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CATS recommends exporting each course at the end of a semester to save it for future use. Brightspace allows us to export a zip file of a course that can be later imported via the same tool in a new course shell for a new semester. Because we adhere to a data retention policy of 3 academic years, it makes sense to export the course rather than rely on Brightspace as storage. While we don't recommend deleting anything in the course shells to maintain data integrity in the LMS, we do recommend exporting courses to your own external storage for potential later import.
Exporting a Course in Import/Export/Copy Components
Step-by-step directions:
- Navigate to the course.
- Click Course Admin.
- Click Import/Export/Copy Components.
- Select "Export as Brightspace Package". If you want to export a package for another LMS, select the Common or Thin Common Cartridge options.
- Click Start.
- Select the components you want to export. Recommend selecting all.
- Click Continue.
- Select "Include course files in the export package". NOTE: THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. Without selecting this, linked content items will not be available in any new course you import this package to.
- Click Export.
- Click Done.
- When the package is ready, you will get an alert at the top of the page. Click the bell icon to see the alert.
- Click the alert.
- Click the download link to download the package. We recommend saving to secure, external storage such as external hard drive or flash drive.
For more information on the Import/Export/Copy Components tool, see this article on the Brightspace documentation site: About Import/Export/Copy Components