Instructors can choose between nine several layout options for their a course site’s homepage. Each option choice is made up of a selection an arrangement of Widgets . The choices have and has been designed to highlight and promote different site elements, and focus : focusing on content, organizationcourse structure, or communication.
Unfortunately, true customization is limited to these selections.
It is possible to change the active homepage layout at any time with through the ellipsis button in the bottom-right or by following the instructions on of any homepage.
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Homepage options and widgets
All homepage options consist of a combination of the following widgets:
The default option (#4) offers has a balanced and familiar set of widgets in Announcements, Visual Table of Contents, Calendar, and Single Course Instructor ProfileInformation.
Activity Feed
:An interactive hub for site members to post messages that are visible site-wide. Instructors can also link to assignments, quizzes, and other tools.
Announcements
:A
typicalcommunication tool that allows instructors to create course announcements using the full text-editor. These can be targeted at specific roster sub-sections and by default prompt email notifications. Detailed instructions are available in the guide for creating and managing Announcements.
Calendar
:A monthly course calendar that will display upcoming events within the site, including date-dependent assignments, quizzes, discussions, etc.
Single Instructor Profile: A profile card with some brief biographical and contact options along with an image. Only one profile can be added to a homepageIt is also possible to create events directly in the Calendar widget.
Visual Table of Contents
:An interactive tiled list of content items that links directly to course material and provides students with a progress bar to track what they have read. Each item is tied to a Content Unitand all changes are managed within that tool (including the display image, which can be changed from the default by adding another image to the first page in the Content item). Other configuration details can be changed (e.g., default image, text colour, and progress bar colour)--reach out to edtech@brocku.
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The look and feel of the different homepage options will change as more content is added to a site. It may be best to toggle between the options once the rest of the site is set up. |
1. Announcements | Calendar | Single Instructor Profile
Recommended for those that want their homepage to focus on communication in online synchronous and asynchronous courses. With a small calendar feed and profile for a single instructor.
2. Announcements | Visual Table of Contents | Calendar
Recommended for those that want their homepage to have an equal focus on communication and course topic navigation with an interactive table of contents. As well as a small calendar feed on the side.
3. Announcements | Visual Table of Contents | Single Instructor Profile
Recommended for those that want their homepage to have an equal focus on communication and course topic navigation with an interactive table of contents. As well as a profile for a single instructor on the side.
4. Announcements | Visual Table of Contents | Calendar | Single Instructor Profile
Recommended for those that want their homepage to have an equal focus on communication and course topic navigation with an interactive table of contents. As well as a small calendar feed and profile for a single instructor.
5. Announcements Only
Recommended for those that want their homepage to have a focus on communication with the announcements tool only. Useful for training or department project sites, as well as for those who like to keep it simple.
6. Visual Table of Contents Only
Recommended for those that want their homepage to have a strict focus on content navigation with a large and visual interactive table of contents. Useful for training or department project sites.
7. Activity Feed Only
Recommended for those that want an interactive and free-flowing experience. This tool is like a social media feed that can quickly link to other site items and has discussion options. It is popular in K-12 sites and could be used to present a different course experience.
8. Activity Feed | Visual Table of Contents
Recommended for those that want an interactive and free-flowing experience alongside content navigation.
9. Activity Feed | Visual Table of Contents | Calendar | Single Instructor Profile
Recommended for those that want an interactive and free-flowing experience alongside content navigation. As well as a small calendar feed and profile for a single instructor on the side.
| title | Click here to see how to change your homepage. |
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1. Select Course Home from the navigation bar in a course site.
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the Course Home ca for more information.
Multi-Profile Widget
Profile cards share information about the course instructor(s) and/or teaching team and include images that are retrieved from Brightspace Profiles when available. Only site members in the Instructor role can edit the Multi-Profile Widget.
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The Single Instructor Profile was replaced by the Multi-Profile Widget on October 9th, 2024. The new widget offers significantly more flexibility, including the ability to include a full teaching team. |
The ellipsis in the top-right offers the following options:
Update User Settings provides control over which members of the teaching team are visible, how they are labeled (which can be different from their actual site role), and in what order they appear.
Add Biography, Contact, More Information offers a text box for sharing any necessary information, e.g. preferred methods of contact, office hours, and external site links. It also provides a link to edit a user’s global Brightspace Profile Information which can share external/social media links.
Add an Instructor or Teaching Assistant
A tool dedicated to quickly adding a teaching assistant or co-instructor to a site’s roster. Further information is available in the guide for adding TAs or co-instructors to a site.
It is also possible to handle TA site enrollment to only specific sections through Classlist.
Course Connector for MS Teams
The Brightspace-Microsoft Teams integration that is used to create a Teams site based off the membership of your Brightspace site’s Classlist in a few simple steps.
Homepage types one, two, and four include a plus version with the Teams Course Connector widget.
Courses that require a Microsoft Teams site can use the Connector widget and to build a Teams site from the Brightspace Classlist in just a few steps.
Full details are available in the guide for using the Teams Course Connector in Brightspace.
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The look and feel of the different homepage options will change as more content is added to a site. It may be best to toggle between the options once the rest of the site is set up. |
Change a course site’s Homepage
Navigate to a course site’s homepage or click the Course Home tab in the navbar.
3. remove the course Further details are below
The Manage Homepages page will show afull list of homepage options with a brief description. Note that Widgets are positioned differently in the various options and it may be worth toggling between them to compare.Select
from the Active Homepage dropdown menu and click Apply.
Be aware that changing the banner text at this level overrides the choices made within Course Offering Information. More information can be found here: Course Offering Information
The homepage contains a decorative banner that can be customized by choosing from a library of stock images or uploading your own. The banner is best suited for landscape-style images but will allow provide adjustments upon uploading.
Click on the ellipsis button near the right edge of the banner, just below the navigation bar.
You can choose to Change Image, Customize Banner Text, or Remove This Banner.
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Departments, Programs, or teams interested in a custom homepage can reach out to edtech@brocku.ca to discuss bespoke options. |