Brightspace contains an email tool that can to help instructors connect with students from within the LMS. Its utility is limited and is best used as a means to quickly reach out to a site roster or select students. Students cannot reply to/within the Brightspace email system and actual conversations will take place outside of Brightspace.
Email options can be found within several tools but are likely encountered from the Classlistare available in several useful places like the Classlistand an Assignment’s submissions page, although instructors can access a dedicated Email area via the letter icon in the main Brightspace banner menu (near the course list and notifications).
Students do not have any access to Email within Brock’s instance of Brightspace (due to restrictions in the Classlist tool) and will receive instructor emails directly to their Brock Outlook inbox.
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Outgoing messages will originate from a generic system address (email@brocku.brightspace.com) but student replies to said messages will redirect to the sender’s Brock address. Thus, any resulting email correspondence will take place through Brock email and not within Brightspace. |
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Generating email through Classlist, Assignments, and from within several other tolls will by default add students to the blind carbon copy (BCC) recipient field for privacy reasons. A message can be sent without anyone in the To box. Student emails are populated in the BCC for privacy reasons.field. |
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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 The Email tool and Sent Mail
The Message alerts icon is available in the main banner menu on the Brock Brightspace homepage and within each course site. Click the Message alerts (envelope) icon and then Email.
The Compose New Message page provides basic email options and some useful tools, but is awkward to use and thus not ideal for actually creating and sending messages (which is much easier from within the Classlist or other tools).
Brightspace email does provide the full HTML/text editor and can include attachments.
An email signature can be added through Settings in the top-right.
If the Email tool was accessed from within a course site, the Address Book will list all component rosters and Groups in the Filter By: field.
The Sent Mail button provides a history of all outgoing Brightspace messages.
Send messages from Classlist, Assignments, etc.
The main benefit of Brightspace email is that it can quickly send messages to all site/class members, Sections, Groups, or select students, without the hassle of looking for a list of email addresses. Bulk Email options are available in most tools where a list of students is present.
The easiest place for instructors to generate email is the Classlist. There may also be situations where messages are most conveniently sent from an Assignment’s submissions page.
Email in Classlist
The Email Classlist button at the top of the Classlist page will create a message going to all site members. Further restrictions can be specified and recipients can be removed in the next step.
The Email button above the student names can be used once a student or group of students has been selected (via the checkbox on the left).
Email in Assignments
The Email button above the student names can be used once a student or group of students has been selected (via the checkbox on the left).
Restrict messages to certain Groups, Sections, or individuals
Any tool with email options will also include the View By: filter (as long as the course has multiple sections or if the instructor has created Groups). This can be used to restrict the view to only members of the chosen Group or Section, and messages can then be sent to only selected members of those smaller rosters.
The Classlist itself presents these options across the top of the page. Use the Apply button next to the drop-down menu to enable the filter.
Click the checkboxes next to students' names to select individuals or the checkbox in the top-left corner of the table
to select all students.
Then
, click the Email option to begin crafting
a message to those particular students
Student Replies
When emails are sent to students, it will be sent from a Brightspace.
The Email Classlist option will immediately present the View By: filter. It is also possible to filter to only the teaching team/TAs. This tool will then create a message addressed to all chosen members as BCC.
Student replies and conversation
Messages sent to students will originate from a system 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 While this may be confusing to students (and may be worth clarifying), replies will be redirected to the sending 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 CommunicationThis means that, after using the Brightspace tools to quickly establish contact, subsequent conversation will actually take place through the standard Brock Outlook system and that information will not be trackable in Brightspace.
Announcements for direct communication
Brightspace’s Announcements tool is an alternative for quick communication to all class members as students will receive an accompanying email notification unless they have adjusted their own Notification Settings. This tool is completely separate from Email in Brightspace. Learn more in the dedicated Announcements article.
Student-to-student communication
Students are unable to access the email Email functions within Brightspace . This is as all contact information is connected to the Classlist, which is not accessible to students due to potential privacy concerns. That being said, students are able to access and make use of the
Several alternatives are presented in this article on Peer-to-Peer communication. The only option within Brightspace is the archaic and clunky /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, which is difficult to recommend.