It was just last summer, wasn't it, when a good number of our members really learned for the first time how to use the Blackboard course management system, or how to use Blackboard for more than just posting their course syllabus.

The pandemic forced our hand, and many of our members rose to the occasion with summer QbD and related trainings to do the best we could with the time and resources we had.

So it figures that SUNY's Blackboard contract is expiring next year, and after a robust request for proposal process, SUNY has selected D2L BrightSpace for the next learning management system (LMS). And a November 17 college brief from Lauren Tacke-Cushing clarifies that SCCC will adopt BrightSpace effective fall 2022.

There's no doubt that this means extra work for our members. We know that. But we're already working in the FA to help ensure that the transition from Blackboard to BrightSpace is as easy as it can be, again, given the time and resources available. And to be honest, many faculty find BrightSpace to be a superior LMS compared with Blackboard Learn, so there's plenty of excitement about the new system.

SCCC's timeline

As noted in the college brief, the college plans to implement BrightSpace for all teaching modalities at the college—web enhanced on-campus courses and courses delivered at a distance—for the fall 2022 semester. This means you will need to know at least the basics of BrightSpace for web enhancing your classes or you'll need intermediate to advanced proficiency in BrightSpace for blended/hybrid, fully online, and real-time online courses.

A "soft launch" is also planned for summer 2022, which means that faculty can volunteer to teach their summer session courses using BrightSpace. Contact Camille Karlson if you wish to participate in that, since being able to focus during a summer session—outside of your regular spring/fall workload—is often helpful for faculty.

Training options

Now you're wondering about training and support to help you move from Blackboard to BrightSpace.

SUNY Online has set up a website that contains information about next year's transition to this new digital learning environment (DLE): dle.suny.edu. Register at the top right so you can log in as a SUNY employee.

SUNY Online will be providing a great deal of the trainings for the transition, which should help make just-in-time training easier for our members. It's hard for us to say as a union right now what, exactly, that will look like. We're keeping a close eye on this for you.

In addition, of course, the Center for Innovative Pedagogy will offer trainings and workshops as they did last summer to supplement the SUNY Online work. These will be offered for faculty and students alike.

Also, you can go to the D2L BrightSpace Tutorials YouTube channel right now and get an early look at what the LMS looks like and how some basic, core functions are handled in BrightSpace. Keep in mind, however, that SUNY will do some customization at the state implementation level, and SCCC will do the same at the college level—which means that what BrightSpace specific looks like for us will be different in some ways from what you see online or from your friend who uses BrightSpace at another college or university.

BrightSpace Ambassadors

In addition to the SUNY and SCCC trainings and workshops that you'll have available to you, over 40 faculty and administrators have already volunteered to serve as BrightSpace ambassadors to help ease the transition. Eight Distance Education Committee (DEC) members, including me, are in this group too, and at DEC we've been talking through policies and procedures that will best assist faculty throughout the transition.

The BrightSpace Ambassadors are a group of early adopters who have already migrated (or will migrate during the wintersession break) a course from Blackboard to a BrightSpace sandbox to start seeing how things work. I've been playing around in BrightSpace myself, and like many colleagues I am very happy with what I'm seeing thus far. The interface is rich, there are more options to better ensure regular and substantive interactions with students—which we all need to do in keeping with the July 2021 federal regulations—and I think people will pleased as they come to know the BrightSpace environment.

So while we know the transition will come with some challenges, as change typically does, I believe our members will come to prefer BrightSpace and make the most of it for a truly engaging teaching and learning experience.

Next summer will be a new start!

As always, contact me with questions and comments: cynthia@fascc.org.