Create an Announcement
Announcements can include just about any site element, can be scheduled, and their visibility can be restricted Sections or Groups. The Announcement tool features the full HTML/text editor available throughout Brightspace and can thus contain images, videos, and links (including Quicklinks directly to other site components, e.g. an upcoming Quiz).
There are several ways of accessing the Announcements tool, although it is most easily managed through the homepage widget. The widget’s presence does depend on which course Homepage layout is in use.
Instructors can create and post Announcements in an Inactive site without students being notified. This could be used to prepare for a site’s launch upon semester start.
Students will not receive a flood of notifications for existing announcements upon site Activation.
BUT, Announcements posted while a site is Inactive will not trigger email notifications, unless the Send email copy option is selected.
Instructors can use Announcements to send students
Access Announcements
The full Announcements tool with all features can be found in the following locations:
If the site Homepage has the Announcements widget, click Announcements or use the drop-down arrow to see a full list of options.
Through the navbar item Course Tools → Announcements.
Through the navbar item Course Tools → Course Admin and then Announcements.
Make and post a new Announcement
From the Announcements menu, click New Announcement
Enter a headline and content for the Announcements item. The content area features the full text editor and provides for embedded multimedia alongside text and links.
Send email copy
Below the text editor is the Send email copy toggle. This will send a copy of the Announcement directly to all students' Brock email. Notably, it will send emails even if:
Students are not subscribed to receive email notifications, ensuring that important information contained within the announcement is delivered to every learner.
The Announcement is posted while the site is Inactive, perhaps to communicate before the course start date.
Attachments
There are also options to upload and attach files along with video and audio recordings.
Publish an Announcement
Publish the Announcement when ready. Use Save as Draft if future adjustments are needed. Students cannot see draft Announcements.
Availability, Release Conditions, and Attachments
Optional settings for Availability, Attachments and Release Conditions. Learn more about Release Conditions here: Release Conditions
Issues may occur when using the “Member of at least one group in group category” release condition. Students may not receive the announcement even if they meet the condition. It is recommended that groups be selected specifically, especially if there is only one group in the category. Learn more information about groups.
To hide the headline's date and time, clear the Always show start date check box. By default, an Announcements item start date and time appears below the headline when displayed in the Announcements widget.
In the Start Date and End Date fields, select the posting availability date. Announcements items are published immediately, unless otherwise specified.
To remove an Announcements item for a specific date, select the Remove Announcements item based on end date check box.
The announcement author and administrators can still see the Announcements item after its end date, but it does not appear in the Announcements widget.
In the Attachments section, file (i.e., PDFs, word docs, images etc.), audio and video can be attached for multimodal options for the delivery of an Announcement.
Additional Release Conditions: To include additional release conditions, click Attach Existing or Create and Attach. Use this feature to share announcements with specific course sections/seminars/groups. Release conditions can also release an announcement to students after a certain assessment is completed. For more information on Release Conditions refer to the article mentioned under this section’s title.
Post-dated Announcements items do not display in the default Course Homepage Announcements widget even if users have permission to see future Announcements items. They can be found within the list of Announcements items on the Announcements page.