West Lafayette faculty and staff can now access Brightspace and begin building content

West Lafayette faculty and staff now have access to the D2L Brightspace learning management system, and can begin building course content and learning how to navigate the new system.  

Faculty and staff at Purdue Northwest are expected to receive access during the first week of February. The tentative access date for faculty and staff at Purdue Fort Wayne is February 7.  

Implementation timelines and information for all campuses can be found at www.purdue.edu/learning-management.

How to log in

To log into Brightspace, visit purdue.brightspace.com and click on the appropriate campus icon. West Lafayette and Purdue Northwest users will need to use BoilerKey to log into Brightspace.

Begin building content – request a course shell

To begin building new content, instructors on the West Lafayette campus will need to request a course development shell by filling out this online request form

Instructors should request a development shell for each course they intend to build. For example, if you know you will be teaching four classes in the fall, each with a different course name and number, then begin by requesting one development shell for each of these courses. Once your course is fully built, you can then copy it into the actual live instance when summer or fall courses become available.

Click here to request one or more course shells. At this time the process is not automated, and users should allow 2-3 business days for the request to be processed.

Migrating content from Blackboard – coming next week

Starting January 28, instructors can request the migration of course files from Blackboard Learn to Brightspace. More information about the process will be announced, but the process won’t be automated and could take up to a week to complete. Faculty should plan accordingly when preparing to migrate content and build courses.

At this time, downloading course files from Blackboard Learn is discouraged as large file downloads can affect Blackboard’s stability.

Helpful Resources 

Brightspace Open Labs: Noon to 1 p.m. every Monday in Beering Hall, Room B286, throughout the spring semester (except during spring break) to help faculty and staff become acquainted with Brightspace. This is an opportunity to ask questions, discuss challenges, and learn more about the tools and technologies available with Brightspace. Open labs are designed to be drop-in events, but registration is available by clicking here.

Upcoming training events:

Live workshops are filling quickly. Those interested in attending a workshop are encouraged to register as soon as possible.

January dates include:

Click here for a full listing of workshops and webinars held throughout the spring semester on the West Lafayette Campus.

YouTube tutorials:

Instructional videos have been created to help instructors get started with essentials, like how to upload content and access gradebooks, as well as more advanced topics, like how to create assignments and quizzes and utilize features such as discussion boards.

This video is designed to help instructors navigate the Brightspace system: https://www.youtube.com/embed/5ic1tA7eCuA

Campus contacts

To stay up-to-date with implementation plans and to find resources for learning how to use Brightspace, visit www.purdue.edu/learning-management.

Have questions about the Brightspace implementation plan? Contact implementation team members at:

Writer: Dave Stephens, technology writer, Information Technology at Purdue, 765-496-7998, steph103@purdue.edu.

Last updated: January 21, 2020