Brightspace Blog
Monday, August 21: Morning Drop-ins, but No Afternoon Events
Aug. 20, 2017—We at Brightspace Support hope you are able to take some time on Monday to observe the historic eclipse. We plan to take advantage of some of the great on-campus activities at Vanderbilt, and we hope you do too! We will be available Monday morning for drop-in sessions and for a workshop about the Groups...
New Resource! Quick Start Guide for Instructors
Aug. 18, 2017—If you are trying to get your new Brightspace course up and running in a hurry, check out our new resource! Using this Quick Start Guide for Instructors, you can walk through the five most common steps instructors need to take to get their course set up. As always, if you have questions or feedback,...
Fall Courses Available on Brightspace
Aug. 17, 2017—Fall courses are now available on Brightspace, Vanderbilt’s new course management system. Brightspace can be used to share course resources with students, communicate with students and engage them in discussion, administer quizzes and other assignments, and provide students with feedback on their learning. Faculty are invited to prepare their courses on brightspace.vanderbilt.edu and activate them...
Talking to your students about Brightspace – Fall 2017
Aug. 16, 2017—Many instructors have asked us where students will go to learn about Brightspace, Vanderbilt’s new course management system. While students are always welcome to reach out for support, we put together a list of four important resources that students will find helpful as they navigate this new course management system. Instructors can feel free to share this post...
Brightspace Support Summer Hours
Jul. 18, 2017—We love helping the Vanderbilt community use the course management system effectively and efficiently. To that end, members of our Brightspace support team will be spending this week at a conference learning more about how to serve faculty, staff, and students as we transition to Brightspace. Next week we will be back at full strength and...
New plagiarism detection software at Vanderbilt: Turnitin
Jul. 17, 2017—Starting this summer, Turnitin will replace SafeAssign as Vanderbilt’s plagiarism detection software. This powerful tool can help instructors teach and promote good citation practices as well as provide detailed feedback more efficiently. You can log on to this fully online webinar from any computer at home or on campus, but participation is limited to those...
What’s New on Brightspace? (July 2017)
Jul. 14, 2017—Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Quizzes – Shuffle the order of questions Instructors can now shuffle the order of all questions in quizzes or specific groups of...
August 2017 Brightspace Workshop and Drop-in Schedule
Jul. 14, 2017—Brightspace Support at the Center for Teaching is excited to offer daily workshops and drop-in support hours during the month of August! Our workshops will cover: discussions gradebook quizzes and surveys assignments and grading introduction to Brightspace A one-time, remote training session covering the plagiarism/feedback studio tool Turnitin is also available! View the below calendar...
Attend an Upcoming Webinar: Prevent Cheating During Online Exams!
Jun. 23, 2017—Instructor Training for LockDown Browser & Respondus Monitor Respondus LockDown Browser™ is a customized browser that increases the security of test delivery in course management systems. When students use Respondus LockDown Browser to access an exam, they are unable to print, copy, go to another URL, or access other applications. Respondus Monitor is a companion...
What’s New on Brightspace? (June 2017)
Jun. 21, 2017—Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Activity Feed The Activity Feed, which is a new course homepage widget, provides a central location for instructors to post messages and...
Summer Flex Schedule at Brightspace Support
Jun. 9, 2017—Have you heard about the Chancellor’s summer flex schedule policy? While most of the CFT will be open as usual on Friday afternoons this summer, the Brightspace support team will be taking advantage of the policy to rearrange our staff hours during the months of June and July. For the next two months, Brightspace support...
Brightspace support on holiday May 28, 29, 31!
May. 25, 2017—We know many of you have come to rely on Brightspace support’s availability six days a week, and we love hearing from you! However, on Sunday May 28, Monday May 29 (Memorial Day), and Wednesday May 31 (CFT Staff Retreat Day), the Brightspace team will be taking a few days off. We will stick to our usual office...
Brightspace Launched as Vanderbilt’s New Course Management System
Apr. 17, 2017—The Center for Teaching is excited to announce that Brightspace is now available for instructors planning their summer and fall courses. Brightspace will replace Blackboard as Vanderbilt’s course management system starting this summer. The new platform has a modern, responsive design and a number of features that faculty and students will find useful, including drag-and-drop...
Kaltura media on Brightspace
Apr. 14, 2017—As Vanderbilt transitions to Brightspace, our new course management system, some faculty may wonder what will happen to the video content they have created, stored, and/or shared using Kaltura (“My Media”) on Blackboard. We are happy to report that Kaltura media works well within Brightspace and that plans are underway to ensure that faculty have...
What students need to know about Brightspace
Mar. 28, 2017—Many instructors have asked us where students will go to learn about Brightspace, Vanderbilt’s new course management system. While students are always welcome to reach out for support, we put together a list of four important resources that students will find helpful as they navigate this new course management system. –> One new feature students will encounter...