New Features

If you have any questions about these features or need additional assistance, please open a ticket at https://helpdesk.mghihp.edu/ 

ReadSpeaker Available in Assignments and Quizzes

ReadSpeaker functionality is now available to instructors and learners in both Assignments and Quizzes . This availability is in addition to the previously available ReadSpeaker functionality in Content. ReadSpeaker converts text to speech, making text-based Content, Assignments, and Quizzes available to a wider audience. The ReadSpeaker icon is now visible when viewing assignment instructions, evaluating assignments, taking or previewing a quiz, and evaluating quizzes.  

Note that while full ReadSpeaker functionality is available in Content and Assignments, the Quizzes tool does not allow for certain features in order to maintain academic integrity. The features not available in the Quizzes tool are audio file downloads, translations tools, and the dictionary.

For more information on ReadSpeaker, please see our D2L Brightspace Help page on ReadSpeaker.

New Assignment Creation and Evaluation Experiences

Instructors now have access to the new Assignment Creation and Assignment Evaluation tools in D2L Brightspace. These new experiences make assignment creation and evaluation quicker and more user friendly.

For more information on Assignment Creation and Assignment Evaluation, please see our D2L Brightspace Help pages on Assignment Creation and Grading Submissions.

Quick Grade

Instructors now have access to Quick Grade, a new tool that gives instructors a single location in which to view all unevaluated student submissions across all their courses. Quick Grade displays all Assignments, Quizzes, and Discussions that have yet to be evaluated and published. Instructors can click on a submission to be instantly taken to a screen where they can complete the evaluation. Evaluations can be published or saved in draft status from Quick Grade. The tool also gives instructors sorting and filtering options that allow them to prioritize and find the submissions they need. 

All other previous grading workflows are still available. Quick grade is an optional tool that may help instructors to better keep on top of their grading and prevent them from missing any student submissions. 

To access Quick Grade, click Quick Grade from the More Tools drop-down menu in the navigation bar.

For more information on Quick Grade, please see our D2L Brightspace Help page on Quick Grade or view the video below. Note that official D2L Brightspace documentation will refer to this tool as "Quick Eval." 

Annotations in Assignments

Instructors can now annotate student work directly within the Assignments tool using the Annotation toolbar. The Annotation toolbar will appear at the top of the page when you view a submission.  Annotations allow you to markup student work and provide detailed comments online. Features of the Annotation tool include highlighting, striking through, and underlining. You can also highlight and comment on a specific portion of an online submission or draw free hand on the assignment.

Previously, instructors had to run papers through TurnItIn and use TurnItIn’s GradeMark to annotate papers online. GradeMark and TurnItIn are still available but are no longer necessary for annotation.

This feature is now available and is automatically turned on for your course.

For more information on grading Assignments with the Annotation tool, please see the video created by D2L Brightspace below.

HTML Templates for Content

To make content creation as easy and fast as possible, the Office of Information Technology has created several new HTML Templates to use when creating Content web pages in D2L Brightspace. These templates are accessible and responsive across a variety of device (e.g., computers, tablets, phones). The new templates include: 

• Instructor Info Template – For introducing yourself to your students. Includes space for an image, contact information, your education, and any other information you may want to add

• Image Template (Right) -  For including an image on the right side of the page

• Image Template (Left) – For including an image on the left side of the page

• Icon Template – For adding a small icon to the left of the written content

These new templates join the two previously available HTML templates:

• General Template – Blank except for a consistently styled header and footer.

• Weekly Overview Template – For setting up your weekly overviews. Includes sections for the week’s summary, learning objectives, assignments and activities, and readings.

These templates are now available in your courses. To use a template, follow these steps:

1. From the “Content” area, click the blue Upload / Create button. Then, select Create a File from the dropdown. This will open a new page.

2. Enter a title for your new file. Then, click the Select a Document Template  button and select your desired template from the dropdown.

3. Once the template is added to the content box, fill in the template with your content. Then, click Publish to make the content available to your students. Alternatively, click Save as Draft to save the content without making it available to your students.