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Learning & Teaching Innovation

Current tools

Our current collection of learning and teaching technologies helps support learning management, assessments and communications.

Brightspace

Brightspace is UVic's centrally supported learning management system (LMS), serving as a hub for course materials, assessments, announcements and communication in both online and in-person classes. It integrates with tools like Zoom, Echo360 and Crowdmark, and provides students with a consistent way to access materials, track deadlines and engage with their courses from any device.

Brightspace help guide

Crowdmark

Crowdmark is a collaborative assessment and grading platform for online and in-person exams. Integrated with Brightspace, it simplifies assessment creation, grading and grade management.

Crowdmark help guide

Course outline management

The Course Outline Management tool, developed as a partnership between the Division of Learning and Teaching Innovation and University Systems, streamlines the creation and management of course outlines across instructors and departments. Integrated with Brightspace, it uses department templates and Banner data to pre-populate key information while allowing instructors to customize course-specific details.

Participation is coordinated at the department, school or faculty level. Email us to learn more about onboarding, training, and access.

Echo360

Echo360 is a video platform integrated with Brightspace that supports lecture capture, video creation, and interactive features such as polls and Q&A. It can be used in both in-person and online courses to share recordings, create content and support student engagement.

Echo360 help guide

Explorance Blue

The Student Experience of Learning (SEL) survey is delivered through Explorance Blue, which supports collecting student feedback on their learning experience and provides instructors with insights to enhance teaching.

Near the end of each term, students and instructors receive email invitations to access the SEL dashboard via single sign-on (SSO). Students can complete their surveys, while instructors can monitor response rates during the survey period. Once final grades are submitted, instructors are notified when their detailed reports are available to view in Blue.

Access the dashboard

iClicker

iClicker Cloud is an online student response system that allows instructors to collect real-time feedback through polls, quizzes, and other interactive activities. Integrated with Brightspace, it supports classlist synchronization and gradebook export.

The software is available free from the iClicker website and through the Software Center on classroom instructor workstations. Instructors are encouraged to use the classroom workstation to help minimize demand on classroom Wi‑Fi.

iClicker help guide

Students can participate using either a physical iClicker remote or the iClicker mobile/web app on their personal devices. If using physical remotes, instructors should connect the base station located in the classroom podium cabinet.

Students using either option must create an iClicker Student account. Those using physical remotes must also register their remote within their account settings.

Further resources

  1. Log in and select your course name
  2. Click Settings in the sidebar navigation
  3. Within “Brightspace Integration”, click Connect to Brightspace, and then click Go to Brightspace. If prompted, log in to Brightspace using your NetLink ID
  4. iClicker will request authorization, click Authorize
  5. You will be brought back to the iClicker Cloud web interface, where you will see a list of the Brightspace courses that you teach. Select the course you wish to link, and click Next
  6. If your course has multiple sections, select the section(s) you wish to add to your class, and click Connect
  7. Click Sync Roster Now to complete the integration
  8. Click Save

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a collaboration platform that supports teaching and learning through communication, discussion and group work. Instructors and students can use Teams to connect through chat and video meetings, share files, collaborate on projects and create learning communities beyond the classroom.

Create a new team and templates

New class teams are created in an inactive state, giving you time to set up channels, add files, and prepare content before students gain access.

To activate your class team:

  1. Open the class team you want to activate
  2. Review the banner at the top of the team, which shows how many students are waiting to join
  3. Select Activate
  4. Select Activate again to confirm
Once activated, students will be able to access and participate in the team.

To review students who have been added to the class but do not yet have access:

  1. Open the class team
  2. Select More options (...) > Manage team
  3. Under the Members tab, view the list of students waiting to join
This can be helpful for confirming enrollment before activating the team.

Online Academic Community (OAC)

The Online Academic Community (OAC) is UVic's WordPress hosting platform for faculty, staff and students. It can be used to create academic and research websites, blogs, ePortfolios, lab and project sites as well as other web-based content.

The OAC is administered by Learning and Teaching Innovation (LTI) in partnership with University Systems Production and Technical Services.

  1. Go to https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/ 
  2. Select Login in the top-right corner of the page
  3. Sign in using your UVic NetLink ID and password

Once you sign in for the first time, an OAC account will be created automatically. You can then:
  • Create and manage your own sites
  • Register new websites within the OAC
  • Be added as a user to other OAC sites

  1. From the OAC homepage, select Create a Site
  2. Enter your preferred site URL and title
  3. Choose your visibility and privacy settings
  4. Select Create Site

The OAC includes more than a dozen customizable WordPress themes. To change or preview a theme:
  1. Sign in to your OAC site
  2. From the site dashboard, select Appearance
  3. Browse the available themes
  4. Select Preview to see how a theme will look on your site
  5. Select Activate to apply your chosen theme

You can change themes at any time and continue customizing your site's appearance.

You can add other OAC users to your site and assign them different levels of access.

Before you begin, ensure the person you want to add has logged in to the OAC at least once. This creates their OAC account and makes them searchable within the system.

  1. From the site dashboard, select Users
  2. Use the search bar to search for the person by name or NetLink ID
  3. Select the user you want to add
  4. Choose a role for the user based on the level of access you want them to have
  5. Save your changes to add the user to the site

For a description of available roles and permissions, see Add User Roles and Permissions

Plugins extend the functionality of your OAC site by adding features such as enhanced content tools, analytics, security improvements, and interactive content (for example, H5P activities)

  1. Navigate to the Plugins section of your site dashboard to view available options
  2. Activate the approved plugins you wish to use on your site

If you require functionality that is not currently available, contact us to request a new plugin. All plugin requests undergo security, privacy, and Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) reviews. As a result, approval and implementation may take some time.

Online Academic Community (OAC) sites typically use a URL in the format: https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/sitename

If you would like a custom UVic web address (for example, example.uvic.ca), contact us.

To comply with UVic records management requirements, inactive Online Academic Community sites are automatically archived and deleted over time. Sites with no updates for 18 months are archived, and site owners are notified. Making an update at any time will reset the inactivity timer.

Archived sites that remain inactive for an additional 6 months are marked for deletion. If no updates are made within a further 6 months, the site is permanently removed.

To keep your site active, update its content regularly.

Remark

Remark Office OMR is software used to scan and grade multiple-choice bubble sheets. It automates the processing of paper-based assessments by reading scanned answer forms, matching responses to an answer key, calculating grades and generating exam analysis reports. It is commonly used for large classes and in-person exams that use bubble sheets.

Remark help guide

Important note

LTI and University Systems are no longer providing in-person support for the use of Remark software. Self-help resources for scanning and processing bubble sheets using Remark remain available through our help guide.
Contact us for alternative tools

Respondus Lockdown Browser

Respondus LockDown Browser is an optional secure browser that can be enabled for Brightspace quizzes and exams. It helps create a more controlled testing environment by restricting what students can do on their device while completing an assessment.

When using LockDown Browser, students cannot:

  • Open other browser tabs or applications
  • Navigate to other websites
  • Print, copy, or capture screen content
  • Access unauthorized resources during the assessment
Watch the video tutorial

LockDown Browser may be appropriate for: 

  • Midterm and final exams requiring a controlled testing environment 
  • Quizzes where access to external resources is not permitted 
  • Assessments that require additional exam security 

Respondus LockDown Browser is enabled on a course-by-course basis each term. To ensure it is available for your assessments, please submit your request at least 7–10 business days before your first quiz or exam. 

Before choosing, make sure to contact CAL accommodations and consider alternative assessment designs. Also review institutional guidance on online invigilation. 

Respondus Lockdown Browser is compatible with Windows 10, 8, 7, MacOS 10.12 to 10.15, and iOS 11.0+. Lockdown Browser does not support Linux, but Respondus is currently in a beta program to support student’s personal Chromebooks.

If a student requires an accommodation or exemption, you can disable the lockdown browser for that student using Special Access settings within the Brightspace quiz.

  • Go to your Brightspace course
  • In the Course Tools drop-down menu, navigate to Quizzes
  • At the top, select the LockDown Browser tab
  • Select Continue to LockDown Browser
  • Find the quiz that you would like to enable the LockDown Browser for, then select Settings in the drop-down menu
  • Select Require LockDown Browser for this exam

  • Select the quiz in the course
  • Under Quiz Requirements you will see "To take this quiz you must use the Respondus LockDown Browser"
  • Below this will appear: "You can use the button below if you have not already downloaded LockDown Browser". Click the button to go to the download page and then follow the instructions
  • Use the link to download Respondus LockDown Browser to your computer; follow the installation instructions
  • Return to the Quiz page in Brightspace (it may still be open in another tab) and select the quiz
  • Select "Launch LockDown Browser"
  • The quiz will now start
LockDown Browser only needs to be installed once to a computer or device. It will start automatically from that point forward when a quiz requires it.

Zoom

Zoom is a web conferencing platform that can be used for teaching and learning, to host live online classes, virtual office hours, guest speaker sessions, presentations and meetings as well as other interactive learning activities. Zoom supports features such as screen sharing, chat, polls, breakout rooms, recording presentations and live captions.

Refer to University Systems for information on how to access and further resources.

  1. Open your Content tab in Brightspace course
  2. Click on New Unit
  3. Give Unit a name Zoom/Meeting link
  4. Click on the blue button Add Existing & choose External Tool Activity
  5. Click on Add Zoom

  1. In your Brightspace course, open the Calendar and select Go to Calendar
  2. Click Create Event
  3. Select Add Content and link your Zoom meeting
  4. Enter an event name and description if desired
  5. Set the date and time for the first session
  6. Click Add Recurrence and choose Weekly (or another schedule as needed)
  7. Select the meeting days and end date for the series
  8. Add your Zoom meeting link in the Location field and click Create

You can record a Zoom meeting either to the cloud or directly to your computer. Hosts and co-hosts can start recordings, while participants can only record if permission is granted by the host.

  1. Start your Zoom meeting
  2. Click Record in the meeting toolbar
  3. Choose Record to the Cloud or Record on this Computer
  4. When finished, click Stop Recording and end the meeting
  5. Share the recording with students, preferably through Echo360, which provides captions, transcripts, and reliable playback across devices

Important note

Let students know in advance if a session will be recorded and explain why. Students who do not want to appear in the recording can turn off their camera and participate through chat. Cloud recordings are automatically copied to the meeting owner's Echo Library and removed from Zoom after 7 days.

The co-host role allows another instructor or TA to help manage your Zoom meeting, including moderating participants and managing recordings.

  1. Invite the co-instructor or TA to join the Zoom meeting as a participant
  2. Open the Participants panel once the meeting begins
  3. Hover their name and click More
  4. Select Make Co-Host

Co-hosts can help with meeting management, such as muting participants and starting or stopping recordings. Co-hosts cannot start the meeting on your behalf; use an alternative host if needed.

  1. Start your Zoom meeting
  2. Click Live Transcription in the meeting toolbar (or More if it isn't visible)
  3. Select Enable Auto-Transcription
  4. Captions will appear automatically at the bottom of participants' screen

Note: Participants can show or hide captions, adjust font size, and view a full transcript during the meeting. Live transcription does not work in breakout rooms. Please also note that automatic captions may not always be fully accurate.

  1. Start your Zoom meeting
  2. Click Breakout Rooms in the meeting toolbar
  3. Choose how you want participants assigned:
    • Automatically – Zoom places participants into rooms evenly
    • Manually – You choose who goes into each room
    • Let participants choose room – Participants select their own room
  4. Select the number of rooms you want and click Create
  5. Review or adjust room assignments if needed
  6. Click Open All Rooms to start the breakout sessions
Tips:
  • As the host, you can move between rooms, send messages to all rooms, and close rooms when it's time to return to the main session
  • Students can return to the main session if that option is enabled in the breakout room settings
  • For recurring meetings, pre-assigned breakout groups can be saved and reused