D2L Brightspace Pre-Semester Checklist

The purpose of this page is to provide you with a step-by-step list of tasks to complete prior to the beginning of a course.  The steps listed below correspond with the College’s LMS Minimum Usage Requirements and will give you an idea of where to get started and what to look for in your course. Taking a few minutes to review each of these components will help ensure that you’re fully prepared to start on your first day of class.

If you have additional questions, be sure to reach out to your course lead or department chair for help. For questions about how to use D2L Brightspace, contact CCIT.

Instructor Presence & Welcome

• Verify instructor contact information (office location, DTCC email, phone, preferred method of contact, and expected response time).
• Update student hours/office hours and ensure they appear in the Expectations/Policies area.
• Add or refresh a short instructor bio and photo (optional, but recommended).
• Edit the welcome announcement to introduce yourself and the course, and include Week 1 “getting started” guidance (what to do first, where to go, what’s due).

Syllabus, Objectives & Evaluation

• Confirm the current, approved syllabus is easily accessible (for example, in a Getting Started/Start Here/Week 0 module).
• Review the CCPOs and MPOs so you are clear on the course learning outcomes.
• Check the evaluation measures (grade breakdown) in the syllabus.
• Ensure the evaluation measures align with the Gradebook setup (points, weights, and categories).

Schedule, Due Dates & Pacing

• Review the overall course flow and pacing (how much instructional time is expected each week and how many assignments are typically due each week).
• Update due dates for all assignments, discussions, quizzes, and exams.
• Check the Course Calendar to be sure it matches the due dates you set.
• Identify any “heavy” weeks (multiple major assignments) and plan to alert students in advance (via announcements or orientation materials).

Content, Organization & Accessibility

• Review module structure and organization (by week, unit, or topic) and adjust as needed for clarity.
• Set visibility for modules and items: hide anything you will not be using and unhide what students need on Day 1.
• Make sure meeting links (Zoom, Teams, etc.) are easy to find (for example, in Getting Started and/or the course navbar).
• Scan instructional materials (documents, slides, videos, etc.) to ensure key videos have captions or transcripts, images have alt text, and documents are generally accessibility-friendly (headings, readable fonts, good contrast, etc.). Visit our Digital Accessibility page for more information and support resources.
• Confirm resources for student support (tutoring, writing center, library, disability services, etc.) are clearly linked in the course.
• Spot-check that all internal and external links work.

Assessments

• Confirm key assessment instructions are clear and any rubrics are attached and visible where needed.
• Double-check that all graded assessments have the correct due dates set, appear in the right module in Content and in the correct tool (Assignments, Quizzes, Discussions), and are properly linked to the corresponding Gradebook items (or intentionally unlinked if they are not graded).

Gradebook & Scoring

• Verify that all graded activities have corresponding Gradebook items. Visit the About Grades article from the Brightspace Community for more information about the Gradebook.
• Confirm the calculation method (points vs. weighted) and that it matches the syllabus evaluation measures.
• Check grade categories and grade schemes (for example, letter grades and percentage ranges).
• Spot-check that grades calculate accurately for a sample student or test scenario.
• Review grade release settings (for example, whether students see a calculated or adjusted final grade and what grade details they can view).

Communication Plan & Student Check-Ins

• Clarify and document your communication plan in the course (in Expectations/Policies or a dedicated page), including how often you will post announcements, how quickly you will respond to emails/messages, and how quickly you will return grades and feedback.
• Set up the first few announcements (such as Welcome/Week 1 and possibly Week 2) to reduce first-week prep. Visit the About Announcements article from the Brightspace Community if you need support.
• Decide how you will check in with each student at least once (for example, early in the term, after the first major assignment, or via a survey).
• Consider using Intelligent Agents to alert students who have not logged in and to nudge students who miss a key assignment.
• Remind students how often they should log in and check email, and encourage them to adjust D2L Brightspace notification settings to stay informed.

Course Orientation & Getting Started

• Ensure you have a Course Orientation/Start Here module that includes a welcome and brief course overview, an explanation of how the course is organized, key course expectations, where to find the syllabus, content, assignments, and grades, how to submit assignments and take quizzes, and where to go for technical and academic help.
• Place your orientation video in this module.
• Include a short “Start Here” checklist for students (for example, read the syllabus, watch the orientation video, post in an introduction discussion, and complete the first assignment).

Technical & Last-Minute Checks

• Confirm visibility of modules and items students need for Week 1, as well as Gradebook categories and items that should be visible to students.
• Make sure assignments are correctly linked to Gradebook items and to rubrics (if used).
• Check for duplicate or outdated content from prior course copies and remove or hide items as needed.
• View your course content as a learner to test how it looks from a student’s perspective.
• Verify key support links (student services, tech support, publisher platforms, etc.) are present and functioning.
• Do a final scan for typos, broken links, or confusing labels on your homepage and in the Getting Started module.