The Journals tool provides a personal space for students to communicate privately with their teacher or reflect individually on their own learning. Usually, journals are private and can only be viewed and commented on by the student author and their teacher.
Managing Journals
As an instructor, you can create one Journal or multiple Journals for your students. You can choose where to place the Journal in the content area.
Both you and your students can create journal entries. Only instructors in the course can comment on students' private entries. For staff and students, a blue icon appears next to the title to indicate new activity. Students can make multiple entries for one journal topic. You can also allow them to comment on journal entries after you comment on an entry to continue the conversation.
Setting up a Journal
Instructions
If you wish to add a journal, navigate to the area of your course.
Click on the plus symbol and then create
Select the Journal option.
On the journal page, provide a prompt with the instructions and files the student will need to begin.
If you do not provide a prompt, the following message will be displayed for your students ‘your instructor has not added any instructions’.
If you wish this to contribute to the student’s grade, you can tick grade.
You can give graded Journals a due date.
You should also indicate whether it is points or percentage.
You can allow students to edit and delete entries or edit and delete comments or you can prevent them from doing this by unticking the relevant options.
You can make it visible or set release conditions to make it available.
If you have not already entered a title for the Journal, edit the title now.
The text in journal entries can be formatted in the text editor, images and video content can be embedded and files can be attached.
ADD SCREENSHOT
Graded journals
Journal entries can be assessed or used solely for communication. When used for assessment, grades can be awarded for individual entries or for the overall journal in its entirety. By default, journals are ‘not marked’.
To make a journal graded, select the settings (cog icon) at the top right of the journal screen.
Check Grade Journal to make the journal count towards the final grade.
In a graded journal, due dates can be added, to enable students to access the journal from the Grades pages, the calendar, and the activity stream. You can also add release conditions that students are required to meet before they can view a journal.
If you add a rubric for grading to a journal, students can view it before and after starting their submission.
ADD A SCREENSHOT