Managing Content in Brightspace

This article includes a summary of the features and functions of the Brightspace Content Tool, including adding modules and content reporting.

Summary

This article includes a summary of the features and functions of the Brightspace Content Tool.

Information Applies to

Faculty

Jump to

Adding an Overview

Adding a Module

Adding a Content Page

Adding a File

Viewing Content Reports

Adding an Overview

The overview is a default feature of any D2L table of contents (TOC), along with Bookmarks and Upcoming Events (Figure 1). It has two, optional components: a description that an instructor can enter using the Editor Tool and an attachment that the instructor can upload. This material will be the first thing students see when they access the course content area. Students can also view this material at any time by selecting the Overview link on the TOC.

For all instructions below, first navigate to a D2L course and select Content from the NavBar. 

Adding/editing a description

1. Select the Overview link from the left navigation bar.
2. Select the Add a welcome message, overview, or description. If editing an existing description, just select the description.
3. Use the editor to create/edit the description.
4. Select the Update button to save.

Adding/updating an attachment

1. Select the Overview link from the left navigation bar.
2. Do one of the following: drag and drop the file into the designated area (the drop area will turn green when the file can be dropped) or select the Actions arrow, select Add an attachment, select Upload, find the file to upload, double-click the file or single-click and select Open, and select the Done button.
3. To update an attachment, repeat Step 2. Add an attachment... will have changed to Change the attachment....

Deleting a description or attachment

1. To delete a description, open the existing description in the editor by selecting it, delete everything in the editor, and select the Update button.
2. To delete an attachment, select the Action arrow and select Remove attachment.

Adding a Module

In D2L, instructors provide students with access to course materials by building a TOC composed of headings and links. The headings are called modules and the links are called topics. There are many ways to organize content and any TOC could include a combination of approaches. For example, instructors could organize content by:

• Timeline. Modules represent some unit of time (e.g., Week 1, Week 2).
• Subject. Modules represent chapters or subject areas in textbook fashion (e.g., Biological Bases of Behavior)
• Type. Modules group content based on type (e.g., handouts, slides, videos, links).

For all instructions below, first navigate to a D2L course and select Content from the Materials menu. This will take you to the D2L Content Tool.

Adding a module

1. At the bottom of the sidebar region, select Add a module.
2. Enter a title for the new module and press Enter on your keyboard.

Adding a sub-module

1. From the sidebar region, select the module or sub-module under which you want to place a sub-module.
2. At the bottom of this module, select Add a sub-module.
3. Enter a title for the new sub-module, and press Enter on your keyboard.

Renaming a module or sub-module

1. From the sidebar region, select the module or sub-module that you want to rename.
2. Select the title of the module or sub-module at the top of the content region.
3. Change the title and select Enter on your keyboard to save it.

Adding a description to a module or sub-module

1. From the sidebar region, select the module or sub-module that you want to rename.
2. Select Add a description on the content region.
3. Use the editor to create the description and select the Update button to save it.

Additional details

• New modules and sub-modules are always added to the end of the list. They can then be moved if needed.
• It's good practice to keep module and sub-module titles short so they fit on the sidebar. Titles longer than 16 characters (including spaces) will wrap to a second line.
• By default, new modules are set to visible mode and access is unrestricted. You can control access by switching to Draft mode or by setting restrictions at the module-level (e.g., if you don't want students to see a module until after a certain point in the course). This will restrict access to all of the sub-modules and topics underneath it.
• Module and sub-module descriptions can help orient students and give your TOC a polished look.
• If you plan to import a publisher-provided course pack or cartridge, it is not uncommon for that process to result in the addition of several new modules and sub-modules. For example, the publisher may include links to PowerPoint slides under a "PowerPoint Presentations" module. This import can be done at any time, even if you have already added modules yourself. Any new modules created by the installation of a course pack are typically added at the bottom of your existing TOC. These modules can then be edited, moved, or deleted.
• If you are going to merge course sections, do not create modules until after the merge is complete and the new merged course appears on your class list.
• Be careful when deleting modules and sub-modules. Depending on how you delete the module, you may also delete child sub-modules and topics.

Adding a Content Page

Content Topics contain information that you wish to pass to the students. They reside in Content under the Materials tab in the navigation bar.

There are several ways that this information can be passed, one of which is to input it directly into a content page using the HTML Editor.

1. Open up a D2L course, select the Materials menu, and select Content.
2. Select the module or sub-module into which you want to add a link to an external activity.
3. Click the Upload/Create button and select Create a File.
4. Enter the information you wish to add to the content using the HTML Editor.
5. The activity will be added to the bottom of the module.

Adding a File

Upload a File Using Drag-and-Drop

First, open up a D2L course, select the Materials menu, and select Content. Second, size your browser window such that you can get to the files you want to upload and your D2L table of contents at the same time. You can now drag files from your computer and drop them on your D2L table of contents in one of several locations depending on where you want the links to the files to appear. You can drag and drop more than one file at a time.

Uploading a File Using the Menu

1. Select the module or sub-module into which you want to add a link to your file.
2. Select the Upload/Create button and select Upload Files from the menu. This opens the Add a File window.
3. Select the Upload button.
4. Browse your computer or OneDrive for the file. Select the file and select Open. Note that you can select more than one file at a time. You will then return to the Add a File window and you will see your files queued up to be copied into the course.
5. If you have created folders to better organize your course files using the Manage Files Tool, you can save your file to one of those folders by selecting the Choose Destination button. This opens the Select a Path window and allows you to pick a folder into which the file will be saved. If you don't use folders, you can skip this step and use the default destination.
6. Select the Add button. This will return you to the table of contents where you will see a link to your file in the selected module or sub-module.

Special Characters in the File Name

Although this problem has improved over time, don't use ASCII special characters (e.g., #, @, &) in your file names. They can cause a number of problems, including failure to load the file into the viewer when you and your students select the link to it.

File Type

D2L allows for the upload of most common file types, including:

• Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel
• Adobe PDF
• Common image types, such as JPG, GIF, PNG
• Common audio types, such as MP3
• Common video types, such as MOV, AVI, WMV, MP4

D2L does not allow the upload of the following file types:

• Microsoft Access ACCDB files
• Any executable file, such as EXE

File Size

Currently, there is no maximum file size limit applied to D2L file uploads. In theory, you could upload an extremely large file, such as a lengthy audio or video file or an uncompressed image. In practice, you and your students will run into trouble when trying to upload and download large files (e.g., > 50 MB).

• The upload process may timeout before the file is fully uploaded to D2L.
• The D2L server cannot stream audio or video files. This means that students will need to download certain types of media files before they will start playing. Large files may take an extremely long time to download, depending on students' connection speed. Large media files are better served by uploading to MediaSpace.

Additional Details

• What happens when students download a file that you have uploaded to D2L varies based on the Web browser they are using and the type of file they are downloading.
• In order to add a topic, you must have at least one module. Every topic needs to be a child of a parent module.
• Once uploaded, your Word, PowerPoint, and other files cannot be edited in place. If you want to make changes to your syllabus.docx file, for example, you need to make those changes to the copy of your syllabus stored locally (e.g., on your computer hard drive or network drive) and then re-upload the file to D2L.
• When you upload a file, the default storage destination is the root directory. You can change that (e.g., to save the file to a folder that you created) by selecting the Choose Destination button.
• Note that when you successfully choose a file, the default No file chosen text next to the Choose File button will change to the name of the file. That does not mean that the file has been uploaded. You still need to select the Add button.

Viewing Content Reports

The Content Reports tool provides instructors a way to monitor an individual student or entire class access and progress through the Content area of your course. The Content Report allows instructors to view in one spot both the individual student (i.e. User) and class access of all components found in the Content section of your courses. This report becomes very useful when you connect other D2L tools (i.e. say Discussion, Quizzes, Checklists, Surveys, Publisher Content etc.)to your Content area.

Access the course you wish to view the Content Report for, select Content from the Navbar.

1. Select the Table of Contents above your modules listed in the course.
2. Next, select the Related Tools button and choose View Reports.
3. By default, the Content tab will come up and provide you with a summary of all student access to content areas in the course. If you choose the User tab you can view it by the individual student.
4. All data in spreadsheets (both Content and User) are links to deeper more detailed reporting if you click on the individual data point. These reports can be exported out of Brightspace for deeper analysis.
5. This tool is handy during advising or to check and see if students are progressing on tasks in your course to make sure they keep up with the rest of your class.

Learn More

For more information on content, visit the D2L Brightspace Community or YouTube page.

Need additional information or assistance? Contact WSU TLT by email, phone (507.457.5240, option 3), or Zoom.