Resources available to help faculty and staff get acquainted with Brightspace

Resources are available for faculty and staff to learn more about D2L Brightspace, the university’s next learning management system, targeted to replace Blackboard Learn by the beginning of the fall 2020 semester.

“Although the final implementation date may seem a long way off, and opportunities for training will be coming over the course of the next year, there are excellent on line resources available now for faculty and staff to familiarize themselves with the new system and consider how Brightspace can support the continuous improvement of their instruction” says Associate Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning Jenna Rickus, who is overseeing the systemwide transformation along with Jason Fish, director of Teaching and Learning Technologies, who is serving as the project lead and will help coordinate the implementation across the different campuses.

Rickus encourages anyone curious about teaching with Brightspace to visit www.d2l.com/trial, create a temporary account, and explore the resource links include below. Although the trial account’s content is only for exploration purposes, it can help users become familiar with Brightspace’s layout, tools and options.   

“Brightspace is an incredibly dynamic tool, with a lot of the features faculty told us they wanted,” says Rickus. “While it has basic similarities to Blackboard Learn, you’ll still want to spend some time with this system to be able to really take advantage of all that it offers.”

Implementation teams

Details of the Brightspace implementation plan are still being worked out, but teams have been established on each campus to begin work on the implementation process.

Campus leads for implementation are:

  • West Lafayette: Kevin O'Shea; Manager, Instructional Innovation, koshea@purdue.edu.
  • Fort Wayne: Carl Drummond; Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Enrollment Management, drummond@pfw.edu; and Adam Dircksen, director of the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching;  adam.dircksen@pfw.edu.
  • Northwest: Randyl Marquis; Supervisor, Office of Instructional Technology, rrohm@pnw.edu
  • Purdue Global: David Starnes; Chief Academic Officer, dstarnes@purdueglobal.edu

A full listing of the more than 70 team members of the implementation team across the Purdue system can be found online.

Resources

Implementation teams are now working on integrating Brightspace with Purdue services, security measures and educational tools, as well as developing training and resources to help instructors create courses within the new learning management system.  Online resources from D2L, are available to help faculty and staff become acquainted with the new system and additional resources will be posted online as they become available. 

  • YouTube Brightspace Tutorials. This channel offers resources for new users and seasoned professionals on how to create courses, use various tools, create content, and more.
  • Documentation.Brightspace.com. The site includes videos, documents and a searchable database to help users – instructors, administrators and students – find answers to their Brightspace questions, as well as resources to help with creating content and managing courses.
  • Community.brightspace.com. Want to learn how others are using Brightspace? This site serves as an online community where Brightspace users – instructors, students, administrators and developers – can share resources, ask questions and get advice.
Soft launch of Brightspace for Spring 2020

A limited launch – allowing some courses to begin using Brightspace – is scheduled to take place at the start of the spring 2020 semester.

For more information, including the expected timeline of the Brightspace implementation plan, visit www.purdue.edu/learning-management.

Have questions about the Brightspace implementation plan? Contact implementation team members by contacting:

Writer: Dave Stephens, technology writer, Information Technology at Purdue, 765-496-7998, steph103@purdue.edu.

Last updated: October 7, 2019