August 2022

Assignments – Access new shortcuts to undo and redo PDF annotations on evaluations

Previously, the only way to remove PDF annotations in Assignments was to use the eraser tool or delete the selection. Now, an undo/redo button is added for PDF annotations when evaluating in Assignments. Alternatively, standard keyboard shortcuts are now also supported for undoing and redoing annotations:

• Ctrl-z | Command-z (Apple) – Undo
• Ctrl-Shift-z | Command-Shift-z (Apple) – Redo

Figure: The top of the image shows the menu bar before the update; the bottom shows the menu bar after the update.

Assignments – Apply the filters Show everyone and Show all groups for individual and group assignments

Previously, in Assignments, the search filter defaulted to Users with submissions for individual assignments and Submitted groups for group assignments. Now, instructors will instead default to Show everyone for individual assignments and Show all groups for group assignments. These modified filters are the new default search option. After applying one of these default filters, instructors can apply additional filters to improve search optimization.

Figure: New default search filter in Assignments.

Brightspace Course Connector for Microsoft Teams®

The following functionality is available as of August 21, 2022:

• Exclude user roles from sync – Some course shells are created by administrative staff (e.g. librarians), who are then automatically added as members of the course. They only need access to the Avenue to Learn course but do not need access to the corresponding team in Microsoft Teams.
• Hide learners can create new private channels option – Some Office 365 Teams policies do not allow learners to create new private channels, rendering this option meaningless. To reduce confusion, this option no longer appears in the homepage widget.
• Delete Teams site once course is no longer active – Similar functionality exists to archive Teams sites. This functionality provides the option to delete the Teams site rather than archive it.
• Wait until course start to create team – Course shells can be created far in advance of use. Waiting until the course starts to create the course Teams site reduces clutter and confusion.
• Hide Team from Global Address List – The Global Address List (GAL) is a list of all public addresses in an Exchange Mail system. With this option enabled, the team’s underlying group email addresses are not populated in the GAL. The intent is to reduce clutter. Hiding the address does not block it from use.
• Hide Teams Calendar App – Both Avenue and Teams offer calendars. These calendars are not synchronized, and learners may confuse these two calendars. This option hides the Teams calendar from view.
• Hide Teams Assignment App : Both Avenue and Teams offer assignment applications. These assignments are not synchronized, and learners may confuse these two. This option hides the Teams assignment application from view.
• Add prefix to archived team names:  As a best practice, we want to rename archived teams, perhaps by adding a prefix to their names. This is helpful to prevent conflicts if course or section names are reused in future academic sessions. For example, just before the end of a session, an organization could set this field to Spring2022_ to rename Astrology101_Team to Spring2022_Astrology101_Team when the course is archived.

  
  Figure: Shuffle Exchange > Administration panel

• Create a team for each section – Instructors can now create separate Microsoft Teams per course section, providing the course has sectioning in Avenue to Learn. This feature is in the homepage widget. It facilitates course organization and instructors will be members of each Microsoft Team.

  
  Figure: Brightspace Course Connector Widget > Edit Settings

• Automatically add instructors to all channels – This option in the homepage widget ensures that instructors have access to all channels to facilitate moderated spaces for learners to communicate in.

For more details refer to the bottom of this page: Getting started with Brightspace Course Connector for Microsoft Teams. which includes information about how this integration will work. For Avenue to Learn specific configuration information please visit the Microsoft Teams FAQ page: How do I add Microsoft Teams to my course?