Instructors: Access your classes in D2L Brightspace

Access courses in D2L Brightspace

D2L Brightspace is the primary online tool that you will use to teach courses, such as hybrid or fully online ones. Here are a few tips you should know to help you get started.

How do I log in to D2L Brightspace?

You can access D2L Brightspace from a link on your school’s website, or navigate to the Minnesota State website and select your school’s specific D2L Brightspace login page.

Where are my courses in D2L Brightspace?

Once you have logged in to D2L Brightspace, you can access your courses from the Course Selector or My Courses widget. If your classes are not displaying in either place, check that you are assigned as the teacher of record for the course by contacting your campus Registrar's office.

What’s the Course Selector / “Waffle”?

While in D2L Brightspace, at the top of the page, you will have the Course Selector or “Waffle” as it is often referred to. Clicking on this icon will display a list of your courses. You can click the thumbtack icon next to a course to pin it to the top for quicker access. Use the waffle to quickly navigate between courses.

What’s the 'My Courses' widget?

While in D2L Brightspace, the My Courses widget is available from the main page when you first login. This page is called the 'my homepage'. The My Courses widget will display images of your courses. Click on an image to access the course.

How can I change the banner image for a course I am teaching?

All courses have a default banner image assigned from the curated image library. The library contains over 3000 images. This image displays for yourself as the instructor and your students.

As an instructor, you might have the option to change the course image that displays in the My Courses widget.  If you have the option, you can search for different images and change the default image.  D2L recommends course images be 2400 x 960 pixels and that they don't contain text. This ensures they can be resized to look great in different contexts and on different devices. All standard image file types are supported.

Note: If you do not have the option to change the course image, please contact your local D2L Campus Site Admin.

Change the Course Image from the Course Offering Information page

1. Navigate to your course.
2. Select Course Admin from the Course Tools menu in the navigation bar. 
3. Click the Course Offering Information link.
4. On the Course Offering Information page, click Browse.
   
5. In the Add a File window, select an option (e.g. My Computer), click Upload, and then click Add.
   
6. On the Course Offering Information page, click Save.
7. The uploaded image now displays as the course banner image.