Selective Release
In a conventional classroom you plan the delivery of your material according to a schedule. Often, you present new information only when students demonstrate comprehension of the current content. Your criteria for a schedule may also vary according to student performance, time, special needs, or a combination of all three.
In Bb Vista, you can duplicate this “selective release” of information by:
- hiding items from or showing items to students.
- setting release criteria that specifies when, to whom, and/or under which condition the information is presented.
Hiding Items
Use the action link for the content and select the hide or show item option. In the example below, we use the action link for the Final Project folder and can hide it until later in the class:
Setting Release Criteria
Whereas the Hide and Show options are clear, the selective release feature in Bb Vista requires an understanding of how the selective release criteria can help or complicate your course.
Here are some examples of how selective release is used effectively. We also have examples of how NOT to use selective release.
Using Selective Release Effectively
Date Criteria: You have created various modules or folders that students will access throughout the semester. You do not want your students to access the advanced content until they have mastered the introductory content. You could hide those advanced folders, but you would need to remember to show them. Using the Date Criteria option in Selective Release, you can set the open date for each folder or module. Students will not see the materials until the date and time selected.
Date Criteria: You have a web link created that links to the online course evaluation site. You do not want students to see this link until near the end of the semester. You could hide this link and students will not see it until you select the link and change it from Hide to Show or you can use Selective Release to set up a date for the web link to open. You can also have a date selected for this link to close again.
Note: you will need to update your date criteria every semester. Here we are setting a date for the content to open. We are not setting any closing date for the content and leaving it as Unlimited, as we want it opened through the rest of the semester:
Note: Assessments and Assignments have their own date properties and you do NOT need to use Selective Release to set up the dates. Use the Date Criteria for Assessments and Assignments only for special needs and exceptions.
Group Criteria: You have set up several groups in your class using the Group Manager (found in the Instructor Tools when in the Teach tab). You want specific content or discussion topics available for each group. You can use the Group Criteria option when setting up the Selective Release. Here we are selecting Group 1 - Mercury to have access to the content:
Member Criteria: You have a student that needs special access to materials that you do not want the other students to view. Maybe it is a student who missed a quiz due to a family emergency. You can make the link to the quiz available for that one student. Do not forget to change the date properties for the quiz so that the student can open the quiz. You only need to use the Member Criteria and can leave the Date Criteria alone unless you have a special situation. Here we are giving only Meghan Eill access to the content:
Grade Book Criteria: You have a folder, module, assignment or an assessment that students should not access unless they have completed another assignment or assessment. You can set up the release criteria on content and activities to allow students access once they receive a designated "score" in the completed assignment or assessment. There are several options, and you can set the Grade Book Criteria for any content or activity, but the criteria you use is based on columns in the Grade Book. You cannot set the criteria to be the submission of an assignment, you need to enter something in the Grade Book for that assignment to kick the selective release into action. Some instructors create a syllabus quiz that questions if students have read the syllabus. When the students earn an acceptable score (students are allowed to take the quiz as many times as necessary) content is opened for students to access. Here we are setting the Final Project folder to open when the students earn 10 points on the Diagnostic Quiz. We have also set the quiz so students can attempt the quiz an unlimited amount of times in order to earn that 10 points:
Combining Criteria: You can select multiple criteria for content or activities. You want to open the materials up by a certain date (Date Criteria) AND the students need to complete another activity first (Grade Book Criteria).
Using Selective Release Ineffectively
Here are examples of how the misuse of Selective Release can be problematic.
Students cannot see a scheduled quiz: You have set up your assessments. You decide to open and close the assessments on certain dates. You did not use the assessment properties to set up these dates, but instead used the Selective Release. Students cannot open the assessments because the assessment date properties are set for past dates and times. The assessment properties should not be confused with the Date Criteria.
Students cannot see their quiz results: You may have used the Member Criteria of selective release to allow certain students to make up the quiz by giving only them access for a certain time after the quiz due date. This means that the other students cannot see their results. You will want to remove this criteria after the late students complete their quizzes.
Another possible problem is that using the Date Criteria plus the quiz properties. If you have set the quiz to be available until a certain date, then access to that quiz will disappear after that date. No student can see their results. Be careful of setting dates and times in the "Available Until" field.
Students cannot see a discussion topic: Using group discussions, each topic is released to a specific group. If students have not been added to a specific group, they cannot see the discussion topics.
One student cannot see content or an activity: You have set up content and used the Member Criteria to give all students access. The student who cannot see the content added the class after you set up the selective release and is not on the permitted members list. Setting up all students this way is unnecessary; the default is that all students have access unless restricted using the selective release features. Another reason why that one student cannot see content or an activity is that they have not met the requirements for accessing that content or activity because of the required grade book criteria.
Two or more students set with Member Criteria still cannot access the content: If the Member Criteria is set up for one student and another student is added later by selecting Add Member Criteria, you must use OR, not AND. There is no student with a UserID that combines two IDs.
Note: You may find it easier to edit the original Member Criteria by using the action link for the current student listed. You will see the edit option and can select the checkboxes for the other students you want to add.
Your criteria is missing: You may set up or remove various criteria for an activity but it is easy to forget to save the changes. Make sure that you select that Save button after changing the selective release criteria for any content or activity.
