Brightspace: Getting Started
Almost every NC course that you take will have a course site on Brightspace where your professors may share class announcements, post resources, ask you to submit assignments and more. You might use other digital tools as part of your learning, but your Brightspace course sites will always be key points of reference.
Logging In
- You can access Brightspace from MyNC.
- Once you have logged into the MyNC portal, select the D2L Brightspace icon near the middle of the page or click on the Brightspace tab on the top right hand corner of the screen.
Navigating the My Brightspace Landing Page
When you arrive on the Brightspace landing page, it will have a number of different areas. The image above showcases the layout of the Brightspace landing page.
1) Niagara College Logo
Clicking the logo will return you to the Brightspace landing page from anywhere in Brightspace.
2) Brightspace Navbar
The Brightspace navbar includes a link the calendar tool, the Book Store, and the “Need Help” drop-down menu will connect you with key resources at Niagara College.
3) The Minibar
Quickly access any course that you are enrolled in, access notifications, and your profile settings.
- Course Selector – The 9 squares ‘waffle’ icon is your course selector where you can easily find courses you are registered in from either the course selector or the My Courses Widget (See #5).
- Brightspace Alerts – In this section you will find Message Alerts, Subscription Alerts, & Update Alerts. Use these alert tools to be informed about course communications and updates in your courses.
- User Profile – From your username on the minibar, you can make changes to your user profile, notifications, account settings, and log out.
4) My Courses Widget
The My Courses Widget will show the courses that you are enrolled in as a student. Each course has an image that includes the course’s banner image, title, semester, and icons relating to course engagement. For example, there are widgets for new communications in the course. To access a course, click on the course image and the selected course homepage will load. You also have the option of ‘pinning’ courses so that they always appear at the top of lists in the Course selector and My Courses widget. To pin a course in the My Courses widget, use the ellipsis in the right-hand corner of the course image to click the pin icon.
5) Work to do Widget
The Work to Do Widget will highlight quizzes and assignments with due or end dates soon or in the past from all your current courses. Any overdue work will appear at the top of the list, and upcoming items appear below. If there are more than six items available, you’ll have a link to View all work, which takes you to a new page with all recently overdue work and all work for the upcoming year.
6) Announcements
Announcements from Niagara College will be found here. These are not specific to your courses.
Brightspace Mobile Pulse App
You can also access Brightspace on your mobile device by downloading the FREE Brightspace Pulse app.
- Download Pulse for Android and Windows devices at the Google Play store, and for iOS devices at the Apple Store.
With the Pulse app, you can stay up to date with your courses by seeing upcoming activities and tasks you need to complete. You can also review course content even when you are offline. You can view grades and feedback for your courses and also participate in discussions in the activity feed.