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If you are new to teaching at Vanderbilt, I hope you got to attend the CFT’s new faculty orientation called Teaching at Vanderbilt (TAV). It’s always a wonderful opportunity to get to know new faces and learn some tips for success at Vanderbilt.  I did a session at TAV this… Read More

In a recent article, Inside Higher Ed described the results of a new survey highlighting a few of the biggest challenges instructors have faced during remote and online teaching over the last two years. You can find the article here: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/03/23/survey-views-pandemic-learning-overwhelmingly-negative   According to this survey, labs, group… Read More

The CFT first published a guide on considering how to work with wireless devices in the classroom in 2010. Given the rapidly changing digital landscape since then, this guide has been updated to better consider and account for the changes in how personal electronic devices are used, and how widespread they have become. It considers how personal electronic… Read More

As we near the beginning of a new semester, many of us are thinking about how we can make space in our classrooms to learn about our students’ needs. In higher education, the question of how we can support students coming back to campus after mostly online experiences is a… Read More

If you are new to teaching at Vanderbilt, I hope you got to attend the CFT’s new faculty orientation called Teaching at Vanderbilt (TAV). It’s always a wonderful opportunity to get to know new faces and learn some tips for success at Vanderbilt.  I did a session at TAV… Read More

Written by Jenny Park, August 2021 My name is Jenny Park, and I am a new instructional technologist at the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching. My colleagues and I recently attended the annual D2L Fusion Conference, which focuses on how to maximize the use and support for… Read More

My name is Jenny, and I am a new instructional technologist at the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching. My colleagues and I recently attended the annual D2L Fusion Conference, which focuses on how to maximize the use and support for the Brightspace platform. I had the opportunity to attend sessions… Read More

By Michael Coley, Fall 2021 Over the month of July, the Brightspace Support team had the opportunity to attend the 2021 D2L Fusion Conference. While this annual conference usually is held in locations across North America each summer, for the past two summers it has been all… Read More

For many of us at Vanderbilt, August is the busiest month of the year. That is certainly true for us here at Brightspace support at the CFT! And to get ready for our return to campus in August, we have new guides and resources, new faces, and a new expanded… Read More

The Brightspace team normally provides support to the Vanderbilt campus Sunday through Friday, usually from 7am to 11pm. In particular over the last year at Vanderbilt, we have been proud to step up to the challenges of remote and online teaching and offer expanded hours and services.  For the next… Read More

During the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters, the Brightspace Team held drop-in hours each Thursday to allow faculty to meet with our team and discuss any questions they had about using the Brightspace platform. We’ve wrapped up our final drop-in session for the spring, and we’ll be dedicating our… Read More

As instructors give assignments, quizzes and discussions, there are some key grading setup elements to check before opening these activities to students. Start with the Gradebook If you intend to use the Brightspace gradebook, then I would start with this setup. Step 1: How do I set up my… Read More

Have you been wondering about recording your live class meetings? We have several new guides available on our On-Demand Resources page that will walk you through some commonly asked questions. Should I record my live class meeting? New! How can I record and share my… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Assignments – Additional functionality in the new assignment creation experience Add special access conditions to assignments. Read More

Click tracking refers to the ability that both instructors and students have in Brightspace to see where students have clicked within a course. This tool can be very useful for students trying to track their own progress in a course and for instructors evaluating their own course design and learning… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Assignments – New create and edit experience The create and edit Assignments page has an updated… Read More

by Stacey M. Johnson, Assistant Director for Educational Technology If you will be teaching online, how do you plan to convert your course plan into a clean, easy-to-follow Brightspace course? The course plan or syllabus is the blueprint of your course, but now you have to construct the virtual structure… Read More

If you are using the Quizzes tool in Brightspace to conduct some end-of-semester assessment in your course, the CFT is here to help. With input from the support team, our ever-growing On-Demand Resources page also features a troubleshooting guide that you can use to navigate common questions. Check out… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Assignments – Video Note recordings have expanded time limit In Assignment submission folders, students can now… Read More

by CFT assistant director, Stacey M. Johnson Faculty, are you thinking about how to develop online assessments of student learning in a hurry? At Vanderbilt most courses meet face-to-face, but with campus closed through the end of the spring 2020 semester, we are all rethinking assessments. The CFT has resources… Read More

If the speed of video processing is a problem… Video isn’t always necessary or even the best tool for the job. Lots of other technologies are just plain more accessible to everyone but especially to students on unreliable wifi. Read our blog post about low-bandwidth alternatives to video… Read More

by CFT assistant director, Stacey M. Johnson Video-based tools (like Zoom and Virtual Classroom, the two video conferencing tools available in Brightspace, or Kaltura Media, the video creation and storage tool) can be very useful for recreating the classroom experience in an online format. However, some faculty and students might… Read More

by CFT assistant director, Stacey M. Johnson With both Zoom and Virtual Classroom available in Brightspace for live video conferencing, many faculty will be moving their face-to-face classes online in a very literal sense, doing similar activities as usual that happen to be conducted video conferencing. However, for some… Read More

by CFT assistant director, Stacey M. Johnson Accessibility in an online environment is essential. All students should be included and valued as our campus transitions to remote teaching through the end of the semester. Some Brightspace tools that will help are: If you will be creating recorded lectures or other… Read More

by CFT assistant director, Stacey M. Johnson Faculty, are you thinking about how to put some of your course content online in a hurry? Perhaps to deal with unexpected events? At Vanderbilt most of our courses meet face-to-face, however, if you find that you need to make adjustments in… Read More

The Vanderbilt Center for Teaching released a comprehensive guide to Teaching with Blogs. Brightspace users on campus will be interested to know that a blog tool is included in every Brightspace course, and can be used to support student learning inside of the secure course management environment. How can Students… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Assignments – Streamlined access to inline feedback To streamline access to assignment feedback, learners can… Read More

Do your students need extra help with Brightspace? The CFT has resources available for students as well as instructors! New guides for students are released regularly and can be found here, including our brand new guide on submitting large video files in Brightspace.    Students are also welcome… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Assignments – “New” Assignment Submissions Column and Page On the Assignments page, instructors now have a… Read More

The end of the semester is coming up quickly! Is your Brightspace gradebook set up correctly? While you are certainly not required to use the Brightspace Grades tool to track your students’ grades, it can be a big help. Especially if you are using Brightspace to collect assignments or giving… Read More

There are times when Brightspace may give you an error message when attempting to upload a file or accessing content. Here are some general troubleshooting steps that have proven to correct most of these issues: 1) Use Google Chrome as your browser – it has proven to be most compatible… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Assignments – Letter grading available Grade Schemes can now be used by instructors to evaluate assignments… Read More

by Stacey M. Johnson, Assistant Director If you are interested in making your Brightspace course more accessible to your students with disabilities, we have a few resources that you might find useful.  First, read through the CFT Teaching Guide on Creating Accessible Learning Environments.  This will provide great background… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Assignments – Grades entered in Assignments and Grade Book are synchronized When an instructor enters a… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Brightspace Support is dedicated to educating the campus on new updates that can improve the learning… Read More

Brightspace Support will not be offered on Monday, May 27th, due to the Memorial Day holiday.  Any received messages will be returned on Tuesday, May 28th.  Thank you!… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Discussions – Save feedback in draft state This feature provides instructors the option to save feedback… Read More

On March 1, 2019, Brightspace e-mail support will begin at 9:00 am (instead of 7:00 am).  If you have any questions, please contact us at brightspace@vanderbilt.edu. Read More

On February 15th, 18th, 19th, and 20th, Brightspace Support will begin at 9 am instead of 7 am.  Regular support hours will resume on February 21st.  If you have any questions, please contact Brightspace Support at brightspace@vanderbilt.edu. Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Groups – Create new submission types The new On paper and Observed in person submission types… Read More

Getting to know a course management system can be confusing for students, as well as instructors. We’ve assembled a list of “Four Things Every Student Should Know about Brightspace at Vanderbilt.” This list will help your students as they navigate Brightspace. Instructors can feel free to share this post with… Read More

Brightspace support will be closed for the Holiday break from December 22nd, 2018 through January 1st, 2019. There will be no phone support (e-mail only) on December 21st, 2018. Regular support will resume on January 2nd, 2019. If you have any questions, please contact brightspace@vanderbilt.edu. Read More

Brightspace support hours for the Thanksgiving break are as follows: 11/21 – E-mail support only from 11 am to 7 pm. 11/22 – No support 11/23 – No support E-mail support will pick back up on 11/25 at 6 pm. Additionally, there will be no drop-in support hours on 11/21… Read More

Please note that Brightspace will be down for maintenance on Thursday, November 22nd from 8 am to 4 pm (at the latest) Central time.  If you have any questions, please contact Brightspace Support. Read More

On Friday, October 26th, the Brightspace support team will only provide live support from 3:00 to 5:00 pm.  Any e-mails or calls submitted outside of this time window will be returned as quickly as possible when support hours begin the following Sunday.  If you have any questions, please contact us… Read More

On Thursday, October 25th, the Brightspace support team will be participating in professional development from 11 am to 2:30 pm.  During this time, we will not be able to answer calls or respond to e-mails.  Any e-mails or calls received during this time period will be returned as soon as… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Assignments – Anonymized learner names To avoid unconscious bias in the grading and feedback process, instructors… Read More

When it comes to online videos, accessibility is very important.  Many times, self-made videos lack captions that can assist those who are hearing impaired.  To address this, Kaltura has added a new captioning tool that can help make your videos more accessible to others. This tool is already enabled inside… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Content – Print/Download Function added to Syllabus Tab Users can now download and print an uploaded… Read More

According to Vanderbilt’s Course Availability and Deletion Policy,  students maintain access to their courses up to 1 year after the course has ended.  In practice, this policy means that students may find themselves wishing they still had access to a previous course that has been made unavailable.  The best way… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Grades – Reorder grade items Instructors with gradebooks containing 200+ grade items can now manually enter… Read More

When you (or your students) first click on a course from the main landing page in Brightspace, the default first page is a homepage that has the announcements tool and the calendar tool pre-loaded. However, the default is not your only option. In fact, you have quite a bit of control… Read More

Brightspace has updated the  landingpage to help users find their courses easier. Courses that appear in the My Courses widget are now grouped by semester.   Instructors are still able to pin currently important courses to the top of each tab.   You can find more courses to… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Assignments – New Text Submission type and workflow Instructors can now create Text Submission assignment types… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Assignment Grader (iPad app) – Assignment submission can now be annotated without EduDentity credentials Instructors that… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Grades – Locked Name column and header row This Daylight-only feature introduces the locked Name column… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! HTML Editor – Advanced image editing Users can now edit images in place (including flipping,… Read More

Recently, the CFT updated the teaching guide Dealing with the Unexpected: Teaching When You or Your Students Can’t Make it to Class to reflect all of the tools now available to conduct class online. If you are wondering how to teach this week with the unpredictable road conditions, this… Read More

Brightspace is nicely integrated with Turnitin. Turnitin provides a collection of tools that help instructors streamline their grading and feedback, and ensure that student work is original. If you used SafeAssign in the past, it has some similar features. Once Turnitin has been enabled for one of your Brightspace assignments,… Read More

Brightspace support is taking an administrative day today along with the rest of the campus. The support team will be back on for email support 5-11pm on Sunday. You can find our support schedule here: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/brightspace/brightspace-support/ If you plan to work on Brightspace today and need assistance, we… Read More

When you (or your students) first click on a course from the main landing page in Brightspace, the default first page is a homepage that has the announcements tool and the calendar tool pre-loaded. However, the default is not your only option. In fact, you have quite a bit of control… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! New default state of new Assignment Submission Folders Administrators can to set the default state… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here, but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace! Additional attachment types available for assignments Links, Existing Activities, and Google Drive files can now… Read More

In this video, Stacey walks through how to create an announcement or email for students with links that take students directly to different content files or assignments inside of the course. Using the Quicklinks tool, you can send students a direct link to just what they need. Here… Read More

We at Brightspace Support hope you are able to take some time on Monday to observe the historic eclipse. We plan to take advantage of some of the great on-campus activities at Vanderbilt, and we hope you do too! We will be available Monday morning for drop-in sessions and… Read More

If you are trying to get your new Brightspace course up and running in a hurry, check out our new resource! Using this Quick Start Guide for Instructors, you can walk through the five most common steps instructors need to take to get their course set up. As always,… Read More

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… Read More

Many instructors have asked us where students will go to learn about Brightspace, Vanderbilt’s new course management system. While students are always welcome to reach out for support, we put together a list of four important resources that students will find helpful as they navigate this new course management system. Instructors can… Read More

We love helping the Vanderbilt community use the course management system effectively and efficiently. To that end, members of our Brightspace support team will be spending this week at a conference learning more about how to serve faculty, staff, and students as we transition to Brightspace. Next week we will be… Read More

Starting this summer, Turnitin will replace SafeAssign as Vanderbilt’s plagiarism detection software. This powerful tool can help instructors teach and promote good citation practices as well as provide detailed feedback more efficiently. You can log on to this fully online webinar from any computer at home or on campus,… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here,  but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace!   Quizzes – Shuffle the order of questions Instructors can now shuffle the order of all questions… Read More

Brightspace Support at the Center for Teaching is excited to offer daily workshops and drop-in support hours during the month of August! Our workshops will cover: discussions gradebook quizzes and surveys assignments and grading introduction to Brightspace A one-time, remote training session covering the plagiarism/feedback studio tool Turnitin is also… Read More

Instructor Training for LockDown Browser & Respondus Monitor Respondus LockDown Browser™ is a customized browser that increases the security of test delivery in course management systems. When students use Respondus LockDown Browser to access an exam, they are unable to print, copy, go to another URL, or access other… Read More

Every month, Brightspace will release new features and updates. You can get a comprehensive view of the updates here,  but this blog post will give you a quick overview of what’s new on Brightspace!   Activity Feed The Activity Feed, which is a new course homepage widget, provides a central location… Read More

Have you heard about the Chancellor’s summer flex schedule policy? While most of the CFT will be open as usual on Friday afternoons this summer, the Brightspace support team will be taking advantage of the policy to rearrange our staff hours during the months of June and July. For… Read More

We know many of you have come to rely on Brightspace support’s availability six days a week, and we love hearing from you! However, on Sunday May 28, Monday May 29 (Memorial Day), and Wednesday May 31 (CFT Staff Retreat Day), the Brightspace team will be taking a few days… Read More

The Center for Teaching is excited to announce that Brightspace is now available for instructors planning their summer and fall courses.  Brightspace will replace Blackboard as Vanderbilt’s course management system starting this summer.  The new platform has a modern, responsive design and a number of features that faculty and… Read More

As Vanderbilt transitions to Brightspace, our new course management system, some faculty may wonder what will happen to the video content they have created, stored, and/or shared using Kaltura (“My Media”) on Blackboard. We are happy to report that Kaltura media works well within Brightspace and that plans are underway… Read More

Many instructors have asked us where students will go to learn about Brightspace, Vanderbilt’s new course management system. While students are always welcome to reach out for support, we put together a list of four important resources that students will find helpful as they navigate this new course management system. Read More

The Center for Teaching is glad to announce that Brightspace will be replacing Blackboard as the campus-wide course management system beginning Summer 2017. This transition will bring change for students, faculty, and staff. As Brightspace’s administrative home, we at the Center for Teaching want to reassure you that we are… Read More

With the fall 2016 semester winding down, the Blackboard support team at the Center for Teaching has already begun working with many instructors around campus to ready spring courses. If you plan to work on your Blackboard courses over the winter holiday, we will be available to help via… Read More

OAK Support received reports of an issue with one of the widely used features of OAK. In order to fix the issue, OAK needs to be “down” for approximately 45-60 minutes. Because we do not like to take OAK down unnecessarily, yet understand this needs to be addressed, the issue… Read More

OAK (Online Access to Knowledge), Vanderbilt’s course management system, is expanding current functionality to provide additional services and customizations.  Efficiencies in course delivery and management will also be attained. Several years ago, a proposal was prepared to enhance OAK that included a consolidated list of requests from the schools and… Read More

OAK will be down Sunday, May 20 from 6AM to 1PM for maintenance. The allotted time has been extended this month to accommodate a change necessary for the growth OAK has experienced over the years. In the event that the work is completed ahead of schedule, OAK will be made… Read More

OAK will NOT be down Sunday, February 19 for maintenance.  Please visit the main OAK Website for maintenance updates, OAK availability, and regularly scheduled maintenance dates. Note about Regularly Scheduled Maintenance: Though we like to have our servers up 24/7, there are times when we need to take them… Read More

Enrolling students directly in OAK DOES NOT officially enroll them your the course. Course instructors have the ability to enroll students directly in their OAK course. This capability is available so instructors can add guests to their courses. If a student needs to be added to the course, they should… Read More

SafeAssign is experiencing regular delays due to load on the system. In one sense, the cause of these delays is quite simple: the rate of papers being submitted exceeding the speed with which SafeAssign can process papers. Submissions go into a queue, and are processed in a first-in, first-out order. Read More

The OAK News Blog updated its look to match other Vanderbilt websites. The new look should make viewing the archives easier to use. Read More

OAK, Vanderbilt’s course management system, will be expanding current functionality to provide additional services and customizations, as well as attain efficiencies in course delivery and management. Powered by Blackboard Learn “Course Delivery,” Vanderbilt will add the “Community Engagement” system to OAK to achieve these goals. Several years ago, a… Read More

In order to enhance security and comply with federal audit requirements, Vanderbilt plans to implement a mandatory annual ePassword change process by June 15, 2010. To change your ePassword, please go to www.vanderbilt.edu/passwordchange and follow the instructions. We encourage you to change your password right away and not wait… Read More

We will be upgrading to Blackboard Learn 9 Course Delivery in June 2010. In the coming months, there will be video and face-to-face tutorials to provide training, as well as a published timeline of activities. Please expect an extended outage for this event. More information will be posted on the… Read More