Author: smantle

Preparing for Return to Campus – A Trauma-Informed Approach

smantleBest Practice

BCcampus recently published a short article providing suggestions for a compassionate transition for instructors and students as we head into the fall semester. Whether classes will be face-to-face, blended or online, recognizing the impact that prolonged stress can have on the “ability to process information, make choices, and stay focused” (Joudrey, 2020), we can better support students by incorporating trauma-informed pedagogy. This includes establishing consistent routines and offering flexibility.

Source: Preparing for Return to Campus – A Trauma-Informed Approach (https://bccampus.ca/2021/07/28/preparing-for-return-to-campus-a-trauma-informed-approach/)

Resources:
Joudrey, Susan, “Trauma-informed Pedagogy: What It Is and How It Can Help Now,” Focus, November 23, 2020. https://focus.clt.dal.ca/blog/trauma-informed-pedagogy-what-it-is-and-how-it-can-help-now

Debbie Zacarian, Lourdes Alvarez-Ortiz, and Judie Haynes, “5 Essential Trauma-Informed Priorities for Remote Learning,” ASCD, April 7, 2020. https://www.zacarianconsulting.com/2020/04/08/5-essential-trauma-informed-priorities-for-remote-learning/

Template Changes for Fall 2021

smantleBest Practice

Educational Technology & Design’s Brightspace templates, as defined in a previous blog post, are “visual and structural design guidelines that can help instructors organize courses and create consistency for students”. The templates were heavily used in the 2020-2021 academic year and appeared to have achieved the intended goals. To affirm this achievement and to inform our template revision process, ETD was keen to speak with students directly to hear what they had to say.  

The Faculty of Agriculture’s Winter 2021 templates were modified based on results from a (Faculty of Agriculture) student survey conducted in Fall 2020. The survey provided valuable feedback, but by engaging students in user testing, ETD would be able to obtain real-time feedback with the opportunity for both sides to ask questions. With the Assistant Dean, Students’ (Nancy McLean) assistance, an email was sent to students asking for participants. Three students were randomly selected from the respondents and in early July 2021, ETD ran three separate tests with students sharing their screens via Microsoft Teams as they navigated through a test course site in Brightspace.  

Screen shot of Test Site in Brightspace


The test course site (shown above) was a fictional but realistic blended-format Faculty of Agriculture course, and the scenario was Day 1 of classes. The students were asked to explore the course homepage, the course centre, and module 1 within the course, all while being encouraged to think out loud, sharing what they saw and how they felt.

Key takeaways from the user testing: 

  • All three students read the Announcement on the homepage and stated its importance; preferred a shorter announcement with visual cues (bullets, bold text) over a “wall of text”.
  • All three students appreciated a welcoming and short instructor bio with photo and detailed contact information on the homepage. 
  • After leaving the homepage, all three students looked for the Syllabus to either print or download. 
  • All three students appreciated the concise and consistent course navigation (shown below).

Thumbnail screen shot of the navigation in the test site
The key takeaways greatly confirmed our best practice recommendations and ETD will continue to encourage a thoughtful and welcoming, detailed but not wordy homepage, an easy to find Syllabus, and an organized and consistent layout. 

The design template is something to which we have a degree of control in Brightspace, and it was important to obtain feedback in this area. Template feedback was not unanimous, but the students agreed that visual interest, consistency, and introductory text was all helpful. 

Specific to the template, ETD made the following changes: 

  • Changing the “Course Centre” to “Syllabus and Course Centre”, to clearly communicate where the syllabus could be found.  
  • De-emphasize the Student Help Resources module, to include it in the “Syllabus and Course Centre” module but to designate the content links as “not required”. 
  • Streamline the colour progression in the submodule description areas, to minimize visual surprises.

Thumbnail of the two templates for Fall 2021 at the Faculty of Agriculture

This was an exciting project this summer for ETD, and the student feedback greatly helped to affirm our best practice recommendations and informed our decisions on the template modifications to focus on for Fall 2021. 

 

Successful Reuse of Panopto Videos

smantleBest Practice

The significant investment in preparing content over the past year for online delivery resulted in an expansive bank of quiz questions, Panopto lecture videos, and content files within courses. These resources have a shelf-life beyond the 2020-2021 academic year, and while minimal effort is required to reuse most types of content year after year, Panopto videos may require extra attention. 

Request Access message
This image depicts the Request Access message that students see for videos they cannot access.

For instructors wishing to reuse videos from previous offerings, ETD is offering Panopto video audits to catch issues now before the semester start date. To receive an audit, please contact etd@dal.ca as soon as possible, indicating the course number(s) and providing a brief summary of the videos you wish to make available for students.  

To ensure videos will be available in future offerings with minimal finesse, it is recommended that Panopto videos be linked using the “Insert Stuff” method [https://edtechtruro.edublogs.org/2021/05/10/how-to-link-panopto-videos-in-your-course/]. 

Some course videos will need no work at all, while others may need permissions added or videos may require relinking.  

For information on re-use of Collaborate Ultra Recordings, please see the following document: https://edtechtruro.edublogs.org/2021/03/26/viewing-collaborate-ultra-session-recordings/.

How to Link Panopto Videos in Your Course

smantleBest Practice

Link to PDFTo ensure your videos are available to all students, the instructions available in the link below outlines the process of adding a Panopto-housed video to ensure ease of access to all users. You do not have to use Panopto for recording, but it is strongly recommended to use the system for embedding videos in your course.

How to Link Panopto Videos in Your Course [PDF]

Note: factors such as bitrate, aspect ratio, file size, and video length can all impact the time it takes for a video to upload and process. If you are uploading multiple videos at the same time, expect increased delays. This is simply the nature of working with video files. Please allow adequate time for this process.

Best Practice for Quiz Integrity

smantleBest Practice

Link to PDFETD has pulled together a resource document covering the suggested best practices to promote academic integrity regarding quizzing and testing in Brightspace. There are three main components of increasing integrity that we will discuss; including Shuffling and Randomization, Quiz setup, and Quiz Instructions. Using one or all of these practices in combination will reduce the potential of students committing academic integrity violations and increase the quality of course quizzing/testing.

Best Practice for Quiz Integrity [PDF]

Panopto Folders and Sharing Videos from your personal folder

smantleBest Practice

screenshot thumbail of Panopto folders and sharing videosPanopto offers several ways videos can be stored and distributed. This article will explore the differences between where videos can be stored (i.e. My Folder or Course Folders), and the methods of sharing videos from one folder to another. These sharing techniques include either granting permissions for an individual or class list to access a folder/video, or creating a copy of a video and moving the copy to a different folder with the permissions already intact.

Panopto Folders and Sharing Videos from your personal folder [PDF]

The Announcements Tool and Widget

smantleBrightspace

Link to PDFWhen you first log in to Brightspace, one of the first things you might notice on the main homepage is the Announcements widget. Announcements periodically releases pertinent information to all users of the system. Each course also comes with the Announcements widget built into the course homepage. Although it is possible for instructors to remove, we recommend leaving it in place for its value as a class-wide communication tool.

Similar to how all widgets work, the Announcements widget is a direct window into the Announcements Tool. When you add a new Announcements item, it is displayed in the widget.

The Announcements Tool and Widget [PDF]

What is Respondus LockDown Browser and When Should it be Used?

smantleBrightspace

Thumbnail image for Help Doc on Respondus LockDown BrowserRespondus LockDown Browser is a third-party application that integrates seamlessly with Brightspace to add an additional layer of integrity to student examination. The program simply “locks down” the device the student is using, removing their ability to copy, print, access other applications, or visit websites during their exam period. The program also disables screensharing, screen recording, launching applications, and the use of other common programs that may be used by students to gain an advantage on an exam.

This program is recommended for use with heavily weighted examination (midterms/finals) to ensure students do not access outside information or gain an unfair advantage over their peers. While effective as part of a strategy to discourage academic dishonesty, Respondus LockDown cannot prevent students from accessing other devices or using handwritten notes in front of them.

Respondus LockDown Browser: What is it and when should it be used? [PDF]