you can associate numeric grade items with course objects such as discussions, quizzes, and assignments. Each grade item has an entry in the grade book, which you assign a grade to for each user. Depending on the grade item type you want to create, grade items can be graded numerically or based on a grade scheme.

Categories are an optional way of organizing related items in your grade book. It is useful if you are using weighted grades, or if you plan on having Brightspace automatically drop the lowest item within a category. i.e. There are 10 quizzes in this course, and your lowest two scores will be automatically dropped. 

1. On the course home page, click Grades.
2. In the Manage Grades area, click Category or Item from the New button.
3. Set the desired preferences and options for the category or item.
4. Click Save and Close.

The grade settings allow you to choose which grading system you use. Here you can choose weighted, points, or formula. 

1. On the course home page, click Grades.
2. Click Settings.
   
3. In the Calculation Options tab, select the grading system you prefer: Weighted, Points, or Formula.
4. Click Save.

Review the Gradebook Checklist and the Basic Gradebook Setup when setting up the gradebook.

Some instructors choose to keep grading simple and choose either a point-based system or categories that equal 100%.

Point-based
Participation = (10 x 10 points each) 100
Homeworks = (10 x 20 points each) 200
Quizzes = (10 x 30 points each) 300
Discussions = (10 x 20 points each) 200
Final = 200

Categories
Participation = 10%
Homeworks = 20%
Quizzes = 30%
Discussions = 20%
Final = 20%

More information on weighted, points, and formula grading systems

When deciding how to allocate points or weights across grade items, check the Final Calculated Grade to make sure they add up correctly

Final Grades FAQ

If you did not select the Automatically release final grade option when you set up your grade book, you can release final grades to learners manually.

1. On the navbar, click Grades.
2. On the Enter Grades page, from the Final Calculated Grade or Final Adjusted Grade context menu, click Grade All.
3. To release grades for all users, on the Final Grades page, from the Final Grades context menu, click Release All. To release final grades for a specific user, do one of the following:
   • Select the check box by the user name and click the Release/Unrelease link.
   • Select the check box in the Release Final Calculated Grade or Release Adjusted Final Grade column.
     
4. Click Save.

The  Final grade is released icon displays in the Final Calculated Grade or Final Adjusted Grade column for any user who has their final grade released. The  Final grade is not released icon displays in the Final Calculated Grade or Final Adjusted Grade column for any user who does not have their final grade released.

The date and time a grade is released or unreleased is displayed in a learner's Grades Event Log.

You create quizzes by going to the quizzes in the course tools menu. When you create your quiz you can associate it with an existing grade column if one exists or create a new column. On the Assessment tab in the New Quiz window, you’ll find where to either connect to an existing column or add a new column.

Review the Quiz Creation Basics.

Question libraries are a great tool to deter cheating. You can add questions to the question library each semester, and have each quiz/exam/test generate a random set of questions.

1. On the course home page, click Quizzes.
2. Create a new quiz or select an existing quiz to edit.
3. In the Properties tab, click Add/Edit Questions.
4. From the Add drop-down menu, click Question Pool.
5. Enter a Question Pool Title, the Number of Questions to Select, and the Points per Question.
6. Click Browse Question Library.
7. Search for and select the questions or the entire section of questions you want to add, and click Add..
   Note: If you selected a section, all the questions in that entire section appear in your question pool.
8. Click Save.

One-week before the start of term is the default, instructors can adjust the start and end dates. See Course information under Course Admin.

We recommend posting the course syllabus and a welcome announcement for courses opening one-week before start of term.

Use the visibility icon, or set availability dates. If an item is hidden from students, there will be an eye icon with a strikethrough.

You can use bulk edit to change any of the following, start date, due date, end date, visibility. 

1. On the navbar, click Content.
2. On the Table of Contents page, click Bulk Edit.
3. For any topic or module that you want to add availability or due dates to, click Add dates and restrictions.
4. Do any of the following:
   • To add a start date, click Add start date. Enter your start date details.
   • To add a due date, click Add due date. Enter your due date details.
   • To add an end date, click Add end date. Enter your end date details.
5. Click Update.
6. Click Done Editing.

Wentworth uses Panopto for video creation, editing, and storage. Learn how to create Powerful Microlectures using Panopto.

Link your zoom recordings to the Panopto course folder by following these steps.

Modules are how you can organize your course content. Think of them as folders. You can create a course flow using weeks, modules, units, chapters, or a different organizational structure. Each module can contain files, discussions, assignments, quizzes, and other learning materials. 

1. On the navbar, click Content.
2. In the Table of Contents panel, in the Add a module field, enter the name of your new module and then press Enter.

Submodules establish a deeper hierarchy. You don't have to use them, but you may want to use them for an accompanying lab, bonus or supplemental material, or other content shell.

To add a submodule, click into the module. In the Add a sub-module field, enter the name of your new sub-module and then press Enter.

Quicklinks are internal links that take students to a particular discussion topic, forum, page, quiz, etc. 

1. From the course home page, click Content.
2. In the module or sub-module you want to add the quicklink to, click Existing Activities and then Discussions.
3. Click the discussion forum that you want to add a quicklink to:
   • To add a discussion forum, click the Insert icon for the forum.
   • To add a discussion topic, click the topic.

D2L Brightspace Product Idea Exchange – vote for ideas

Students set their own notification preferences, so announcements won’t necessarily send an email alert to students. Announcements are nice to have in one spot, and facilitate the archive of communication within the course. Consider letting students know to check Brightspace every day, and turn on their notifications.

Discussions are a great tool for learner-learner interaction, formative assessments, and course communication. Well-designed prompts can spark dialog, reflection, and meaningful discourse.

Use forums to organize your discussion topics into categories. Your course can have multiple forums and topics, but you must create a forum before you can create a topic since all topics belong to forums.

1. On the navbar, click Discussions.
2. On the Discussions List page, from the New button drop-down menu, click New Forum.
3. Enter a title for your new forum.
4. Enter a description for your new forum.
5. In the Options section, select any of the following check boxes:
   • Allow anonymous posts - To enable users to post anonymously.
   • A moderator must approve individual posts before they display in the forum - To ensure that posts are approved by a moderator before they display in the forum.
   • Users must start a thread before they can read and reply to other threads in each topic - To ensure user participation.
   • Display forum descriptions in topics - To provide instructors the option to display a discussion forum description within a discussion topic description.
6. In the Restrictions tab, in the Availability section, select the Hide from Users checkbox to set the stats of the forum.
7. Select Locking Options for your forum. Locking a forum prevents users from posting to any of its associated topics until it is unlocked; they can still read post made to a topic prior to it being locked.
8. Click Save and Close.

Next, you will create a Discussion topic. Click on the Question below to expand.

Forums organize your discussion topics into categories. Set up your options, restrictions, and availability.

Topics are nested under forums and contain a prompt. You can have multiple forums and topics, but you must create a forum before you can create a topic since all topics belong to forums. Here's how to add a topic.

1. On the navbar, click Discussions.
2. On the Discussions List page, from the New button, click New Topic.
3. From the drop-down list, select the forum you want to put your topic in. If you want to create a new forum for your topic, click New Forum.
4. To grant everyone access to the topic and restrict learners to only see threads from their own group or section, under Topic Type, select Group or section topic.
   Note: You cannot edit the topic type once you save the topic.
5. Enter your New Topic Details.
6. On the Restrictions tab, select Availability options for your topic.
7. Select Locking Options for your topic. Locking a topic prevents users from posting to it until it is unlocked; they can still read post made prior to it being locked.
8. Click Save and Close.

Participating in discussions is a great way to increase instructor presence. For some discussions, you might wish to receive notifications for new posts. For example, a course communication forum where students are directed to ask questions about the posts. In these cases, you can subscribe to a discussion by following the steps below. 

1. On the navbar, click Discussions.
2. Do either of the following:
   • On the Discussions List page, from the context menu of the forum or topic you want to receive notifications of new posts for, click Subscribe.
   • On the View Topics page, beside the thread you want to receive notifications for, click Subscribe.
3. In the Customize Notifications pop-up window, select your Notification Method. If you do not have an email address set up in your user profile to receive notifications, in the Customize Notifications pop-up window, click the Add an email address in a new window link. Click the Enable email notifications link, then set your email preferences in the Email Settings pop-up window. Click Save.
4. Click Subscribe.

Students use the Assignments tool to upload and submit assignments directly to Brightspace. 

Instructors can associate rubrics, competencies, and return submission with grades and feedback. 

Read how to create an assignment using the new create and edit Assignment experience

Four submission types are available to instructors when creating assignments to allow evaluation of many different tasks.

• File submission: learners upload and submit a file to the assignment.

• Text submission: learners post text, image, or a link to their work in a text box within the assignment.

• On paper submission: learners submit a physical copy of their assignment directly to their instructor. No file upload is required to complete the assignment.

• Observed in person: allows instructors to observe learners as they perform tasks, such as in-class presentations, and evaluate them using Assignments. No file upload is required to complete the assignment.

On paper submissions and Observed in person assignments include additional completion options as no submissions are made by learners in Brightspace Learning Environment. These submission types can be marked as completed manually by learners, automatically on evaluation, or automatically on due date. Instructors select their completion option when creating assignments.

You can grade, annotate, and leave feedback through Evaluate Submission. 

Read more on how to add feedback and evaluations to assignments.