{"id":1156,"date":"2021-12-14T16:56:13","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T21:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cuportfoliosupport\/?page_id=1156"},"modified":"2025-09-29T07:34:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T11:34:34","slug":"instructor-getting-started-guide","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cuportfoliosupport\/instructor-getting-started-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Instructor Getting Started Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Start with a Consultation<\/h2>\n<p>If you are new to teaching with cuPortfolio, it is strongly recommended to <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/course-consultation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">request a consultation with a TLS support staff<\/a>. Teaching with cuPortfolio involves making important pedagogical decisions for your course and communicating technical details to students that you may not have considered yet. Working with someone who is an expert from the start will help you save time and avoid technical issues throughout the term.<\/p>\n<h2>Consider Setting up a Course Template<\/h2>\n<p>Decide if you want to create a portfolio template for your students. A template provides students with the structure (i.e., tabs) for their cuPortfolio.<\/p>\n<div class=\"slideme\"><dl class=\"slideme__list\"><dt class=\"slideme__term\"><a href=\"#slideme-advantages-of-creating-a-template\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"slideme-advantages-of-creating-a-template\" class=\"slideme__heading slideme__trigger\">Advantages of Creating a Template<\/a><\/dt><dd class=\"slideme__description\" id=\"slideme-advantages-of-creating-a-template\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><p><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Provides clear expectations and a structure for creating their cuPortfolio.<\/li>\n<li>Reduces the early technical learning and building for students.<\/li>\n<li>Makes grading easier for instructors and TAs by providing greater consistency between student portfolios.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p><\/dd><dl><\/div>\n<div class=\"slideme\"><dl class=\"slideme__list\"><dt class=\"slideme__term\"><a href=\"#slideme-disadvantages-of-creating-a-template\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"slideme-disadvantages-of-creating-a-template\" class=\"slideme__heading slideme__trigger\">Disadvantages of Creating a Template<\/a><\/dt><dd class=\"slideme__description\" id=\"slideme-disadvantages-of-creating-a-template\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><p><\/p>\n<p>Limits students\u2019 creativity. If you are planning to use cuPortfolio for a creative project or for students to document and express their learning journey in your course, using a template may limit them from taking ownership of their learning and hinder their unique expressions of their learning through their portfolio structure.<\/p>\n<p><\/p><\/dd><dl><\/div>\n<p>If you would like to create a template, reach out to the <a href=\"https:\/\/itsjira.carleton.ca\/servicedesk\/customer\/portal\/15\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">TLS support team<\/a> (select General Inquires) to help you set it up and distribute it to your students.<\/p>\n<h2>Connect cuPortfolio to Your Brightspace Course<\/h2>\n<p>Set up the link between cuPortfolio and Brightspace by <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cuportfoliosupport\/?page_id=1163&amp;preview=true\">creating a cuPortfolio course group<\/a>. Enabling this connection creates a link in your Brightspace course that provides students with direct access to cuPortfolio (through single-sign on). This connection also creates a cuPortfolio course group that all students and the instructor in a course are enrolled in. cuPortfolio course groups are required to distribute a cuPortfolio template to students.<\/p>\n<h2>Set up a Brightspace Assignment to Accept cuPortfolio Submissions<\/h2>\n<p>There are two options for setting up a Brightspace assignment to receive cuPortfolio submissions: (a) a locked \u201cofficial\u201d cuPortfolio submission (b) submitting a shareable link of the portfolio (AKA Secret URL). The Brightspace Assignment settings for both options are very simple. You just need to change the Submission Type to <strong>Text submission<\/strong> (NOT &#8216;File submission&#8217; or &#8216;File or Text submission&#8217; ):<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1189\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cuportfoliosupport\/wp-content\/uploads\/Brightspace-assignment-settings.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"931\" height=\"443\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cuportfoliosupport\/wp-content\/uploads\/Brightspace-assignment-settings.jpg 931w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cuportfoliosupport\/wp-content\/uploads\/Brightspace-assignment-settings-240x114.jpg 240w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cuportfoliosupport\/wp-content\/uploads\/Brightspace-assignment-settings-400x190.jpg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cuportfoliosupport\/wp-content\/uploads\/Brightspace-assignment-settings-160x76.jpg 160w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cuportfoliosupport\/wp-content\/uploads\/Brightspace-assignment-settings-768x365.jpg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cuportfoliosupport\/wp-content\/uploads\/Brightspace-assignment-settings-360x171.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 931px) 100vw, 931px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>cuPortfolio-Brightspace Assignment Submission Options<\/h3>\n<div class=\"slideme\"><dl class=\"slideme__list\"><dt class=\"slideme__term\"><a href=\"#slideme-locked-portfolio-submissions\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"slideme-locked-portfolio-submissions\" class=\"slideme__heading slideme__trigger\">Locked Portfolio Submissions<\/a><\/dt><dd class=\"slideme__description\" id=\"slideme-locked-portfolio-submissions\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><p><\/p>\n<p>In this case, when the student submits their portfolio, a copy of the portfolio gets locked so that they cannot make any changes to it. If you would like to give them the ability to edit the copy of their portfolio again, you need to go to the portfolio and <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cuportfoliosupport\/how-to-unlock-a-portfolio\/\">click the \u201cRelease collection\u201d button found at the bottom of the portfolio page<\/a>. Below are suggested instructions to share with your students in the \u201cInstructions\u201d area of the assignment:<\/p>\n<p><em>Please use the QuickLinks button in the text box toolbar to select your portfolio for submission. Here are instructions on how to submit your portfolio: https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cuportfoliosupport\/help\/submitting-assignments\/#sect1.2<\/em><br \/>\n<em>This submission process will LOCK a copy of your portfolio so that you cannot make changes to it after you have submitted it. Once your portfolio has been reviewed, it will be unlocked.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/p><\/dd><dl><\/div>\n<div class=\"slideme\"><dl class=\"slideme__list\"><dt class=\"slideme__term\"><a href=\"#slideme-submitting-a-link-of-a-portfolio-no-locking\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"slideme-submitting-a-link-of-a-portfolio-no-locking\" class=\"slideme__heading slideme__trigger\">Submitting a Link of a Portfolio (No Locking)<\/a><\/dt><dd class=\"slideme__description\" id=\"slideme-submitting-a-link-of-a-portfolio-no-locking\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><p><\/p>\n<p>In this case, you ask students to create and submit a Secret URL of their portfolio. This is a shareable link that lets anyone view the portfolio so long as they have the exact URL. This option is better if you do not require the locking of the portfolio. Below are suggested instructions to share with your students in the \u201cInstructions\u201d area of the assignment:<\/p>\n<p><em>Please create a Secret URL of your portfolio and submit it to this assignment. Follow these instructions on how to create a Secret URL: https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cuportfoliosupport\/help\/submitting-assignments\/#sect2<\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/p><\/dd><dl><\/div>\n<h4>When to use the \u201cofficial\u201d locking submission method vs. Secret URL method<\/h4>\n<p>Most instructors use the Secret URL method for students to submit their portfolio at the start of term. This gives instructors (and TAs) viewing access to the portfolios for the rest of the term and it tends to be the less technically-complicated option. With this approach, even if students have multiple cuPortfolio assignments throughout the term, instructors will tell students to simply post their work to their portfolio and the instructor\/TAs will use the secret URLs that were submitted at the start of term to view the work.<\/p>\n<p>Most instructors also use a locked portfolio submission at the <strong>end<\/strong> of term. This gives them an official record of the portfolios that they can refer back to, knowing that the portfolio has not been edited past the date of submission at the end of term.<\/p>\n<p>If you need to be certain that students are not making changes to their portfolio after the submission deadline, then the \u201cofficial\u201d locking submission method is best. Keep in mind though that when a student submits their portfolio, ALL PAGES in the portfolio are locked. This means that if you have many submissions throughout the term, you will need to be timely in grading and unlocking the portfolios so that students can continue to edit their portfolio<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Start with a Consultation If you are new to teaching with cuPortfolio, it is strongly recommended to request a consultation with a TLS support staff. Teaching with cuPortfolio involves making important pedagogical decisions for your course and communicating technical details to students that you may not have considered yet. Working with someone who is an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Instructor Getting Started Guide - cuPortfolio Support<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Start with a Consultation If you are new to teaching with cuPortfolio, it is strongly recommended to request a consultation with a TLS support staff.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cuportfoliosupport\/instructor-getting-started-guide\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cuportfoliosupport\/instructor-getting-started-guide\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cuportfoliosupport\/instructor-getting-started-guide\/\",\"name\":\"Instructor Getting Started Guide - 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