Teaching Improvements and D2L Brightspace
The New Learning Management System – ITS teams are now meeting with D2L teams regularly for training and background work, and the official kick-off was held on November 29th. There are so many pieces to the puzzle of bringing the new LMS online (including the big integrations with our SIS and authentication systems) that this phase does take a while.
Our target timeline is looking like this at this time:
- Early adopters will be given access by February 1, 2023 upon request
- All faculty will be provided access automatically for Summer 23
- The first official courses/student enrollments can take place Summer 23
- Full Go-Live with all courses delivered via Brightspace is scheduled for Fall 23
Faculty informational and training workshops will be held throughout the spring semester to be led by both D2L Brightspace Trainers and our own ITS Learning Technologies Team, and these training dates will be shared at the start of the semester. Faculty will receive an email as soon as the dates are finalized. In preparation for those opportunities – here is some information faculty can dig into now.
Getting ready for the move to D2L Brightspace – things to do right now:
- Watch a brief intro/overview of the product
- Sign-up for 30-day trial access on D2L’s public servers (any work completed here, could be exported and later imported into Truman’s Brightspace).
- Sign-up for the Brightspace Community/Support site
- Subscribe to the D2L YouTube Channel “Brightspace Tutorials”
- Visit the Brightspace Guided Training
- Do some thinking – do I move my course or build new?
- Consider how accessibility issues will figure into your course design
We are excited to share this powerful and flexible new tool with everyone! Watch those inboxes for more Brightspace news and updates!
Classroom Readiness –
Two classrooms (VH1220 and VH1420) will both be updated to accommodate the Data Science program. These classrooms will receive new teaching and student workstation hardware capable of supporting more robust and expanded data analytic activities.
Preventative maintenance will also be performed in all classrooms in an effort to ensure all classrooms are ready for the start of the spring semester – this maintenance includes minor repairs to classrooms as well.
*** If you are aware of any technology issues with classrooms that need to be addressed, please notify the IT Service Center.
Meet with our Team! Technology has become an integral part of teaching, and our Instructional Designers are here to help! We can help you with software you’re interested in or already using, introduce you to new solutions, work with designing online courses, and more. Schedule a consultation with our team today!