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Brightspace Student Guide

Brightspace is UVic’s central course hub and primary Learning Management System (LMS). Looking for more tips? Check out this Brightspace course that is all about your UVic learning technologies.

Communication

Emails and messages

Brightspace offers the option for students, peers, and instructors participating in a course to email one another for the purposes of staying in communication for learning, teaching, community, and collaboration in the course. All class messages must adhere to policies for appropriate use of Brightspace (See Brightspace terms and conditions).

On this page

Further resources

How to send an email

To an instructor, TA or peer

  • Select Classlist from the Navigation bar.
  • Click the checkbox for the person(s) you wish to contact and click Email.
  • Type your message in and hit Send.

To a group

  • Select Classlist from the navbar.
  • click “Email Classlist”
  • Use the View By drop-down menu to choose the specific Section/ Group you need to contact.

To the whole class

  • Select Classlist from the navbar.
  • Click “Email Classlist”

Note: Students should confirm with their instructors before messaging the class to determine whether the email is appropriate for the course.

Manage your name & email

Students can control the name and email displayed within Brightspace on MyPage. You don’t need to disclose a personal email address if you prefer not to. UVic recommends that you use your uvic.ca email address for university activity.

Note: your online status will always display as offline in the Classlist unless you choose to enable this feature in your profile settings

Appropriate use of Brightspace

When you interact within the university community and with UVic’s online learning resources, you are subject to university policies and expectations including: Online Student Conduct for respectful and supportive learning environments and Non-academic Misconduct and Acceptable use of Electronic Information Resources (including using Brightspace for non-University communication, or sending mass communications without appropriate authorization). See Brightspace terms and conditions for more information.

To report concerns about the content of email received via Brightspace, please contact onlineconduct@uvic.ca

Sending instant messages in Brightspace

Join a group

Your instructor may use groups for things like collaborative projects or discussions. In many cases, you will be asked to join a group or “self-enroll” in a group. This tutorial shows you how to enroll into groups.

 

Brightspace Discussions Tool

The Discussions Tool is a collaborative area to post, read, and reply to threads on different topics, share thoughts about course materials, ask questions, share files, or work with your peers on assignments and homework.

The Discussions Tool is made up of 3 parts:

  1. Forums are the heading under which all discussion topics are organized.
  2. Topics state the topic, statement or question intended for discussion.
  3. Threads are individual posts or replies within a particular discussion topic.

Your instructor may use the discussions tool for a variety of different activities in your course. For example, you may be asked to:

  • Introduce yourself to others in your class in a discussion thread.
  • Ask questions and get answers outside of class time through real-time discussions.
  • Further engage with course topics by discussing ideas with peers.
  • Peer-review or share files for particular assignments which may require feedback.

Zoom

Instructors and students can activate their Zoom accounts by going to uvic.zoom.us and signing in with their Netlink ID and password. Learn more about accessing UVic Zoom.

It is important to sign into Zoom before joining any session. Sign in is required in order to:

  • Bypass the waiting room (some instructors may not admit guests without advanced notice)
  • Be represented in Zoom poll reports
  • Be represented In Zoom attendance reports
  • Be recognized for pre-assigned breakout rooms

 

How to sign in

Using the desktop app

The best way to sign into Zoom is using the desktop app. Choose “Sign in with SSO”  on the right side of the screen.

Using a web browser

If you do not have access to the desktop app, you can sign in using a web browser: Go to uvic.zoom.us. Select Sign in and enter your UVic Netlink ID and password.

Using the mobile app

You can sign into Zoom through the mobile app. Please note not all features will be available to you. Choose “SSO”  on the bottom of the screen.

3 Things to do Before class

  1. Activate your Zoom account. Go to uvic.zoom.us and sign in with your UVic netlink ID and password to active your account.
  2.  Try a test call to work out any technical difficulties well before class time (try now)
  3.  Complete the Student Zoom Orientation Guide