Academic Technologies and Online Learning (ATOL)
Office Location: G-601
General Phone: 718-254-8565
Email: atol@citytech.cuny.edu
CUNY Brightspace Phone Support
1-888-895-2511
24 hours, 7 days a week
General G-600 Lab Hours:
| Monday - Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|
| 10:00am - 6:00pm | 10:00am - 5:00pm |
Voorhees V-217 Lab Hours:
| Monday - Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|
| 11:00am - 6:00pm | 11:00am - 5:00pm |
Brightspace is coming to City Tech!
The City University of New York (CUNY) is transitioning from our current Learning Management System (LMS), Blackboard, to a new, more modern platform, Brightspace. This transition, set to begin in the fall of 2023, is a significant step towards expanding online learning and delivering engaging learning experiences using state-of-the-art teaching and learning technology.
After careful consideration, Brightspace emerged as the LMS that best met CUNY's needs. The goal of this transition is to provide a comprehensive LMS that is modern, user-friendly, and capable of supporting growth in online learning. With advanced analytics, Brightspace will contribute to student success and set a foundation for engaging learning experiences that connect and inform.
This website is intended to be a resource for updates, training, course conversion, help documentation, and support and will be updated regularly so please check back often. Additional updates will also be sent from the AtoL.
Getting started with Brightspace - Faculty Checklist
Brightspace on the go with the Pulse App
To get ready for the move to the Brightspace environment, faculty are encouraged to do some clean up on their current Blackboard courses. Once cleaned up, it is advised that courses be backed up by exporting the course.
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What is Brightspace Learning Management System? Brightspace from D2L is a cloud-based learning management system (LMS) that runs blended and fully online courses. It comprises three integrated platforms: learning environment, learning repository, and ePortfolio. |
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Why is City Tech migrating to Brightspace?
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When will City Tech courses start using City Tech Brightspace? All City Tech courses will be delivered in Brightspace starting in Summer 2024, and Blackboard will be available for two more years after we launch Brightspace. There will be lots of training sessions starting late Fall 2023/early Spring 2024. |
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Will my course content migrate from Blackboard to Brightspace? Yes. Most of standard course content and tool objects (like pages, files, assignments, discussion forums, quizzes, images, links, etc.) that currently reside in Blackboard will migrate quite easily to Brightspace. There are exceptions, however, involving content created with specialized Blackboard tools, integrations to third-party resources, and certain assessment question types that are specific to Blackboard. |
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How to import my Blackboard course to Brightspace? CUNY will migrate the courses for our instructors. If faculty members have other courses that they would like to archive and migrate to BSP themselves, they can follow the instructions. Here is the link on how to archive your Blackboard course and save the file to your computer, thumb drive, or on the cloud. |
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Will CUNY migrate my Blackboard courses to Brightspace? Yes, CUNY will migrate the last two years of Blackboard courses to Brightspace for all faculty. |
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Brightspace Practice site A practice site enables faculty to learn and play in Brightspace with access to all of the available tools and features CUNY has implemented at this stage of the LMS transition. Follow the steps below to create your own practice site.
You have now created a Practice Course for you to practice and learn. |
All questions or concerns should be forwarded to the AtoL at atol@citytech.cuny.edu.
24 hours, 7 days a week CUNY Brightspace Phone Support line: 1-888-895-2511.
Getting Started in Brightspace
An overview of key features and tools, course management — class list, groups/sections, communicating with students, adding content to courses (from existing course content, building it from scratch), assignment basics, quiz basics, adaptive release, key terms, and resources for instructors.
Assessments
Assignments, quizzes, attendance, accommodations and special access, gradebook basics.
Engaging Learners
A brief UDL overview and overview of accessibility in Brightspace, tools and features for communication (announcements, activity feed, discussions, and virtual classroom), tools and features for engagement (calendar, progress)
Gradebook
A deep dive into setting up the gradebook, including using the set-up wizard, adding in assessments, grade schemas, and releasing grades throughout the semester and as a final course grade.
Office Hours
We will consult on specific questions about your course (migrated or new) or applying your teaching practice in Brightspace.
Subject |
Date |
Start Time |
End Time |
Mode |
Gradebook |
9/3/2024 |
3:00 PM |
4:00 PM |
Virtual |
Assessments |
9/4/2024 |
1:00 PM |
2:00 PM |
In Person |
Engaging Learners |
9/5/2024 |
1:00 PM |
2:00 PM |
In Person |
Office Hours |
9/6/2024 |
3:00 PM |
5:00 PM |
In Person |
Office Hours |
9/9/2024 |
4:00 PM |
6:00 PM |
In Person |
Assessments |
9/10/2024 |
11:00 AM |
12:00 PM |
In Person |
Engaging Learners |
9/11/2024 |
11:00 AM |
12:00 PM |
In Person |
Gradebook |
9/12/2024 |
1:00 PM |
2:00 PM |
In Person |
Gradebook |
9/16/2024 |
12:00 PM |
1:00 PM |
Virtual |
Office Hours |
9/19/2024 |
1:00 PM |
3:00 PM |
In Person |
Gradebook |
9/20/2024 |
5:00 PM |
6:00 PM |
Virtual |
Gradebook |
9/26/2024 |
1:00 PM |
2:00 PM |
In Person |
Throughout the semesters, AtoL (Academic Technology and Online Learning) provides personalized 1-on-1 support for both faculty and students. You can register for assistance using our Booking page below. A confirmation email with the zoom link will be sent to you prior to the start of the meeting.
Welcome to the Brightspace Basics Faculty Course. This course is designed to be self-paced, allowing you to progress at your own speed. To complete the course, you will have to score 80% on all six knowledge checks. Don't worry, you will have unlimited attempts. Course duration will vary based on your experience with Brightspace, and comfort with technology. If you've taken any of the CUNY workshops, or if you have Brightspace experience, this course should not take long.
Brightspace Pulse is a mobile app designed to keep learners and educators connected and organized with their coursework. It offers an overview of due dates, readings, assignments, evaluations, grades, and announcements. The Pulse app is one of the simplest ways to receive course notifications and access course materials from a mobile device.
While Brightspace Pulse is primarily designed for learners, instructors also gain significant benefits. By helping learners stay connected and organized, instructors can focus more on teaching rather than sending reminders. Many instructors update their course calendars with due dates to guide learners through coursework, readings, assignments, and scheduled tests and exams. This effort enhances the learner experience, as all this information will be readily available in their Brightspace Pulse mobile app.
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Navigate Brightspace Manage account settings Change your personal settings Create a course overview Navigation and Themes: Create a Custom Navbar |
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Content: Add a module |
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Activity Feed Overview Creating a post in activity feed Customize Notifications for Activity Feed |
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Ally for D2L Brightspace |
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Create an announcement Delete and restore announcements Make Regular Announcements |
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Mobile app (Pulse) overview |
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Create an assignment Create an anonymous assignment Grade submissions in assignments Itemize assignments using checklists Associate an Assignment with a Grade Item |
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Manage your calendar Set date availability for a calendar event |
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Create a certificate |
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Use a checklist for an assignment |
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Class List Overview Set Up Class list, Class Progress, and Grades Use and modify user progress |
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Overview of competencies Create a competency Track competency achievements |
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Create course content Create a file & insert stuff |
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Manage Dates - Offset Dates |
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Create a discussion forum Create a discussion topic Grade a discussion topic Assess from within a thread Discussion statistics Use Discussions for Journaling |
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Understanding grades Gradebook set up wizard Create a category Grade schemes |
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Grading in Brightspace Assess, evaluate and provide feedback |
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Understanding group enrollment options Defining groups and sections Create a group |
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Introduction to HTML editor Making use of the HTML editor Import HTML template pages Edit HTML templates |
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Import content from another system |
This is a CUNY university-wide change. There are few campus are currently transitioning to Brightspace to take advantage of the new system's many benefits. We are in the CUNY's 2nd phases and our transition to the new system will be beginning in Spring 2024.
Beginning Summer 2024 all courses will be taught on Brightspace.
Continue to Brightspace to access your course materials.
If you are attempting to access SPARC or other training, or if you are a faculty member seeking access to a Blackboard course, please proceed to Blackboard.