Brightspace Quick Start: Top 5 Tips

Academic Technologies, Brightspace

Getting ready for the new semester? Here are the essentials to check off your list before classes begin:

  1. Make Your Course Active: Remember, courses are hidden from students by default. Toggle your course to Active when you’re ready to go live.
  2. Set Up Your Gradebook: Do this before adding assignments to save yourself a massive headache during finals week.
  3. Shift Your Dates: If you’re copying a course from last year, use the Manage Dates tool to update all deadlines at once.
  4. View as Learner: Use this feature to double-check that your content and folders are actually visible to students.
  5. Re-link Your Tools: If you use Echo360 or VoiceThread, make sure to re-link them in your new course site

Get the Full Top 10 List

For step-by-step instructions on these tips and more, check out the full guide here: Start of the Semester: Top 10 Brightspace Tips

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Unlock New JavaScript Skills Through Mini Challenges! 

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Do you ever look at a website and think, “I wish I could build something like that”? Now’s your chance! Join us for our Mini Challenges with JavaScript workshop on Wednesday, January 21st, at 10 am – 11:30 am, where we’ll walk through the basics of coding with JavaScript using short, interactive exercises. The session will be led by Amritpreet Singh, a Master of Science student in Computer Science with a strong passion for programming. All skill levels are welcome, just bring your curiosity and desire to begin coding cool and unique websites!

During this live Zoom session, participants will explore core programming concepts such as variables, conditionals, loops, functions, and arrays. We’ll also look at how JavaScript brings web pages to life by updating content, responding to user actions, and interacting with HTML. Say goodbye to static and read-only pages; instead, let’s bring your websites to life!

We’ll be using CodeSandbox, an online coding environment, so everyone can write and test JavaScript code instantly. Each concept will include a quick mini challenge so you can apply what you learn right away, and documentation and resources will be provided to all participants. 

If you’ve been wanting to try programming or begin to understand how websites work behind the scenes, this workshop will be a great hands-on introduction. Come ready to experiment, learn, and have fun!

Providing Constructive Feedback: SBU Classie-Evals Fall 2025!

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There are only T-3 days till the end of the semester on Thursday, December 18th. That also means there’s only a few days left to submit your Course Evaluations! Course Evals are an important part of the academic ecosystem, students can share their experiences and professors can take that feedback and make future semesters even better.

As a student you can write as much or as little as you want, so don’t be intimidated and help out fellow students! 

And for professors, don’t forget that students can teach as well!

Final Grade Submission Alert! Fall 2025

Academic Technologies, Brightspace, Grades, Technical Support, , ,

It’s the end of the semester, which means it’s time to prepare for Fall 2025 grade submission! Please note the key date and submission options.

Rosters & Deadlines

  • Grade rosters will be generated on: Monday, December 8th, at 4:00 PM.
  • Action Item: Before the 8th, check your validation report to ensure all faculty/instructors have necessary grading access.

Submission Methods (Effective 12/8 @ 4 PM)
You have three options for submitting grades:

  1. SOLAR: (Chrome recommended).
  2. Import from Brightspace (See the link below for detailed steps and eligibility).
  3. Email an Excel file to: submit_grades@stonybrook.edu.

Detailed Brightspace Import Information

For comprehensive instructions on setup, eligibility requirements, and handling grades after the import, please read our dedicated article: Importing Grades from Brightspace to SOLAR
(Remember that if you import from Brightspace, grades are initially marked “To Be Reviewed” in SOLAR. To make any changes, you must first set the Approval Status to Not Reviewed.)

 Get Support
For any questions or technical assistance:

Previewing Learner Grades

Brightspace, Grades

Did you know you can preview learner grades in Brightspace? As the Instructor, your grade view will differ from that of your students. This could be helpful if a student is asking a question about their grades or maybe they are unable to see a grade in the course. You can use this view to check what they see! Reminder: If a grade item is hidden – it will still show on the instructor view but your students will not see this grade.

https://it.stonybrook.edu/help/kb/previewing-how-grades-look-for-a-student-in-brightspace

Is Your Grade Book Ready?

Academic Technologies, Brightspace, Grades

The end of the fall semester is near! Is your Brightspace grade book ready for final grades?

If you need some assistance or would like a simple check of your grade book before submitting final grades in SOLAR, please submit a ticket: https://help.stonybrook.edu/TDClient/277/Portal/Requests/ServiceDet?ID=7920Turnitin

After we receive your ticket, we will send you an invite to meet and go over your grade book in Brightspace!

Brightspace Groups for Active Learning

Attendance Verification, Brightspace, Grades

This week was the first time I tried using Brightspace groups in Javits 106 Active Learning classroom. If you are not familiar with the space, it’s tables of 6 in an Octagon shaped room. There is no “front” of the room so each table has a display

I created Brightspace Groups with an attached assignment prior to class and displayed group assignments on the displays around the room so everyone knew where to sit. The students used the lapboards or worksheets (their choice) to identify various characters that they knew of who had “Followership” traits.

Types of followers

At the conclusion of class, I asked 1 student from each table to take a picture of the results and submit their groups work via Brightspace. Since I had attached the Assignment to the “Attendance” Category in my Grades, I was able to quickly update attendance for class at the end of the day.

The only issue that arose was that one of the students was not assigned a group and therefore could not see the assignment. We were able to resolve this during class.

Using this tool was not only easy but also saved me a some time. I highly recommend giving it a try!

Checking Student Progress

Brightspace

Throughout the semester, all different types of assessments are being submitted and it can become a bit overwhelming to see who is missing an assignment/quiz/exam or discussion post. Here are some ways to keep track of your students progress in your Brightspace course!

  • Class Progress: Find a high-level view of student performance on various indicators like content, objectives, and grades by clicking on Class Progress in the course navigation bar. You can then click on an individual student’s name for more detail. 

Check in on specific tools:

  • Grades: Go to the Grades tool. For a specific grade item, click the drop-down arrow and select Statistics to view class or user statistics for that item. 
  • Quizzes: Navigate to Quizzes and click the drop-down arrow next to the quiz title, then select Statistics. This view includes tabs for User Stats, Question Stats, and Question Details. 
  • Content: Go to the Content area, click the gear icon, and select View Reports to see content statistics, or click the User tab to see individual user statistics. 
  • Discussions: From the Discussions List, click on the drop-down menu next to the desired forum or topic and select Statistics. You can filter the results to view overall statistics or see individual user and group activity. 
  • Enrollment: Access Class List, then select Enrollment Statistics to see who has enrolled, unenrolled, or withdrawn from the course and view any completed grade items for withdrawn students. 

Make Your Quizzes Smarter with Question Pools in Brightspace

Brightspace

Creating a quiz in Brightspace? Take it to the next level by using question pools! This feature lets you pull a set number of questions from multiple sections in your Question Library. With this, each student gets a slightly different version of the quiz, ensuring academic integrity.

To create a question pool, start by editing your quiz and selecting “Create New” followed by “Question Pool.” From there, name the pool, decide how many questions you want to include, and set the point value. Then browse your Question Library to select the questions or sections you want to pull from. Once you’re done, click save.

Question pools make your quizzes more secure without requiring you to manually build multiple versions. You also get to reuse questions you’ve already created, keeping your course materials organized and efficient. To learn more about Question Pools, check out this KB article!

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