Copy a Course or Components of a Course

There are several scenarios where you may need to copy content within D2L Brightspace, either partially or in full. For example:

• Copying content from a previous semester into a current course shell.
• Transferring materials from a development course into a live course.
• Duplicating content across multiple sections of the same course.
• Moving specific components (e.g., rubrics, discussions, quizzes) between courses.

As long as you are the instructor in both courses, copying content in D2L Brightspace is a straightforward process.

To copy D2L Brightspace course OR components from a D2L Brightspace course:

1. Go into the course you want the content copied into.
2. In the NavBar (of the course you want the content copied to), click on Course Admin.
3. Click on Import/Export/Copy Components.
4. Click the Copy Components from another Org Unit radio button.
5. Below "Course to Copy:", click the Search for Offering button.
6. Click on the magnifying glass in the "Search for" field OR enter the name of the course you want to copy from in the search field.
7. Click on the radio button to the right of the course you want to copy content from and then click on Add Selected.
8. Verify your selections are correct before proceeding.
9. At the bottom on the browser window you will click on either Copy all Components OR Select Components and follow the prompts.

Important: Double-check to make sure that you are in the course you want the content copied into AND that you have selected the correct course you want to copy content from. There is no way to reverse the copy process once the copy request is submitted.

Some things to consider when copying a course or components of a course:

Overwriting and Duplicating Items

In general, course components already in the destination course will not be affected by copying course components. The only course component that can be overwritten is a course file, (i.e., HTML pages that have been created in the course site or files that have been uploaded to it.) A course file is overwritten if one of the files being copied into the course has the same name as an existing file.

If copying components from the same source multiple times, be careful not to copy the same items more than once, or this will create duplicates that may be visible to users in the course.

Student Data

Student data is not copied from one course to another; only the course structures are copied. For example, if a Discussion topic is copied, only the prompt and discussion settings are copied, not the individual student posts.

Links and Associations Between Components

If copying linked or associated components, (e.g., files attached to an Assignment Submission folder or the HTML files for pages that have been created), all of the related components must be copied at the same time. To do this, be sure to select the "Include Associated Content" checkbox when it appears. As long as that box is checked, all associated components are copied and the links between them are retained.

Respondus LockDown Browser Settings

Copied courses that have tests/exams with Respondus LockDown Browser enabled require instructors to access the Respondus LockDown Browser Dashboard once after the copy to update the settings in the destination course. This has to be done before students will be able to take exams that require Respondus.

Turnitin-enabled Assignments

When you copy course components from one course to another, confirm that all settings are configured for the Turnitin-enabled assignments in the destination course.

Are you copying a course that has been revamped several times or gone through a past course management system conversion?

When copying a course that has been used for many semesters, there might be extra items in the Manage Files area that are no longer used in the course. See the blog post on how to create a clean course copy to leave behind items that are not used and might even be slowing down your course copy.