Brightspace leaves mixed opinions among students and faculty

Now that the first semester of the 2024-25 term is under way, students and faculty are having mixed feelings about Brightspace.

Before D2L, a Canada-based software company, invented Brightspace, Otterbein had been considering a new learning platform for years as there were various complaints with Blackboard among students and faculty. One of them was the non-universal layout of its programming, which made it difficult for professors to organize assignments and grades. In the past, the campus had considered updating Blackboard to a more user-friendly system.

Introducing a new learning management system (LMS) sounded like the right idea; If it’s easier to navigate and less tiring to work with, that would make the experience of online education that much easier for everyone involved.

The digital world grows larger every year, so the right kind of system for students and faculty would have a strong impact. Brightspace itself saw success before coming to Otterbein. According to the D2L website, a community of over 1,300 institutions have begun using Brightspace.

During the summer 2024 semester, professors were given the option to choose between using Blackboard or Birghtspace. Now, as the 2024 fall semester is in full swing, so is Brightspace, leaving students and faculty alike to get used to the new system used by the Coalition for the Common Good. The Otterbein community has expressed a variety of opinions.

Frank Dobson, Otterbein’s chief diversity officer and professor of English said, “I think after the initial period of transitioning from one platform to another, and one begins to work with it, it’s fairly easy to use.”

Fanny Uwishimwe, a senior sports management major, had a similar opinion.

“For me, it hasn’t given me any problems. I’ve only used it maybe three times if I’m being honest. I haven’t seen all of what it has to offer, but it seems alright," Uwishimwe said.

Logging into Brightspace, its homepage is easier on the eyes than Blackboard’s. Firstly, it’s more organized. Instead of being bloated with blocks of small text and countless links that students don’t need to look at, it’s well formatted and clear. Everything the student immediately needs for their classes is in one place, making it easier to navigate the website and access what’s important.

“It’s pretty self-explanatory," said Ikra Koriyow, a senior political science and communications major. "The headlines and everything are very helpful, and the professors did a good job explaining it. I haven’t had any really big issues with it.”

Starting with Brightspace has proven to be easy and intuitive for students and faculty at first. However, for those that have gotten used to Blackboard, some of the changes brought along by Brightspace are not received as well.

“I liked how Blackboard was connected to Microsoft. It was easier to turn things in and look for something,” said Jennatta Mensah, a senior public health education and health communication major.

“You have to save stuff to your computer to submit it on Brightspace,” Koriyow said. “It’s kind of annoying because I’ve always looked at my OneDrive for Otterbein, but you can’t do that anymore.”

It’s difficult to compare only a couple weeks’ worth of experience with Brightspace to years of experience with Blackboard. While some have responded warmly to the new LMS, others prefer the old one.

“I personally liked Blackboard," Uwishimwe said. "I didn’t find any issues with it. Then again, it’s still early for Brightspace, so I’m not sure.”

Overtime, new features might be introduced to the LMS to accommodate students who appreciated some of Blackboard’s conveniences. Until then, they’ll have to stick to what we have at the moment, which will be easier for some and harder for others.

“I think people’s mileage will vary depending on how long they’ve used Blackboard," Dobson said. "If you’re more accustomed to Blackboard, it may take longer to get used to Brightspace.”

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