Update: Due dates now available in the Manage Dates tool

If you haven't used the Manage Dates tool before, now you have more reason to try it out: the tool now allows you to alter the due dates on all the items in your course.




To access Manage Dates, click Course Admin, then Manage Dates.




You can use the tool to modify dates for items in your course. You can do this one by one or select multiple items and use the bulk edit feature to modify many at once. (TIP: This is an excellent tool to save you time after a course copy, or if your course gets off schedule and you need to offset dates!)

Items in Manage Dates with the Due Date column highlighted.

Changes to BOLT and Blackboard Collaborate Coming Tomorrow!

Are you ready for the changes to BOLT and Collaborate coming your way tomorrow, May 19th?

Here is what is changing:

• New navigation menus on BOLT My Home page and Course Home page
• Course Administration widget replaced with ‘Course Admin’ link on Course Home page
• Role Switch widget replaced with option to change role under your name at the top of the page

View our video for information about these changes: http://www.screencast.com/t/OhPogz5GH85Q

• Online Rooms Tool (OLD version of Collaborate) no longer available
• Replaced with Zoom (email us at imdc@bloomu.edu to request a Zoom account) and new version of Collaborate called Ultra

View our video for information about these changes: http://www.screencast.com/t/hcNAMKjh

You may want to know specifically how to make your course active or complete a course copy!

• Use the Course Admin link on the new navigation menu in your course
• Click Course Admin to access the Course Administration panel
• View the video tutorial on how to make your course active: http://www.screencast.com/t/EZrhMwGZ
• View the video tutorial on how to copy your course: http://www.screencast.com/t/Kt1L5h35joq

You can read more in-depth information about this in our PDF guide to BOLT Navigation Changes


Please reach out to imdc@bloomu.edu if you have any questions or if you want to request a Zoom account!

BOLT Tips: Course Copy

We thought it might be helpful to give you a few pointers for when you are copying your courses for 17Spring.

	Make sure you are in the new, empty course when you start a course copy.
	Copying the same items from the same source multiple times results in duplicates.
	If you are copying Content and want topics to display, make sure you are also copying Course Files. If you don’t copy Course Files, the content structure will copy over... but not the content of the topics.
	If you are copying linked or associated components (such as grade items), copy the related components at the same time.
	After a successful course copy, make sure to update date restrictions.
	After a successful course copy, make sure to check your group related items and restrictions to ensure groups are set up the way you want.

Did you know...

...you can use the Course Copy tool in BOLT to save development time?

If you’ve taught your course before, or if you’re teaching a course based on a specified curriculum, you can use the Course Copy tool to save development time. Course Copy will copy your old course into your new one.


You can find the Course Copy tool in the Copy Course Content widget on the right side of the course home page of your new course.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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