TEACHING in BRIGHTSPACE
Resources to help you get started with teaching online
As an individual lecturer, use these resources to get started quickly with online teaching.
You can find a wide range of Brightspace staff guides via our Bitesized Brightspace Staff Guides page.
How to deliver a webinar
Webinars allow you to teach your students in a live online environment where you can present a lecture/PowerPoint, and where your students can interact with you and their classmates. A webinar is the best online alternative to a traditional lecture. A webinar/virtual classroom tool (Bongo) is available to all TU Dublin City Campus staff via Brightspace.
General advice:
- Video: Conducting an effective live webinar. (Log in 'via Organisation' and use your TU Dublin credentials to gain access to the full video)
- Checklist: How to prepare for, and facilitate, a webinar/virtual classroom
- Checklist: Considerations when recording webinars/virtual classrooms
Bongo/Brightspace-specific advice and instructions
- Guide (printable): Practical instructions for using the webinar tool, Bongo, in Brightspace
- Guide (video): Practical instructions for using the webinar tool, Bongo, in Brightspace
- Advanced and troubleshooting: Short individual guides on Bongo's features and tools, and some troubleshooting tips.
- Useful slides: Interface Tour slides to incorporate into your own presentations and there is also an introduction to Bongo for students on the via the
Bitesized Brightspace User Guides page. - Your browser settings: Getting an authentication error or other browser error? Check your browser cookie settings.
Pre-recording your lecture using Bongo
There a number of different ways of pre-recording your lecture, and then making that recording available to your students via Brightpace (And of course you can always deliver a live webinar as outlined above and then make that recording available subsequently - the instructions below specifically cover making the recording without any students in attendance).
- Guide (printable): Use Bongo to create a pre-recorded lecture
- Guide (printable): How to add audio to a PowerPoint presentation and upload that recording to Brightspace
- Guide (webinar recording): Deliver a webinar using the Bongo virtual classroom tool, AND pre-record your lectures (recording of a webinar given by Derek Dodd in March 2020)
Screencasting
Screencasting software allows a lecturer to create a recording (video and audio) of any activity performed on a computer screen. You could, for example, prepare a short video guiding your students around your Brightspace module; demonstrate a particular piece of software; or explain a particularly difficult concept using powerpoint.
- ScreenPal (previously known as Screencast-O-Matic) is a screen recorder that captures all movement on your screen making it easy for you to create content for online delivery or to pre-record lectures, and TU Dublin has purchased licences. Access this document to find out how to create your ScreenPal account and use this straightforward software.
General guides to screencasting:
- Guide (printable): Creating screencasts to deliver content online
- Tips (printable): Tips and hints for creating screencasts
Communicating effectively online with your students
You communicate with your face-to-face (f2f) students on a constant basis, it comes naturally. However, when working online with your students you need different strategies.
- Guide (printable): Communicating effectively online with your students
Facilitating your students to work together online
Bongo, the webinar/virtual classroom tool available in Brightspace, also offers a very useful set of groupwork tools. The Bongo group project tools can be used to allow your students to:
- learn collaboratively
- share and discuss work in progress
- chat asynchronously
- schedule virtual meetings, and make recordings of those meetings
- upload individual and group video presentations
- set and manage project milestones
- team, peer and self-evaluate.
Guide (Video): Instructors - how to set up, monitor, and grade a group project/assignment using Bongo group project tools