Brightspace Learning Management System (LMS)
Brightspace provides a unique ‘shell’ for each course registered in Banner, and automatically populates class lists. Within their course, instructors can post news items, update a calendar, manage course files, assess discussions and quizzes, grade assignments, manage a grade book, assign groups, and more. Learn more about Brightspace at SMU.
Brightspace Support
The Software & Application Support Centre, located at Atrium 107, offers Brightspace training and support. To schedule an appointment, contact the SAS by email at sas@smu.ca, or by phone at (902) 496-8168. Drop-ins are welcomed at our office any time from Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Digital Platforms for Teaching
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Microsoft Teams is available to all SMU students, faculty, and staff.
Teams is a collaborative software product in Office 365. It allows groups to interact with one another through audio and video conferencing, screen sharing, and chat groups.
Full classes and small groups can meet for synchronous activities, and full-class events can be recorded for viewing at a later date.
As Teams is part of MS Office 365, integration with Word, Excel, OneNote, etc. is built-in, allowing groups to work together at ease. MS Teams meetings have a limit of 250 individuals per session. Learn more about Teams at SMU.
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You can use Zoom Pro to host live lectures and to record lectures without students present.
To invite students to live lectures, you can email them a link to your class sessions. You can also save pre-recorded lectures to your OneDrive or local drive and upload the files to your Brightspace course page. Zoom has a capacity of 300 attendees, including webcams.
However, you should be mindful of how many webcams are visible at once as some students may have connections that cannot sustain higher bandwidth requirements. Zoom allows for video, audio, and screen sharing between participants. It can be used from your computer, laptop, tablet, or phone and is compatible with Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices.
You can request your copy of Zoom license from this link.
