The Homepage Widget Expansion Pack offers a catalog of homepage system widgets to provide a more customized learning experience for your homepages.
System widgets were available for purchase individually or in packages of 3, as an add-on to your Brightspace product plan. Some may have been included in your implementation package.
Hosted System widgets in the legacy expansion pack were deployed and turned on by D2L; now, clients can upgrade to the new Brightspace System Widgets. The legacy Visual Table of Contents Widget, Welcome Window Widget, and Slim Announcements Widget were configured with the Widget Editor (also deployed and turned on by D2L).
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Important: The legacy Homepage Widget Expansion Pack has reached the End of Support milestone and will be retired in December 2024/20.24.12. Clients can continue to use the hosted versions of the widget until that date; however, they are no longer supported by D2L. Clients using the legacy hosted versions of widgets should upgrade to the new Brightspace System widgets. For more information about how to identify which legacy widgets you are using and plan for the retirement of the Homepage Widget Expansion Pack in your environment, refer to Upgrading from the Hosted Widgets.
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Awards Leaderboard Widget
The Awards Leaderboard widget creates a fun and competitive environment where students can show off their digital badges. Students can see how they compare to their peers, motivating them to pursue more badges in your course.
The Awards Leaderboard displays the top ten students who have earned badges (not certificates) in your course. Your course administrator can configure the Awards Leaderboard to display students with either the highest number of awards or highest number of credits at the top. Students with the same number of awards falling within the top ten grouping are sorted by name in alphabetical order.
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Note: Student names may appear as Anonymous User if their role is restricted from seeing first and last names via the User Information Privacy settings. A student's preferred name setting may appear if enabled for them. |
Figure: View and display students' badges in the Awards Leaderboard.
Content Navigator Widget
The Content Navigator widget is a streamlined widget that gives students quick access to course topics. Students can select to move from module, to sub-module, to content for more direct access. This widget tracks and displays navigational history and allows one-click navigation to the last-visited module topic. The Content Navigator is useful when:
- Your course homepage has another focal widget and you want to contain and collapse a lot of information without taking up too much space.
- Your course does not follow a linear progression and you want to provide more direct access to content that matters to students.
- Your course is not a course and you are using a Brightspace course as a repository for information, resources, and activities. Students can target content they need right from the homepage.
Figure: An example of the Content Navigator widget.
Learner Awards Widget
The Learner Awards widget is a customizable system widget that can be added to the homepages of course offerings, if enabled for your organization. It can help inspire students with friendly competition by displaying the top 10 users who have earned badges (Awards) in the course. It can also show learners earned and unearned badges. Students can gauge their progress and push themselves to earn them all.
Course administrators with permissions can configure the Learner Awards widget to display students with either the highest Number of Awards or Credits appearing at the top. Students with the same number of awards falling within the top 10 grouping are sorted by name in alphabetical order. If no student in the course has an award, the Learner Awards widget appears in an empty state.
Figure: The Learner Awards widget displaying the My Awards and Available Awards tabs.
Multi-Profile Widget
The Multi-Profile widget allows you to introduce yourself to yourstudents. You can also use the widget to introduce other teaching assistants or facilitators in your course. The system widget retrieves user information from User Profiles and the Classlist to display a list of users in the course and their roles to students.
Figure: The Multi-Profile widget.
To learn how to deploy and modify the Multi-Profile widget, refer to Deploy and modify the Multi-Profile Widget.
Photo Banner Widget
The Photo Banner widget is a customizable, course-level widget that displays uploaded images as a gallery. Users with permissions can upload images, add a link to the Photo Banner carousel, and customize the background styling of the widget. Users with the appropriate permissions can also add or remove images and configure the background.
The Photo Banner widget is useful when:
- You have image-heavy content.
- You want to highlight scheduled content.
- Your course relies significantly on image-based content for learning.
- You ask your students to collect images and you want to curate their work.
- You want to have visuals to support learning.
- You want to post in-class moments of exploration, collaboration, and discovery.
Figure: The Photo Banner widget.
To learn more about using the Photo Banner widget, refer to Using the Photo Banner Widget.
Single Profile Widget
The Single Profile Widget provides in-line authoring that allows teachers, facilitators, tutors, and other users to introduce themselves to students. Put important details at the forefront, showcase your photo, share social media details, and write other important bio information. Users with the appropriate permissions can upload a photo, add a brief biography, and provide links to social media profiles.
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Note: This widget is intended for teachers who may not otherwise have the permissions to modify course homepages. Editors can change the content of each field from the homepage itself; fields that are empty do not display in the widget. |
Figure: The Single Profile widget displaying an example profile.
To learn more about using the Single Profile Widget, refer to Using the Single Profile Widget.
Slim Announcements Widget
The Slim Announcements widget presents a simplified, shortened view of announcements. This widget is great for when you have a lot to say – you can share as much as you want without sacrificing the visual design. Use the Slim Announcements widget to set default images, display a maximum number of announcements, and choose to display pinned announcements.
Figure: Display simple, shortened views of announcements with the Slim Announcements widget.
To learn about using the Slim Announcements widget, refer to Using the Slim Announcements Widget.
Visual Table of Contents (TOC) Widget
The Visual Table of Contents (TOC) widget displays a ‘flip tile’ visual representation of modules in a course. Each course module’s title and image appear on the front of a tile. Students can click on each tile to flip it over and reveal a description of the module. The description and image are pulled from the unit description seen in the Content tool.
The Visual Table of Contents widget also acts as a progress tracker, showing students the topics completed out of those available. The widget is also smart enough to know where a student left off, so they can select the module title to get to the top level of the module or select the Next Topic button to go to the next unread topic in that module.
Use this widget when:
- You have a content-driven course. The Visual TOC widget adds a highly visual, simplified organization system right on your homepage.
- You have a traditional linear course structure.
- You want to promote student progress by visualizing progress and reinforcing the importance of completion.
Figure: The Visual TOC widget displaying two modules.
To learn more about using the Visual TOC widget, refer to Using the Visual TOC Widget.
Welcome Window Widget
The Welcome Window widget displays a pop-up message the first time a user logs into a course. This message can include text, images, and even short videos. Course creators and administrators can easily edit and update the content in the pop-up message, and you can include as many pages in the pop-up window as you need. The Welcome Window widget is the perfect tool to welcome users, help orient them to the structure and navigation of the course, and set them up for success.
Use this widget when:
- You want to give an orientation about Brightspace to new users.
- Your students are new to your course or program. You can discuss policies, assessments, opportunities, and requirements.
- You have an important change or announcement you want users to know about.
Figure: The Welcome Window widget showing an Orientation Checklist.
To learn more about using the Welcome Window widget, refer to Using the Welcome Window Widget.