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Getting Started
Before you start building your module / unit / course in Brightspace, you should think about how you will deliver it online. You will need to consider the learning outcomes for the module / unit / course and think about whether they can be accomplished through online delivery. You will also need to think about the content, the activities and the assessment to make sure that they are fit for online delivery.
Download the workbook for Planning your module/unit/course for online delivery and use it to work through the questions on the following page.
As stated on the Choosing a conversion strategy page in the Pedagogy section of this resource, converting a face-to-face or blended learning module / unit / course to a completely online format usually involves a significant investment of time and collaborative effort from the academic and learning technology teams. Response to the COVID-19 restrictions means that this process needs to happen much quicker, under challenging circumstances, while attempting to protect the pedagogical and pastoral integrity of each module / unit / course.
In light of this, also remember that the pedagogical changes we support you to make in response to this crisis may not reflect an ideal or even typical online learning design strategy, and there is no substitute for a thorough digital or blended module / unit / course design process.
As stated on the Choosing a conversion strategy page as well, your module / unit / course conversion strategy should be based on the priorities of the module / unit / course and your learners.
Continue to the next page to find out more about evaluating the priorities of your module / unit / course and your learners.
Module / Unit / Course context
There are two different conversion strategy you can follow for moving your module / unit / course online - a Content conversion strategy and an Alternative delivery strategy.
Before you start and decide on a strategy, have a think about the context and priorities of your module / unit / course and your learners. You can record your answers to the questions below under Information about the module / unit / course context in the workbook you downloaded.
Click on the image opposite to see which part of the workbook you should be working with.
- What is the title of your module / unit / course? Which programme does your module / unit / course belong to?
- What is the audience for the module / unit / course? Will it be FE students, HN students or HE students?
- How many students will be enrolled on the module / unit / course?
- What is the current format of the module / unit / course - is it largely taught face to face, in a blended approach of face to face and online or is it already fully online?
- How long and how frequent are face to face or synchronous meetings at the moment?
- What types of face to face or synchronous activities and assessments are included in the module / unit / course?
- How familiar are student with Brightspace and other UHI core technologies?
Next, you will need to think about the learning outcomes, i.e. what you want the student to be able to do or know about after they have completed your module / unit / course. This too might have an impact on whether you choose a Content conversion strategy or a Alternative delivery strategy.
Module / Unit / Course learning outcomes
Any module / unit / course you teach on will have learning outcomes which determine what students should be able to do and know about at the end of the module / unit / course.
These learning outcomes can be found in handbooks, semester / module / unit / course maps and other module / unit / course documentation.
You can record your learning outcome under Information about the module / unit / course learning outcomes in the workbook you downloaded.
Click on the image below to see which part of the workbook you should be working with.
Thinking about these learning outcomes can help you decide whether you should go for a Content conversion strategy where you might accept that certain learning outcomes might not be achieved in the next semester or so due to the COVID-19 pandemic, or the Alternative delivery strategy where you can work on helping students achieve the learning outcomes via alternative assessment methods.
So either look to the documents listed above to find the learning outcomes or brainstorm them yourself. If you are new to learning outcomes, refer to this resource about Bloom's (revised) taxonomy which helps formulate clear learning outcomes.
Think about the following questions in relation to your learning outcomes:
- What format is the content students engage with to achieve the learning outcomes?
- Are there any particular instructional challenges in this module / unit / course, i.e. are there field trips and other instructional interventions which might be hard to duplicate in online delivery but are important for the students to participate in to achieve the learning outcomes?
- How are the learning outcomes assessed at the moment, i.e. are assessment of practical nature, are students taking a test, are students writing a paper?
You can also record thoughts about these questions under Information about the module / unit / course learning outcomes in the workbook you downloaded.
Click on the image opposite to see which part of the workbook you should be working with.
Content conversion vs. Alternative delivery
As stated on the Choosing a conversion strategy page and the Getting Started page of this resource, your module / unit / course conversion strategy should be based on the priorities of the module / unit / course and your learners. Hopefully jotting down some answers to the questions on the previous two previous pages will help as well.
If it is most important that the programme structure should change as little as possible, you should aim to transform existing content, activities and assessments into digitally-equivalent formats.
The benefit of this approach is that it will enable you to maintain the overall structure and delivery schedule and only find alternative formats for content and assessment when absolutely necessary.
A potential downside is that going with this approach might mean that some learning outcomes may not be achieved on time as you might not be able to transform all content, activities and assessments into digitally-equivalent formats.
If it is more important that students achieve the intended learning outcomes within original timescales, you may need to consider changing some of your delivery approach and structure.
It is possible to support learners to achieve the same learning outcomes in alternative ways, when social distancing might otherwise cause delay or other compromises. This might be achieved through project-based learning or a portfolio of work.
The strategy you go with might depend on a number of factors, including ...
- ... your answers to the questions on the previous two pages,
- ... how comfortable you and your students are using the VLE and other UHI core technologies,
- ... the needs of your particular module / unit / course.
For example, a content conversion strategy may be better suited to a theory-based module / unit / course, while practical modules / units / courses may need to be facilitated completely differently or risk delay / cancellation during the pandemic.
If the pedagogical approach changes significantly, be sure to carry out an equality impact assessment. The intended learning outcomes and subject matter to be covered, as detailed in approved course documentation, should not change without formal approval.
In this workbook, we will focus on the steps for a Content conversion strategy.
Some of these steps will also be relevant if you go for an Alternative delivery strategy but there will also be extra steps and more radical restructuring involved.
Mapping your content, activities and assessments
If you have decided to go for the Content conversion strategy, you will now need to think about how you will convert your existing content, activities and assessments. This will also be relevant if you go for an Alternative delivery strategy but there will also be extra steps and more radical restructuring involved.
As you work through this and the next couple of pages, you will be able to fill in a table under Mapping your content, activities and assessments in the workbook. This will help you to map out your content, activities and assessments against your current teaching method and a revised teaching method for online delivery.
Click on the image opposite to see which part of the table you should be working with initially.
Start by listing the following in column 2 of Table 2 in the workbook:
- content materials students are engaging with,
- face-to-face module / unit / course components that follow a common format, i.e. lectures,
- other face-to-face activities, i.e. a field trip, a group presentation, a lab experiment, etc.,
- other face-to-face activities students are doing during class,
- other activities students might be doing in-between classes at the moment and how these would normally be handed in by the student,
- assessments the students need to complete and the common format they follow, i.e. (group) presentation, (group) project, exam, paper, lab experiment, etc.
On the following pages, you will learn more about how you can plan the conversion of your module / unit / course content for online delivery. Our suggestion on how to convert your content will be loosely based on the SAMR model (Puentedura, 2006). For more information, review the page on Converting content using SAMR in the Pedagogy section.
Continue to the next page to find out about tools that are available in Brightspace and some first suggestions on what you can use them for.
Overview of the tools in Brightspace
Below you will find a list of Brightspace tools mapped against different categories that are important for the onlien delivery of your module / unit / course. You will also find some clickable accordions with a bit of further information about the tools.
Module / unit / course setup
- Content
- FAQ
- Glossary
- Surveys
Activities and Assessment
- Assignments
- Awards
- Bongo
- Chat
- Discussions
- ePortfolio
- Glossary
- Grades
- Groups
- Intelligent Agents
- Quizzes
- Rubrics
- Surveys
- Video Assignments
- Webex Meetings
- Webex Training
Communication
- Announcements
- Chat
- eMails
- Instant Messages
- Intelligent Agents
- Surveys
- Webex
Learner Management
- Classlist
- Grades
- Groups
In addition, you and students have access to the FAQ and Glossary tools. Use them to provide answers to frequently asked questions and to provide definitions for words or phrases students will regularly encounter in your module / unit / course.
Get quick feedback or questions from students via surveys built in the Brightspace Survey tool.
Activities in Brightspace can either be synchronous or synchronous:
- Synchronous activities are interactions between lecturers and students that happen in real time, for example a session in a virtual classroom via a virtual classroom or video conferencing tool. Synchronous activities will help your students feel part of the learning community of your module / unit / course as well as to explore topics with you or their pears and ask questions in real time.
- Asynchronous activities do not happen in real time and can be completed by students in their own time. These could be discussion boards or quizzes, either for assessment by the lecturer at the end of a topic or semester, or self-assessment quizzes. Asynchronous activities on the other hand are a great way to delve further into a topic via discussion boards or self-assessment quizzes.
You can replicate synchronous activities from face to face or blended modules / units / courses using one of the virtual classrooms integrated in Brightspace - Bongo, Webex Meetings or Webex Training.
Bongo is a great virtual classroom for staff who are new to teaching online and need a basic virtual classroom that can accomodate up to 50 participants at a time. You will have a whiteboard available, can share your screen and can use a polling function to engage your students. Webex Meetings is similar to Bongo but can accomodate more than 50 participants at a time. On top of the screensharing function, a whiteboard and polling, Webex Training comes with the option to break large cohorts up into smaller groups for discussions, etc. using the Breakout room functionality. The Webex integration also comes with an office hours function which will make it easy for you to schedule short 1:1 appointments with students.
You can also use the Brightspace Chat tool for synchronous activities where you do not require the use of a webcam.
The Brightspace Discussion tool is yet another means to facilitate an activity. In fact, we recommend that you could use a discussion board in preparation of a synchronous virtual classroom session or for a follow up activtiy. You can also use the Discussion tool to facilitate discussions you would have had during face to face sessions. When using the discussion board, consider setting up any activities facilitated in this tool as asynchronous activities, giving students time to contribute in their own time.
Another type of activity that could accompany a face to face session or be an activity on its own could consist of asking students to contribute their own definitions via the Brightspace Glossary tool. While you can use the Glossary as a content creation tool on your own to provide students with definitions, consider asking students to participate themselves in curating discussions, allowing them to co-create some of their learning materials. Just like the Discussion tool, we would recommend that you use the Glossary tool as an asynchronous teaching tool.
Other tools which could be used for asynchronous activities are the Brightspace Assignments, Quizzes, Surveys and Video Assignments tools as well as the Brightspace ePortfolio.
Brightspace Assignments and Discussions can furthermore be used in conjunction with the Brightspace Groups tool which can help you facilitate group activities in the Virtual Learning Environment.
- Formative assessments are assessments for learning. They help students to self-assess where they are in their learning and to take next steps to improve their learning. Formative assessments most commonly do not carry a mark. The experience and any feedback or feedforward from such assessments or activities is rather meant to help students continue to improve.
- Summative assessments are assessments of learning. They are most commonly used at the end of a topic or semester assess a student's achievement. Therefore, summative assessments are commonly linked to a mark.
It is very likel that some of your activities will also serve as formative assessments.
When it comes to summative assessments, you can use the Brightspace Assignments tool for assessments where students need to upload an artifact such as an essay, a paper, etc. However, you can also use assignment folders for storing any feedback for presentations students give or for procedures you observed the student doing. Any assignments you create in the Brightspace Assignments tool can be evaluated using Brightspace rubrics and can be linked to the Brightspace Grades tool.
Use the Brightspace Quizzes tool if you require students to complete any type of exam with questions. There are a number of different question types available via the Brightspace Quizzes tool, including MCQ, True / False, Multi Select, Short Answer, Written response, etc. Quizzes, just like assignments, can be linked to the Brightspace Grades tool.
If you require students to collect evidence throughout the semester, consider using the Brightspace ePortfolio where students can upload evidence and complete reflections.
You will also have access to the Brightspace Video Assignments tool which is great for students recording presentations or for answering questions orally rather than via a written assignment or an exam.
Give students instant feedback or reward them using either the Intelligent Agents tool or the Awards tool in Brightspace.
There are several ways you can communicate with students but we would recommend that you choose one or two of the tools below before the beginning of the semester and stick to using them throughout the semester so students know how you will be communicating with them.
Announcements are a great way of communicating with students directly via Brightspace. Announcements will appear on the module / unit / course homepage and if students are using the Brightspace app Pulse, they will also receive a notification there. Students can furthermore opt into receiving notification emails about new announcements by changing their Brightspace Notification settings.
You can also communicate with students by sending them eMails via the Brightspace module / unit / course classlist or by sending one or more students an IM via the Instant Messages function in Brightspace.
If you would like to automate communication with students, you can use Brightspace Intelligent Agents which can send automatic messages based on preconfigured conditions you set.
Use Brightspace Surveys to get feedback from students.
You can also communicate with students via the Brightspace Chat tool or by using the Webex integration which will allow you to schedule virtual office hours or 1:1 meetings with students.
The most important tool to manage your learners is the Brightspace Classlist which is an overview of who is enrolled on your module / unit / course.
If you would like to split a cohort enrolled on a module / unit / course into smaller groups, you can use the Brightspace Groups tool. This is particularly useful if you would like students to complete group assessments or group discussions.
You can keep a record of your students marks in your module / unit / course by setting up a gradebook in the Brightspace Grades tool.
Planning your content
We would also recommend having a particular look at the page Converting content using ABC, particularly under Acquisition and Investigation, and at the page ABC design using approved technologies where you will find information about UHI approved technologies and resources that can help you convert your content or find suitable alternatives.
We would also recommend that you make use of the resources in the Creating and sourcing content section.
As you work through this and the next page, you will be able to further complete your table under Mapping your content, activities and assessments in the workbook.
Click on the image opposite to see which part of the workbook you should be working with.
- Is the content in a format that can easily be uploaded, i.e. PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint presentation?
- Is the content in its current format and sequence engaging for students or might it need some restructuring and / or additions to keep students engaged while they work through the content?
- If you use your existing content, is there a good mixture of content formats, i.e. text based content, audio-visual content?
Planning your activities and assessments
We would also recommend having a particular look at the pages Converting content using SAMR and Converting content using ABC, and at the page ABC design using approved technologies where you will find information about UHI approved technologies and resources that can help you convert your activities or find suitable alternatives.
We would recommend that in addition to the workbook you are already working in, you also download and use Workbook for planning your assessments which will help you plan your summative assessments and any formative assessment you want / need to add to your module / unit / course.
As you work through this page, you will be able to further complete your table under Mapping your content, activities and assessments in the workbook.
Click on the image opposite to see which part of the workbook you should be working with.
- How will you handle synchronous activities that were delivered face-to-face before?
Some teacher led activities and demonstrations might also lend themselves to recording them. For more information, refer to the Video and screencasts section under Creating and Sourcing content.
- How will you handle other face-to-face activities, such as field trips, group presentations, lab experiments, etc.?
- How will you handle other face-to-face activities students are completing during class and assessments students are completing in person?
- How will you handle other activities students might have completed inbetween classes? How will students submit these?
