Campus Adjusts to Brightspace
The Brightspace home page offering access to course pages and messages. Credit: Sasha Tuddenham '24
Marist College’s transition from iLearn to Brightspace, the campus’ new online learning platform, is in full swing three weeks into the fall 2023 semester.
Many students like Evelyn Milburn ‘24 had become accustomed to working on iLearn over their Marist career. She admitted there was a learning curve for students to figure out where assignments were posted and where they could be submitted; however, professors have been understanding as students adapt to the platform.
“I got really lucky because I took two summer classes, so I got acquainted with it before the fall,” said Milburn. “It is more simplistic, but I don’t know if it really makes a difference.”
Brightspace debuted for summer 2023 classes primarily to address the growing complaints students had for iLearn. Through focus groups of students, professors and administrators, the Digital Education team discovered that students desired a mobile app, better notification settings, ePortfolio space and better data collection. Digital Education offered in-person training to faculty and online training to students to ensure everyone felt better acquainted with the platform before the semester began.
Still, there seems to be a disconnect between what Brightspace offers and how much students are familiar with. Sierra Wiessner ’24 was unaware that there was a Brightspace app but says she will download it now that she knows.
As a fashion design major, Wiessner is glad she now has an e-portfolio space to compile her projects and collections to save for future job opportunities. She is still adjusting to Brightspace because most classes involve fewer online submissions and more in-person projects.
Kyle Courounis ’24 never liked iLearn because he found it overly complicated. He prefers Brightspace’s streamlined features, like a calendar and ‘To Do’ list on the home page, but admits it will “take some time to get used to after years of iLearn.”
Conversely, Liam Klemm ’25 misses some of iLearn’s features.
“I miss being able to submit an assignment through the textbox without needing to download a file,” Klemm said. Brightspace requires an attached file to submit assignments, a noticeable difference from iLearn. Klemm admits Brightspace is “cleaner” for navigating and accessing class materials.
While students are beginning to adjust to Brightspace, many professors are taking the time to revamp their online learning sites.
Adjunct Lecturer Wayne Lempka was a “bit nervous” when he was first informed of the change in platform after working on iLearn for many years. However, he has enjoyed the change.
“Brightspace has so many new features that streamline the preparation of materials for a class,” said Lempka.
Any issues Lempka has encountered with posting assignments or setting up notifications were quickly rectified by talking with the Digital Education department.
Professional Lecturer of Computer Science Andrew Tokash believes Brightspace will take more time to get used to. He has repeatedly had an issue where assignments aren’t visible to students. “The transition comes with a learning curve, a few issues and problems, and some lost functionality,” said Tokash.
Noelle Swift ’24 recognizes that the campus will eventually adapt to Brightspace after an adjustment period.
“It is easy to use, but only if you have been trained on how to use it and if you have been taught about the different features,” Swift said.