Semester Startup Tasks for Brightspace

Use the following tips for the new semester startup in Brightspace: 

  1. New Course Shells: The timing of the new semester shells will be on the following schedule.  Winter Session/Spring Shells- created at the beginning of November, Summer/Fall Shells- created in April. When an instructor is assigned in Banner to a course, a corresponding course shell is generated in Brightspace. To locate your course shells in Brightspace, see the My Courses widget and filter by term. Pin frequently accessed courses. You can set up your course shells as soon as you are ready, however, if your course gets reassigned or canceled, you will lose access to your work in the shell. To prevent this, you may work in a practice course shell if this is a new course build or if you have extensive edits. 
  2. Course Preview Dates: Course content becomes accessible to students 7 days before the start date of the course. Students will be enrolled in a Brightspace shell on a rolling basis (within 4-12 hours) when they register for the course, but content isn’t unavailable until the preview day. Refer to the master schedule in Banner for your course date. Upcoming preview dates for Winter and Spring: (Winter) December 27, 2022 for courses beginning January 3, 2023 and (Spring) Monday, January 16, 2023 for courses beginning January 23, 2023
  3. Copying Content from a Previous Brightspace Course: We prefer you to use the course copy method for transferring your own content from semester to semester within Brightspace which is different from the recommended transfer method for Blackboard.
    Video Tutorial: Moving Content from Course to Course in Brightspace (5 min)
  4. Reconnect any 3rd Party Tools as needed: This may include Pearson, Cengage, McGraw, Norton, Lumen, Wiley, new Zoom links. Make sure to include instructions to your students on how to access the tools and any specialized information. Please connect with your vendor for instructions on connecting your content to Brightspace. The vendor will have instructions for doing this properly. If you work with the vendor and run into any problems, then reach out to the Virtual Campus. 
  5. Manage your dates in Brightspace (or 3rd Party tool): The biggest source of confusion for students is having incorrect dates when they view their course for the first time. Please make sure you carefully check and update dates in any content areas and within the tools (for example in the assignments, discussions, and quizzes). In Brightspace, you can use the “Manage Dates” tool to change any native availability dates and due dates. 
  6. Upload New Course Information Sheets and/or Schedules: Make sure to swap out old course information sheets and schedules with the new versions. If your document is loaded as a file, you can simply change the file. 
  7. Clean up old Announcements: Makes sure to view the announcements on the home page and clean up any older announcements or set the dates to automatically release them at the proper time of the semester. Cleaning up and deleting old announcements is much easier in Brightspace. Get your welcome announcement ready and release it on the preview day of the semester. 
  8. Check Links and Videos in your Course: When students start the semester and begin viewing your materials, make sure your links and videos are up to date. Nothing is more frustrating for students than broken links and outdated videos. 
  9. View Your Course with the Student Preview: Use the student preview option to view your course from a student perspective. You can switch your role from instructor to student and view your materials and grades area. *Please remember that date restrictions apply so you won’t be able to see something that opens in the future. 
  10. Encourage Students to View the MCC Online Student Orientation: If you are teaching an online, hybrid, or hyflex course or highly web-enhance your course, you will want to encourage students to view the MCC Online Student Orientation found in Brightspace. They can find information on how to navigate Brightspace, Zoom, and skills for online readiness. You can include the link in your course for easier access.
    MCC Online Student Orientation in Brightspace