Course Types in Brightspace

This article is part of the LMS WEEKLY UPDATE series.

In addition to the regular shells used for course delivery (online and/or face-to-face), there are other types of courses in Brightspace, such as:

1. Exemplar Course Templates

If you are redesigning your courses and need some inspiration for content layout and design, this is a reminder that we have three Exemplar Course Templates in Brightspace (20X_Exemplar Course Template A, 20X_Exemplar Course Template B and 20X_Exemplar Course Template C), which are the winners of the So You Think You Can Brightspace contest.

You can use them as examples from which to base your design and organization of course content, and you can import the elements that you like into your own courses. The templates also include a sample structure for discussion forums and a sample quiz that uses a random question pool.

Download the zip file found under Content > Getting Started, and follow the rest of the instructions there to import the content to your own course.

Email brightspace@algonquincollege.com if you don’t have access to the Exemplar Course Templates.

2. Brightspace Essentials for Faculty Course

In this course you will find tons of video tutorials, step-by-step instructions and many tips that will help you get acquainted with Brightspace and its many capabilities.
Email brightspace@algonquincollege.com if you don’t have access to this course in Brightspace.

3. Development/Sandboxes Courses

You don’t have yet access to your semester courses, but you would like to start developing the course content and learn more about some of the tools in Brightspace. This is the time to send us an email at brightspace@algonquincollege.com and ask for a development course (please include the code/name for the course you are developing). Development courses in Brightspace are identified by an “X” in the course code/name. For instance, all development courses created this year (2020) start with 20X.

4. Combined Courses

When teaching multiple sections of the same course, combining those sections into one shell might save you some time. Find more about this in our article on Requesting a Merged or Combined Course