Getting Started in Brightspace Community
On This Page:
What is Brightspace Community?
Request a Course Site in Brightspace Community
What is Brightspace Community?
If you are a member of The University of Arizona, and you wish to begin offering workshops and trainings for members of the general public, Brightspace Community is for you.
Brightspace Community (opens in new tab) exists to help facilitate collaboration between campus and community. When you create courses within this version of Brightspace, you can enroll anyone with a valid email address. Brightspace Community is free to use for University of Arizona-affiliated activities.
If you are unsure where to begin, please contact UCATT's Instructional Technology team and they can help you get started. Be sure to include that you are trying to access Brightspace Community, the name of the event, workshop or course and the email address you’re using.
Request a Course Site in Brightspace Community
The first thing to do to get started in Brightspace Community is to request a Course Site. An instructional Technology team member will create the site and contact you when it has been built.
Log into Brightspace Community
Step 1
Navigate to the Brightspace Community website (opens in new tab).
Step 2
Select the appropriate login method based on your account: Public Participants or University Login
Note
Your login method will depend on your Brightspace Community user account. If your account was set up with an external email address (e.g., wilbur@yahoo.com, wilma@usda.gov, etc.), select Public Participants. If you are a UArizona staff member, faculty member, or student and your account has been set up using your NetID, select University Login.
Once logged in on the Brightspace Community site, you will see any courses you are taking or facilitating on the Homepage in the My Courses area. You can return to this homepage at any point by selecting the My Home icon.
Organize the Homepage
If multiple courses appear on your homepage, you can Pin some to make them appear at the top of your course list.
Step 1
Hover above the tile for your course and select the three dots.
Step 2
Select Pin to ensure that your course appears on the top row of the Brightspace Homepage (My Home).
Step 3
This course will now always appear on the top row(s) of your Homepage.
Note
To avoid clutter, reverse the above process to Unpin courses.
Prepare Your Course Site
Build your course site using the Brightspace Help Pages:
- Change settings as needed in the Course Homepage.
- Use Add Your Content to upload materials and content and Modify Your Content to create the basic structure of your course.
- Add Assignments, Quizzes, Discussions, and Grades as needed.
Utilize UA Library Resources
While you can't use every service in the UA Library in a Brightspace Community course, some excellent resources are available. The Library Resources for Noncredit Courses reference page (opens in new tab) will help you get started.