{"id":22,"date":"2021-01-03T17:59:12","date_gmt":"2021-01-03T22:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/brightspace\/students\/?page_id=22"},"modified":"2023-08-15T08:45:48","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T12:45:48","slug":"navigating-brightspace","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/brightspace\/students\/navigating-brightspace\/","title":{"rendered":"Navigating Brightspace"},"content":{"rendered":"

The D2L Brightspace learning environment allows students to access course materials. There are also additional links to support services or other educational tools that can be found in Brightspace. Knowing how to navigate Brightspace<\/a>, where to find important information and how to use the system will help you stay organized and get the most benefit from your classes.<\/p>\n

Dashboard (Your Brightspace Homepage)<\/h2>\n

The dashboard is your personal homepage for all of Brightspace. A list of courses, access to Brightspace support, and a calendar widget can all be found here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My Courses Widget<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A list of all courses a student is enrolled in. Hover over a course, click the \u2026<\/strong> (elipses) and click Pin<\/strong> to pin the course to the top of this list.<\/p>\n

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Support Portal<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Access 24\/7\/365 support for any challenges or concerns in using Brightspace.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
Calendar Widget<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A quick look at upcoming dates and events from all courses. Click Brightspace Calendar <\/strong>or Show More\u2026<\/strong> to open the Calendar tool.<\/p>\n

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Related Support Page: <\/strong>Using the Calendar<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Dashboard Navbar<\/h3>\n

Brightspace has two slightly different navbars that live at the top of the page. Depending on whether you are on the homepage dashboard or in a course, you will see different link options within the navbar. The dashboard has a smaller navbar with two links to important services:<\/p>\n

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Jump To<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Various links to Carleton services, including Carleton\u2019s website, Carleton Central, cuPortfolio, Carleton Email, Mediaspace, the library website and Student support services.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
Help<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Links to Brightspace support, including video tutorials (Brightspace tutorials Youtube page), Documentation from Brightspace, the Brightspace Community and a system check to ensure browser compatibility.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Minibar<\/h3>\n

The minibar is always visible at the top of the page no matter where you are in Brightspace. It has important links to various pages and settings in Brightspace.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carleton logo\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This logo is a link to the dashboard. Click on the logo from anywhere in Brightspace to return to the dashboard (homepage).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
Course selector grid\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Click to view a list of all the courses you are enrolled in. To keep a course at the top of this list, click the pin icon\"\"<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
Message alerts \"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Click to view notifications of unread emails from instructors and other students.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
Subscription alerts \"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Click to view notifications of updates in subscribed discussion forums, topics and threads.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
Update alerts \"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Click to view notifications of new or updated course announcements, due dates, end dates and grades.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
User profile<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Click to make changes to your user profile, notifications, account settings, view your course progress summaries and log out.<\/p>\n

Further links:<\/strong> Customizing notification settings<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Course Navigation<\/h2>\n

Navigating a course is a bit different from navigating the dashboard. Each course has its own homepage that acts as a landing page and a separate content page that houses all course content. Take some time before the beginning of a course to learn how your instructor has organized the content and homepage.<\/p>\n

Accessing a course<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Log in to Brightspace<\/a> with your MyCarletonOne<\/em> username and password.<\/li>\n
  2. Click on your course under\u00a0My Courses<\/em>\u00a0or the\u00a0course selector grid\u00a0\"\"<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This will automatically bring you to the course homepage.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Course homepage<\/h3>\n

    Each course homepage might be slightly different, depending on how an instructor has set it up. Typically, there will be a Visual Table of Contents, Announcements and details about the teaching team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Visual Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n

    This is a visual overview of the various modules in a course. Click a module name too access the course content within the module.<\/em><\/p>\n

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