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To improve our processes and supports for Phase 3 participants, we sought feedback from teaching staff and students involved in Phases 1 and 2. Read their thoughts on the functions and features of Brightspace after using the platform for a full semester below.

Brightspace 

鈥淥verall, the new VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) is an impressive platform that can help bring modules to a new level in terms of delivery and student interaction.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

 鈥 Brian Shee, KBS (Kemmy Business School). 

 

鈥淏rightspace has a modern look and feel, and the way that the lessons are organised makes it intuitive for students.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

 鈥 Rachel Murphy, AHSS (Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences). 

 

鈥淚t has been much more intuitive to use, e.g. uploading files, links, layout/appearance, etc.鈥痶han I expected.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

 鈥 Anne Griffin, EHS (Education & Health Sciences). 

 

鈥淟ecturers appreciated being given a template with pre-populated headings.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

 鈥 Adrienne Horan, EHS. 

 

鈥淚鈥檓 very happy and impressed with how easy it is to use.  A great step forward for UL."  

- Diarmaid Lane, EHS. 

 

鈥淏rightspace is a welcome change. The interface is aesthetically pleasing, and the functionality is superior to Sulis.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

鈥 Laura Donnellan, AHSS. 

 

鈥淢oving to Brightspace is not as scary as people might think it's going to be... Overall, my Brightspace experience was very positive, students feedback was excellent 鈥 very user friendly, good for engagement and professionally presented."

鈥 Lorraine T. Ryan, KBS. 

 

鈥淚 would recommend, if you can, to give yourself some time to start engaging with the training early on, use your sandbox to build your module, and copy content then into your module鈥.  

鈥 Claire Harnett, KBS. 

 

鈥淏rightspace is an immersive environment, much more than a repository and this is particularly useful for online learners. It is a fantastic platform to deliver online content, that is from my perspective as a lecturer and a student using Brightspace as a learning platform鈥.  

- Eoin Hinchy, S&E. 

Student Experience 

鈥淚 liked the 鈥榗lass progress鈥 tool as it gave a quick insight into the frequency of log ins for each student in the class. This made it a handy signpost to see the participants that might be in danger of falling behind due to infrequency of log in.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

 鈥 Adrienne Horan, EHS. 

 

鈥淭he dedicated app also proved to be very popular with students as it allowed them a dedicated space to track their learning and control alerts related to their courses.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

 鈥 Brian Shee, KBS. 

 

鈥溾楽tudent view鈥 proved very handy to reassure the lecturer for example that the hidden files were in fact hidden (in student view), and that the assignment upload area and discussion board layout were clear from a student perspective.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

 鈥 Adrienne Horan, EHS. 

 

鈥淚 found my module site on Brightspace 100% reliable, I could get to it anytime I needed it. The little alerts flag was helpful because it lights up when something needs your attention. There鈥檚 a simplicity to Brightspace that鈥檚 very attractive and the way my lecturers laid out the content, week by week, made it a very manageable way to learn.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

鈥 Michelle Breen, part-time student, Professional Diploma in Strategic Leadership 

 

鈥溾楽tudents used the discussion board unprompted for Week 1 material! Good indication of engagement.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

鈥 Lorraine T. Ryan, KBS. 

 

鈥淚 included links to readings in the library; book chapters, articles and so on. The students found this quite useful because they`re part-time and not dedicating hours and hours to their study. So, they want things to be as quick and efficient as possible鈥.

鈥 Claire Harnett, KBS. 

Features 

鈥淭he facility to create and edit content using embedded multimedia options inbuilt in the system is my highlight so far. It is easy to add video notes with automatic captioning to course content, announcement, and forums. I can easily link to other material I have created.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

 鈥 Angelica Risquez, CTL (Centre for Transformative Learning). 

 

鈥淭he sandbox is helpful to test out learning activities before sharing with students.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

 鈥 Anne Griffin, EHS 

 

鈥淭he Turnitin feature on assignments has a clear traffic light system (red, orange or green for similarity report percentages) and seamless integration with the turn it in website, to view originality reports.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

 鈥 Adrienne Horan, EHS. 

 

鈥淭he default option for recording synchronous lessons is Big Blue Button 鈥 students in that week鈥檚 folder can access the recordings immediately, so I do not have to worry about downloading/uploading after teaching which saves me a lot of time.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

 鈥 Rachel Murphy, AHSS. 

 

鈥淭he glossary is a really good tool and the advanced settings in Assessments are excellent. The lecturer can provide feedback, use a highlighter, to name but two, and not leave the page to return to the submission as we had to with Sulis. It is more streamlined and efficient.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

鈥 Laura Donnellan, AHSS. 

 

 

鈥淲e used MIRO to storyboard modules. The teaching team found it very useful for visualising the entire semester, balancing assessments across the programme, and creating links between module content.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

鈥 Lorraine T. Ryan, KBS. 

 

鈥淟eganto is exactly the same as it was in SULIS. I think it`s great, and it would be great if more of us are using it because then the students will get used to the format鈥.  

- Jull Pearson, KBS. 

 

鈥淭he companion app Pulse is really useful for students. It`s great for posting announcements and informing you it has sent鈥.  

- Eoin Hinchy, S&E. 

Interface 

鈥淭he dashboard is bright and colourful and the organisation of tabs into semesters will make it easier to sort modules. The option to add any image from a bank of thousands to your module homepage is a nice touch.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

 鈥 Adrienne Horan, EHS. 

 

鈥淭he new VLE鈥檚 ability to automatically create templates as you build out the course was another great advantage. This ensured consistency of style and approach, along with making the design process faster, and more efficient, the further you advance through an offering.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

 鈥 Brian Shee, KBS. 

 

鈥淭he content for each week is nested so the page looks uncluttered and yet everything is there.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

 鈥 Rachel Murphy, AHSS. 

 

鈥淲e liked how easy it was to hide sections until they were ready, to change the weekly titles and reorganise the sequence of files by dragging and dropping content up and down the left-hand menu bar.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

  鈥 Adrienne Horan, EHS. 

 

鈥淓ach module leader developed their own Brightspace sites, this enabled the team to work with their preferences and to suit their module.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

 鈥 Lorraine T. Ryan, KBS. 

 

鈥淭he tools in Brightspace are very similar to Moodle and SULIS. What I like is that Brightspace is cleaner, has a better flow than other VLE`s, and students seem to feel that too鈥. 

鈥 Claire Harnett, KBS.