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 for their students.
For those needing assistance with Brightspace, the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching offers a variety of resources, including answers to frequently asked questions, video workshops, and a guide for directing students to use Brightspace. Individuals can request technical support and ask questions via email (brightspace@vanderbilt.edu) and phone (615-322-0200).
Center for Teaching staff offer regular Brightspace workshops and drop-in support hours, and they are available for individual consultations upon request. Staff also are available to visit departments and schools to provide general introductions to Brightspace or more tailored orientation sessions. See the Brightspace support site for more information and on-demand resources.
Fall courses are not available on Blackboard, Vanderbilt’s previous course management system. Brightspace was chosen to replace Blackboard after a yearlong needs assessment and vendor selection process involving faculty, students and staff. Blackboard courses from previous semesters have been migrated to Brightspace. Instructors who need access to an older course but don’t see it on Brightspace can request assistance from the Brightspace support team via brightspace@vanderbilt.edu.
Instructors will lose access to Blackboard on Sept. 1, 2017, as part of the transition to the new platform. However, the Brightspace support team will have access to archives from Blackboard should there be a need to retrieve content not migrated to Brightspace.
Questions about Brightspace? Feel free to reach out to Brightspace Support at the Center for Teaching: brightspace@vanderbilt.edu or 615-322-0200.