Brightspace does not include a dedicated sign-up tool for appointments or events (e.g. presentation timeslots).
Below is an evolving list of options that can be used to address this need. This includes repurposing Brightspace Groups self-enrollment.
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Brightspace Groups
Brightspace offers a self-enrollment group type which can be used to provide students the ability to do things like form their own groups for a project, select a discussion topic in which they will participate, or to choose a timeslot for a presentation.
Creating Groups is not complicated, although renaming them based on project topics or timeslots can become laborious. Once in place, an instructor only needs to direct students to the Groups tool through Course Tools on the navbar, where students then have the ability to join and leave groups.
Learn more about Groups here.
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In the presentation timeslot example, an instructor would:
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Pros
Entirely within Brightspace.
Quick and straightforward if relabeling is not required.
Students can quickly form groups.
Cons
Tedious for situations with many topics of timeslots.
Students can join and leave groups at will.
Office365 files
One of the easier methods of facilitating a sign-up process is making use of the Office365 applications such as Word or Excel.
Instructors can create a file and set the permissions to be sharable with their class. Then, instructors can post the link to the document in the Content area, Announcements, or Discussions of their course site.
Pros
Easily editable documents that anyone can use.
Fast and easy to create.
Every student has access to Office365.
Cons
Anyone in the class can make changes (potentially overwriting changes made by other students).
Not embedded in Brightspace and will link out to a separate window.
Etherpads
Etherpads are similar to editable text documents, except they lack many of the functionalities that a text document offers. They can be embedded into the Content area through the Add Existing button. More information about embedding an Etherpad can be found here.
Once embedded, Etherpads are available to all students in the class and everyone can make live edits.
Pros
Easily editable document.
Embedded directly into Brightspace Content area.
Cons
Anyone in the class can make changes (potentially overwriting changes made by other students).
Limited editing capabilities.
Microsoft Bookings
Pros
Easily shared when creating documents in the Files area
Good place for office hours discussions/queues
Cons
Anyone in the class can make changes to the shared documents
Requires the creation of a Teams site for the course
Microsoft Teams sites
Instructors that make use of a Teams site may find that hosting sign-up materials on the Teams site instead of on Brightspace could be beneficial. Microsoft Office documents that are created from the Files area of a Teams site automatically grant everyone in the Teams site access to them, which means instructors wouldn’t have to configure sharing permissions.
Additionally, instructors who host office hours could benefit from creating a separate channel for office hours, where students can post in the chat to create a queue.
Click here to provision Instructors can generate a Teams site for your coursefrom an official course roster here. Note that this process may take a few hours.
Pros
Easily shared when creating documents in the Files area
Good place for office hours discussions/queues
Cons
Anyone in the class can make changes to the shared documents
Requires the creation of a Teams site for the course