Admins can enable and disable Feature sets to accommodate users' needs.
Education is increasingly moving to blended and online learning environments; this means learning new technologies is unavoidable.
Rather than watering down our features to accommodate users with beginner-level tech experience, Buzz allows admins to disable features that their users don't need or aren't ready to implement. As users receive PD, gain experience with the tool, and develop new teaching practices, admins can enable features for individuals, groups, and/or domain-wide.
This provides a consistent experience with a tool that grows and develops with you!
This article covers how to:
Manage Features domain-wide
To manage Feature for your entire domain:
- Select the Features tab in the Domain tool.
- Review the available switches and what is impacted by them.
- Click the switch to disable (left) or enable (right) the feature. Most switches are enabled by default.
Manage Features for individuals
To manage Features for individuals:
- Open the Users tool.
- Click the desired User ID.
- Open the side menu and click Edit feature settings.
- Check the box(es) next to the Feature(s) you want to re-enable for the selected user.
- Save.
Review Features that can be disabled
Domain Features are inherited by subdomains unless explicitly changed in the subdomain.
| Feature switch |
Feature description |
Learn more |
|---|---|---|
| Enable the Calendar tool for teachers |
The Calendar displays due date notifications that are color-coded by course. Teachers can select a date or view to see activity due dates. |
How do I use the Calendar? Location: Accessed from the Main Menu |
| Enable course blackout dates |
Allows course authors to override blackout dates. Buzz automatically schedules suggested due dates for all gradable activities in self-paced, continuous enrollment courses. Blackout dates are automatically excluded from these calculations, so due dates don't fall on them. |
How do I create blackout dates for my course? Location: Course Settings |
| Enable enrollment completion settings |
Allows course authors to choose how course completion is triggered. |
How do I manage Course Settings? Location: Course Settings |
| Enable dark color scheme | Let users choose to use a dark color scheme when choosing their application theme. |
How do I change my interface colors? |
| Enable publisher settings |
Allows course authors to determine how course content is handled in any derivative copies and whether the course appears in the Digital Library subscription index. |
How do Master and Derivative Courses work? How do I manage Course Settings? How do I add subscriptions to my domain? Location: Course Settings |
| Enable student self assessments |
Allows students to evaluate their personal understanding, interest, and effort in a course using a simple four-point scale for each. Teachers access these assessments with the People tool and can use them to guide intervention and personalized attention. |
How do I complete a Self Assessment? Location: Course Home |
| Enable groups |
Allows teachers to create groups, send group messages, assign group activities, assign group grades, award group badges, create quick intervention tasks for specified groups, and filter their list views by group. |
How do I create and manage groups? Location: Editor and People tool |
| Enable group-specific settings |
Allows teachers to configure activity settings to meet the needs specific to each group and establish group-driven staggered schedules. |
How do I configure group-specific activity settings? Location: Editor |
| Enable side panels in Editor |
The Editor's side panels are collapsable interfaces that allow teachers to manage things like badges, objectives, resources, and activity properties from various screens in the Editor tool. |
How do I use the Editor tool? Location: Editor |
| Enable the Projects screen in Editor |
The Projects screen allows course authors to create, review, and organize course projects using the Editor tool. |
How do I use the Editor tool? Location: Editor |
| Enable the Scheduling screen in Editor |
The Scheduling screen allows teachers to review the calendar, create and adjust due dates, and plan course timelines in the Editor tool. |
How do I use the Editor tool? Location: Editor |
| Enable advanced activity settings |
Allows teachers to manage more advanced activity, gradebook, and assessment settings. This switch controls the visibility of the following cards in the activity editors:
|
How do I use activity editors? Location: Editor |
| Enable advanced visibility settings |
Allows course authors to control activity visibility and access rules, such as blocking access until a date passes, until student completes another activity, or until student masters an objective. |
How do I use activity editors? Location: Editor |
| Enable user notifications | Allows auto-generated email notifications to users for activity submissions, updated grades, badges, enrollment status changes, etc. |
How do I manage notifications? (Teacher app) How do I manage notifications? (Student app) Note: This feature is managed at the domain-level only; it can’t be enabled for individuals. |
| Enable email | Allows teachers to message students using the Clipboard, Communication, and People tools, and allows students to message teachers. Enable email is overridden by turning on the Enable Inbox feature switch [###link]. |
How do I send messages with Buzz? (Teacher app) How do I use the Communication tool? (Student app) Location: Communication tool and Clipboard |
| Let teachers post announcements |
Allows teachers to create and post class announcements using the Communication tool. |
How do I create announcements? Location: Communication tool |
| Enable the Clipboard tool |
Teachers can use the Clipboard to quickly assign activities, award badges, assign tasks, and message students. |
How do I use the Clipboard? Location: Accessed from the Main Menu |
| Enable the Unit Summary screen |
The Unit Summary screen displays each student's progress in completing the activities in a course as a whole, as well as their progress in each course unit (folder). Teachers can access it in the Gradebook tool. |
How do I use the Gradebook tool? Location: Accessed from the Main Menu |
| Enable badges |
Allows teachers to create and award badges to reinforce desired behaviors and personalize learning achievements. |
How do I create course badges? How do I award badges? Location: Editor and Clipboard |
| Enable objective mastery |
Allows course authors to import and/or create objectives and align them with activities to track student mastery. |
How do I create and/or import objectives? Location: Editor |
| Enable the Multi-Outcome Scoring gradebook |
The Multi-Outcome Scoring gradebook allows course authors to create multiple desired outcomes for students, align them to activities with varied weights, and track performance against them. |
How do I set up Multi-Outcome Scoring in my domain? How do I set up Multi-Outcome Scoring in a course? How does Multi-Outcome Scoring impact my other tools? Location: Course Settings |
| Enable Standards-based grading |
Standards-based grading (SBG) measures student progress relative to specific learning standards. Instead of a simple letter grade, students receive grades in multiple different learning targets and can see which concepts they understood well and which they need to improve on. |
Standards-based Grading (SBG) with Agilix Buzz (overview) How do I enable and configure Standards-based Grading in my domain? (Admin) How do I use Standards-based Grading for my course in Buzz? (Teacher) How does Standards-based grading work? (Student) |
| Enable advanced course settings |
Allows course authors to manage advanced course settings, student tasks, and course variables. |
How do I manage Course Settings? Location: Course Settings |
| Enable grade scales |
Allows course authors to choose desired grade scales (e.g., letter grades, pass/fail, plus/minus) and/or create their own. |
How do I create and manage grade scales? Location: Course Settings |
| Enable grade categories |
Allows course authors to create, edit, and assign categories. |
How do I manage Course Settings? Location: Course Settings |
| Enable grade periods |
Allows course authors to create separate grading periods within a single course. |
How do I create multiple grading periods within one course? Location: Course Settings |
| Enable final grades |
Allows teachers to submit final grades. |
How do I manage and submit final grades? Location: Gradebook |
| Enable personal note-taking | Allows end-users to create personal notes. Students enrolled in a course can also create notes for a course activity. |
Teachers: How do I add User Notes to courses, folders, and activities? Students: How do I add User Notes to courses, folders, and activities? Note: This feature is managed at the domain-level only; it can’t be enabled for individuals. |
Enable student blackout dates |
Enable the ability for students to provide personal blackout dates that prevent continuous courses from suggesting due dates for those blackout days. |
How do I set dates on which I don't want assignments due (Blackout dates)? Location: Student Calendar |
| Enable student due date scheduler |
Let students choose the days of the week that assignments are due for continuous courses. |
How do I personalize due dates in Continuous enrollment courses? Location: Student Calendar |
| Enable student access to past courses | Allow students to navigate to expired courses from the Grades tool. |
How do I view my progress > Past courses? Location: Student Grades |
| Enable Inbox (Beta) | Let users communicate using internal messages. Enabling Inbox overrides the “Enable email” feature, making all messaging internal. |
[Beta] How do I enable and use the Inbox? Teachers: [Beta] How do I use my Inbox? (Teacher) Students: [Beta] How do I use my Inbox? (Student) Observers: [Beta] How do I view a student's Inbox? |