Faculty Help Page
This help page is to assist new and current tenure and adjunct faculty navigate through a variety of the university's information systems during their time as an employee at Marywood University.
Brightspace
This section should provide background on how to use the tools for constructing courses in Brightspace.
Announcements
Assignments
Brightmail
Brightspace Pulse Mobile App
Courses
Content
Discussions
Grades
Release Final Grades to Students
Begin by locating the pull-down menu positioned next to "Final Calculated Grade."
From the menu options, choose "Enter Grades."
Next, navigate to the top of the page where you'll find another pull-down menu labeled "Final Grades."
Select "Release All" from the options provided in this menu.
Once the process is completed, an open-eye icon will be visible next to the grades, indicating that students now have access to view their final grade, prominently displayed at the top of their grades list.
Groups
Question Library
Quizzes
Surveys
Virtual Classroom
Widgets
Web Browser Requirements for Brightspace
Brightspace's minimum for supported browser versions increases every January and July. The July update increases the minimum supported browser versions to: Chrome 124+, Edge 124+, Safari 17+, and Firefox 124+. The minimum legacy browsers are now: Chrome 81, Edge 81, Safari 14, and Firefox 75. The following browsers are no longer supported: Chrome 66, Edge 18, Safari 11, and Firefox 66. For an optimal experience that offers better performance, accessibility, and security, D2L recommends that all users access Brightspace with the latest version of their supported browser. For more information, refer to Browser support.
Turnitin in Brightspace
Turnitin is an web based plagiarism checker tool used to check academic papers and compare them with academic databases and information systems.
Best Practices for LMS
Learning Management System (LMS) refers to cloud-based course management software that houses courses within an institution. The technology platform provides students access to course content. The LMS includes tools for faculty, such as creating and editing course content, communicating with students, and assessing student progress.
The LMS can be used for all learning modalities, such as online, hybrid, and face-to-face courses. The LMS provides students with opportunities to revisit course content materials throughout the semester to improve retention of course content. It also provides a way to add content in multiple formats (video, audio, images, simulations, websites, etc.) to reach all learners and meet accessibility requirements.
Best teaching practices for a LMS:
Use a consistent layout for the course within the LMS to decrease navigational issues and increase focus on content. Content should be in an organized structure that contains modules/units. A master course template can be applied to your course through ETS.
Upload the course syllabus and course objectives into the course content.
Update the Course Faculty widget on the course home page. Include your contact information: Name, email, office hours, office phone, etc.
Consistently communicate (at least once a week) with students in the LMS. Use the following tools to engage with your students: Announcements, Email, and/or Activity Feed. For ease of use, you can forward email to your Marywood Gmail in the settings. Communication expectations should be on the syllabus and within the course on the LMS. Emails should be answered by the professor within 48 hours of receipt. The professor should maintain a presence in the LMS and should not be logged out for more than 48 hours.
Create dropboxes for assignments and/or quizzes within the LMS. Avoid using email as an option to submit assignments.
List due dates and update the course calendar to reflect the due dates for assignments, quizzes, and discussion boards.
Provide a grading scale for the learners in the syllabus and the course.
Communicate the grading feedback timeframe. Include this in your syllabus and course.
Keep the gradebook updated and transparent. Allow students to see their current grades.
Provide substantive feedback on all assessments.
Check all content for accessibility issues.
Make sure all links are updated.
Take attendance with the Attendance tool.
Bongo
These sections provide documentation on how to use the features and troubleshooting steps in Bongo.
Anthology
Anthology is a course evaluation tool that faculty should have access to. It is for course evaluations for when courses are nearing completion for the semester. If you have any questions or issues, please contact the Registrar's office.
To access the course evaluations, please select this link. Please use your Marywood University credentials.
AppsAnywhere
Faculty, please refer to the guides below for students using AppsAnywhere on their devices. These guides can also be found under FAQs.
The following videos contain information about the features students can utilize in AppsAnywhere:
Cisco Phone (Webex)
This section provides information on the Cisco Webex Office phone. This guide allows certain features to be activated with your Cisco phone. Schedule a face to face or virtual training session on using the physical and virtual Cisco phone system.
Colleague
The production part of Colleague is a live information system. This document should provide a basic level of knowledge on how to use Colleague when searching for student information. You can log into Colleague by using your Marywood University credentials to access the production system. You can access Ellucian Colleague training materials. Sign up for an account by clicking on this link and using the Customer option. Links listed below are training videos to familiarize yourself with Ellucian Colleague features such as:
Videos
Google
Please select from a list of the tools below to read the articles on how to use each Google Workspace application.
Microsoft Office
You can view tasks and videos using Office applications such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Additional resources for Microsoft Office include the Educator and Resource Center you can view and watch videos for knowledge and skill-strengthening purposes. If you need to request a Microsoft Office 365 license, please select this link.
Excel
PowerPoint
Qualtrics
Qualtrics is a survey tool used to collect data for research purposes. You can use your Marywood University credentials to log into Qualtrics. You can access resources to assist during the research and survey collection processes with students.
Smart Catalog
Smart Catalog is an information system where course and program content can be edited or changed to reflect the current offering of the university’s academic programs. The following features can be utilized to perform edits to the course content:
TOPDesk Help Desk Ticket System
TOPDesk is the current help desk ticket system where technology assistance tickets can be submitted. If you have a technology issue or request, please submit a ticket through this link. On the login page, please select the option to log into the Self Service Portal (SSP) by using your Marywood University credentials. This web page explains how SSP can be utilized to meet technological needs and assistance.
Zoom
The following guides are features you can use when utilizing your Zoom account in Brightspace: