Course Readiness Checklist

Here instructors can follow the checklist to verify that their course is ready to be taught.
Is your course ready for the next term? Use the checklist below!

• Course start and end date are set. [Details]

• The content has been copied into your new course shell (if applicable). [Details]

• Course Outline, CSI, and contact information have been posted [Details]

• Gradebook is set up. [Details]

• Grades are error free. [Details]

• Activitiess and Intelligent Agents have correct dates and are active [Details]

• Assessments/Activities are linked to Grades [Details]

• Course merge/combine has been requested (if teaching multiple sections) [Details]

• You know how to manage enrollments [Details]

• You know how to get extra support with Brightspace [Details]

Course start and end date are set

The Start Date will control when students are able to access the course and when they start receiving notifications and emails from the course. Ensure you give your course the correct start and end dates by going to Tools > Course Admin > Course Offering Information.

Scroll down until you see the Start Date and End Date setting options.

The content has been copied from one of your past courses into your new course shell (if applicable)

If you have content, assignments, grade items or any other materials from a previous shell that you would like to use again, you will need to copy them to your new semester shell.

For more information, check out this guide to Copy a Course (or course components).

Course Outline, CSI, and contact information have been posted in a Course Information module

The Learning Management System Policy (AA42) includes a list of elements to include in Brightspace courses, to address the need that students have expressed for more consistency in the LMS.

• Course Outline & CSI (see AA42 Policy: #4b, c) – Students would like to access these documents in each course, navigating to them in the same way.
• Contact Information (see AA42 Policy: #4a) – Students would like to be able to easily put a face to a name for each course shell, as well as knowing how and when is best to reach you.

Gradebook is set up

The first time you go to Progress > Grades you will see the Grades Setup Wizard.

Note: You don’t need to run the Setup Wizard as the preferred settings have already been applied by LMS Admin.

• To start creating Grade Items, click Grades > Manage Grades > New > Item. For more information, see Creating Grade Items.
• If you want to To organize your grade items you may do so by using Grade Categories. Please visit our article on Using Grade Categories.
• In order to check your existing grade items, go to > Grades > Manage Grades on the Navbar.

Grades are error-free

Set up Grade Items with point values and weights so that your total weighting equals 100%. If this is not the case, you will see an error message on the Enter Grades and Manage Grades pages.

Learn more about your course Gradebook and find out how to create Brightspace grade items in our article about Creating Grade Items.

Assignments, Quizzes, Discussions and Intelligent Agents have correct start/end and due dates, and are active (or inactive, as preferred)

You can use start dates and end dates to control the availability of certain activities. Adding due dates to them populates the Brightspace calendar, making it much easier for students to see when tasks are due across their program. For information on how to set up your activities, check these resources:

• To learn how to create an Assignment and basic elements of an assignment visit our article: Creating an Assignment
• Discussions are a great activity to encourage students’ input, more in our article: Setting Up a Discussion
• To learn about the basic elements of a Quiz and how to create a Quiz vist the article: Creating a Quiz
• Wondering how to use and edit an Intelligent Agent? More in our article: Creating an Intelligent Agent

Assessments/Activities are linked to Grades

Once you have created your assessments, make sure you link them to a grade item.

Check out our article How to Associate an Activity and D2L’s video on How to Associate an Assignment for more details on how to make these links between activities and your gradebook.

Course merge/combine has been requested (if teaching multiple sections)

Combining your sections into one course shell allows you to work with a single version of your course content and assignments, which you can sort and release by section.

• To request a combined course, please send the course codes and sections numbers to brightspace@algonquincollege.com
• To learn how to use combined courses in Brightspace, refer to our tip sheet here: Managing a Combined Course

You know how to manage enrollments

If you already know how to change user roles, enroll students, add additiona instructors and all that comes with it, that’s it!

• Do you need to add users to your course? Check our article about Enrolling Users in a Course
• Do you need to change enrollments you have made? See here: Changing Enrollment and Unenrolling Users in a Course
• Want to understand the differences in roles? See our table with descriptions here: User Roles

You know how to get extra support with Brightspace

Look for your questions in our Knowledge Base, we may already have an answer for you! You may also check out the course Brightspace Essentials for Faculty for tutorials, resources and step-by-step guides on how to use Brightspace. If all else fails, do not hesitate to contact us at brightspace@algonquincollege.com following the steps as outlined in our How to get assistance guide.