Module 7

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Module 7: Set up Your bCourses Account

In this module, we'll take a look at how to set up your bCourses account so that you're ready to start the first day of class. This includes updating your profile picture, contact methods, and notification settings. All of these tools will help you monitor your communication with students. The frequency and speed with which you respond to students will impact their connection to the course, so it's important to ensure you are getting messages and comments in a timely manner. You will be able to complete all of these tasks via Account in the Global Navigation, the far left navigation bar that you can access no matter which course you are in.

We will also look at the Calendar in the Global Navigation and how you can use it to monitor due dates and activities in your course.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this module, you'll be able to:

  1. Add a picture to your bCourses profile
  2. Update your notification settings to meet your communication and grading needs
  3. Add other contact methods to receive bCourses notifications
  4. Use the bCourses calendar and integrate it with other calendar apps you use
  5. Apply best practices for setting up your bCourses account.

All of these learning objectives will help you to achieve the overall course objective: Communicate with students via all avenues available in bCourses.

How To Do It

Add a picture to your bCourses profile

One way to personalize your course is by adding a profile picture to your bCourses account. The profile picture will appear next to your name any time you post something in bCourses. The article below from the Canvas Guides explains how to add a profile picture.

Update your notification settings to meet your communication and grading needs

You can determine how often bCourses notifies you when a student sends a message, posts to a discussion, or submits an assignment. Notifications can be very useful to help you manage your relationship with students and stay on top of grading. In order to make best use of the notifications feature, review the materials below from the Canvas Guides that provide an overview of notifications and how to personalize your settings.

Add other contact methods to receive bCourses notifications

Your berkeley.edu email address is automatically associated with your bCourses account and cannot be removed. However, if you know that you have another email address where you'd like to receive notifications, you can add it to your bCourses profile. The article below from the Canvas Guides explains how to add other contact methods for notifications.

Use the bCourses calendar and integrate it with other calendar apps you use

In the Global Navigation you can use the Calendar to keep track of assignment due dates and events relevant to all of your courses. You can only view this calendar when you are logged in to bCourses. However, you can subscribe to the Calendar feed and connect it to another calendaring application you may use. The article below from the Canvas Guides explains how to do it.

Your bCal is a Google Calendar. If you use a calendar other than bCal, you can check the Canvas Guides Calendar section Links to an external site. for integration instructions.

Best Practices

Now that you know how to complete the activities covered in this module, read more about how best to use them in your course. These practices are adapted from common recommendations for fully online courses to meet the needs of a remote classroom.