Kennebec Valley Community College has implemented new policies for instructor usage of Brightspace starting for the academic year 2024-2025. This article contains links to videos explaining the new policies, as well as links to articles that will help you comply with these standards without losing efficiency in your workflow!

KVCC is introducing a new retention software and Brightspace requirements to help learners graduate efficiently. All faculty at KVCC are now required to do three specific things in Brightspace for all courses – both online and in-person – beginning Fall 2024:

• upload a syllabus to the official Syllabus/Overview section in Brightspace

• set up a grade book and submit grades at least once per week

• and prepare to open part of your courses early each term

BoLTS has put together some informational videos and a playlist, to watch the whole thing, click here. Or to jump durectly to certain aspects of the videos, they will be broken down further in this article.

Video Breakdowns

1. KVCC 2024 Brightspace REQUIREMENTS for ALL classes (online and in-person): This video explains the three new requirements for all KVCC courses beginning in Fall of 2024 as we implement our new retention software. It describes the requirements, where to find training, and the newest tool available to faculty to allow you to create dynamic course materials and engage learners better than ever before!

2. Welcome Message from Araminta Matthews, Senior Instructional Designer: This video introduces you to KVCC's Senior Instructional Designer and offers a brief description to the new requirements for all academic faculty teaching at KVCC to use Brightspace to upload a current syllabus, create and maintain a gradebook, and prepare courses for early-opening across the college regardless of your teaching modality (in-person, online, or hybrid). These requirements are related to a new retention software the school is engaging to improve our graduation and retention rates, and they are being implemented by KV leadership. Both I and BoLTS are here to help you prepare for these new requirements. Please review the following videos to learn the basic things you need to do to meet the new requirement. You may also elect to attend a workshop or schedule a 1:1, small-group, or departmental meeting with me by Zoom. I look forward to working with you.

3. KVCC Syllabus Upload Requirement: This is the first of three videos designed to teach KVCC faculty about the three required uses of Brightspace beginning Fall of 2024 as a component of our new retention software. In this video, you will learn how to upload your syllabus to your Brightspace course site.

4. KVCC Grade Book Brightspace Requirement Part 1 - Set-Up Wizard: KVCC now requires all faculty to use Brightspace to grade (even if you teach in-person, hybrid, or online). This is one of three requirements from Academic Affairs as part of our Retention Effort. This is the second video in the series (the first video teaches you how to upload your syllabus to your course site, which is requirement 1). In this video, you will learn the first part of requirement 2: Set up your Brightspace Gradebook (and grade your students on all their work at least weekly). This video shows you how to structure the gradebook. The next video will teach you how to create grade book items, categories, and actually grade with Brightspace.

5. KVCC Brightspace Requirements Grade Book Part 2 Complete Training: KVCC is requiring all faculty to use Brightspace to upload a syllabus and grade students through the Brightspace grade book at least weekly as part of a retention effort. This requirement will mean all faculty must set up a grade book and grade students using that grade book. Setting up a grade book can be simple or complex--it depends on the unique needs of your course design.

   This video is broken into chapters to help you focus your learning on the aspects necessary for your unique grade book needs. Please be sure to watch the other videos in the sequence. Each of the following links will bring you directly to the relevant time in the video:

   1. Creating a Weighted Gradebook (01:12)

   2. Creating a Points-Based Gradebook (13:37)

   3. Grading Brightspace Submissions (18:24)

   4. Entering Grades Manually (45:48)

   5. Troubleshooting Gradebooks (1:01:08)

   6. Advanced Gradebooks (1:08:08)

   7. …or watch the whole thing here:

6. KVCC Brightspace Requirements Early Open and Content Lock Down: This is the final video in the series of new KVCC Brightspace requirements for all instructors teaching in-person, online, or hybrid courses at the college. We are now required to maintain a current syllabus, use the Brightspace gradebook to grade all student activity at least once weekly, and open our courses early (therefore locking down any content we don't want students to access prior to the course's official start date) moving forward to help with our retention efforts. This particular video will show you how to lock down individual content or content groups (modules) in Brightspace.

Additional Useful Articles

Below are some other resources that may assist you in finding the best ways to meet the new requirements:

• How to Bulk Edit Dates in Brightspace Courses

• Using Rubrics in Brightspace

• Upload a Syllabus to Brightspace

• Complete Introductory Gradebook Training Workshop

• Dropping Non-Attempts vs. Treating Ungraded Items as Zeroes