If you want to link to your Webex meetings in your Brightspace course, you can always simply add the link to a module. However, Webex integrates really well with Brightspace and provides meeting links, meeting recordings, office hour sign-ups, and Teams chat options all within your Brightspace course. Here are a few reasons you may want to use the Webex/Brightspace integration instead of just adding a URL to your course: - You want students to be able to access your Webex meetings as well as the recordings of these meetings. - You want students to be able to schedule virtual office hours with you and have emails sent to you and the student. - You want your Webex meetings to show up on the Brightspace calendar for your students. - You want to create a space where all students can instant message each other. If any of these apply to you, keep reading to learn how to set up Webex in your Brightspace course!
Setting up Webex in Your Brightspace Course
1. Log into Brightspace (brightspace.ptsem.edu) and enter your course.
2. Select the "Course Information" module from the course page (or go to "Content" -> "Course Information").
3. Select "Existing Activities" -> "External Learning Tools."
4. Click on the word "Webex" in the box that appears.
5. You will notice that a link to Webex will be added to the module. Click on the word "Webex" again in order to open up the tool.
6. Decide which features you want in your course. Choose "Classroom Collaboration" if you want a Teams chat space created for your class. Choose "Virtual Meetings" if you want to set up meeting links and have a space for recordings for this class. Choose "Office Hours" if you want to set up virtual office hours for your class. Click "Apply."
7. Select "Authorize with LMS" (LMS stands for "Learning Management System" and refers to Brightspace. This will give Webex and Brightspace all they need to talk to each other).
8. Decide whether or not you want to link meeting attendance to a grade item in Brightspace and whether or not you want to have a reminder sent in Webex Teams chat before a class meeting is going to start.
9. At the top of the tool, you should now see various links to Webex, depending on which features you chose. You can now set up discussion spaces in Teams ("Classroom Collaboration"), meeting links ("Virtual Meetings"), and office hours. [For more information about setting up office hours with this feature, see this article.] When your students log in, they will be able to see whichever features you have turned on, including chat, meeting links, and/or a place to schedule office hours with you, depending on your availability.