Prepare for the first week of classes
| Contact TLT | |
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Email: tlt@winona.edu Chat: All TLT staff use Teams chat Zoom: 7:30 am to 5:00 pm weekdays, find meeting link on D2L homepage Phone: 507-547-5240
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Instructors can use the checklists included in this article to prepare for the first week of classes. Check off relevant, technology-related tasks, such as configuring your Brightspace course shells, creating Microsoft Teams sites, scheduling Zoom meetings, providing access to LinkedIn Learning content, and requesting custom student support. This article assumes general familiarity with the corresponding tools and services. If you are new to WSU or just haven't used one of these tools or services before, consult our New Faculty Guide for help with the basics.
New for Fall 2024
D2L Brightspace Changes
In July 2024, Brightspace added an Automatic Zero feature. The Automatic Zero feature allows a score of zero (0) to be automatically applied to unsubmitted student activities after the due date passes. Check out the release notes for specific details.
Software Updates
Ensure that you and your students are prepared to use the latest versions of the following applications. Consult the corresponding checklist below for update instructions if needed.
- Zoom
- Kaltura Capture
- Respondus Lockdown Browser
- Airtame
D2L Brightspace
| Checklist Item | Description and More Information |
|---|---|
| Sandboxes | Create your own sandbox courses to use as master copies of your official courses. Use sandboxes to develop courses and collaborate with colleagues. |
| Find courses | Find your current courses on the homepage. Pin and unpin courses as needed. |
| Merge courses | Request to combine multiple sections into one, larger course. Do this before adding content or activities to the individual sections. |
| Check class lists | Ensure students are enrolled in your courses. Brightspace class lists are refreshed against official class lists every morning. |
| Set start/end dates | Set your course start and end dates to control when and for how long students can enter your course. Courses start on the first Monday at midnight by default. |
| Copy course components | Save time by copying forward various Brightspace course components from previous courses. |
| Add new content and activities | You can upload handouts, slides, and other course materials, add links to external websites, and develop a table of contents for your course. |
| Activate Lockdown Browser | If you copied quizzes that used Respondus Lockdown Browser (LDB) from another course, you must allow all your copied quizzes to load into the Lockdown Browser tab of the Quiz Tool in your current course. |
| Build grade book | Set up your Brightspace gradebook to record and present grades to students. |
| Customize homepage | If desired, you can customize your Brightspace course homepages to your specifications. This includes adding custom navigation and widgets. |
| Post welcome announcement | Add a welcome message to your course homepage using the Announcements tool. |
| Send welcome email | Send an email to students welcoming them to the course using the Email Tool. |
| Add assistants and tutors | Contact TLT (tlt@winona.edu) if you want to add teaching assistants or tutors to your Brightspace courses. |
Respondus LockDown Browser and Monitor
If you would like to use Monitor, please contact TLT (tlt@winona.edu)to ensure there are enough seats in the license. There is a charge for using Monitor - departments will be billed at the end of the year.
| Checklist Item | Description and More Information |
|---|---|
| Remind your students to update their LDB | Respondus issues new versions of LockDown Browser frequently and it's important for your students to keep their version up to date. They can download and install LDB anytime at or through a practice quiz within Brightspace. |
| Create a practice quiz | Practice quizzes are an important part of using LockDown Browser. By creating a simple, no-wrong-answer quiz for LDB, your students will have a chance to ensure their LDB is properly installed before the high-stakes quiz in the class. |
Zoom
| Checklist Item | Description and More Information |
|---|---|
| Create new meeting | If you are not using your Personal Meeting, create a new meeting to use for the upcoming term. The meeting can be scheduled or open. Each meeting has a unique link and ID. |
| Check meeting security | Review your security settings to avoid Zoom-bombing. Consider setting safeguards such as authentication, a passcode, and a waiting room. Review how to adjust security while facilitating a live meeting |
| Provide meeting information | Provide your students with the relevant meeting information, including the meeting link, ID, password, and telephone access code. |
| Prepare your students | Provide students with meeting links and IDs. Remind them to install/update Zoom, sign in using their StarID, and test their connection in advance. |
Kaltura MediaSpace
| Checklist Item | Description and More Information |
|---|---|
| Install the latest version of Kaltura Capture | Kaltura periodically updates Kaltura Capture to add new features and fix known problems. It is best practice to update your version of Kaltura Capture at least at the start of each semester. There are instructions in the article called Update to a new version of Kaltura Capture. |
| Ensure recordings contain current information | Review the recordings you intend to reuse in the new semester to ensure that all information is current and relevant to the new version of the course. You may need to rerecord some of the media. If that is the case, there is a plethora of information on the Kaltura MediaSpace page. |
| Provide closed captioning | If your videos are not already closed captioned, you can CC them by following the instructions at Closed captioning in MediaSpace. (ADA required closed captioning, so it is best to get it done.) |
| Check publishing | Be sure to set the publishing for any videos you intend to embed in your courses to Unlisted. See Publish a MediaSpace file for shared access for more information. |
Microsoft Teams
| Checklist Item | Description and More Information |
|---|---|
| Create Teams sites | Open the Teams application on your computer and create as many Teams sites as needed. |
| Configure site settings | Adjust the permissions and other settings in your Teams sites as needed. |
| Prepare channels | Configure any channels that must be ready prior to inviting students to the Teams site. |
| Inform students | Prior to adding your students as members, inform them that you will be using Teams, that they will be receiving an email invitation to your Teams site, and basic Teams access instructions available to them. |
| Add students as members | Provide students with meeting links and IDs. Remind them to install/update Zoom, sign in using their StarID, and test their connection in advance. TLT can bulk upload students to Microsoft Teams sites for you. Email TLT (tlt@winona.edu) for assistance. |
Microsoft OneNote Class Notebook
| Checklist Item | Description and More Information |
|---|---|
| Create OneNote Class Notebook | OneNote Class Notebook can be created from within each of your D2L BrightSpace classes. The benefit of integrating this way is that it will use the same course name and student list that is found within your course, saving you setup time. The article Adding a OneNote Class Notebook to a Brightspace course explains the entire process. |
| Add Additional Faculty | If you have other faculty teaching with you or a TA, you might need to add them in as co-teacher. This process of adding co-teachers is found Add or remove co-teachers in OneNote Class Notebook |
| Discover the Class Toolbar | Distributing pages, sections, or your entire content library is done through the Class Toolbar. Microsoft provides several different articles (see here) that explain why and how to use the Class Toolbar in your OneNote Class Notebooks. |
LinkedIn Learning
| Checklist Item | Description and More Information |
|---|---|
| Activate your account | Before you can use LinkedIn Learning, you will need to activate your LinkedIn Learning account. As a member of the WSU community, you have access to all of the resources of LinkedIn Learning under the university-paid site license. |
| Find courses that fit your need | Before you can incorporate any LIL modules in your teaching, you will need to find the appropriate LinkedIn Learning Course for your classroom needs. LinkedIn Learning includes courses for beginners to experts, each set up in short videos. Select a single video or an entire course. |
| Adding LinkedIn Learning modules to your course | Once you have found the right resources for your course, share LIL Content with a shareable link in your Brightspace course. |
| Collecting and sharing achievements | Your students will be awarded a certificate for each course they complete. As the teacher, you can require they share that certificate with you to ensure they have completed the work. There is an instructional video on certificate sharing available on LinkedIn Learning. |
Qualtrics
| Checklist Item | Description and More Information |
|---|---|
| Create Qualtrics account | You will not be able to utilize the WSU Qualtrics license without first creating a Qualtrics account. For additional information on attaining a Qualtrics account, refer to the Creating a Qualtrics account article. |
| Request account promotion | A generic Qaultrics account gives you access to many of the features within Qualtrics, but it will not let you publish or share surveys with others. To do that, you will need to request that your Qualtrics account be elevated. Refer to the Qualtrics article in the Knowledge Base for instructions. |
| Share instructions with your students | Students have equal access to Qualtrics. If you plan on your students using Qualtrics in the semester, share these instructions with them. |
Adobe Creative Cloud
| Checklist Item | Description and More Information |
|---|---|
| Request access to Creative Cloud | Before you can use any of the Adobe Creative Cloud applications (like Acrobat or Photoshop), you will need to be granted access to the Creative Cloud suite. There is a very simple, one-button form that you must complete to get access. This only needs to be done once, so if you have had access in the past, you can skip this step. There are instructions on filling out the form in the Adobe Creative Cloud article. Granting access is often on overnight operation, so allow time for the processing to occur. |
| Install Adobe CC application | If you have never installed the Creative Cloud application or you exchanged your old laptop for a new model, the CC app would be installed next. The Adobe Creative Cloud article also contains instructions for application installation. |
| Install individual Adobe applications | From the Creative Cloud application, install any Adobe applications you plan to use in the semester. |
| Share instructions with your students | Students have equal access to the Adobe Creative Cloud. If you plan on your students using any of the Adobe products in the semester, share these instructions with them. |
Classroom technology
Even if you have taught in the room before, please visit your classrooms and test the devices and media you plan to use this semester. Connect your laptop to the projector, try the document camera, test the audio, play a YouTube movie, and so on. If you are teaching via Zoom, we would be happy to assist you while you practice (e.g., switch cameras, switch between audience cameras and your laptop). Note that we no longer support the use of overhead projectors or VHS tape players in classrooms. While these tools may still be found in some classrooms, we are no longer maintaining them centrally.
- Wireless projection. Three hundred of our standard classrooms provide wireless display option for both Mac's and PC's via Airtame. If you need for assistance for this application, please contact TLT.
Schedule custom student support
If you are asking your students to use technology this semester to complete a class activity (e.g., class project, group work), TLT will work with you to develop custom, course-specific student support. This could involve TLT-led workshops, online learning material, or some combination of live and online support. Contact TLT (tlt@winona.edu) to discuss your student custom support needs.
Select LinkedIn Learning courses
You and all of your students have access to the entire online course library. LinkedIn Learning courses cover basic through advanced technology, graphic design, photography, and other topics. Consider using LinkedIn Learning content, either an entire course or selected instructional videos, as a required or optional learning activity for your students. Learn more about LinkedIn Learning and activate your account. Contact TLT (tlt@winona.edu) to discuss how to set your class up as a group in LinkedIn Learning so that you can track your students' progress.
Identify your video production needs
If you are interested in creating videos to support your courses, WSU offers several solutions for both recording classroom activities live and recording videos in a more controlled, studio environment. Instructors can use such tools as Kaltura MediaSpace, Techsmith Camtasia, iMovie, and Adobe Premiere to capture and produce video content. Videos can be published to a variety of locations for online access. TLT can assist you with everything from recording your lectures and capturing student presentations and performances for assessment purposes to giving you tips on recording lecture material in the comfort of our studio spaces or your office. Please contact TLT (tlt@winona.edu) if you have any questions or need any help.
Ask for help
Contact TLT (tlt@winona.edu) for assistance with any of these tasks.