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Category: Brightspace Small Plates

Published on Leave a comment on Brightspace Tip #5: Introduction to Brightspace Training Recap

keep calm and let's recap

This week’s “Getting your Feet Wet: An Introduction to Brightspace” training focused on providing faculty with an introduction to the Brightspace learning management system (LMS).

in case you missed it

In case you missed this week’s training sessions or if you attended one of the training sessions and want to recap what was covered, you can review these resources:

Our Brightspace training continues through the end of the semester.

Next week's training sessions will focus on how to keep students engaged between class meetings using communication and collaboration tools in Brightspace. Please visit our events page for workshop details and to RSVP for upcoming Brightspace training sessions.

Want more information?

View all the Brightspace training recaps
Brightspace Migration FAQs
Request a sandbox course
Sign-up for Brightspace training sessions
You can find Brightspace help at D2L's website.
Join the Brightspace Community.
Try these Brightspace How-To documents.
Visit our Brightspace FAQs for additional Brightspace information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Published on Leave a comment on Brightspace Tip #4: Add Profile Picture to Humanize Your Course

Humanized learning increases the relevance of course content and improves students' motivation to log-in to your course week-after-week. Whether you are teaching a face-to-face, hybrid, or online course, humanizing and personalizing your Brightspace course can go a long way to providing an inviting space for your students.

One of the ways you can humanize your Brightspace courses is to add a profile picture. By default, when you do not setup your profile picture it will appear as a blank avatar in the Brightspace system. Rather than having this faceless image, faculty and students can upload a profile picture to represent them throughout the Brightspace system.

profile picture

You can only have one profile picture at a time to be used throughout the entire Brightspace system. The recommended pixel size for a profile picture is 150 by 150. Larger images should be clipped.

NOTE: The University has the following policy regarding profile pictures:

Users may not send, display or receive pictures or other media which are copyrighted, abusive, obscene, sexually inappropriate, threatening, racially offensive, or considered harassment or offensive to human dignity.

Faculty should include this statement about what is not an acceptable profile picture when they ask students to upload a profile picture.

Follow these steps to do it.

To upload a profile picture:

  1. Click your name in the Brightspace minibar and then select Profile from the dropdown menu.
  2. Click Change Picture.
  3. Navigate to find the image you want to use as your profile picture.
  4. Click on the Save and Close button when you are done.

Want more information?

You can find Brightspace help at D2L's website.
Try these Brightspace How-To documents.
Visit the Brightspace FAQs for additional Brightspace information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Published on Leave a comment on Brightspace Tip #3: Orange is the New Blackboard!

Brightspace @ XULA logo

Brightspace (formerly called Desire2Learn or D2L) will replace Blackboard as our learning management system (LMS) starting spring 2018.

Brightspace training sessions start next week (the week of October 16th). Now is the time to sign-up for training sessions. You can sign-up for trainings on our events page.

Sandbox courses will be used in the Brightspace training sessions. Fill out the Brightspace sandbox course request form to request a sandbox course.

Additionally, our Brightspace Migration FAQs have been updated. Please review the updated FAQs, they should be able to answer your questions about our migration plan.

Want more information?

Brightspace Migration FAQs
Sign-up for Brightspace training sessions

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Published on 1 Comment on Brightspace Tip #2: Sandbox Courses

Experiment with Brightspace features and functions using your own Sandbox course. A sandbox course is an empty course where you can experiment with Brightspace features and functions without affecting your actual courses. The sandbox course will be your very own, and can be used as a place to experiment without affecting any real students.

Brightspace sandbox course banner

Fill out the Brightspace sandbox course request form to request a sandbox course.

Sandbox courses will be used in the upcoming Brightspace training. You can find more information about the Brightspace training as well as sign-up for the training sessions on our events page.

Want more information?

Brightspace Migration FAQs
Sign-up for Brightspace training sessions

Image credit: "Brightspace sandbox course banner" by jflorent is licensed under CC0 and is a derivative of image by RAMillu from Pixabay

Published on Leave a comment on Brightspace Tip #1: Brightspace is Coming!

luggage with stickers and caption Brightspace is replacing Blackboard

Brightspace (formerly called Desire2Learn or D2L) will replace Blackboard as our learning management system (LMS) starting spring 2018. Brightspace has an intuitive design that makes it easy to accomplish tasks quickly. There are a number of features that faculty and students will find useful, including drag-and-drop file management, a mobile friendly interface, virtual classrooms, student portfolio tool, end-user support, and built-in analytics. Visit the D2L website for more information about Brightspace.

Brightspace training sessions will be offered starting mid-October. You can sign-up for training sessions on our events page.

Additionally, our Brightspace Migration FAQs have been updated. Please review the updated FAQs, they should be able to answer your questions about our migration plan.

Published on Leave a comment on Moving from Blackboard to Brightspace

Yes, it’s true! We are moving from Blackboard to Brightspace!

Bb to Brightspace logo

Brightspace (formerly called Desire2Learn or D2L) will replace Blackboard as our learning management system (LMS) starting spring 2018. Brightspace has an intuitive design that makes it easy to accomplish tasks quickly. There are a number of features that faculty and students will find useful, including drag-and-drop file management, a mobile friendly interface, virtual classrooms, student portfolio tool, end-user support, and built-in analytics.

All faculty will get an opportunity to attend Brightspace training sessions that will be offered beginning in October. Here is a list of the Brightspace training sessions that are scheduled this fall. Stay tuned for more information about the training sessions. In the meantime, you can visit the D2L website for more information about Brightspace.

Additionally, we’ve prepared these Brightspace Migration FAQs to answer your questions about our migration plan.

Published on Leave a comment on Brightspace is Coming!

Have you heard that Brightspace was selected to be our new Learning Management System (LMS)?

Brightspace logo

Brightspace (formerly called Desire2Learn or D2L) will replace Blackboard as our LMS starting spring 2018. Brightspace has an intuitive design that makes it easy to accomplish tasks quickly. There are a number of features that faculty and students will find useful, including drag-and-drop file management, a mobile friendly interface, virtual classrooms, student portfolio tool, and built-in analytics.

All faculty will get an opportunity to attend Brightspace training sessions that will be offered during the fall semester. Stay tuned for an upcoming announcement about the Brightspace training sessions. In the meantime, you can visit the D2L website for more information about Brightspace.