Brightspace contains an email tool that can help instructors connect with students from within the LMS. Email options can be found within several tools but are likely encountered from the Classlist.
Students do not have access to Email within Brightspace and will receive instructor emails directly to their Outlook inbox.
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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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Related
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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 Classlistarea 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.
Selecting the checkbox next to the students' names or the checkbox in the top-left of the table will select all students. Then choose the Email option to begin crafting an email to those particular students.
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 Outlook inbox.
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.