The Future is Bright(space)

The DePeters Family Center for Innovation and Teaching Excellence and the Office of Information Technology have been hard at work ensuring the transition from Blackboard to Brightspace goes as smoothly as possible, preparing for the launch of Brightspace for summer 2023 courses this May.

Based on shifting market trends, the changing needs and wants of the campus community, and the increased focus on mobility compatibility, it became clear that after 18 years with Blackboard, it was time to do a thorough industry evaluation of course management products. After an extensive evaluation during the last year, Brightspace was chosen as the platform that best matched the needs of the University, as well as the tool that provided new and exciting opportunities. The evaluation included DePeters Family Center and OIT staff, faculty from each of the five Schools, students, and additional key campus stakeholders.

Brightspace was selected for a number of reasons, including:

• The look and feel of Brightspace brings a more modern, exciting, and aesthetically pleasing experience to a tool that is used daily by faculty, staff, and students.
• Brightspace offers a flexible course design approach, allowing faculty to create courses that match the varying needs across disciplines, while also allowing for the creation of templates to promote a consistent look and feel and best practice in course design.
• The migration of content from Blackboard to Brightspace was much better when compared to other tools, making the work related to transitioning to a new course management system more manageable for faculty.
• The mobile experience from Brightspace, both via the app and the web, are consistent to the desktop experience, which is essential based on feedback received from both faculty and students.
• Brightspace offers a robust competency-based learning platform that can also be used for the tracking of student progression on outcomes.
• D2L, Brightspace’s parent company, has been a committed partner throughout the evaluation and implementation process and has forged a strong relationship with Fisher to move both parties forward in the years to come.

Students will have access to Brightspace starting Monday, May 8 and the last day to access Blackboard for faculty, staff, and students is Monday, May 15. The DePeters Family Center has an extensive list of workshops, webinars, and open lab sessions for faculty and staff to learn the new system. Students will also be given additional instructions on how to access and navigate Brightspace when it launches.