Versions Compared

Key

  • This line was added.
  • This line was removed.
  • Formatting was changed.

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.


On this page

.

Table of Contents

Image Removed
maxLevel
toc
6
minLevel1
maxLevel7absoluteUrltrue
Homepage Options
include
outlinefalse
indent
excludeOn this page|Related
typelist
printablefalse
class
Panel
bgColor#F4F5F7

Page Tree
rootCourse site management
spacesBLEDOCU
startDepth1


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

typical

communication 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 homepage

It 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.

Info

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.

A screenshot of the Brightspace at Brock course site's homepage, it shows the announcements, calendar, single profile, and visual table of contents widgets.Image Removed
A screenshot of the Brightspace at Brock course site's homepage showing the activity feed, single instructor profile, visual table of contents, and calendar widgets.Image Removed

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.

AnchorChange-HomepageChange-HomepageChange Your Course Homepage Expand
titleClick here to see how to change your homepage.

1. Select Course Home from the navigation bar in a course site.

A screenshot of the navigation bar in a Brightspace course with the Course Home tab highlighted.Image Removed2. 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.

Note

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.

a screenshot showing the multi-profile widget and a teaching team with three membersImage Added
a screenshot showing the multi profile widget with the editing options displayedImage Added

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.

A screenshot of the Brightspace at Brock course site's homepage, it shows the announcements, calendar, single profile, and visual table of contents widgets.Image Added
Info

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

  1. Navigate to a course site’s homepage or click the Course Home tab in the navbar.

A screenshot of the navigation bar in a Brightspace course with the Course Home tab highlighted.Image Added
  1. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the ellipsis button in the bottom-right corner.

A screenshot of the bottom of a course homepage with the ellipsis button in the bottom, right highlighted.Image Removed
3.
  • Select the Manage Homepages button to view and choose between the different layouts.

  • Remove the Banner will

remove
  • eliminate the image across the top of

the course
  • a homepage, along with that instance of the course name. More

detail
  • details can be found

in A screenshot of the bottom of a course homepage with the Manage Homepages button highlighted.Image Removed
A screenshot of the bottom of a course homepage with the ellipsis button in the bottom-right with the manage homepages and remove the banner optionsImage Added
4.
  1. The Manage Homepages page will show afull list of homepage options with a brief description.

Select one
  1. 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.

A screenshot of the manage homepages screen with a list of homepages and their descriptions, the Active Homepage dropdown menu is highlighted.Image Removed

a screenshot showing a partial list of available homepagesImage Added

Info

Departments, Programs, or teams interested in a custom homepage can reach out to edtech@brocku.ca to discuss bespoke options.