Brightspace Pulse is a mobile app that can help learners stay connected and on track with their Brightspace courses. It provides one easy view of course calendars, readings, assignments, evaluations, grades, and announcement items. The app can help learners make better decisions about how to handle their workload, when to submit assignments, and when to prepare for tests. Real-time alerts can let learners know when classes are canceled, class is meeting in an alternate location, or new grades are available. The schedule view and weekly visualization enables learners to quickly at a glance view what is due today, this week, and upcoming across all their courses.
While the Brightspace Pulse app is designed for the learner, instructors can benefit too.
While the Brightspace Pulse app is designed for the learner, instructors can benefit too. When instructors enter due dates or end dates for assignments and activities the information is populated in the Pulse app enabling learners to stay connected and on track. Thus, instructors can spend less time reminding and more time teaching.
Additionally, using Quicklinks provides direct, easily clickable links to specific course content, assignments, announcements, and more, within Brightspace. This makes it significantly easier for students, especially when using the Pulse app, to quickly find the information or activity they need without having to manually search through modules and sub-modules. This enhances the overall navigation and accessibility of the course for all students, including those who may be using assistive technologies or have learning differences.
Instructors can make their courses Pulse friendly by including due dates or end dates for assignments and activities. When instructors do not enter due dates or end dates, no associated information is available in the Pulse app.
The Pulse app is great for helping students stay on track in face-to-face classes as well. Instructors can set up their face-to-face assignments and activities as events in the Brightspace course calendar. Students will get those date feeds in the Brightspace Pulse app.
Help keep students on track for success in all their courses by using Quicklinks and including a due date or end date for assignments and activities.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
A Quicklink is a way for instructors to insert a direct link to content that is inside or outside of their course.
Quicklinks are useful because they allow instructors to provide students with a direct link to content in the course. For example, instructors can create an announcement or email for students with links that take students directly to specific content files or assignments inside of the course. When creating content, instructors can create a quicklink to a rubric so that students can have easy access to it.
Instructors should take advantage of Quicklinks, they are useful for pointing students to specific content in the course!
Follow these steps to do it.
Watch this short video for instructions on inserting Quicklinks:
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
Instructors can use the Manage Dates tool to view, edit in bulk, and bulk offset date availability from one central location. You can also set the calendar status of all content topics and modules, discussion topics and forums, assignment submissions folders, grades categories and items, announcement items, quizzes, checklists, and surveys in their course in the Manage Dates tool.
Course objects display in a grid that you can sort by any of the column headings. You can also use the Type column to sort the Manage Dates page based on the tool-specific order and use advanced filter options to work with smaller sets of objects. If you filter your course objects, any bulk changes you make apply only to the filtered results. This enables you to update multiple availability dates based on specific criteria.
In addition to managing dates, you can open each course object in a new window by clicking on its name. This launches the object's edit page where you can edit additional properties for that object without leaving the Manage Dates tool.
The Manage Dates tool can be very useful after a course copy. For example, if you copied content from one course into another course, you can use the Manage Dates tool to easily adjust dates after the course copy. Additionally, if you've entered dates on items in your course and later need to adjust dates in bulk, try using the Manage Dates tool.
Follow these steps to do it.
To edit dates in bulk:
Get into the course you want to change the dates of course objects.
On the NavBar (of the course you want to change dates in), click Course Admin.
Click Manage Dates.
Select the check box of the items for which you want to bulk edit dates.
Click Bulk Edit Dates.
In the Bulk Edit Dates dialog box, update the due dates and availability dates.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
There are a some situations where you may want to copy components of a Brightspace course OR copy an entire Brightspace course into another one. For example,
You have a course from a previous semester and you would like to copy the course contents into your empty course shell for the current semester.
You have a Master Course Shell that you input content into and would like to copy the course contents into your empty course shell for the current semester.
You are teaching multiple sections of a course, you created all the content in one Brightspace course section and want to copy the content into the other sections.
You created content in one course (e.g. rubrics, discussions, quizzes, etc.) and would like to copy that specific content from one Brightspace course into another.
Copying an entire Brightspace course OR copying components of a Brightspace course into another Brightspace course is not hard. As long as you are the instructor for both courses, it is a simple process you can do.
Notes About Copying Between Courses
Here are some things to consider when copying a course or copying 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.
Copying VoiceThreads
We have integrated VoiceThread using LTI 1.3 with deep linking, that means that your VoiceThread activities will copy automatically when the course is copied in Brightspace. Review this VT Course Copying FAQ for some important things to know about how VoiceThread course copying works.
Respondus LockDown Browser (RLDB) Settings
Copied courses that have tests/exams with RLDB enabled require instructors to access the Respondus LockDown Browser Dashboard once after the copy to update the RLDB settings in the destination course. This has to be done before students will be able to take exams that require RLDB.
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.
Turnitin PeerMark Assignments
Our Turnitin integration does not support copying of PeerMark Assignments. You will have to recreate your PeerMark assignments in the destination course.
Follow these steps to do it.
If you want to copy an entire Brightspace course OR copy components from a Brightspace course into another course, you should:
Get into the course you want the content copied into (i.e., the target course).
In the NavBar (of the course you want the content copied to), click on "Course Admin".
Click on the "Import/Export/Copy Components" link.
Click on the "Copy Components from another Org Unit" radio button.
In the Course to Copy option, click the "Search for Offering" button.
Click on the magnifying glass in the "Search for" field OR enter the name of the course you want to copy from (i.e., the source course) in the search field.
Click on the radio button to the right of the course you want to copy content from and then click on "Add Selected".
Verify your selections are correct before proceeding.
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 wrong course is selected and the copy request is submitted.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
Image credit: image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
I usually get a lot of questions from faculty related to setting up their Brightspace courses. In the spirit of starting the academic year with less stress, I offer the following course design suggestions to reduce your course setup and management stress:
Setup Grade Book First
Setting up your Grade Book before adding assignments and activities that will be graded simplifies your course creation workflow. Grade items are not automatically created in the Grade Book. Instructors have to setup their grading system and create grade items separately.
When you setup your Grade Book first, you can associate the assignment/activity with the corresponding grade item in the Grade Book at the time you are creating the assignment/activity. This eliminates going back and forth between creating assignments/activities and the Grade Book.
Use Due Dates
Use due dates in Brightspace to help students stay on track. Dates automatically populate into the course calendar. Students will see due dates when they look at entries in the course calendar.
Enter due dates and availability (start/end) dates when you create assignments, assessments, discussion topics and forums, etc. Keep dates aligned with the dates in your syllabus to prevent student confusion about when an assignment/activity is due.
Make Names Consistent
Avoid naming assignment/activities one thing in the syllabus and another in the course (and/or still another in the Grade Book). If your assignment is listed as "Week 5 Short Essay Paper" in the syllabus, but your assignment submission folder is labeled "Educational Technology", you can expect to field questions and/or excuses from students who can’t figure out what they’re supposed to do.
Make things easier for students by making sure an item is named consistently throughout the syllabus and course, and things will be easier for you as well.
Keep Information Consistent
Posting multiple copies of assignment instructions or supplemental material in multiple places in the course is an invitation to trouble because there isn’t necessarily a correlation between them—they can be completely different documents. When there’s a change to the assignment, you have to remember to make edits everywhere you might have posted the information, or risk giving students conflicting information.
Use Quicklinks instead of posting multiple copies of assignment instructions or instructional material. Quicklinks are useful because they allow instructors to provide students with a direct link to content in the course. Quicklinks are great for making sure information is consistent throughout the course. For example, instructors can create an announcement or email for students with links that take students directly to specific content files or assignments inside of the course. Because this is a direct link to information in the course, when you make a change to the information it will be updated everywhere in the course because it’s linked.
Copy Course or Copy Components
You do not have to start from scratch when creating content for your course. If you created content in one course you can copy that content or copy components from that course into another course. For example, if you are teaching multiple sections of a course, you can create all the content in one course section and then copy the content into the other sections. Likewise, if you created content in one course (e.g. rubrics, discussions, quizzes, etc.) you can copy that specific content into another course. Copying course content is particularly useful at the start of a semester as it allows you to copy content from a previous semester to a newly created empty course.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
Faculty can request to have two or more of their courses combined into a single course. Combining courses can be useful when you are teaching multiple sections of the same course or when you are teaching a course that is cross-listed. Merging courses allows you to have all the students in a single Brightspace course which can be useful for collaborative work. Merging courses reduces the number of courses an instructor has to manage within Brightspace, especially when each section has identical content.
Once your courses are merged, you can upload your course content and assignments into the merged course; communicate with the students in the merged course; setup collaborative course work; and have one Grade Book for the merged course. You can create groups within your merged course that correspond to the original course sections. This way you can target a particular course section (group) of students for specific things (e.g. send email to a specific group, make content available to specific group, enter/view Grade Book entries for a specific group, etc.)
NOTE: Merging of courses is typically done at the start of the semester before content is added and before students submit course work. You should wait to request your courses be merged if there is a possibility that there will be last minute changes to instructor course section assignments. You can request a Master Course Shell to build your course and then transfer the content into your merged course.
You should carefully consider whether merging courses is right for you. Some things to consider are:
There are Simple Syllabus considerations for merged courses:
If there is one instructor for the merged courses, no additional action is necessary.
If there are multiple instructors for the merged courses, the Brightspace Administrator will have to add all the instructors to the merged course. Doing so will give them edit access to the Simple Syllabus for the merged course.
Course enrollments for the merged courses will be combined which can make grading student work a challenge. If you create groups for the different sections, you will be able to view your Grade Book by groups to make grading easier.
Only one due date and start/end date can be assigned to an assignment, discussion, quiz, etc. Therefore you will not be able to assign different due dates and start/end dates to the activity (e.g., assignment, quiz, discussion, etc.).
If you decide you want to unmerge courses after students have submitted course work, student work and grades will be lost. Only student enrollments are retained when courses are unmerged.
Follow these steps to do it.
A system administrator will have to merge your courses. Send an email to Karen Nichols (knichola@xula.edu) if you want to merge courses. You should include the course ID (including CRN) for all the courses you want merged together.
NOTE: When courses are merged, one of the existing courses will serve as the "merged" course. If all the course sections are empty, it won't matter which one is used as the "merged" course. If you have already created content in a course, you should request that the course with the content be the "merged" course. This will reduce the need to copy content.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
Image credit: "why merge" by jflorent is dedicated to the public domain under CC0 and is a derivative of merging by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
As you prepare to teach this fall, now is a good time to get started setting up your Brightspace courses. Our Information Technology Center (ITC) has created the fall courses in Brightspace.
NOTE: You should see your fall courses in the My Courses widget. If you do not see your fall courses in your My Courses widget, you should click on the link to "View All Courses" (located at the bottom of the My Courses widget). Verify that you are listed as the instructor for the course in Banner. You can find more information about the updated My Courses Widget sort logic at this link.
To get started, you can post your syllabus, course documents, announcements, and setup your Grade Book in your Brightspace courses. You can also customize your course homepage and/or course image/banner.
If you teach a course that is cross listed you will have a Brightspace course for each cross listing. You can combine the cross listed courses into one Brightspace course so that you can post course materials and grades to one combined Brightspace course. Combining courses may also work for you if you are teaching different sections of the same course and would like to have the different sections combined into one Brightspace course so that you can post course documents and grades in the one combined course. The beginning of the semester is the best time to submit a request to merge your Brightspace courses before you add course materials or grades to the courses.
Additionally, if the fall course you are teaching is the same as one of your previous courses you can copy the entire course (or copy components) into your "empty" Brightspace fall course.
NOTE: ITC will enroll students in the Brightspace courses at the end of the registration process, usually the night before the start of classes for the semester. If you want to view your class enrollments or email your students before they are enrolled in your Brightspace course, you can do so in Banner or through EAB.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
D2L (the company that owns Brightspace) uses Continuous Delivery to update our Brightspace system. The Continuous Delivery model gives us regular monthly updates allowing for incremental and easily integrated changes with no downtime required for our Brightspace system.
Our Continuous Delivery update occurs on the 4th Thursday of each month. D2L provides release notes to help users stay up-to-date with the changes.
Here are some of the updates in the July 2025/20.25.07 release that were added to our system this month:
1) Assignments – Flexible text or file submission options for enhanced learner choice
This feature enables instructors to create a new assignment type that accepts submissions in the form of an uploaded file, text entered in Brightspace Editor, or both.
To create this new type of assignment, instructors must go to the New Assignment page, expand the Submission & Completion panel, open the Submission Type dropdown, and select the new File or text submission option.
The new File or text submission option appears in the Submission Type dropdown on the New Assignment page.
For these assignments, learners can choose how they want to demonstrate their learning. For example, if the assignment is an essay, learners can upload a file, paste a link to an external file in the text box, or type the entire essay into the text box. For assignments restricted to only one file, learners still have the option to add a text submission. Learners will also see an expanded Brightspace Editor for text submissions on the assignment submission page.
The new Submit Assignment page for learners, showing the option to submit files and the option to enter text in Brightspace Editor.
Previously, the available Submission Types were: File submission, Text submission, On paper submission, and Observed in person.
Note: Text submissions are not supported by the Annotations tool.
This feature implements the following PIE item:
D4773 (Assignment Folders should accept BOTH a file and a text submission type not just one or the other)
2) Groups – All group enrollments now processed via background job
To support upcoming changes to increase group enrollment limits planned for August 2025, all group enrollment workflows are now consistently handled by a background job.
Previously, group enrollments created through the Groups tool, APIs, and course copy operations were processed asynchronously to reduce timeouts and errors. With this update, all group enrollment methods (through the Manage Users tool, Classlist enrollments that add users to groups, enrollment APIs, Banner integrations, and Self Registration) are processed using the same background job mechanism.
For end users, this update ensures that when they complete an enrollment in a course offering, any corresponding group enrollments within that course are also processed automatically. This background process may take one to two minutes to complete.
This feature provides consistent and efficient group enrollments across tools and workflows, ensuring a seamless experience as enrollment limits increase, and preventing timeouts and errors during high-volume events.
3) Groups – Bulk enroll and unenroll users by CSV file import
Instructors can now bulk enroll or unenroll learners in existing groups using a comma-separated values (CSV) file in the Groups tool. This feature adds a new Import button to the Manage Groups page and an Import option in the Category drop-down menu. Clicking Import opens a guided workflow with detailed instructions for correctly formatting the CSV file. Each line in the file must represent a single action: either enrolling or unenrolling a learner from a specific group in the course. CSV file modifications are limited to learners currently enrolled in the course.
Once uploaded, the system validates the CSV file. If the file contains no errors, the enroll or unenroll actions are performed, and once completed, the import results are displayed immediately. If there are any errors found in the file, the process stops and generates a list of errors found.
Cancelling the process does not reverse completed actions. Only one import process can run at a time.
Administrators can configure the CSV file format in the Form Elements tool using the new form element BulkGroupEnroll. The following form element properties are customizable:
Username
Org Defined Id
Group Name
Group Code
Either Username or Org Defined Id, and Group Name or Group Code, are required to ensure there is enough information to complete the enrollment or unenrollment action.
The new workflow is available to roles with the Groups and Sections Management > Create/Edit/Delete Groups and Categories permission enabled.
The new Import option appears on the Manage Groups page and in the Category drop-down menu.The new Import page includes instructions to create a CSV file for enrolling and unenrolling users.After uploading a file, the Import page displays the process and checks for errors in the file.
This feature implements the following PIE items:
D8710 (Group enrollment from a file)
D7963 (Improve Group enrollments for 100+ students)
D294 (Create Groups and/or enroll students in Groups using a CSV Spreadsheet)
D6790 (Enrolling students in groups)
D11671 (Allow instructor to bulk enroll students across ALL group categories at once)
4) Quizzes – New Quiz Evaluation Experience is the default
Initially introduced in September 2024/20.24.9, the New Quiz Evaluation Experience is now enabled by default for all clients.
5) Quizzes – Full HTML Editor for Question Feedback
This update introduces the full HTML editor for question-level feedback in Quizzes, enhancing the instructor experience and aligning it with the editors already available for Attempt Feedback and Overall Feedback, including support for the equation editor and file upload features.
Previously, instructors could provide feedback on individual questions using only the inline HTML editor, which offered limited formatting and functionality. With this update, instructors can now:
Upload files securely
Insert equations
Use advanced formatting and media tools
The question Feedback editor now includes extended options.
This feature implements the following PIE item:
D12335 (Add the equation editor to the question feedback in the new quiz evaluation experience)
6) Quizzes – Reopen a submitted quiz attempt
Instructors can now reopen the most recently submitted quiz attempt, allowing learners to resume from where they left off. The new feature supports scenarios where learners run out of time or submit their attempt by mistake, reducing frustration from auto-submissions and improving overall quiz management flexibility.
Previously, instructors could not reopen a submitted quiz attempt. This update introduces the ability to return quiz attempts to an unsubmitted state and adjust time limits if needed.
Reopen a quiz attempt from Manage Quizzes by selecting an attempt and clicking Reopen.In the Reopen Quiz Attempt dialog, instructors can add extra time and confirm the reopened attempt.
This feature implements the following PIE items:
D1993 (Allow instructors the ability to unsubmit a quiz attempt)
D6069 (Re-Open a Quiz)
D6230 (Resume Quiz with Set Time Limit)
D7653 (Un-submit quiz option for instructor)
D7804 (Change Reset Quiz Attempt Workflow)
7) Quizzes – Statistics available for rubrics on written response questions
Instructors can now view rubric statistics for rubrics associated with written response questions across all learners’ first attempts in a quiz. Both Overall Statistics and Criteria Statistics are included with this update.
Previously, rubric statistics were limited or inconsistent for written response questions. With this update, the rubric statistics display data per quiz question for all users, not just the quiz overall.
The user interface clearly indicates that only first attempts with text are included in the stats.
This update provides instructors with consistent rubric statistics across all assessment types for better insight into how learners perform on written response questions in particular.
8) Rubrics – Options to improve rubric management
To improve efficiency when reviewing assessments, instructors can now clear rubric scoring using the new Clear Selections option.
This update supports instructors who need to reset scoring and start from scratch. Clearing the rubric score does not remove any previously entered feedback.
Click Clear Selections in the confirmation dialog to remove rubric scoring.
Selecting Clear Selections requires users to confirm the action. The option to undo this action appears in a pop-up window for a brief amount of time after clicking Clear Selections.
Previously, to modify scoring, instructors had to manually clear each rubric level.
In addition to the Clear Selections menu option, the Set All Ungraded option is also updated. When no rubric levels are selected, the option now appears as Set All to Yes and Set All to No in the menu.
Set All to Yes and Set All to No menu items are now available in Rubrics.
This improvement follows the recent release of the Set Ungraded option in the January 2025/20.25.01 release, to make it easier to manage rubric scoring.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
As you move forward with using Brightspace in your teaching and learning, you may have some Brightspace questions. Here is a list of Brightspace help resources you can use to get answers to your questions:
Also, did you know there is a virtual assistant that is integrated directly into Brightspace? If this is news to you, refer to Brightspace Tip #486: Lumi Chat to find out more about it.
Additionally, if you are having difficulties using any of the course tools, you can get help from D2L. This help is available 24/7 via Email and Live Chat. You will find options to request Email Support and Live Chat Support in Lumi Chat. You must be logged into Brightspace to access Lumi Chat.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
Image credit: Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay
D2L (the company that owns Brightspace) uses Continuous Delivery to update our Brightspace system. The Continuous Delivery model gives us regular monthly updates allowing for incremental and easily integrated changes with no downtime required for our Brightspace system.
Our Continuous Delivery update occurs on the 4th Thursday of each month. D2L provides release notes to help users stay up-to-date with the changes.
Here are some of the updates in the June 2025/20.25.06 release that were added to our system this month:
1) Awards – Replacement strings for award issuer on certificates
Administrators and instructors can now personalize certificates and certificate templates in the Awards tool using new replacement strings. The {IssuerFirstName} and {IssuerLastName} strings insert the first and last name of the user who manually issues a certificate to a learner.
For manually issued certificates, the issuer name will utilize the name of the user that issued the certificate. In cases where a certificate using these replacement strings is conditionally released, the issuer name areas of the certificate will utilize the name of the account set by the d2l.Tools.Awards.AwardUserId configuration variable.
Note:
The replacement strings use preferred names if they are configured at the organization level.
If the issuer updates their name, the name that displays on the certificate reflects the current name setting at the time of issuance. Previously issued certificates do not update.
Depending on the certificate template, the inserted text may extend beyond the text box borders. Administrators and instructors may need to adjust the template layout to ensure issuer names appear correctly.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
