Brightspace Homepage
When you log in to Brightspace, the first page you see is the Brightspace homepage. This homepage provides access to your course sites and includes links to key tools and resources. Below you can find a general overview of the Brightspace homepage and its main features.
Minibar
The minibar is located at the top of the Brightspace homepage. It is also visible on every page in Brightspace.
The minibar has the following components:
- Home – A direct link to the Brightspace homepage.
- Course Selector – Point of access to all courses you are enrolled in, either as an instructor or student. NOTE: Courses that are accessed frequently can be ‘pinned’
, so they always appear at the top of the list. Also note the ‘search’ function, which can be helpful in finding a course, especially if you have access to multiple course sites. - Message Alerts – Links to Brightspace course mail and Instant Messenger.
- Subscription Alerts – Links to unread discussion posts you have subscribed to.
- Update Alerts – Links to new announcements, upcoming important dates, and grades.
- User Profile – Access to your personal settings in Brightspace, where you can modify your profile, notification settings, and more.
- Admin Tools – Link to administrative tools for individual courses and to the Brightspace Media Library.
Note
Instructors also have the option to ‘View as Student‘ in the menu under User Profile (#6 above). Selecting this option allows instructors to view the course site as it appears to students.
Navigation Bar (navbar)
The navigation bar is located just below the minibar and contains links to some institutional and Brightspace resources:
- Memorial University Libraries
- CITL Support Centre
- Grades2Banner tool
- Quick Eval tool
My Dashboard
‘My dashboard‘ widget provides access to additional tools and resources for students and instructors. It also includes a link to ‘Tasks’ (a feature used in online courses to communicate action items to students).
Selecting ‘Instructors‘ in ‘My dashboard‘ gives instructors access to the following tools and resources:
- Lecture Capture (only available to instructors teaching in rooms equipped with Lecture Capture)
- Screenpal
- Video Uploader tool
- Grades2Banner
- Course Site Enrollment Tool
- link to the Technology Resources site
- link to the Instructional Resources site
My Courses
‘My courses’ widget is another location from which to access your courses (the other one is the Course Selector in the minibar). The maximum number of courses that can be displayed in this widget is 12. ‘Pinned’ courses are listed first, followed by non-pinned courses in the order in which they were last accessed.
Other components of the Brightspace homepage are:
- Calendar, which compiles important dates from all courses the user is enrolled in,
- Brightspace Announcements, where institutional announcements are posted,
- a link to the Instructor Resource Centre.
…and more.