BlazeVIEW Instructor Quick Start Guides

Valdosta State University uses the D2L Brightspace learning management system (LMS), which is branded BlazeVIEW. BlazeVIEW allows instructors to organize course materials, connect with students, enter grades, and more! Faculty can access BlazeVIEW using the link on the top navigation bar after logging in to MyVSU. Review the guides in the sections below to discover more about the features and tools available in BlazeVIEW.

To access D2L Brightspace guided training and tutorials, register for a free Brightspace Community account.

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BlazeVIEW Homepage

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The BlazeVIEW homepage provides users with quick access to essential course components and administrative tools. Using the navigation bars at the top of the page, users can switch between different courses, check messages and notifications, access profiles, and update settings.

The homepage also includes sections of content called widgets. Widgets provide information and links to tools, such as Announcements, Content, Calendar, etc.

Navigate Brightspace and Find your Course

Change Personal Settings

Course Homepage

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The Course homepage is the first page users see when they access a course. It is used to share important information with students, including announcements and upcoming due dates. In addition to the default course homepage layout, instructors can choose from seven layout options that include different formats and widgets. Check out the Course Homepage Layout and Widgets Guide to review course homepage layout options and select the best option for your course.

Announcements Tool

Help boost engagement by scheduling announcements for frequent and regular communication to all learners enrolled in a course. Learners can set notification preferences to be made aware of important updates.

Calendar Tool

Display all upcoming events to learners in one spot. Post events such as project due dates, office hours, in-class events ,and more to the calendar.

View as Student

Instructors can temporarily assume the role of learners and view a course as they would. This view can assist instructors in understanding how their course appears to their learners.

 

Content

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Use the Content tool to add and organize course content so that users can clearly see information about course expectations, important dates, learning materials, and assessments. Course materials added to Content can include documents, images, media files, presentations, URL links, and existing course activities. Instructors can add descriptions, release conditions, and grade items to topics to ensure users navigate through course materials while fulfilling specific course requirements and learning expectations.

Add and Organize Learning Material in Content

Utilize Existing Course Content

To start your course, you can use the Content tool to import existing course content into a new course shell. You can import content by either copying an existing course or importing a course package.

 

 

 

 

BlazeVIEW HTML and Widgets Template

Preparing a BlazeVIEW course involves pulling together a variety of tools, resources, and information to help students succeed. To help make this process easier, we created a BlazeVIEW HTML and Widgets Template that can be imported into your course shell.

The template is designed to support best practices for online teaching and, in turn, student success, and includes customizable dynamic components to engage learners, such as:

  • An updated course homepage layout and three widgets that promote student engagement.
  • A Start Here module with a VSU HTML Syllabus, ready for personalization. Note: Update your syllabus to include the most current information provided the Provost's office on the Syllabi page.
  • A sample module with template pages and structure following best practices for linear course design.
  • The BlazeVIEW Student Guide module with step-by-step instructions for using BlazeVIEW.

Course Homepage Layout and Widgets Guide

The course homepage is the first thing students see when they enter your course. Selecting a homepage layout that suits your course, your teaching style, and your students’ needs ensures success for all.

BlazeVIEW Student Guide Module

The BlazeVIEW Student Guide module is available for instructors to import into any course. The guide provides students with direct access to videos and step-by-step instructions for essential BlazeVIEW tools and resources. This document explains how to download and import the zipped BlazeVIEW Student Guide Module into a course. 

Note: The BlazeVIEW HTML Template and Widgets Import file already contains an HTML version of the BlazeVIEW Student Guide.

Brightspace Editor

Brightspace Editor is the default content editor. Users can find Brightspace Editor nearly everywhere content is created in BlazeVIEW.

 

Assignments Tool

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The Assignments tool provides instructors with a comprehensive platform to administer and evaluate student work. Instructors can customize assignment settings, including due dates, instructions, and submission formats. Additionally, the Assignments tool integrates seamlessly with the gradebook, simplifying the grading process by automatically transferring grades and feedback.

Create an Assignment

Release Conditions and Special Access

Reorder, Edit, and Delete Assignments and Categories

Evaluate Assignments

Turnitin-Enabled Assignments

Turnitin is a comprehensive academic integrity tool designed to support instructors in maintaining the quality and authenticity of student work. Through its sophisticated technology, Turnitin scans submitted papers against an extensive database of sources, identifying similar content or improper citations. Instructors can access detailed reports highlighting similarities between submitted work and existing content, providing them with resources to help guide students toward proper research and citation practices. Check out our Turnitin webpage for more information.

 

 

 

Quizzes Tool

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The Quizzes tool is used to create online assessments using various question formats, such as multiple-choice, true/false, multi-select, matching, short answer, fill-in-the-blank, and written response. Quiz settings such as timing, randomization, and feedback can be customized to tailor assessments to meet the specific needs of a course or learner.

About Quizzes

Create and Manage Quizzes

Question Library

The Question Library is a central repository that stores and archives questions that you can share and reuse within a course. Instructors can create multiple collections within the Question Library to organize questions by type and topic. Using the Question Library promotes consistency and saves time by eliminating the need to recreate questions for each quiz.

About Question Library

Importing Questions Into the Question Library

Creating Question Library Questions

Managing the Question Library

Evaluate Quizzes

Some quiz questions are graded automatically, including multiple-choice, true/false, multi-select, and matching. More qualitative questions, like written response, must be evaluated manually using the options available in D2L.

Respondus LockDown Browser and Monitor

Respondus LockDown Browser is a custom browser that locks down the testing environment within the BlazeVIEW Quizzes tool. When students use LockDown Browser to access an exam, they are unable to print, copy, visit other websites, or access other applications. Once an assessment is started, students are locked into it until the assessment is submitted for grading.

Respondus Monitor is a fully automated proctoring solution that enables students to take online exams at any time of the day or night without pre-scheduling. It is an add-on to Respondus Lockdown Browser, so students do not have to download any additional software to take monitored exams.

For more information about Respondus LockDown Browser and Monitor, visit our Respondus webpage.

 

 

 

Discussions Tool

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Use the Discussions tool to foster active engagement, critical thinking, and collaborative learning among students. Set up forums and topics that provide a space for learners to share perspectives, ask questions, and debate ideas related to course content. Discussions allow students to articulate their thoughts, receive feedback from peers and instructors, and explore diverse viewpoints. Moreover, discussions promote a sense of community and belonging within the virtual classroom, facilitating meaningful interactions that enhance the overall learning experience.

About Discussions

Create Discussion Forums and Topics

Manage Discussion Forums and Topics

Evaluate Discussions

 

Grades Tool

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Grading is used to provide feedback and evaluate student work. However, effective feedback and grading are impossible without a well-thought-out grading scheme. Using the Grades tool, instructors can set up the gradebook for a course and associate individual grade items with other tools such as Assignments, Quizzes, and Discussions.

About Grades

Create a Grading System

Set Up Your Gradebook

Entering and Managing Grades

Quick Eval Tool

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The Quick Eval tool is located on the Navbar, and is designed to streamline the process of assessing and grading student submissions. It provides instructors with a centralized dashboard where they can quickly view and evaluate all pending student work across multiple courses. With Quick Eval, instructors can efficiently navigate through assignments, discussions, quizzes, and other assessments, easily providing feedback and assigning grades without needing to access each individual course separately.

Grade with Quick Eval

Rubrics Tool

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Use the Rubrics tool to create rubrics easily and efficiently within a course. Instructors can associate rubrics with assessments and grade items. During assessment, rubrics can standardize the evaluation of learner work and facilitate the ability to provide feedback.

About Rubrics

Create a Rubric Using the Rubrics Tool

Course Admin

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Course Admin is a central location in BlazeVIEW for accessing tools related to setting up and managing a course. Following are just a few of the tools available in Course Admin.

Manage Dates Tool

Use the Manage Dates tool to view, bulk edit, and bulk offset the date availability and set the calendar status of course objects from one central location. Objects include Content topics and modules, Discussion topics and forums, Assignments, Grades, Announcements, and Quizzes.

 

Manage Files Tool

The Manage Files tool is a file management system for a course. Instructors can use this tool to organize and upload files associated with a course offering, as well as perform tasks such as creating, editing, deleting, uploading, moving files and folders, and zipping and unzipping files. Topics can also be created using files from the course content structure.

Use Course Admin to Monitor Learner Progress

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There are several tools in Course Admin instructors can use to help track student success and give students the ability to collaborate.

Classlist

Use the Classlist tool to view who is enrolled in a course, email individual students or the entire class, view group enrollments, verify the last time a student logged into the course, and print a roster. Instructors can also set up student accommodation for quizzes.

Email Tool

The Email tool allows users to send and receive emails from other users within BlazeVIEW. Users cannot send emails to or receive emails from external email accounts. The system automatically populates address books with contacts from the courses they are enrolled in.

Class Progress

The Class Progress tool tracks learners' overall progress as a course and individually. Use the Class Progress tool to track when a user accesses the course, a user's grades, completion of learning objectives, access of content topics, participation in discussions, assignment submissions, quiz submissions, checklist completion, survey responses, login history, and system access.

Groups Tool

The Groups tool organizes students into small groups for a specific project or activity. Instructors can then restrict discussion topics, content modules, grade items, or other parts of a course site to a specific group so that they are only visible to its members. In addition, instructors can create group submission folders that allow all students within a group to see feedback on files groups have submitted.

Intelligent Agents

The Intelligent Agent tool allows instructors to set up criteria to create a report of students who completed or did not complete an action within the course. Once an instructor sets up the criteria, they can enable automatic emails to students who meet the criteria. Example uses of Intelligent Agents include:

  • Course Activity: If the student has or has not accessed the course
  • Assignments: If a student has or has not submitted an assignment
  • Discussions: If a student has, or has not posted to a discussion topic
  • Quizzes: If a student has achieved a specific score, if they have completed a quiz attempt, or if they haven't completed a quiz attempt
  • Content: If a student has completed, not completed, viewed, or did not view a content topic
  • Grades: If a student received a specific score on a grade item or if they haven't completed a graded item

About Intelligent Agents

Set Up Intelligent Agents

Run Intelligent Agents

Awards

The Awards tool enables instructors to provide merit-based awards to learners. There are two types of awards: Badges, and Certificates.

Badges are awarded based on any criteria determined by the instructor. They are meant to provide digital markers that represent accomplishment throughout a course or program.

Certificates are also awarded based on criteria determined by the instructor. Certificates are similar to Badges, however, they include a PDF that users can print. Certificates typically indicate an official statement of certification or award at the end of a program, but can be awarded during the course for other criteria as well.