Course Homepages

Owned by Kelsey Hall (Unlicensed), created
Last updated: Nov 16, 2023 by Gareth Seymour
4 min read

Instructors can choose between several layout options for a course site’s homepage. Each choice is made up of an arrangement of Widgets and has been designed to highlight different site elements: focusing on content, course structure, or communication.

Unfortunately, true customization is limited to these selections.

It is possible to change the active homepage layout at any time through the ellipsis button in the bottom-right of any homepage.

Homepage Options

All homepage options consist of a combination of the following widgets:

The default option (#4) offers a balanced and familiar set of widgets in Announcements, Visual Table of Contents, Calendar, and Single Instructor Profile.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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 Unit and 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) please reach out to edtech@brocku.ca for more information.

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

Best for communication in online synchronous and asynchronous courses. Includes a small calendar feed and single instructor profile.

2. Announcements | Visual Table of Contents | Calendar

Focused equally on communication and course topic navigation with an interactive table of contents, along with a small calendar feed.

3. Announcements | Visual Table of Contents | Single Instructor Profile

Recommended for an equal focus on communication and course topic navigation via an interactive table of contents. Includes a single instructor profile.

4. Announcements | Visual Table of Contents | Calendar | Single Instructor Profile (Default)

Recommended for an equal focus on communication and course topic navigation via an interactive table of contents. Includes a single instructor profile and a small calendar feed.

5. Announcements Only

Focused on communication exclusively through the announcements widget. Useful for training or department project sites.

 

 

 

 

 

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

A site using homepage option #4.

6. Visual Table of Contents Only

Strictly focused on content navigation with a large and visual interactive table of contents.

7. Activity Feed Only

Recommended for those that want an interactive and free-flowing experience. This tool behaves like a social media feed that can quickly link to other site items and includes 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

Provides an interactive and free-flowing experience alongside content navigation.

9. Activity Feed | Visual Table of Contents | Calendar | Single Instructor Profile

Provides an interactive and free-flowing experience alongside content navigation. Includes a single instructor profile and a small calendar feed.

 

 

 

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.
A site using homepage option #9.

Change a course site’s Homepage

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

  1. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the ellipsis button in the bottom-right corner.

  • Select the Manage Homepages button to view and choose between the different layouts.

  • Remove the Banner will eliminate the image across the top of a homepage, along with that instance of the course name. More details can be found on the Navbars and Banners page.

  1. The Manage Homepages page will show a full 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.

 

Please contact CPI at edtech@brocku.ca with any questions or comments about the contents of this site.