You have two options when it comes to transferring the separation of students in uSis to Brightspace:
- Option 1: Use separate course offerings
- Option 2: Use sections within 1 course offering
When does it not matter (that much) what I opt for?
-
Communicating with all students:
- Separate course offerings: Use the "Mother course" to send an email or place an announcement for all students.
- Sections: Just place an announcement in the course or send an email.
-
Using Brightspace Groups:
- For both options you still have the option to further separate your students in Groups.
Why should I opt for separate Course Offerings?
Advantages:
- Separate Course Offerings are created by the uSis-Brightspace integration.
- Each Instructor has her/his own environment to work in. He or she has less to think about setting restrictions within the Brightspace Content.
- Less to worry about course continuation: you can copy the course with ease.
Points of Attention:
- Student grades are spread out in multiple courses.
- Students will see two courses: The Mother Course and their own Workgroup Course Offering.
- In case you want to adjust the name of the course offerings, you need to do this in uSis.
- In case your Instructor is attached to two or more workgroups, he/she will have access to multiple Course Offerings instead of only 1 Course Offering.
Why should I opt for Sections?
Advantages:
- All your students are grouped in 1 Course Offering.
- Collection of the grades of all students is easier, since all students are in the same Gradebook.
- You have more flexibility in terms of the "separation names", meaning: you decide how each section is called.
- NB: uSis provides the Course Offering names, thus are harder to adjust.
Points of Attention:
- All your Instructors are in one course. Regulations and/or agreements between themselves might be needed.
- All your staff members enrolled as Instructors/Assistant Instructor/Grader have access to all user data within the course. This might result in undesired GDPR issues.
- Optional: You can enroll staff members as Tutors to prevent the aforementioned two points. However, Tutors is a very restricted role within Brightspace. Thus, this might not be an appropriate solution for your faculty's education.
- Course continuation might result in a lot of work each year, if you have designed your course in a specific way that is only relevant for one academic year.
Is it possible to use both Sections and separate Course Offerings?
There are certainly some scenarios in which you can opt to use both sections and separate Course Offerings.
[examples under construction]
If you need any advice or have questions on this matter, please feel free to contact FB SOZ LMS. We can discuss the possibilities and explain the impact of your choices.