DLE Weekly Update: Hiding Grades, DLE KB and Zoom Resources

Hiding Grades in Brightspace

We all know that hiding grades in Brightspace sometimes presents a challenge, as it depends on the type of gradebook columns. We NOW have a great video created by Tamara and Vanessa, explaining in details how to hide two types of gradebook columns: associated with a Brightspace activity (quiz, assignment or discussion) and columns without any associations.

Important: After following the steps outlined in this video, also make sure that your final calculated grade column is hidden, as students can access the grades for hidden columns by clicking on the small calculator icon, beside their percentage for the final calculated grade!

If you need to learn How to Hide the Final Calculated Grade column, this article shows you the steps you need to take.

Reminder: Digital Learning Environment Knowledge Base (DLEKB)

We would like to remind you to check our Digital Learning Environment Knowledge Base that contains more than 150 articles on various Brightspace tools. Please know that we read and welcome your feedback on these articles. Keep them coming and send us suggestions for new articles.

Zoom Resources

As many of you are teaching for the first time using Zoom, we have put together a list of Zoom resources that we hope you will find helpful. This video created by LTS provides a quick guide on almost everything you need to know about Zoom.

How do I schedule a Zoom meeting? 

1. You can schedule it from within your Brightspace course – ideal for when you give lectures to your students. After you schedule the meeting, the link to the new meeting will automatically show up in your students’ course calendar. They will have access to the meeting on the date and time you chose in the meeting’s settings. Note that your students won’t need to sign up for a Zoom account, as they will automatically have access to your Zoom classroom, as participants.
2. Via the portal or the application, outside your Brightspace course, by signing into the Algonquin College Zoom Portal – recommended for small groups’ meetings, when the participants don’t have Brightspace accounts and/or you don’t want your students to join the meeting by mistake. 

How do I set up my Zoom account?

When you first access Zoom Classroom from within your Brightspace course,  your Zoom account is automatically created for you. If you don’t have a Brightspace course, but you need to schedule Zoom meetings, you will create the account via the Algonquin College Zoom portal.

How do I manage my Zoom recordings?

Read our KB article on How to manage your Zoom Recordings in Brightspace. Zoom recordings of sessions that are scheduled through Brightspace via Tools > Zoom Classroom, and saved to the cloud, are no longer automatically shared with students in the Brightspace course. Previously, a link to the recording would appear immediately for students via Tools > Zoom Classroom, under Cloud Recordings. This KB article explains How to Publish Zoom Cloud Recordings.

How do I deal with Zoom in Combined/Merged courses.

This article explains how to set up Zoom meetings in a Combined/Merged Course.

Zoom Breakout Rooms

If you are using breakout rooms in ZOOM when delivering your class lecture, and you would like to allow your students to choose the room they want to be in, please note that the “Let participants choose room” option is available to select during a ZOOM meeting, but ONLY for the versions 5.3 or newer. Update your software from your Zoom app or from your profile under the Algonquin College Zoom portal.