D2L Brightspace: Export Components for Archive

FACULTY: D2L Brightspace has a purge cycle that can delete your content without recourse. We recommend you export your content each semester. Also covered in this article is the export of the gradebook.

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Export your D2L Brightspace Course

MinnState's Brightspace Data Retention and Purge Cycle is published in their knowledge library. (Log in with your Microsoft credentials.) This is the foundation for why you may wish to export your content. Your content will not live forever in D2L. However, you can retain your D2L content by exporting it into a zip file for later retrieval.

It is the faculty member's responsibility to keep their course materials. Neither MinnState nor Metro State have the capacity to manage exports for all faculty.

The export is a course package and will best work by importing it into a learning management system like D2L Brightspace. While you can navigate around within the zip package created through the export process, interacting with it could have consequences and would not be recommended. This process is really for archival purposes and would be used if there was a gap of several years in teaching or if there was something deleted by accident and you need to retrieve it.

It is important to note that the standard export of content will only bring faculty content. Student content will not be exported. 

Exporting a course package is the easiest method to keep your course materials and your course structure. It is recommended that you export your course and your gradebook each semester as an archive. (Exporting the gradebook will bring student names and grades.)

The Mechanics of the Export

Export your Grades

The gradebook export is straight forward. It is also covered well in MinnState's article: Grades: Import or Export Grades (KA #904)

Export your Course

1. Within your course you wish to export, select Course Admin from your course navigation bar.
2. Select the Import/Export/Copy Components link.
3. Select Export as Brightspace Package.
   • If you are exporting to take the package out of the MinnState system and are teaching via a different learning management system, such as Canvas or Blackboard, you may be better suited to use the Common Cartridge for importing into the other learning management systems.
4. Select the blue Start button.
5. On the Select Components to Export page, select the checkbox next to each component you want to export or select the Select All Components to grab everything.
   1. To export only certain items from a tool, choose Select individual items to export. This allows you to select, for example, individual quizzes, content topics, assignment submission folders, etc.
6. When you are finished selecting components, select Continue.
7. If you chose Select individual items to export for any component in the previous step, a Select page appears for the component. This page lists all of the items and any sub-items contained in the tool. For example, on the Select Assignments Submission Folders page, you will see all of the submission folders and categories.
   1. To view sub-items, select the expand icon next to an item or select Expand All link.
   2. Select the individual items and sub-items you want to export,
   3. Select Continue.
   4. Repeat the previous steps for any other tool you chose to Select individual items to export.
8. When you have selected all the items you want to export, the Confirm Components to Export page appears. This page lists all the tools that are included in the export file along with the items selected for each tool. Note: You can change the items selected within a tool by selecting the Modify link. This takes you to the Select page for that tool.
9. YOU MUST check the box "Include course files in the export package." 
10. Select Export to begin the export.
11. The Export Started page displays. It will tell you that your export, when completed will be available through the Update Alerts. The Update Alerts is the bell icon to the left of your name in the upper right corner of D2L.

10. Within the Alert, D2L will provide a link to the export page, select the Export Finished link.

11. Then select "Click here to download the export Zip package."
12. Depending on your browser, selecting the link will either kick off the download to your default download location or it will ask you where you wish to save your export. 
13. At this point you have archived your D2L Brightspace course. Save the zip file safely and securely.
14. You are done with the download, feel free to navigate away.