The Brightspace Migration Process Demystified

Several faculty members have reached out to us asking for an area that provides a clear, concise listing of steps faculty need to take in order to migrate their courses from Blackboard to Brightspace. Below, we provide that list at a high level in an effort to resolve some of the confusion surrounding the Blackboard to Brightspace migration process.

Please Note: You must be signed into your SUNY Broome Gmail account to access any of the forms listed on this page.

Step 1: Request a Brightspace account (Required)

Brightspace accounts are created by SUNY and require that we provide them with specific information. To request a Brightspace account, simply complete the Brightspace Account Request Form . We will look up and verify the information that SUNY needs and submit your account creation request to them for processing. Once your account is created, you will receive confirmation from the Teaching Resource Center with information regarding your next steps (also listed below).

Step 2: Complete the required Brightspace training and forward your “SUNY DLE Brightspace Fundamentals Asynchronous Modules” Training Certificate to the Teaching Resource Center (Required)

All initial Brightspace training is offered through the SUNY Center for Professional Development. The training is offered in three modalities to accommodate multiple faculty learning styles. Regardless of the modality you choose, you must complete all module assessments located within the “SUNY DLE Brightspace Fundamentals Asynchronous Modules” course offering in order to receive your Training Certificate. You can choose any of the modalities offered by the SUNY CPD in order to receive the information you need, however. The instructional modalities are:

Asynchronous Online – Faculty proceed through modules and complete the required assessments at their own pace. All faculty at SUNY Broome are automatically enrolled in this online course as it is the location of the assessments Faculty need to complete in order to receive the required “SUNY DLE Brightspace Fundamentals Asynchronous Modules” Training Certificate.

Scaled Webinars – These sessions are targeted for larger audiences, offering demonstrations and some opportunity to ask questions. There are 7 different Scaled Webinars, each of which corresponds to a module in the Asynchronous Online training offering. Recordings of each of these webinars are also posted on the SUNY DLE Website for those who might not be available at the time a webinar is offered or wants to review a particular topic area. Faculty who participate in the Scaled Webinar training must still complete asynchronous assessments (located in the “SUNY DLE Brightspace Fundamentals Asynchronous Modules” course offerings in order to receive their Training Certificate.

Remote Synchronous – These are the most “hands-on” version of the training offered by the SUNY CPD. Attendance is restricted to small groups (10-15 participants maximum). Sessions are much slower in pace than the Scaled Webinars and give participants the opportunity to point and click along with the trainer as material is covered. Faculty who participate in the Remote Synchronous training must still complete asynchronous assessments (located in the “SUNY DLE Brightspace Fundamentals Asynchronous Modules” course offering in order to receive their Training Certificate.

Step 3: Request Brightspace Development Shells (Required)

As the deadline to request your courses be migrated for you has passed, you will need to now request Brightspace Development shells and build your courses within Brightspace. The Brightspace “Course Builder” tool makes developing a course very easy and going this route will result in a clean and structurally sound result for you and your students.

Please use the form below to request your development shells.

Brightspace Development Shell Request Form.

You will need to complete one form for each development shell you are requesting. Development shells will appear in a “Development” area within Brightspace. Once your development courses are created and ready for you to access, you will receive a confirmation email from the Teaching Resource Center with additional information.

Step 4: Request that any 3rd party applications you use be integrated into Brightspace (Required)

It is the faculty member’s responsibility to collect and submit all information necessary to integrate 3rd party tools into the Brightspace environment. Failure to submit this information in a timely manner may prevent you from utilizing 3rd party materials in your Brightspace course shell.

A 3rd party tool is any external web service or interactive website that students need to access from within the Brightspace environment. Third party tools typically (but not always) involve some sort of single sign-on or authentication to an outside resource. Examples of 3rd Party Tools include (but are not limited to):

Publishers textbooks and online interactive materials
Online Lab simulations and activities that require student participation and tracking
Online Testing tools
OERs and Online Homework

Third Party Tool Integrations do not include content that is uploaded directly into the Learning Management system. PowerPoint Presentations, pdfs, Microsoft Word documents, and links to YouTube videos or other informational-only websites are NOT considered 3rd Party Tool Integrations.

Integrations that were put in place in Blackboard will need to be rebuilt in Brightspace. SUNY has also expanded the process and requirements for integrating 3rd party tools into the new environment. As part of this expansion, campuses are now required to provide additional information regarding tool accessibility and security. For this reason, we will need you to complete a SUNY Broome Third Party Tool Integration Request Form for each tool that you will need integrated into the new environment.

SUNY will require the following information in order to integrate a product into their environment:

VPAT (Accessibility Compliance)
HECVAT (Risk Assessment and Security)
SOC Type 2 Report (Security Compliance)

In addition, SUNY will need detailed instructions for integrating the tool into Brightspace. This includes:

The type of integration that the tool uses (ex: LTI1.3, LTI 1.1, etc)
Step-by-step documentation for the tool integration and configuration
Any Keys and Secrets needed for final setup

Since we (at SUNY Broome) do not have the system access level to perform the integrations ourselves, we must collect this information and forward it on. Your completion of the SUNY Broome Third Party Tool Integration Request Form and inclusion of as much of the information you can obtain on your end will facilitate the process of integration and result in the tool being configured in a timely manner.

Step 5: Verify your conversion and get your course ready in Brightspace (Required)

If you have requested that your course be migrated from Blackboard, is it imperative that you check all content to make sure that it has converted correctly and resolving any issues that may be present. Be sure to carefully review all content, assignments, quizzes, discussions, and the grade book. We have created a Brightspace Post Migration Housekeeping document as well as a Brightspace Post Migration Checklist to assist you with this process. The Teaching Resource Center also hosts regularly scheduled office hours where faculty can pop in to work on their courses and ask questions as they arise. Be on the lookout for email from the Teaching Resource Center for a listing of weekly hours.

Step 7: Import the conversion/development course into the semester based shell (Required)

Since faculty initially work on Brightspace courses in either the Conversions or Development areas, the content will need to be transferred to the semester-based shell in order for students to have access. Faculty will receive an email from the Teaching Resource Center once the semester-based shells are ready. The email will also contain instructions for importing content.