Manage Content

You can add Quicklinks to any text field in Brightspace, for example in a content file or in a Module or Sub-module’s description. To do so, follow the next steps:

1. Select Insert Quicklink icon.

2. A new pop-up window opens with the list of course materials.

3. Select the content you wish to hyperlink. Note that it is possible to directly link content Modules, Sub-modules, and Course overviews (if available).
4. To hyperlink a Sub-module, click the Module where that Sub-module is included and then click the + icon.

5. You can choose the text that you want to link. After you click Insert, you will see your Sub-module hyperlinked within the text field.

1. Create/navigate to the Module where you want to place an External Learning Tool, for example Buddycheck.
2. Click on the Existing Activities button to open the menu options and choose External Learning Tools.

The Add Activity pop-up window will open.

3. Scroll through the list to find the right tool. Then click on it to insert the link to the tool.

4. You can now click on the menu arrow to add/edit a description of the tool – this is where you will write instructions for your students on how to complete the task.

While the description is in editing mode, you also have the option to:

1. Change the Title of the link.
2. Add Date Restrictions to limit the time during which your students can access it.
3. Change the Requirement Settings.

4. Click on Update once you are done. You can now continue adding content to these tools.
   Click on the link below to a list of available learning tools at TU Delft:
   Learning Tools overview

Simply select the external tool of your choice from the list. Once it appears on the course page, you can click on it to add and change content.

Brightspace offers different ways for making learning more fun and more interesting for students. You may have already seen the External Learning Tools to add video’s, links and topic specific tools such as Ans and Kaltura.

An alternative quick way to add ‘External Content’ to your course is through Insert Stuff. Insert Stuff allows you to place specific content items, such as specific videos.

1. Go to your course and the module in which you would like to place the content.
2. Select Upload/Create.
3. Select Create a file.
4. Select the Insert Stuff button.

5. Select the Learning Tool from which you would like to insert content. 

6. From here, each tool works slightly different but all tools allow you to choose content and then press Select.
7. The content is placed in the text field of the file.
8. Add a Title to the file.
9. And select Save and Close or Save to add the file to your Course’s content.

Insert Element allows you to easily insert interactive HTML elements without needing to have the coding knowledge you would normally need to add them to your content. With Insert Element you can build professional, engaging and interactive content quickly.

Inserting HTML elements can also be accomplished with the H5P tool. Insert Element and H5P differ from each other; please see the following table for a comparison between the two and when to use which.

With Insert Element, you can choose to add the following Elements to your course:

You can use Insert Element to add interactive HTML elements via the Other Insert Options menu. 

1. Go to your Course and the Module in which you would like to place the content.
2. Select Upload/Create.
3. Select Create a file.
4. Select the Other Insert Options button.

5. Select Insert Element.

6. Select the Element type you want to use.

7. Depending on what Element you have chosen, you will see different input fields where you can insert your content.
8. After inserting your content into the different fields, click Preview.

9. Click Insert to insert the Element in your content.

10. The content is placed in the text field of the file.
11. Add a Title to the file.
12. Select Save and Close or Save to add the file to your Course’s content.

1. Click on Upload/Create.
2. Then click on Create a Link.

3. Give the link a Title, this title is what students will see in Brightspace. The URL is the address of the link that they will go to.

We recommend you to choose: Open as External Resource, since this option is not reliant on the security settings of the external source. These resources will then open in another tab in the user’s browser, clearly indicating that these exist outside Brightspace. If you leave this checkbox unselected, the resource will be embedded within Brightspace, which might not always work. Some websites explicitly do not allow themselves to be embedded within other sites. And websites without HTTPS security can also not be embedded in Brightspace, so must be opened externally anyway.

To add content from another course, you can use Course Copy. Follow this link to go to instructions on how to use Course Copy.

Add a description of what this content is, how it fits in the Course and what you would like students to do with it. Do they need to read and learn it, or is it simply reference material? The clearer you are in describing your expectations, the better the results will be.

Example description:
‘This video explains and demonstrates the techniques of water harvesting as discussed in the above documents. It will help you to visualise what is meant with a micro-catchment and how to set up a catchment system according to site specific needs. After watching this video, please answer the questions in Quiz 6.3.2, following this video.'

The quickest and simplest way to upload one or multiple files simultaneously is to Drag and Drop them into the content area directly where you would like them. You can do this by dragging files directly from your Windows Explorer window, or your Finder window if you are on a Mac, to your Brightspace Course page.

As the files are dropped into the Module, a progress bar is shown for each file until they are successfully uploaded. The files are uploaded in the order that you dragged them in. However, if the order is not quite as you would like them, you can rearrange the files after they have been uploaded. This is probably the easiest and simplest way to do it.

After uploading, you can individually adjust the settings for each of these files. The most convenient way to do that, if you have uploaded multiple files, is to use the Bulk Edit button.

When you are finished, click Done Editing.

1. Click on Upload/Create and then click on Upload Files.

In this window, click My Computer to drag and drop your files, or click the Upload button, and select them from your computer. A progress bar is shown as each file uploads. The location of the saved files is also indicated here.

2. When you have finished uploading the files, click on Add.

As your Course progresses, you will be adding files, and sometimes you may want to reuse a file that you have already uploaded to the Course. So to add that file to make it visible to students now:

1. Click on Upload/Create and then Upload Files.
2. Once there, click on Course Offering Files.

3. Select the correct file from the shown selection, based on files you have uploaded at a prior time. After selecting a file, click on Add. The file will now appear in the content area.

A handy shortcut to get to the Course Offering Files, is to click on Upload/Create and then on Add from Managed Files. This takes you automatically to the “Course Offering Files” sections.

As you can see, Manage Files is an important and useful feature in the Brightspace environment. To access this:

3. Click on Course Admin and then Manage Files (under the Site Resources section).
4. Here you can click on Upload to upload multiple files, or you can click on New File to create a single new file in the course folder.

You can use this area to Manage Files, to re-categorise them and move them around. Any links to existing Course content are automatically updated, if needed.

If your Course includes a lot of content, it is sometimes necessary to change settings or modify text for all Items. In this case, the Bulk Edit option may save you time. For example, you can use the Bulk Edit function to set multiple files to Visible or Hidden from Users, or if you want to change release conditions or dates.

To use the bulk edit feature, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Module or folder where you want to make changes. Click on Bulk Edit at the top of the page to make all Content Items editable. You can then add dates and restrictions, edit item visibility, edit descriptions or delete items.

2. After making the desired changes, click Done Editing at the top of the page to save all changes simultaneously.

Each Content Item can be set on Hidden or Visible.

Use the checkbox to set the Item to Hidden or Visible for Users.

When you create Content Items, you can also add a description so that students can see more information about the Item. This could be text, images or even a video.

1. Click on the dropdown menu of the Content Item and select Edit Properties In-place.

2. Optionally, to edit many Items at once instead of step 1 click Bulk Edit.

3. One of the options that now appears under the content item is Add a description…, click this to start editing.

4. A text editor will open where you can add all relevant information. This is the same text editor you see when you create a page, to see more on how to use this editor click here.
5. When you have finished click Update (or Done Editing in case of using Bulk Edit).

When you set Content Items to Visible you can also add a date, so that it is only available to students sometime in the future.

1. Click on the dropdown menu of the Content Item.
2. Select Edit Properties In-place.
3. You can now set a date for the Item to become available, under Add dates and restrictions...

After adding a date restriction, the students will see the title of the Item that will become available, including the availability date. However, they cannot click on this Item. The Item will automatically become available to them after the filled in date and time are reached, if the Item is set to Visible.

When you attach a release condition to an Item, users cannot see that Item until they meet the associated condition.

If you attach multiple conditions to an Item, users must meet all conditions before they can access the Item. For example, you could require users to visit the first three Content Topics in a unit before gaining access to an associated Quiz.

Examples:

• Attaching a release condition to the second Topic in your Course’s Content area that would hide that Topic until users viewed the Topic before it.
• Creating a condition that required users to view a Content Topic before gaining access to a quiz, or one that required them to post to a Discussion Topic before they could see a Content Module.

Adding a release condition:

1. Click the dropdown option next to the Item (Discussion Topic, Course file, Quiz) where you want to set up the release condition.
2. Select Edit Properties-in-place.

3. Click Add dates and restrictions.

4. From the Release Conditions, you have the option to Create a new release condition or Browse for an existing one.

You can use an existing release condition if you want to release several items at once when a learner meets a single condition. To do so, find this release condition via Browse.

4. Alternatively, if you want to create a new release condition, click Create.
5. From the Condition Type, select the required condition which should be met. For example: if the student needs to look at the lecture slides (say Lecture 2.1) before accessing the reader, in condition type, select Content and Visited Content Topic.

7. In the Condition Details, select the Topic, so in this case, we select Lecture 2.1 and click Create.

For more information about completion tracking, please visit this page.

Go to the dropdown menu and click Delete Topic. When deleting Topic Items, you are presented with the option to remove from content only or to permanently delete from the Course.

The first option only removes the Topic from your content, but any associated files or activities remain on your Course’s website to be reused in the future. The second option will permanently remove the content from your Course, including any associated files or activities.

You can always check what content exists in your Course before deleting it.

1. Click on Course Admin.

2. Click on Manage Files to see a complete listing of your content. Read more about how to Manage Files in your Course.

If there is a chain icon next to the name of a file, this indicates that this piece of content is still being used and linked in your Course for other Items such as an Assignment. Items without a link can safely be deleted.

So, in general, use the first option to remove items you wish to reuse again in the future and use the second option to remove items permanently.

If you accidentally deleted an Assignment submission folder, you can restore the folder as follows:

1. Go to Assignments on the navigation bar.
2. Click More Actions on the next page.

3. Select Event Log in the drop-down menu.
4. Find the deleted assignment on the list and click Restore.