III. Sequence Course Assessments into Modules
With the Grades tool set up and your assessments and activities created, it's time to use the Content tool to weave them together into a logical progression such as "weeks" or "units."
What Do You Mean By "Sequencing"?
Sequencing refers to the order which students go through your course, its content, and the courses assessments. The goal is to provide a simple, intuitive path for your students so that they are using their effort to engage with your course content, rather than expending it on trying to find their way around the course. This happens by organizing your course materials and assignments in the Content tool using Modules.
What is a Module?
A module is a container within the Content area of your course for links to course materials, activities, and assessments.
You may be tempted to organize your course activities into modules by "type-of-thing", such as one module for Quizzes, one for Assignments, one for Readings, etc., but we do not recommend this approach. Not only is this confusing and time consuming for students who will need to search through each area for the materials needed each week, it is also redundant as Brightspace already has a feature for students to view items by the different types of course elements. Students can do so by navigating to Assignments, Discussions, and Quizzes/Exams from the Assessments menu in the navbar. When students go to any of those tools, they will automatically see a list of all visible items of that type.
For those reasons, we recommend organizing the Content area of your course by "week" or "unit," grouping all the quizzes, assignment, readings, etc. that the student needs to complete that week or unit into one module.
Create a Sequence of Modules
The Content tool is the main hub of activity in your course. The previous sections have helped you establish the important building blocks of your course. Now we will use the Content tool to sequence your course assessments into modules, or "weeks" if you prefer.
Creating Your Sequence from Scratch
Click the Content link in the Navbar.
Click the Add a Module button at the bottom of the module listing on the left side of the screen.
Type a name for the module, such as “Week 1”, “Module 1”, “Unit 1”, etc. and press the enter key on your keyboard.
Repeat from Step 2 for each week or other unit of time you have your course divided into. We suggest creating your modules according to the course schedule in your syllabus.
Deleting Modules
Select it in the module listing. The left side of the Content tool will display its' contents.
Click the Action Button (little down arrow) next to the module's title. A menu will appear.
Select Delete Module from the menu.
Add Previously Created Course Assessments
Now that you have modules built out for your course, we can begin placing the course assessments you previously created into their respective modules.
In the Content tool, click one of your Modules that will contain one of your assessments..
Click the Existing Activities button and select the type of item you wish to add. (Assignments, Discussions, or Quizzes & Exams)
In the pop-up that appears, select the item you wish to add.
A link will appear in the module that will take students to the assessment. It will also include any Instructions or description you provided when you created it.
Be sure to check the visibility status of the item and that it is set the way you intend it to be.
Click the upper-right corner of the screenshots for larger versions.
The Existing Activities button is used to add links in your modules to anything you have created in Brightspace's other tools, as well as third-party tools integrated into our instance of Brightspace.
The Content tool will indicate if an assignment, discussion, or quiz/exam you linked to is currently hidden from students.
Moving Things Around in the Content Tool
Most things, such as modules or module topics (links to assignments, websites, documents, etc.) can be moved and rearranged through two methods:
The Menu Method: Click the Action Button next to the names of modules and content items. Depending on what the item is and where it is in the course, you will have Move Up, Move Down, Move To and Send to root options.
Send to root will send a submodule (a module contained within another module) to the top-level of the course.
The Click-and-Drag Method: Most things in the Content tool have a handle to the left of them. Handles look like eight dots arranged in two columns. The image to the right highlights them in the module list of the Content tool. If you click and hold down the mouse button, over a handle, you can drag to move something up in a list, or drop it into a different module.
Click and drag the mouse over the dotted rectangles next to the item name to change it's order in the module listing.