How To: Add Resources to a BFCA Course

A Resource is an item that an instructor can use to support learning, such as a file or web link. Each resource appears as a link preceded by an icon that represents the resource type (File, Folder, Page, URL, etc.). Most resources allow settings such as conditions for viewing, or display properties. They can be moved, hidden, and edited by a Teacher or Course Designer, but only viewed/downloaded by students.

Types of resources

Available Resource types include:

  • File – Post a file for your students to download. A File can be a text document, a spreadsheet, an audio file, video file, etc.
    Folder – To save space on your the BFCA Education Portal course page, you can put multiple files in a Folder.
  • IMS content package – Upload and post content packaged in the IMS format, typically from text book publishers.
  • Label – Organize and add visual interest to your course home page by using Labels to add sub-headings, annotations, and images to Topic or Weekly sections.
    Page – Students see a single, scrollable page that an instructor creates with the robust HTML editor.
  • URL – Send your students to any location they can reach on their Web browser.

Add Resource using the activity chooser

  1. On your main course page, click Turn editing on (top right).  Editing icons and links will appear..
  2. Locate the Section where you want the resource to appear, and click the Section title to open if it is collapsed. Click  + Add an activity or resource. The Activity Chooser will open. 
  3. Scroll down to the Resources heading. Click a Resource one time to see a description of the resource and support links in the right side of the window (double-clicking will add the resource to your the BFCA Education Portal page).
  4. Select the type of resource you want to add, then double-click or click Add. The Add Resource page will open.
    Depending on the type of Resource you’ve chosen, you will have different settings options. Click particular headings to view those settings, or Expand all (top right) to view all settings.
  5. Complete all required fields, then click Save and return to course or Save and display.

Once you have added a resource, you can:

  • Move the resource link up or down the course page by dragging it by its Move icon. You can even drag items between Sections. (If you use the Collapsed topics format, the target section must be toggled open.)
  • Configure its settings by clicking Edit (at the right of resource), then selecting Edit settings from the Edit drop-down menu.
  • Hide a resource that you are not ready to release to students by clicking its Hide icon from the Edit drop-down menu. 

How To: Check Your Grades in the BFCA Education Portal

The BFCA Education Portal makes it easy to see your grades through a customized report that will show you all currently graded assignments.

Your instructor may also use additional tools such as checklists or progress checkboxes to help you keep track of required activities by letting you check off, or automatically checking off submitted work (see below).

  1. Not all grades may be reflected in the grade book. Some instructors use complex grading formulae that don’t lend themselves to the BFCA Education Portal’s gradebook. Be sure to ask your instructor any questions you have about the gradebook.
  2. Your total points possible may not match someone else’s. In most cases, the total points possible in your gradebook will reflect only the items graded so far. Thus, if your instructor has entered a grade for the paper you turned in on time, but has not yet graded your friend’s late paper, your total possible score will differ from your friend’s.

View your grades in a specific class

  1. Log into Courses using your BFCA Education Portal username and password.
  2. Identify the Course you would like to checked grades for and click on it.
  3. Along the left side of your course page, go to Navigation, then click Grades.
    • Remember, instructors can control when you see grades for specific activities, so if you do not see all your grades, they are probably hidden until your instructor opens them to you.

NOTE: Depending on how your instructor set up the gradebook, scores may be displayed as points, as percentages, as letter grades, or a combination thereof.

Your grades in all courses by using the ‘Overview report’ 

The Overview report shows your overall grades (like a report card), with links to your User report for each class you are currently enrolled in.
Note: Instructors may not allow you to see a running total of your current standing in a course, in which case you may only see a dash (-) for your grade in that course.

There are two ways to access your Overview report:

  • Log in to the BFCA Education Portal and from the User menu (top-right), select Grades. The Courses I am taking page opens displaying your grade Overview report.
  • If you are already viewing your grades for a particular course on the User Report page, locate and select the Overview report tab. The Overview report will open.

Track Progress Using the Activities Block

If your instructor has included the Activities block in your course, you can use it to monitor your work.

  1. Locate the Activities block on the course page.
  2. Click a link to an activity type (such as an Assignments, Quizzes, etc.) to view a table listing each item of that activity type.
  3. Depending on the type of activity, the table will provide a link to the activity, the due date, submission, and the grade. For example, if you click the Quizzes link, you can see a list of all currently available quizzes, links to each quiz, deadlines, and, once you have submitted the quiz and it has been graded, your grade.
    Tip: If you notice that a quiz does not have a grade listed, you should probably check whether you have actually taken the quiz or need to in the future.

Checklist Activities

Some instructors add a Checklist activity to one or more Sections down the middle of a the BFCA Education Portal course. Checking off work isn’t the same as submitting.  Rather, these activities are memo tools for you to manage your work. Instructors may set up Edspora activities to automatically check when completed, but more often checklists are provided as a tool for you to manage your own workload.

Note: Not all courses have Checklist activities. This is an option your instructor may choose to add.

To use a Checklist:

  1. Click the Checklist link. The Checklist page will open listing the activities or resources included on the Checklist. Items on the list may be the BFCA Education Portal activities such as a Forum or a Quiz, or may include “offline activities,” such as attending an event or performing a task outside of class.
  2. Select the checkbox for each required activity as you complete it (some activities may be checked automatically upon your submission to a the BFCA Education Portal activity.) 
  3. As items are checked off, the Progress bar at the top of the page updates to indicate the percentage of items you’ve checked. 
    Note: The progress bar does not account for the amount of time the items on the list will take; it is merely based on the number of items completed.

Checklist Block

If a course includes Checklist activities, you may also see a Checklist block on the side of the main course page if your instructor has chosen to add it. This block gives you a current count of how many activities you have completed out of the total.

At the bottom of the Checklist block, click More details to see an entire list of required activities, whether they are marked as complete, and the completion date.

“Progress” Checkboxes on the Course Page

Your instructor may choose to add checkboxes directly on the the BFCA Education Portal course page to help you to manage your own workload.
Note: Not all courses have checkboxes. This is an option your instructor may choose to add.

If checkboxes are enabled, you will see a heading at the top right of the main course page that says, Your progress. Below that, in the Topic or Weekly Sections, a checkbox will appear next to required items.

To mark an item as complete:

  1. Locate the item in one of the Sections on the course page. To the right of a required item, on the same line, you will see a checkbox.
  2. There are several ways this tool may be set to operate:
    • Auto-complete: Some activities are automatically checked when you complete an activity. For example, when you submit a quiz or upload an assignment.
    • Your instructor sets additional conditions: Your instructor may choose to mark items complete. For example, only after an activity has been graded.
    • You mark the checkbox: If the instructor has set an item to allow you to mark it as complete, you will see an empty checkbox. To mark the item as complete, click the check mark and a blue check mark will appear.
      Note: This use of the tool is intended to help you keep track of completed work, so it is only useful if you are in the habit of checking off boxes when you finish an assignment.
  3. Once marked complete, the checkbox changes from empty to checked.

View File(s) Returned by Your Instructor

Sometimes, your instructors will send you files related to your assignments (rubrics or marked-up copies of your assignment file). You’ll find those files by reopening the assignment link where you submitted your work.

How To: Organize Your BFCA Education Portal Course Page

Careful planning and design of your BFCA Education Portal course is essential for creating a positive and effective learning experience for your students. Before you begin to design your course online, review your current teaching strategies, the course learning outcomes and the learning activities used to assess the outcomes. There are a number of ways to add structure and visual interest to your BFCA Education Portal course page. The less cluttered and better organized you make your course page the easier it will be for your students to use.

Customize Course Image

Add a custom header image at the top of your BFCA Education Portal course page. You can use this to make it easier to recognize your courses and add personality.

  1. On your course page, select Course Management. The Course Management panel will open.
  2. On the Course Management panel, under Course settings, select Edit course settings. The Edit course settings page will open.
  3. On the Edit course settings page, under the Course Summary locate the Course image file upload block.  Drag and drop your image file into the upload block.  Note: Alternatively, you can also select the file icon. The File picker will open. Select Browse…and select your file and click Open. Select Upload this file.
  4. Select Save and display (bottom of page). Your Course page will refresh and the header image will appear.

Avoid unnecessary content on your course page

Avoid long paragraphs of text, embedded videos, or large images on your course page.

  • Provide instructions in an activity or resource Descriptions, and avoid displaying Descriptions on the course page unless they are very brief.
  • Embed media in Descriptions for activities such as Assignments or Forums rather than on the main course page.
  • Use a Page resource to deliver video or large images on a separate page.

Customize section names

Sections in BFCA Education Portal courses are named “Section 1,” “Section 2,” “Section 3,” etc. To help orient students and encourage engagement with the material, provide a descriptive Section name.

  1. On your course page, select Turn editing on. Editing links will appear.
  2. Next to the Section name, select the Pencil icon. The name will become highlighted.
  3. Enter a new Section name and press enter/return to save your changes (or esc to cancel).

Note: You can change the format of sections from the default collapsed topics to, for example, weekly topics, or single activity format on your BFCA Education Portal course settings.

Provide summary text for course sections

It may be helpful to add a sentence or two at the top of each section summarizing the goals for the week or topic. The Summary will show at the top of a Section (under the Section name). 

  1. On your course page, click Turn editing on. Editing links will appear.
  2. Locate the Section of the Edspora course you wish to edit select Edit (at the top right of Section). A drop-down list will open. From the list, select Edit Section. The Summary page will open.
  3. To add a custom Section name, on the Summary page select the Custom checkbox (to right of Section name, in General settings). Type a new name in the small textbox. 
  4. To add a Section summary, in the Summary textbox, enter text and/or add images to display below the Section name.
  5. Click Save changes.

Note: If using the Collapsed Topics format you can choose whether or not to show Section summaries when sections are collapsed on the Edit course settings page.

Add text in a label

Use Labels to add subheadings and make your course content easy to find. For example, you might create subheadings within each section for Readings, Discussion, Assignments, Quizzes, etc. 

  1. On your course page, click Turn editing on. 
  2. Locate the Section of your Edspora course where you wish to add text and click + Add an activity or resource. The Activity chooser will open.
  3. In the Activity chooser, scroll down and under the Resources heading select Label. The Settings page for the label will open.
  4. On the Settings page, for Label text, enter and format your text. 
    Important! To accommodate accessibility for all students, use Paragraph styles. For example, Heading (medium) could be used to format subheadings rather than choosing bold and larger text.
  5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save and return to course.
  6. New items always appear at the bottom of the section. Use the Move icon to drag the label upwards or downwards into the desired position. 

Indent items in course sections to create an outline form

Indenting content in your BFCA Education Portal course is a way of making it easier to read and more user-friendly (much like a “skimmable” outline). 

  1. On your course page, click Turn editing on.
  2. Locate the item you wish to indent and click Edit associated with the item to indent (located below most activities, labels, and resources), and in the Edit drop-down menu, click  Move right, or to move back, Move left.

Add an image to a label or section summary

Images in Section summaries or Labels provide landmarks and can create visual engagement, but a little goes a long way. Large images or videos take up space on the page, cause extra scrolling, and cause pages to load slowly.

You can add images in Section summaries or in Labels using the Insert image button on the BFCA Education Portal Editor toolbar. Be sure to keep images small in dimension and to provide brief “Alternative text” to make your course page accessible to all students. 

Note: BFCA Education Portal will automatically make large images fit in the available area of the page, but the full-sized image file still downloads to browsers. Pages load faster if you resize images before uploading them to your course. 

Reorder sections or items 

BFCA Education Portal makes it easy to reorder and move Resources, Activities, and Sections within your course. If JavaScript is enabled in your browser (recommended), you can drag-and-drop the items to a new location on the page. If JavaScript is not enabled, you will be able to click to move items up or down. 

The Move Icons

Depending on whether Javascript is enabled in your browser, you will see a different type of move icon next to the movable items in your course.

  • If Javascript is enabled, the Advanced move icon will let you drag and drop Resources, Activities,  Sections or Blocks. 
  • If Javascript is NOT enabled, you will see the Basic move icon and can click to move individual items up or down. 

Note: The Gradebook will always show the Basic move icon.

Use Drag and Drop to move items within your course

If Javascript is enabled in your browser, you can drag-and-drop items within the BFCA Education Portal course page.

  1. Click Turn Editing On (green pencil icon, top right). Editing icons will appear.
  • To move Activities or Resources
    • Click and drag the Move icon at the left of the item link. As you drag, the BFCA Education Portal will dim the items under the item you are dragging. Release the mouse to drop the item into a new location.
    • Note: If you are using the Collapsed topics format, open the closed section, by clicking on the Section name to move an item into the Section. 
  • To move a Section
    • Click and drag the Move icon at top left of the Section. As you drag over other Sections they will dim. Release the mouse to drop the Section into a new location. 
    • If you are using the default Collapsed topics format, it may be convenient to click Close All (above top Section), then drag Section into a new order. This makes it easier to see what you’re doing.
    • Note: You cannot move the top (General) section.

Use the Basic Move Icon to Move Items in Your Course

When JavaScript is NOT enabled in your browser the Basic move icon shows for Resources, Activities, and Sections. 

  1. Click Turn Editing On (top right). Editing icons will appear.
  2. Click the move icon for the item you wish to move. BFCA Education Portal uses Move to here boxes to let you place items in a new location:
    • For Activities and Resources, the BFCA Education Portal will highlight the available move locations with an arrow and box. 
    • For Sections, click the Move Up or Move Down arrow on the right.
  3. Click the Move to here box that appears at the location where you want the item to relocate.

View Individual Profile Reports for Coaches in the Platform

Instructors have access to several tools and reports that can be used to assess student performance in their BFCA Education Portal courses. Quickly gather information about a particular student’s grades and last access to any activity or resource in a course by viewing a student’s Profile reports.

Today’s Logs

Today’s logs will provide you with information regarding the student activity in your BFCA Education Portal course within the same day of your request. To request a Today’s log report from BFCA Education Portal:

  1. On your BFCA Education Portal course page, select the Navigation tray toggle (hamburger menu, top left), and the Navigation tray will open. 
  2. In the Navigation tray, select Participants, and the Participants page with enrolled users will open. 
  3. On the Participants page, click the Profile image of the student you want reports for. The Student profile page will open.
  4. On the Student profile page, under the Reports section, click Today’s logs. The Today’s logs page will open showing the individual student activity of a single day throughout your Edspora course.

All Logs

All logs will provide you with information regarding the student activity in your BFCA Education Portal course during the last month. To request an All logs report from BFCA Education Portal :

  1. On your BFCA Education Portal course page, select the Navigation tray toggle (hamburger menu, top left), and the Navigation tray will open.
  2. In the Navigation tray, select Participants, and the Participants page with enrolled users will open. 
  3. On the Participants page, click the Profile image of the student you want reports for. The Student profile page will open.
  4. On the Student profile page, under the Reports section, click All logs. The All logs page will open showing the individual student activity throughout your Edspora course from a period of over a month.

Outline Report

The Outline report helps instructors to collect and view a summarized version of an activity and grades in all the Activities and Resources in your BFCA Education Portal course. The activities and resources are displayed in the same order as they are in the main course page. To request an Outline report from BFCA Education Portal :

  1. On your BFCA Education Portal course page, select the Navigation tray toggle (hamburger menu, top left), and the Navigation tray will open.
  2. In the Navigation tray, select Participants, and the Participants page with enrolled users will open. 
  3. On the Participants page, click the Profile image of the student you want reports for. The Student profile page will open.
  4. On the Student profile page, under the Reports section, click Outline report. The Outline report page will open summarizing the individual student grades and last logs of the activities and resources of the BFCA Education Portal course.

Complete Report

The Complete report helps instructors to collect and view a detailed list of an individual student’s last log and activity in the Activities and resources in your BFCA Education Portal course. The activities and resources are displayed in the same order as they are on the main course page. To request a Complete report from BFCA Education Portal :

  1. On your BFCA Education Portal course page, select the Navigation tray toggle (hamburger menu, top left), and the Navigation tray will open.
  2. In the Navigation tray, select Participants, and the Participants page with enrolled users will open. 
  3. On the participants page, click the Profile image of the student you want reports for. The Student profile page will open.
  4. On the Student profile page, under the Reports section, click Complete report. The Complete report page will open summarizing the individual student grades and last logs of the activities and resources of the BFCA Education Portal course.

Statistics

Statistics will provide you with information regarding the student activity on your BFCA Education Portal course after the creation of the BFCA Education Portal course. To request a Statistics report from BFCA Education Portal :

  1. On your BFCA Education Portal course page, select the Navigation tray toggle (hamburger menu, top left), and the Navigation tray will open.
  2. In the Navigation tray, select Participants, and the Participants page with enrolled users will open. 
  3. On the Participants page, click the Profile image of the student you want reports for. The Student profile page will open.
  4. On the Student profile page, under the Reports section, click Statistics. The Statistics page will open showing the individual student activity throughout your BFCA Education Portal course from the creation of the course.

How To: Grade Group Assignments in the BFCA Education Portal

Grading student submissions

  1. On your course page, click the link to the assignment activity you want to grade. The Assignment page will open, showing the Grading summary and Submission status.
  2. Click View/grade all submissions. The Assignment submissions page will open.
  3. From the Separate groups or Visible groups drop-down menu, select a Group to grade. The page will reload to show only the students from that Group.
    Note: The groups drop-down will not appear unless you have completed step 7, above (Common module settings).
  4. Click the Grade icon () next to a specific student’s submission from the Group. The submission Grading page will open.
  5. Provide a grade and feedback comments as you would normally.
  6. If you would like your grade and feedback to only be provided for an individual student, under Group submission settings, set the Apply grades and feedback to entire group setting to No. If set to Yes, the same grade and feedback will to be applied to all students in the group.
  7. Scroll down to the bottom and click Save changes.

For information about configuring group assignments, see How To: Configure Group Assignments in the BFCA Education Portal .