Brightspace does not include a dedicated sign-up tool for appointments or events (e.g. office hours or presentation timeslots).
Below is an evolving list of options that can be used to address this need. This includes repurposing self-enrollment Groups within Brightspace.
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Brightspace Groups
Brightspace offers a self-enrollment group type which can provide the ability for students to do things like form their own groups for a project, select a discussion topic in which they will enroll and 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 needs only direct students to the Groups tool through Course Tools on the navbar, where students then have the ability to join and leave groups.
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In the presentation timeslot example, an instructor would:
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Pros
Entirely within Brightspace.
Quick and straightforward if extensive relabeling is not required.
Students can quickly form groups.
Cons
Tedious for situations with many topics or timeslots.
Students can join and leave groups at will.
Over-enrollment.
Microsoft Office365 files
One of the easier methods of facilitating a sign-up process is making use of 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 can make changes (potentially overwriting changes made by other students).
Not embedded in Brightspace and will link to a new 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 members of a site and anyone can make live edits.
Pros
Easily editable document.
Embedded directly into Brightspace Content area.
Cons
Anyone can make changes (potentially overwriting changes made by other students).
Limited overall capabilities.
Microsoft Bookings
Bookings is dedicated to handling appointments and, while it has a steep learning curve, is one of the more powerful office hour management tools around. It is also already available to all Brock users, synchronizes with the Outlook calendar, and can launch Teams meetings.
View all of the features and Microsoft’s instructions here https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/microsoft-365/business/scheduling-and-booking-app.
With Bookings, you can:
Configure time-slots for days, times, durations, etc. and create a shareable landing page to promote all options.
Create links to individual appointments or upcoming availability and share these in Brightspace Content items or Announcements.
Pros
Schedule and manage appointments yourself within the existing Brock Microsoft ecosystem.
Cons
Many parameters to configure initially.
Microsoft Teams sites
Instructors that make use of a Teams site may find hosting sign-up materials to 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 an instructor wouldn’t have to configure sharing permissions.
Additionally, instructors who host office hours could benefit from creating separate channels where students can post in the chat to create a queue.
Instructors can generate a Teams site from an official course roster here. Note that this process may take a few hours.
Pros
Easy to create, manage, and share files all within Teams.
Many good options for office hours and discussions/queues.
Cons
Anyone in the class can make changes to the shared documents.
Requires the creation of a Teams site for the course.