BOLT Will Be Unavailable Sunday, May 12 from 2am to 12pm EST

Please note that BOLT will be unavailable to all end users on Sunday, May 12, 2019 from 2am to 12 noon EST. A maintenance page will appear during this time and no access to the site will be possible during the window. This scheduled time was moved by D2L to accommodate activities during finals week. Please schedule BOLT activities accordingly.

Impact: BOLT will be inaccessible to all end users during the scheduled downtime.
When: 05/12/2019 2AM - 12PM EST
Why: D2L is migrating all Brightspace clients to AWS.

Common Questions:

Will this affect my student work in my courses?No. This migration won't affect student, or any end user, data.

Will this affect instructor's course content?
No. This will not affect course content or other instructor work done in courses.

If you have any questions, contact us at imdc@bloomu.edu.

Thank you,
IMDC Staff

Brightspace Pulse Available for BOLT Students

The Brightspace mobile app, Pulse, is now available to students using BOLT.

See it in action in the video below:

You can get the app on Google Play or at the App store. Go to https://www.d2l.com/products/pulse/ and click on the appropriate logo to get Pulse on your device!

Once you get Pulse, you should be able to select your school to set it up. If you are on campus, Bloomsburg/BOLT should be at the top of the list!

If you want detailed information on how to use Pulse, you can find it at https://documentation.brightspace.com/EN/pulse/-/learner/using_pulse.htm

Announcing End of Life of the Binder App, Bringing Life to Pulse App in Winter

D2L has announced an end of life date for the Binder app of May 31, 2019. Those who need to access course materials offline will be able to use the Brightspace Pulse app for iOS and Android starting this Winter session at Bloomsburg.

Phase 1 of End of Life for Binder: November 1, 2018 

D2L will no longer keep a copy of a user’s Binder content and annotations in the cloud (it will remain on their device only). The web-based Binder client will no longer be available. Binder will only be able to annotate PDF documents. And the “Send to Binder” button in the Content tool will be removed.

What should Binder users do prior to November 1? 

• Be sure to update the Binder app with the latest release prior to November 1 to avoid any disruption. Many phones and tablets do this automatically. 
• If you use the Binder website, be sure to log into the free Binder app for iOS or Android prior to November 1 to sync all changes locally to your device. 

How will users get course materials into Binder? 

You can still add your Brightspace course materials to Binder from within the Binder app.

Can users still annotate in Binder? 

You will be able to annotate PDF documents from Brightspace, as well as PDF documents from other sources (Google Drive, Dropbox), while still being able to view and annotate any existing documents, even offline.

Phase 2 of End of Life for Binder: May 31, 2019 

On May 31, 2019 Binder will no longer be supported by D2L, will no longer work with Brightspace (BOLT), and will be removed from the Apple and Google app stores.

Will users still be able to use Binder after May 31? 

Binder will remain installed on existing devices, but users will not be able to reinstall the application from the app stores, and there will be no further updates. Furthermore, it should be expected that over time parts of Binder will stop working as the Android and iOS operating systems that Binder depend on are updated and changed.

Does D2L have an alternative for accessing course materials offline? 

Yes, the Brightspace Pulse app is freely available on iOS and Android platforms and allows students to view and access course materials offline.

What is Brightspace Pulse? 

Brightspace Pulse is a mobile app that helps students keep track of important updates. It brings news, deadlines, and grades together in one place so they can spend less time organizing and more time learning.

Students can check upcoming readings, assignments, and tests quickly to make better decisions about how to handle their workload. Notifications keep students up to date with course news and let them know when grades are available. Pulse also allows students to read and reply to class discussions they're subscribed to right within the app.

 Pulse will be available to Bloomsburg University students by this Winter session. We will announce its arrival at that time.

Coming Soon: Auto-save in Quizzes

You know how you can take an entire quiz in BOLT but if your connection drops you might lose your answers if you don't save them periodically?

That's going to be a thing of the past soon.

BOLT will soon introduce an auto-save feature in quizzes. Answers will save automatically while you're taking a quiz.

This feature is not yet available but is in on its way. Keep saving your answers for now! We will post once the feature is available.

Quizzing with LockDown Browser

If your instructor requires you to use Respondus LockDown Browser, here are some tips to help you.

First, if you are on your own machine, you MUST download the browser via OUR special link at http://www.respondus.com/lockdown/download.php?id=666246493

You won't be able to download the browser to campus machines due to permissions on campus machines.

Some machines on campus already have the browser, such as machines in the library. However, they do not have webcams which are needed to use Respondus Monitor which instructors may require. If you require a webcam you may need to use your own machine.

To begin a quiz, use a regular browser to go to BOLT and your course. Go to Assessment > Quizzes and click on the name of the quiz. There will be a button to Launch LockDown Browser rather than the "Start Quiz" button other quizzes in BOLT have.

For support, contact BOLT Support via phone at 1-866-921-0473 to make sure there is not an issue with BOLT first. If they can't assist you right away, contact Respondus at http://support.respondus.com/support/index.php

BOLT TIP: Find your feedback in BOLT

BOLT has improved feedback visibility in some tools. Here are some tips to find your feedback.

Check the Grades and Class Progress tools for feedback from all types of activities. The rubrics tool has been improved to allow feedback from instructors to display in these tools. Previously feedback from rubrics did not always display in these tools.

View your submission in Assignments to see instructor feedback. If your instructor left feedback in the Assignments tool, you will be able to see it when you access your submission there. Instructors can also see when you viewed this feedback.

Also in Assignments, click through any Turnitin links in your submission if your instructor uses Turnitin Feedback Studio. If they do, you can access the Feedback Studio and see the markup and comments they left on your submission.

Subscribe to discussion threads to see responses such as from your instructor or classmates. If you subscribe, you will receive notifications when new posts are made to your or other threads.

Fresh BOLT How-To for Spring!

We promised you a new version of our BOLT How-To pages and they are now available!

You can access the new IMDC Infobase at https://bloomuimdc.freshdesk.com. Or, if you're in BOLT, click Help and then click BOLT How-To.

You can search for topics, look at related articles, download our step by step tutorials, and watch our YouTube videos directly on the topic pages.

We made a video to show you how it works: