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Brightspace contains an email tool which allows instructors to reach out to their students from the platform itself. This is used most predominantly from the Classlist area.

Info

When sending emails through Brightspace, the student emails will appear in the BCC section, while the To section remains blank. The email will still send to the students without anyone in the To box. Student emails are populated in the BCC for privacy reasons.


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Announcements?

Brightspace does have an Announcements tool, which is a separate entity from the Email function. Announcements allow instructors to create posts on their Brightspace course homepage that are also sent out as emails to students by default. However, students are able to turn off email notifications for Announcements, which means they are not 100% reliable in terms of making sure an email shows up in a student’s inbox.

Learn more about Announcements


Emailing from Classlist

The easiest place for instructors to construct emails for their students is from the Classlist area of their course site, accessible via the course navbar.

At the top of the Classlist area, instructors can select the Email Classlist button, then Send Email to craft an email for the entire class.

Reaching out to Groups, Sections, or Individuals

Instructors can use the Classlist area to sort and view students by sections or groups. This can be done by changing the View By option above the search bar to Groups or Sections. These options will only appear if the course has multiple sections as per the course, or if the instructor has created groups in Brightspace.

View By drop-down menu outlined above Search bar in Classlist

Instructors are then able to sort and filter the classlist by particular groups and sections of students.

Selecting the checkbox next to the student’s names or the checkbox in the top-left of the table of students will select them. Then choose the Email option to begin crafting an email to those particular students.

Checkboxes next to student names and Email tool are outlined in Classlist

Student Replies

When emails are sent to students, it will be sent from a Brightspace address (email@brocku.brightspace.com) as opposed to the instructor’s email. That being said, when a student attempts to reply to the email, it will redirect to the instructor’s Brock email. In this manner, students are able to reply to emails sent out from Brightspace, and their reply will appear in the instructor’s usual inbox.

Email Settings

Instructors can access their email settings from the envelope icon at the top of Brightspace. Select the Envelope icon, then Email, then Settings.

Envelope icon and Email option outlined at top of BrightspaceImage Removed
Info

Selecting Email will open a space to compose a new message. This is a secondary space to compose an email, where instructors can sort through recipients in each of their courses. CPI recommends the Classlist be used to compose emails to avoid potential confusion with multiple courses.

mkay well instructors currently do not have access to the email settings so rip

https://cpibrock.atlassian.net/jira/servicedesk/projects/CPI/queues/custom/13/CPI-63787

Explain how to access email settings from the Mail icon in the top of Brightspace, brief walk-through of various options including sending copy of sent emails to outlook box.


Student to Student Communication

Students are unable to access the email functions within Brightspace. This is due to potential privacy concerns. That being said, students are able to access and make use of the /wiki/spaces/BLEstudents/pages/976977921 tool on Brightspace. It is archaic and clunky, so CPI recommends instructors encourage students to connect off-platform for proper communication.