Course Copy Improvements

After the update on December 18th, copying your courses in BOLT will get easier to do.

Copying External Learning Tool Links

Copying External Learning Tool links such as links for blogs, wikis, journals, etc., used to result in broken links in your new course. After the update, External Learning Tool links copied into Content will no longer result in broken links in your new course.

Copying Content with Quicklinks

Copying content that contains Quicklinks to External Learning Tool links is also improved.

Quicklinks will point to the tools in the new course, no longer resulting in broken links.

Build Your 2016Spring Course Workshop

Would you like hands on help building your 2016Spring courses?

Join us for the Build Your 2016Spring Course Workshop!

The IMDC will be holding a hands on workshop to help you build your 2016Spring courses.

We will help you copy course components, set up groups, group assignments, and group discussions create quizzes... whatever you want to build, we will help you build it so you are ready to start off the Spring semester in style.

When: Wednesday, December 16, 2015 at 2pm
Where: Andruss Library 243
How: YOU MUST REGISTER TO ATTEND. Please register at http://tinyurl.com/IMDC16Spring

Bring any new content and/or course materials to the workshop in a digital format, either on a flash drive or on your P drive.

If you have any questions please contact Julie Wolfe at jwolfe2@bloomu.edu.

New to BOLT November 19: EBSCO Curriculum Builder

BOLT is pleased to announce the integration of the new EBSCO tool Curriculum Builder. The tool will be available to instructors November 19th.

What can you expect from Curriculum Builder?

BOLT Will Be Unavailable November 8, 2015 from 1:00AM to 7:00AM

Every month, BOLT undergoes a maintenance window. This month’s maintenance window is on Sunday, November 8, 2015 from 1:00am to 7:00am ET. BOLT will be unavailable during this time. Please plan accordingly. 

Maintenance Window FAQ

Q: Where are the maintenance dates announced?

A: Maintenance dates are announced here on our BOLT Students blog, our BOLT Blog for faculty, and in the News items on your My Home page in BOLT.

Q: What will happen if I try to log in during a maintenance period?

A: A page will load that says Desire2Learn is unavailable due to scheduled maintenance.

Q: Why am I still seeing a page that tells me D2L is unavailable after the maintenance window?

A: If you tried to login to BOLT during the maintenance window, your browser may be loading the scheduled maintenance page from its cache memory. If you encounter this page outside of the maintenance window, please clear your browser cache before trying to login to BOLT again.

• Clear your browser cache in Internet Explorer
• Clear your browser cache in Firefox
• Clear your browser cache in Chrome
• Clear your browser cache in Safari

Q: This is a bad time for BOLT to be unavailable. Can maintenance be rescheduled?

A: We understand frustration when BOLT downtime occurs during busy times of the academic year. Unfortunately, we cannot reschedule the maintenance windows. The IMDC has no control over the regularly scheduled maintenance windows. They are scheduled by our vendor and are necessary to keep BOLT working optimally. 

Build Your 2016Spring Course Workshop

The IMDC will be holding a hands on workshop to help you build your 2016Spring courses.

We will help you copy course components, get groups, group assignments, and group discussions set up, create quizzes... whatever you want to build, we will help you build it so you are ready to start off the Spring semester in style.

When: Wednesday, December 16, 2015 at 2pm
Where: Andruss Library 243
How: YOU MUST REGISTER TO ATTEND. Please register at http://tinyurl.com/IMDC16Spring

Bring any new content and/or course materials to the workshop in a digital format, either on a flash drive or on your P drive.

If you have any questions please contact Julie Wolfe at jwolfe2@bloomu.edu.

2015Winter and 2016Spring Courses

2015Winter courses are now in available in BOLT. Students will be added to courses December 1st.

2016Spring courses will be available in BOLT November 19. Students will be added to courses January 5th.

Remember: Students will not see courses until professors activate them! You may want to let your students know if you plan to use BOLT or not before classes begin.

Respondus LockDown Browser Available in BOLT

RLDB is a custom browser that locks down the testing environment within BOLT. When students use Respondus LockDown Browser they are unable to print, copy, go to another URL, access other applications, or close a quiz until it is submitted for grading.

RLDB is available to all Bloomsburg University students and can be requested to be installed in computer labs on campus.

If you use RLDB, your students will need to download and install RLDB to any computer they take quizzes on. RLDB can be downloaded at http://www.respondus.com/lockdown/download.php?id=666246493

There is information in the BOLT Help Course (Tools Integrated with BOLT > Respondus LockDown Browser) to get you started using Respondus LockDown Browser.


For questions about Respondus LockDown Browser or any other BOLT topics, you can contact BOLT Support and the IMDC at bolthelp@bloomu.edu or by calling (570)389-2888.

QuickLinks - QuickLinks tool no longer inserts http:// by default

As of October 17, 2015, the URL field in the Quicklinks tool no longer has http:// automatically inserted to assist users in forming URLs with correct syntax. The field is now blank before you enter a URL.

Copy Course Components - Improved copy content settings

The Content Display Settings copy the settings controlled by org unit configuration, including Content Arrangement and Navigation display options, and completion status tracking. You can access these settings from the Content > Settings popup window. Previously, if you selected Content display settings from the Copy Selected Components workflow, these items were not properly copied. The update on October 16, 2015 ensures that the Content Settings are all copied as expected when you use the Copy Course Components and Bulk Course Copy options.

The middle part of this dialog (Content Authoring) contains settings that are not included in a course copy.

BOLT Will Be Unavailable October 11, 2015 from 1:00AM to 7:00AM

Every month, BOLT undergoes a maintenance window. This month’s maintenance window is on Sunday, October 11, 2015 from 1:00am to 7:00am ET. BOLT will be unavailable during this time. Please plan accordingly. 

Maintenance Window FAQ

Q: Where are the maintenance dates announced?

A: Maintenance dates are announced here on our BOLT Students blog, our BOLT Blog for faculty, and in the News items on your My Home page in BOLT.

Q: What will happen if I try to log in during a maintenance period?

A: A page will load that says Desire2Learn is unavailable due to scheduled maintenance.

Q: Why am I still seeing a page that tells me D2L is unavailable after the maintenance window?

A: If you tried to login to BOLT during the maintenance window, your browser may be loading the scheduled maintenance page from its cache memory. If you encounter this page outside of the maintenance window, please clear your browser cache before trying to login to BOLT again.

• Clear your browser cache in Internet Explorer
• Clear your browser cache in Firefox
• Clear your browser cache in Chrome
• Clear your browser cache in Safari

Q: This is a bad time for BOLT to be unavailable. Can maintenance be rescheduled?

A: We understand frustration when BOLT downtime occurs during busy times of the academic year. Unfortunately, we cannot reschedule the maintenance windows. The IMDC has no control over the regularly scheduled maintenance windows. They are scheduled by our vendor and are necessary to keep BOLT working optimally. 

Respondus LockDown Browser Workshops

RESPONDUS LOCKDOWN BROWSER (Coming to BOLT in October 2015)

Do you use the Quizzes tool BOLT? If so, you may want to learn more about Respondus LockDown Browser. We now have a campus-wide license. 

LockDown Browser is a custom browser that locks down the testing environment within BOLT. 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 it’s submitted for grading. For a complete list of features, visit the Respondus website at www.respondus.com/ldb.

For more information on Respondus LockDown Browser and how it works with D2L (Brightspace), view this introductory video to RLDB. 

We will be offering several workshops on Respondus LockDown Browser in Andruss Library room 243. The workshop dates/times are as follows:

• Monday, September 28^th -  3:00 – 4:30PM
• Tuesday, September 29^th -  9:00 – 10:30AM
• Thursday, October 1^st – 2:00 – 3:30PM
• Monday, October 5^th – 3:00 – 4:30PM
• Wednesday, October 7^th – 9:00 – 10:30AM
• Thursday, October 8^th  - 8:30 – 10:00AM

YOU MUST REGISTER BY SEPTEMBER 25TH IN ORDER TO ATTEND. Please go to http://tinyurl.com/RLDBtraining to register for the workshop. All sessions are the same so you will only be able to register for ONE.

Groups – Enhancements to improve usability and administration

Arriving September 18, 2015, enhancements have been made to the Groups tool that enable learners to join groups more easily, and give instructors and administrators the option to set up and manage groups more efficiently. The enhancements are as follows:

• When creating or editing a group category, the Enrollment Type called # of Groups of # - Self Enrollment has been changed to # of Groups, Capacity of # - Self Enrollment to clarify its usage. 
• When creating or editing a group category, a Group Prefix field is now present. 

New Category page in Groups tool showing new enrollment type and group prefix

• When creating or editing a group category that supports self enrollment, a Set Self Enrollment Expiry Date option is now available. 
• When creating or editing a category, and when Set Self Enrollment Expiry Date is selected, the Allocate unenrolled users after Self Enrollment Expiry Date option can also be selected. 

Self Enrollment options available when editing a Category

• Once a category and groups with capacities have been created, capacity markers display (in the form x/y where x is the number of enrolled students and y is the capacity).
• Students can now see the names of the members of each group before they enroll. 
• Students can now leave a group after they have self enrolled if they choose to enroll into a different group. 

Changes to Copy Selected Components workflow

Beginning September 18, 2015, Copy Selected Components is moving to an asynchronous job to avoid copy timeouts when copying large courses.

Copy Course Components on the Import/Export/Copy Components page

You are able to start the copy process and check the progress on the History page, which enables you to perform other tasks while the copy process is underway.

Copy Course Components - View History

News - Recover deleted News items

Beginning on September 18, 2015, BOLT users will be able to restore deleted news items within their courses. If you delete a news item and realize you shouldn't have, you can now restore the deleted news item right in BOLT.

If you accidentally delete a news item, you can

1. On your course home page, click the News link
2. On the News page, click the More Actions button
3. Select Restore

The Restore option from the More Actions button on the News page

4. On the Restore News page, select the checkbox beside the news item you want to restore

5. Click the Restore button

The Restore News page showing a News item that was accidentally deleted

ReadSpeaker docReader Coming to BOLT in September 2015

ReadSpeaker docReader is coming to BOLT in September. docReader lets you view and listen to documents in BOLT on any device.

The BOLT Bulletin in ReadSpeaker docReader

Features

View, zoom, and listen to a wide variety of document formats in BOLT

Choose between two different layout modes

Navigate using the document's table of contents or use thumbnail navigation to go to different pages

Use docReader on your PC or your mobile device- docReader has a touch-friendly user interface and HTML5 support for iOS and Android devices

docReader lets BOLT users view and listen to documents in BOLT from any browser or mobile device. A toolbar at the top of docReader enables you to

Campus Pack Grade Sync

You can now create grade items and assess students from within blogs, journals, and wikis!

A collage showing the grade and assessment feature now integrated with blogs, journals, and wikis

Just follow the usual process to add a blog, journal, or wiki to your course content and set up the tool.

Copy Course Components - User information in History page

You can now see who copied a course through the existing Copy Course Components History page.

Copy Course Components History showing the username associated with the course copy action

Dropbox - Track deleted submissions

The File Submissions area of Dropbox has a log that can be filtered to determine if and when a learner submitted a file, and whether the learner or instructor deleted the submission. If a submission was accidentally deleted, you can restore it from the submission log.

Dropbox Submission Log with the Restore option

From the File Submissions area of Dropbox, users can click Submission log to view the submission information. Users can sort by submitted, deleted, restored, or started to determine if there are any submissions that meet the criteria.

Quizzes - Ability to set multiple IP address ranges to quiz restrictions

Instructors can now specify multiple IP address restrictions as ranges, with the option to add multiple IP address range restrictions. This new feature enables instructors to limit quiz availability to specific locations, such as computer labs or classrooms. This restriction ensures that users can only access a quiz from IP addresses in the specified IP address ranges.

New IP Restriction Range option in Quizzes in BOLT

You can set up IP restriction ranges on the Restrictions tab when editing a quiz.

BOLT Will Be Unavailable August 9, 2015 from 1:00AM to 7:00AM

Every month, BOLT undergoes a maintenance window. This month’s maintenance window is on Sunday, August 9, 2015 from 1:00am to 7:00am ET. BOLT will be unavailable during this time. Please plan accordingly. 

Maintenance Window FAQ

Q: Where are the maintenance dates announced?

A: Maintenance dates are announced here on our BOLT Students blog, our BOLT Blog for faculty, and in the News items on your My Home page in BOLT.

Q: What will happen if I try to log in during a maintenance period?

A: A page will load that says Desire2Learn is unavailable due to scheduled maintenance.

Q: Why am I still seeing a page that tells me D2L is unavailable after the maintenance window?

A: If you tried to login to BOLT during the maintenance window, your browser may be loading the scheduled maintenance page from its cache memory. If you encounter this page outside of the maintenance window, please clear your browser cache before trying to login to BOLT again.

• Clear your browser cache in Internet Explorer
• Clear your browser cache in Firefox
• Clear your browser cache in Chrome
• Clear your browser cache in Safari

Q: This is a bad time for BOLT to be unavailable. Can maintenance be rescheduled?

A: We understand frustration when BOLT downtime occurs during busy times of the academic year. Unfortunately, we cannot reschedule the maintenance windows. The IMDC has no control over the regularly scheduled maintenance windows. They are scheduled by our vendor and are necessary to keep BOLT working optimally. 

Subscribe to the BOLT Blog!

If you want to be alerted to updates to our blog, you can subscribe via RSS feed. Over at the top of the right hand column, you can subscribe to our posts, the comments posted on them, or both. When you subscribe, you will receive emails alerting you to new posts, comments, or both! 

Don't miss an update on the changes in BOLT, subscribe today!

Copy Course Components - Include associated files

This update makes it easier and faster for instructors to include associated files when copying components from one course to another. Previously, instructors had to select Course Files as well as Content in order to copy all associated files and prevent broken links. 

Now, when instructors use the Include associated files feature, D2L imports all files associated with selected course components to the new course. Users can select which content modules to copy rather than having to copy them all.

When the box is checked, all course files associated with the course component are copied to the new course.

Links and images in copied files remain intact. In addition, for content topics and modules, the feature analyzes HTML, HTM, and CSS files to retrieve any files referenced within them, such as embedded images, media, JavaScript, and CSS files. All these files are also copied, maintaining links and styles.

At this time, only direct links to files are processed. A D2L Quicklink is not processed. Instructors must manually select assignments, discussion topics, and content outside the course to copy any items associated by Quicklinks. A warning alerts users to what files did not copy.

See the list below for components and files included in the new feature.

• • • Content
    • • Overview description
      • Module and topic descriptions
      • Topic files
    • Question Library
    • • Sections - messages, comments, feedback
      • Questions - question text, answer options, feedback, and hints
    • Quizzes
    • • Sections - messages, comments, feedback
      • Questions - question text, answer options, feedback, and hints
      • Description
      • Introduction
      • Page header and footer
      • Submission view message
    • News
    • • Content
    • Dropbox
    • • Instructions
    • Discussions
    • • Forum and topic descriptions
    • Surveys
    • • Sections - messages, comments, feedback
      • Questions - question text, answer options, feedback, and hints
      • Description
      • Submission message
      • Page footer
    • Self Assessments
    • • Sections - messages, comments, feedback
      • Questions - question text, answer options, feedback, and hints
      • Page header and footer

Overdue assignments list added to the Course Schedule view

The Upcoming Events tab in Content has been renamed to Course Schedule. A new Overdue tab now appears in the Course Schedule view.

The Overdue tab only appears in the Course Schedule area when course activities are past the due date

Students can view a list of overdue assignments in the new Overdue tab in the Course Schedule view of the Content tool. Course activities that have a due date appear automatically in the Overdue list as soon as the due date passes. Only activities with an end date later than the due date (or no end date) appear in the list, to ensure that learners have time to complete the overdue activities. 

Learners can access an overdue activity directly from the list to complete it. Once the activity has been completed, it disappears from the list, and when all overdue items are completed, the Overdue tab disappears from the Course Schedule view.

The Overdue tab conveniently lists all overdue course tasks in one place so learners can more easily manage their time and workload. Overdue activities are sorted by most to least overdue.

Upcoming Events view renamed to Course Schedule view

The Upcoming Events view in Content has been renamed to Course Schedule.

You can click on the Course Schedule menu item to show any important dates in the course.

Welcome to the BOLT Blog

Hello and welcome to the BOLT blog. 

The Instructional Media and Design Center wants to make sure you know what's going on and being updated in BOLT.

We have created this blog in response to an instructional technology survey. An overwhelming number of respondents indicated that they would like to be able to subscribe to updates so here we are.

This blog will detail updates to BOLT and any other BOLT related information you need.

Thank you for stopping by and don't forget to subscribe if you want updates when we post!