Jasmin Espinosa BROWNSVILLE – With a creative and easy delivery approach, Brightspace will be coming to UTRGV as the universities official learning program; replacing Blackboard in the summer of 2025.
Teresa Molina, Center for Online Learning and Teaching Technology student assistant, said Brightspace is a new and advanced system that is easy to use.
“It’s more accessible in a sense compared to blackboard,” Molina said. “On Brightspace, we are able to navigate easier and instructors are able to basically not decorate but make their course more neat.”
She said one of Brightspace’s features is the ability to add html pages for instructors who are “tech savvy’s.”
“I know students have a lot of difficulty with Respondus Lockdown Browser,” she said. “So, Brightspace actually has a link to download that Respondus Lockdown Browser app, so they won’t be able to navigate back to the home page, download it and go back to their exams.”
Gregory Selber, UTRGV Communication professor, said he has not interacted with the program but is hopeful it will be a learning experience for faculty and students.
“That we can make the educational experience, as they say, more integrative, more flexible and so, it sounds to me like it’s going to be a neat thing,” Selber said. “You know, as with any new technology, there’ll be a learning curve for everybody.”
Users can customize their home page by adding a navigation bar and it also allows them to pin courses at the top of their page.
Brandon Vela, Mass Communication sophomore, said he is excited about the Brightspace platform.
“I read that it’ll allow for teachers to provide like an engaging system for their students,” Vela said. “For students, I guess it depends on us because it depends on how much we’re going to engage in to learning this new software.”
Molina said students and faculty can schedule an orientation to learn how to navigate the Brightspace platform.
Brightspace links are posted on blackboard for faculty and students as a reminder to sign up for the orientation sessions.
For more information on Brightspace, visit the UTRGV Center for Online Learning and Teaching Technology website.
