Brightspace Blog
Winter Brightspace Updates
Feb. 10, 2023—There have been a few new updates to Brightspace over the last couple of months that we would like to share with you. If you have any questions about any of these changes, or anything else concerning Brightspace and Instructional Technology, please feel free to reach out to the Brightspace and Instructional Technology Support team...
Welcome to Vanderbilt, New Faculty!
Aug. 18, 2022—If you are new to teaching at Vanderbilt, I hope you got to attend the CFT’s new faculty orientation called Teaching at Vanderbilt (TAV). It’s always a wonderful opportunity to get to know new faces and learn some tips for success at Vanderbilt. I did a session at TAV this year called Tools for success: The educational...
August Brightspace Updates
Aug. 12, 2022—As we begin another fall semester, there are several updates coming to Brightspace this month. Assignments – Access new shortcuts to undo and redo PDF annotations on evaluations Previously, the only way to remove PDF annotations in Assignments was to use the eraser tool or delete the selection. Now, an undo/redo button is added for...
June Brightspace Updates
Jun. 16, 2022—Summer months are usually when we see the biggest updates from Brightspace and D2L. This summer is shaping up for some good updates across different areas of the platform. Assignments – Save time by copying assignments to other courses you teach Instructors who teach several courses are now able to copy assignments between their courses....
May Brightspace Updates
May. 12, 2022—May Brightspace Updates This time of year there are not many updates to Brightspace, but there are a couple that we want to point out to users. One is going to be a big help to students and instructors alike, and the other is an interesting new option for those Instructors using the Lessons View...
Support for Online Challenges: Labs, Group Work, and Class Discussions
Mar. 28, 2022—In a recent article, Inside Higher Ed described the results of a new survey highlighting a few of the biggest challenges instructors have faced during remote and online teaching over the last two years. You can find the article here: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/03/23/survey-views-pandemic-learning-overwhelmingly-negative According to this survey, labs, group work, and class discussions have been the...
Early 2022 Brightspace Updates
Mar. 18, 2022—Wintertime is not known for big changes to Brightspace, but there have been a few updates over the beginning of this semester that we wanted to update users on. Updated Brightspace Branding D2L, the parent company of Brightspace, recently updated its logo and company branding. As a result, you may have noticed the new...
Addition of Pronouns to Brightspace Account Settings
Feb. 10, 2022—In 2018, Vanderbilt added a way for Brightspace users to set their personal pronouns in their Brightspace profile. While this was a good option at the time, this was only viewable when users went to someone else’s profile. As of February 2022, Brightspace is rolling out a new way to make this information visible. This...
Updates to Brightspace for November and December 2021
Dec. 16, 2021—There are several highlights from the most recent Brightspace updates, and today we want to focus on three things that will be most helpful to Brightspace users. Links to the full release notes are available at the end of this post. Assignments – New Assignment Creation Experience Universally Enabled This feature sets the new assignment...
Updated Teaching Guide: Personal Devices in the Classroom (Formerly Wireless in the Classroom)
Dec. 2, 2021—The CFT first published a guide on considering how to work with wireless devices in the classroom in 2010. Given the rapidly changing digital landscape since then, this guide has been updated to better consider and account for the changes in how personal electronic devices are used, and how widespread they have become. It considers how personal electronic devices (especially laptops) can impact learning in...
October 2021 Updates to Brightspace
Oct. 19, 2021—There are several highlights from the most recent Brightspace update, and today we want to focus on four things that will be most helpful to Brightspace users. A link to the full release notes is available at the end of this post. Preview Activity in Evaluation mode for Assignments Previously, users who did not...
What’s New in Brightspace September 2021
Sep. 21, 2021—Here are the highlights from recent Brightspace updates. A link to the full release notes is available at the end of this post. Assignments – Restricting file extensions for submissions It’s now possible for instructors to restrict the types of files they accept for Assignments based on the file extension. This can be set...
A Survey to Assess Student Needs in Your Course
Aug. 20, 2021—As we near the beginning of a new semester, many of us are thinking about how we can make space in our classrooms to learn about our students’ needs. In higher education, the question of how we can support students coming back to campus after mostly online experiences is a hot topic in almost every...
Welcome to Vanderbilt, New Faculty!
Aug. 19, 2021—If you are new to teaching at Vanderbilt, I hope you got to attend the CFT’s new faculty orientation called Teaching at Vanderbilt (TAV). It’s always a wonderful opportunity to get to know new faces and learn some tips for success at Vanderbilt. I did a session at TAV this year called Tools for success:...
What’s New in Brightspace Summer 2021
Aug. 18, 2021—There have been several updates to Brightspace over the summer, so we wanted to share with you the highlights of new things you can find in Brightspace starting this month. While these are just the highlights, we will link to the full release notes at the end of this post. Brightspace Text Editor The...