Brightspace Instructor Self-Help

This page provides a curated collection of Brightspace resources, including guides, videos, and support options. 
⚠️ Note: Geneseo’s Brightspace interface may differ slightly from D2L resources, but core concepts remain the same.

Table of Contents

1. Getting Started
2. Technical Questions
3. Intro to Brightspace
4. Import Content to Brightspace
5. Course Content
6. Gradebook
7. Tips
8. Guides for Students
9. Video Tutorials for Students
10. Course Quality Review Tools
11. Accessibility
12. Policies and Resources

Getting Started

System Check

• Visit this handy system checker from the browser you will be accessing Brightspace from to help ensure compatibility with Brightspace.

Logging in

• You can access Geneseo's instance of Brightspace from brightspace.geneseo.edu

• Use your full Geneseo username and password to login.

• For assistance with your username and password or multi-factor authentication contact the HelpDesk at helpdesk@geneseo.edu or during business hours at 585-245-5588

For Questions About Technical Issues Within Brightspace

• Email Geneseo's Instructional Design Team at brightspace@geneseo.edu

• A member of our team will respond to the Jira Request created as soon as possible; please, be aware that members of our team are generally available 7:30AM-4PM M-F

• To schedule a meeting with the Instructional Designers, choose from the following:

  • Meet with Becky

  • Meet with Donald

Intro to Brightspace

• Brightspace Instructor FAQ (Getting Started)

• How to Navigate Brightspace

• Customize the Brightspace Dashboard

• Adding Users or Changing the Role of Users in Your Brightspace Course

• Course Merge by Instructor Request

• Brightspace Attendance Registers

• Set up a Course (Video)

  • Create an Announcement Item

  • How to Create Modules in Brightspace

• How to Make a Course "Active" (visible to students; formerly "Published" in Canvas)

• Create a Brightspace Community account (required to access Brightspace self-help documentation)

Import Content to Brightspace

• How to import course content into Brightspace

• Copy Existing Content into a New Course (Video)

  • Which components from Brightspace can be imported, exported, or copied between courses?

Course Content

• About Course Content Organization

• How to Make Brightspace Content Visible/Hidden

• Course Workload Estimator (Rice University)

• Adding Files to Your Course (Video)

• Create Graded Item (Video)

  • Creating Grade Items and Categories

  • Associate an Activity With a Grade Item (Video)

• How to create an Assignment (Video)

• Create Discussion Forum (Video)

  • Create and Manage Discussions 

  • How to create a Discussion Topic (Video)

  • Subscribe to a Discussion

• Create a Quiz (Video)

  • Creating and Configuring Quizzes

  • Submit an in-progress quiz on behalf of a learner

  • Reset Quiz Attempts

  • Editing Quiz questions after the Quiz has taken place (regrade)

  • Setting up the Respondus LockDown Browser for a Quiz

  • Allowing Special Access for a Quiz

  • Creating and Viewing Quiz Reports

  • Viewing Quiz Statistics

• Microsoft Teams and Brightspace

• TopHat Brightspace Integration & Grades Sync

• WeBWorK - Brightspace Integration

• Deleting Items in Brightspace

• Embedding Media from an External Source into Brightspace

Gradebook

• Grades Tool Overview (Video)

• Set up Your Gradebook (Gradebook Wizard)

  • How to set up your Brightspace Gradebook (Video)

• Manage Grades in the Grades tool

• Importing Optical Scanning Data into Brightspace

• Hide the Final Calculated Grade in Brightspace

• Hide a Single Grade Item or Grade Category from Students

• Entering all grades for a specific Grade Item in Brightspace

• Creating Extra Credit Grade Items

• Delete a grade item or category

• Dismiss Activities from QuickEval

• Managing an Incomplete Grade

Tips

• Familiarize yourself with Brightspace's course content organization

• Notifications can (and should!) be enabled from your profile- accessed by clicking on your name in the upper right-hand corner in Brightspace

• You may also see the full Brightspace Video Playlist for Instructors here

Brightspace Guides for Students

• Student Guide for Brightspace at Geneseo

• Installing the Brightspace Mobile App (Pulse)

• Managing Your Notifications

Video Tutorials to Share With Your Students

Click on links below to view the video for each topic.

• Navigating Brightspace

• Accessing Course Content

• Submitting an Assignment

• Taking a Quiz or Exam

• Participate in Discussions

• Using the Calendar and Tasks

• View Grades and Instructor Feedback

Course Quality Review Tools

To help campuses ensure that their online courses are learner-centered and well-designed, a team of Open SUNY staff and campus stakeholders has designed the OSCQR rubric, a customizable and flexible tool for online course quality review.

• Course Reviews at Geneseo

• Geneseo's Course Readiness Checklist

• The Open SUNY Course Quality Review (OSCQR)

Accessibility

When developing your course, it's important to think about how to make your course inclusive and accessible to all learners, regardless of physical or learning disabilities.

• Closed Captions in Brightspace

• Improving Course Document Accessibility

• Uploading Lecture Slides and Recorded Videos to YouTube for Captioning

• SUNY Geneseo Accessible Syllabus Checklist 

• Special Access in Brightspace for Students

Excellent self-paced tutorials for increasing digital accessibility are available through Deque University. Request access to their full collection of courses here: Deque University Accessibility Training

If you are interested in earning a certificate and badges for accessibility and Universal Design for Learning, register for the public self-paced course "Accessibility: Designing and Teaching Courses for All Learners" that was created by SUNY Buffalo State & SUNY Empire State through a SUNY IITG grant.

Policies and Resources

• Data Management Policy (When courses are added and removed)

• Instructional Modes at SUNY Geneseo (definitions and practices)

• Making Files Accessible (US Dept. of Health & Human Services Resource)

• Copyright for Teachers and Scholars (Library Resource)

• OpenSUNY Online Teaching Resource Videos

 

Still Need Help?

To explore guides created by D2L, visit the Brightspace Help Site. Note that you will need to create an account to access content within the Brightspace Community.

Ask CIT! Email us or submit a request and we'll be happy to assist you.