What is Brightspace? And what is a learning management system anyway? Let's take things from the top! If those of you just starting out are still wondering about how courses in Brightspace really work, we have compiled a list of FAQs to read through before you begin.
What is Brightspace? What is D2L?
Welcome! D2L (Desire2Learn) is our company name, and Brightspace is our product. Brightspace is a Learning Management System (LMS): an online ecosystem for your entire campus or school board, where students and educators can access their classes.
What is a course/class in Brightspace?
A course or a class is simply a digital space that serves as an online classroom. It contains tools
designed to facilitate teaching and learning, just like in your face-to-face classroom: Content,
Discussions, Quizzes, and many more. And certainly, it acts as a place where people gather to
teach and to learn!
Great! So how do I log into my Brightspace to get started?
Just like other online platforms, you will have your own username and password for Brightspace.
All you need to do is navigate to your unique URL (provided by your administrator) to log in.
You may have received an email containing your credentials (check your Junk Mail too), you may
be able to log in using your standard institution credentials, or you may need to ask your support
team for this information.
Where do I go after I log in? Where are my classes?
Click the Course Selector icon to view a list of all of the classes that you have been
given access to.
Figure: The Course Selector icon.
How do classes get added? What if I don't see my class?
A central system administrator creates all classes. If you don’t see your class in the Course Selector, reach out to your system administrator at your institution to arrange this so that you can focus on teaching.
Who else can see my classes? Are they public? I have concerns about privacy.
No, your classes are not public. Only people who have been given access to your classes will
be able to see them and click into them. Typically, you will be given instructor access to any
classes that you are teaching; and your students will be given learner access to any classes
that they are taking. Your support team may also have high-level access to all Brightspace
classes for administrative purposes.
Are my classes connected? Will all of my students see everything?
No, your classes exist independently from each other. Whatever you put into one class will be
separate from your other classes and will only be seen by students enrolled in that class.
So how do my students get added to my classes? What about other educators?
A central system administrator creates all user accounts and classes, then enrolls everyone into the appropriate classes with the appropriate roles – instructor, learner, etc. Your class doesn’t have to be limited to a single educator either; there can be multiple educators enrolled in one class.
I think I’ve got it! Now what?
Congratulations – you are now ready to jump in and begin exploring Brightspace! We recommend that you consult one of our Quick Start Guides next, which can be
found on our online teaching resource page Getting Started with Brightspace.
