Dear Faculty,
We hope your semester has been wrapping up smoothly! In this issue of the newsletter, we present to you links to many of our Brightspace teaching guides about grading, a note about OFDIT’s office hour schedule, information about upcoming OpenLab training and events, and an invitation to the SPS UDL Collaborative’s next meeting. We’ve been very grateful for the gift of all of your input, effort, and patience as CUNY moved from Blackboard to Brightspace, and for your commitment to supporting the best student experience possible at CUNY SPS!
Brightspace Updates and Notes
Thank you to everyone who participated in our Brightspace survey last month! Over 260 students, faculty, and staff provided feedback about their experience using the new LMS. In general the response has been positive; the average rating for the question “How would you rate your overall user experience in Brightspace?” was 3.98, with a median of 4, on a scale of 1 to 5. We are doing a deeper dive into the responses to other open-ended questions, and will be using the feedback to explore reconfigurations, advocate for changes with CUNY and D2L, and improve our support resources. More to come in the next newsletter! If you missed the survey but would still like to give feedback on the platform configuration and set up, please write to us at facultysupport@sps.cuny.edu.
Brightspace Highlight
End of Semester Grading: Zeroes and Exemptions
At the end of the term, it’s often the case that there are empty cells in your gradebook for missing assignments that you will want to put 0’s or exemptions in to ensure that the final grade is calculated correctly. The easiest way to enter 0’s in empty cells is to open your gradebook in “Spreadsheet View.” See How to Quickly Fill In Grades for Missing Student Work. To remove an item from the grade calculation total, you can add exemptions, either by assignment or by student. See How to Set up Gradebook Exemptions for steps.
Grading Guides
It’s that time of the semester! Would you like to drop the lowest grade from a grading category? Need to reset quiz/exam attempts? Ready to fill in grades for missing student work? Want to allow extra points for an item or create an extra credit item? We have a teaching guide for you – browse our site for step-by-step help!
Brightspace Office Hours
OFDIT’s open Brightspace office hours will continue through December 20th and will pick up again in mid-January. We look forward to seeing you in a drop-in session with your questions!
Events and Announcements for SPS Faculty
Save The Date: OpenLab Events
OpenLab is open for business! Join us in January to learn about available tools and features, including building your own site, using our awesome new single sign-on plugin, and joining the growing groups and conversations happening with other CUNY SPS community projects!
OpenLab 101 will provide a guided tour of the OpenLab site, including setting up your own user profile, how to join existing groups for timely updates, and more! For Drop-In Hours, please bring your own questions and ideas, and work on your OpenLab site with built-in support and feedback! Sign up at the links below to get a reminder email!
OpenLab 101 (followed by Drop-In Hours)
Tuesday Jan. 14, 12-12:30pm
Monday Jan. 27, 2025, 4-4:30pm
Drop-In Hours:
Tuesday Jan. 14, 12:30-1:30pm
Wednesday Jan. 22, 2025, 5:30-6:30pm
Friday Jan. 24, 2024, 12-1pm
Monday Jan. 27, 2025, 4:30-5:30pm
Want to see what’s happening on the OpenLab now? Join the faculty discussion in the Faculty Community Hub!
UDL Collaborative at CUNY SPS
Join the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Collaborative at our first meeting in the new year, scheduled for Monday, January 13 from 12.30-1.30pm ET. Please use this link to register.
All CUNY SPS faculty and staff are welcome: whether you’re a regular attendee or have never joined us before, we’d love to have you participate. This January meeting will be an opportunity to reconnect, share ideas, and continue fostering our collective commitment to Universal Design for Learning.
Help us plan future meetings! We’ve created a short survey to gather your input on your interest in sharing an ongoing project or idea at a future UDL Collaborative meeting, as well as your availability for future meetings so we can schedule at times that work best for everyone.
We appreciate your input, thank you!
Faculty Corner
Granting Extra Time and Special Access for Quizzes and Assignments
Submitted by Curtis Izen (BUS):
Brightspace’s Special Access feature allows you to modify quiz and assignment settings for individual students without affecting the entire class. Whether a student needs extra time, a different due date, or multiple submission attempts, this can be achieved in Brightspace.
To grant special access, first locate the quiz or assignment in your course, then edit the activity. For quizzes, click the down arrow next to the quiz and select “Edit,” and for assignments, click the down arrow next to the assignment and select “Edit Assignment.” Click to expand the Availability Dates and Condition section and select Manage Special Access. Choose Allow Selected Users Special Access to this quiz/assignment. To add special access users, click Add Users to Special Access. You can adjust such settings as due dates, time limits, or number of attempts for specific students. Finally, save your changes.
If you have a pedagogical tip from your new experiences in Brightspace (in 200 words or less!) that you think might help others, we would love to hear from you and add your submission to our next Faculty Newsletter! You can use our Faculty Corner Submission Form to submit.
As always, OFDIT is here to help! We are available for one-on-one support and are also happy to schedule a Zoom call to discuss any questions you may have. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at facultysupport@sps.cuny.edu.
All the Best,
Your OFDIT Team
