Course copy | About course copy in Brightspace
It is possible to copy both the structure and the content (modules, activities, settings) from one course to another. This way you can use the course you have built over the year for another year. This can save a lot of time.
This article will explain:
- General information about copying a course
- What will/can be copied
- What will not be copied
General information
Remember that you need to be enrolled in both courses (as staff) in order to copy components from one course to the other.
In general, the procedure for copying courses will be:
- The Course Coordinator will get access to an empty Brightspace course page
- The Course Coordinator has two options:
- copy the course him/herself using the manuals here
- Or can get help by:
- Attend the training (subscribe yourself via https://esd.crs.wur.nl/courses/details/356)
- Reaching out to Brightspace Helpdesk
The copy process is not a merging process! It copies all the structure and items. Be aware if you already have created structure and content items in the target course as it will create duplicate modules with the same name.
What will/can be copied?
Course content
| Course content | Can be copied | Can be copied, but needs checking afterwards | Should not be copied. Create a new link after copy. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Announcement | Adjust publication dates (also in the text). | ||
| Assignment (Brightspace) | ✔️ | ||
| Assignment with rubrics | ✔️ - On Copy all Components | On copy Selected Components: Link to rubric will be lost unless rubric is selected as well in the Select Components option. The same is true for Grade Items linked to Assignment. | |
| Checklist | |||
| Course files | ✔️ | ||
| Discussion Forum/Topics | ✔️ | ||
| Grade items/categories | ✔️ | ||
| Group (including links, such as to Assignments) |
✔️ | Self Enrolment groups with Expiry dates need to be adjusted. This can be done before copying a course, deselect unenroled users after self enrolment expiry date. | |
| Quiz (Brightspace) | ✔️ | ||
| Rubric | ✔️ | ||
| Self-assessment | ✔️ | ||
| Survey | Loss of special access. | ||
| SCORM object | Will lose any link to the grade items. Link to grade item after copy. |
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| Intelligent Agents | ✔️ | When copying an Intelligent Agent to another course, the settings have to be set up and activated again. | |
| External Learning Tools: | |||
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Causes calendar issues if the original has a Due date. Change the due dates and delete the Calendar entry of the old one. |
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✔️ | ||
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✔️ | ||
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✔️ | ||
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The widget will be available. A team can be created on request | ||
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️ | After copying, check the YuJa channel of your course to make sure videos are available. If not, please contact [email protected] | |
Course settings
Furthermore, there are settings of the course that can also be transferred from your old course to your new course:
| Course Setting | Can be copied | Can be copied, but needs checking afterwards | Should not be copied, re-create after copy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Course structure (modules, sub-modules) | ✔️ |
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| Release conditions | ✔️ |
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| Grades settings |
✔️ |
What will not be copied?
- Virtual Classroom sessions
- Manually added events from the Calendar
- All user-related data is not copied. Example of such data:
- handed-in assignments,
- achieved grades,
- group locker contents,
- enrolled users in the source course
- discussion posts
- and others.
Keep in mind that Virtual Classroom is not recommended to record videos that you would like to use in multiple courses or over the years. This is because Virtual Classroom recordings cannot be copied and can only be used for viewing within the Brightspace course where they took place.
If you are looking for different tools to record lectures that you could reuse in future courses, please visit the Brightspace page What's up, What's new > Content > Available Tools > Create recordings.
If you already have a recorded session in Virtual Classroom that you want to use in another course, please check Reusing Virtual Classroom recordings out of your course.
Empty folders in the Manage files will not be copied in a course copy, and all Default paths set to the folders will be lost.
You now know about how to copy a course in Brightspace!