LMS Weekly Update: Changes to system including email solutions
Posted on Thursday, February 28th, 2019
There are some important changes coming to Brightspace that will be implemented on March 4, 2019. The first group of changes addresses email concerns, the second group addresses changes to the homepage of Brightspace, and the last introduces a new feature for annotating assignments.
Changes to emails in Brightspace
Change #1 – From Email Address
The LMS Team is implementing a solution that addresses the problem of invalid email addresses populating Outlook when emails are sent through Brightspace. For example, John Smith’s Algonquin email address is “smithj@algonquincollege.com,” not “smithj@algonquincollege.brightspace.com.” The second version is the Brightspace internal email address format that is automated within Brightspace when an email is sent through that system, but it is not used by our learners and teachers at Algonquin. Therefore, when users search for past email threads to locate an email address, they may be finding and using the automated, invalid address instead of the correct one.
All emails sent by users through Brightspace will have the sender displayed as “noreply@algonquincollege.brightspace.com” in Outlook. If a user replies to an email sent from Brightspace, it will still go to the correct email address. The “noreply” address solution avoids the problem of having users erroneously searching for past threads with invalid email addresses. Note that the combination of the class code listed in the email subject and the sender’s signature in the email body will continue to make it easy to identify the email sender.
Change #2 – Address Book Button
The Address Book button that appears on the Compose New Message screen is being removed. This removes the users’ ability to send an email to those outside of the class list using the system contacts in the mailing list.
Changes to the Brightspace homepage
Change #1 – Updates Widget (Faculty)
The Homepage of Brightspace is being updated with a slightly new look. A new widget on the homepage titled Updates will only appear on the right side of the page for faculty and staff. This widget will display the most current important updates and news regarding Brightspace at Algonquin College.
Updates is replacing the previously unused Calendar widget that appeared there. Users will still be able to see all course calendars if they click on the Calendar link on the navigation bar.
Change #2 – Student Events Calendar Widget
Students will now see a new widget on the right side of their Brightspace homepage titled Student Events Calendar. This widget replaces the previously unused Calendar widget. This widget will display a customized feed of events happening at the College that are geared for students. The widget is controlled by Student Support Services and lists all programming being offered at our three campuses.
The Student Events Calendar widget will only be viewable by users who have a learner role.
Assignment Annotations
Brightspace will now offer an annotation tool that allows faculty to provide inline contextual feedback while grading assignments. We are excited to be an early adopter of this program and look forward to receiving your feedback on the usefulness of it. We have placed some instructional content for you to review in your Essentials course. You can access it here:
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