Technical Administrator FAQs

Support Technical Administrator Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Overview

The frequently asked questions and answers below are intended for Technical Admins/Sub-Account Admins or Staff. They address some of the common questions a user might encounter when accessing Bruin Learn.  The information here is related to the default settings found at the Root account level only.  Depending on department need, several customizations and updates can be applied across sub-accounts in Bruin Learn.

Table of Contents

What are the Bruin Learn environments?

There are also BETA and TEST environments for Bruin Learn; the URLs are:

These environments are refreshed on a regular basis and the calendar Links to an external site. can be found on the Instructure Community site. TEST will refresh once a month on the 3rd Saturday and BETA refreshes every Saturday. Times will vary and we cannot schedule or move these updates. The refreshes are standard across all Canvas users and cannot be paused or moved. 

What Roles are in Bruin Learn?

Account Roles: These are roles and permissions assigned at the sub-account level. Depending on the department or college you belong to, your permissions at this level will be reflected in that role.

Course Roles: These roles are assigned upon enrollment. While users can be manually added to courses, the SIS provisioned roles include, Teacher, Student, and TA. Other roles include Participant and Observer. Permissions for course roles can vary across sub-accounts.

Where can I find role permissions?

A short description and listing of role permissions can be found online. It is important to note that Bruin Learn permissions can be updated and adjusted at the sub-account level and can vary significantly across sub-accounts.  These are only the default roles and permissions available at root. Please contact Hypercare Support at bruinlearn-support@it.ucla.edu if you have any questions about the default roles/permissions.

Where can I see Bruin Learn & Canvas platform availability?

Bruin Learn availability and current status can be found on the Bruin Learn Status Page Links to an external site.. Canvas availability and current status can be found on the Instructure Status Page Links to an external site.. You can also see a past history of events or disruptions.

When will courses be available for the next term?

Courses are generally available when the Registrar Schedule of classes goes live for a term. However, depending on Development releases and general availability, this date can be adjusted as needed. View the Bruin Learn Calendar for more information.

What are the session timeout settings for Bruin Learn?

Bruin Learn is subject to three federated session timeout settings:

  • UCLA Shibboleth SSO IdP (identity provider, "UCLA Logon ID") session timeout, which is fixed at 30 minutes
  • UCLA Duo MFA session timeout, which can be extended to 12 hours by the user (by clicking the "Yes, trust browser" button at the Duo prompt)
  • UCLA Canvas SP (service provider) session timeout, which is set at 12 hours

How it works:

The Canvas session timeout in Bruin Learn will apply to the Bruin Learn authentication as well as communicate with the external authentication (Shibboleth Single Sign-On). When a session hits the time limit within Bruin Learn, Bruin Learn will then check with the external authentication provider to see if they have met the external auth's timeout settings. If it has not, the session will continue. If it has hit the external auth's timeout, the session will end, then requiring re-authentication. Since the Canvas session timeout in Bruin Learn is set to 12 hours and the external auth is set to 30 minutes, Bruin Learn will not check until those 12 hours have elapsed; when it does check, it will end the session based on feedback from the external auth. The external auth session can be extended to 12 hours if the user has Duo Multi-Factor Authentication enabled and chooses to trust the web browser they are using.

What goes into a course name?

Courses have a standard naming convention that can tell you a lot about the course and its properties.

Below is a sample Academic Site:

sample academic site

 

If your department uses them, below is a TA site:

 sample ta site

How do I know what is in development or how to review future enhancements?

Bruin Learn development occurs via regular releases. Any suggestions for enhancements should be sent via a ticket to Bruin Learn Support (bruinlearn-support@it.ucla.edu) for review/modification.

Resources