Blackboard to Brightspace Transition Update to Employees
The SUNY Oswego Digital Learning Environment (DLE) transition team has been working on the migration from Blackboard to Desire2Learn’s Brightspace learning management system. The selection of Brightspace was finalized by SUNY last fall with a system-wide implementation mandate.
As part of the first cohort of campuses to transition, all SUNY Oswego courses taught or supplemented with Blackboard will be taught in Brightspace in the Fall 2022 semester. To begin the transition, some pilot courses will be taught in Brightspace over the Summer 2022 semester.
Please see the following for more specific information from the DLE team.
Timeline for Faculty Transition
The DLE team will obtain access to the SUNY Oswego Brightspace instance on March 25. At that point, the DLE team will work over the next two weeks to configure the instance and make it available to pilot faculty on April 11. Remaining faculty will gain access to Brightspace after May 2 when the full integration of the student information system data is completed and preparation for Fall courses can begin.
Summer Pilot Courses
Due to the tight timeline needed to get our Brightspace environment configured, approximately fifteen faculty will be participating in the pilot with the majority participating in the latter half of summer session. Those pilot faculty have been notified and the DLE team will be working with them to transition their courses. All other summer session courses will continue to be taught in Blackboard. Students enrolled in summer semester courses being taught in the pilot will gain access to Brightspace on May 16.
Training
Brightspace training is now available for all SUNY Oswego faculty and support staff through the SUNY Center for Professional Development (CPD). Different training paths are being offered depending on an individual’s overall experience using a learning management system. To determine your path, take thetraining path self-assessment which will advise you on what type and options for training to take along with each training’s modalities (asynchronous, live synchronous, or scaled webinars). Individuals may choose to register for a CPD training. Scaled webinar and live synchronous trainings are all offered in the month of April. Asynchronous trainings are expected to open April 11.
In addition to the formal training, registration for Fireside Chats is available from the SUNY DLE website. These sessions showcase Brightspace tools and features and are recorded. Past Fireside Chats are posted on the SUNY DLE website.
The SUNY Oswego DLE Team will also hold workshops and office hours over the summer. More information will be shared soon.
Learning Tools Interoperability (LTIs)
Our current Blackboard implementation includes many third party integrations such as Panopto, Zoom, Starfish, inclusive access (e-text), Qwickly, i-clicker, and more. All of the integrations have been submitted to SUNY to review for security and for potential consolidation. In the short term, we expect most integrations to continue as is, but some may change long term. The DLE team will provide more updates on these as we know more.
Help and Support
More detailed information regarding the SUNY DLE project is available from SUNY’s website. SUNY Oswego is working on our own DLE website where we will continue to post updates and support information.
Other resources for information:
- Register for a SUNY Brightspace sandbox to get familiar with it until our SUNY Oswego Brightspace instance becomes available.
- Desire2Learn support material.
- Contact the SUNY Oswego Help Desk and a ticket will be directed to the DLE team to answer.