About Brightspace

Brightspace from D2L is a cloud-based learning management system (LMS) that helps K 12 institutes, higher educations and corporate organizations run both blended and fully online courses. Brightspace comprises of three integrated platforms - learning environment, learning repository and ePortfolio. The Learning Environment from Brightspace allows teachers and instructors to design interactive training courses and evaluate assignments. The solution offers a multimedia environment that allows content creators to use images, videos, audio files and other digital content in their courses. Its analytics tool facilitates performance tracking. Brightspace Learning Repository allows academic institutes and organizations to create, organize and find learning resources in a centralized content database. Users can search content using keywords, ratings, comments or any other business-defined search criteria. The Brightspace ePortfolio is a common platform where learners can share their experience with peers and mentors. Every D2L solution comes with 24/7 customer support via phone and email. Additionally, users can also join Brightspace community or watch video tutorials to learn more about the product.
Brightspace Software - Brightspace corporate learning platform
Brightspace Software - Brightspace learning platform for corporate
Brightspace Software - Brightspace daylight
Brightspace Software - Brightspace LMS for K-12 & higher education
Brightspace Software - Brightspace LMS for education
Brightspace Software - Learn on any device with Brightspace
Brightspace Software - Brightspace corporate learning platform - thumbnail
Brightspace Software - Brightspace learning platform for corporate - thumbnail
Brightspace Software - Brightspace daylight - thumbnail
Brightspace Software - Brightspace LMS for K-12 & higher education - thumbnail
Brightspace Software - Brightspace LMS for education - thumbnail
Brightspace Software - Learn on any device with Brightspace - thumbnail

Brightspace pricing

Brightspace does not have a free version but does offer a free trial.

Starting Price:
Not provided by vendor
Free Version:
No
Free trial:
Yes

Alternatives to Brightspace

Blackboard Collaborate

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NEO LMS

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FLOWSPARKS

FLOWSPARKS is a flexible learning software platform. It consists of an authoring tool and an LMS (Learning Management...

Google Classroom

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Brightspace Reviews

Feature rating

Value for Money
3.9
Functionality
4.2
Ease of Use
4.0
Customer Support
4.2
5 reviews of 201 View all reviews
Melissa
  • Industry: Higher Education
  • Company size: 501–1,000 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source
Value for Money
5
Features
5
Ease of Use
5
Customer Support
0

5
Reviewed on 05/04/2019

Best used for online courses

I have not had any problems using Brightspace or D2L. I think the user interface is easy to learn and it is easy to find where I need to be to make assignments, grade submissions, and more. The system allows you to work as the administrator/faculty/teacher/instructor/ but also allows you to switch to the student view, which enables you to see what your students will see. I like that feature! It is extremely easy to upload files and images and adding hyperlinks is also a breeze, allowing you to choose the new window to open within the course or on a separate page. Even when they update the software, I find it very easy to learn the new applications. I have used a few other systems in the past and I really do like Brightspace and D2L over the others.

Pros

I found this software very easy to use and pretty intuitive. It is fresh looking on the screen and I've not had any issues with the system not working as it should.

Cons

There are a few extra clicks that have to take place in some parts of the software to get back to where you want to be. That is somewhat annoying, but a minor issue.

Nathan
  • Industry: E-Learning
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source
Value for Money
4
Features
4
Ease of Use
5
Customer Support
4

5
Reviewed on 11/06/2021

Aesthetically Pleasing and Easy to Use

We have been able to boost productivity consistency, and quality using Brightspace. It is easier to build out courses and map them in a simple hierarchy. Course templating allows us to ensure consistency when building copies of courses or new versions.
Brightspace has also allowed us to automate a number of functions we would normally need to perform in terms of student management, which has freed up personnel for other tasks but also removed human error from the equation.

Pros

Brightspace is very intuitive; users can jump into the LMS and figure out what they need to do with little to no instructions.
I like the power it gives admins to build in automation and customize how students work through the course. This is done via intelligent agents and release conditions.
Brightspace just looks great. Is the most aesthetically pleasing LMS on the market as far as I have seen.

Cons

The platform seems more geared toward traditional schooling systems rather than asynchronous models at times. For example, there is no easy way for students to add their own due dates to assessments; they can only be added for the entire course, which does not work when students are all pacing differently. Brightspace for Parents is also not as strong as I would have expected. There seems to be limited features and out parents are just not really interested in using it.

Alternatives Considered

Edsby, CANVAS and Schoology

Reasons for Choosing Brightspace

We were looking for something that worked well out of the box. D2L manages all of the updating of the system, hosting, etc. Using something like Moodle requires at least one person on the team with a strong tech background. Brightspace can be run with little to no tech experience.

Switched From

Moodle

Reasons for Switching to Brightspace

We felt Brightspace packed in the most functionality and also looked (and felt the best).
Regina
  • Industry: Higher Education
  • Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1-5 months
  • Review Source
Value for Money
0
Features
3
Ease of Use
2
Customer Support
0

3
Reviewed on 13/10/2020

Nice interface but not intuitive or easy to use

Overall, my experience with Brightspace is negative. It looks deceivingly simple to use because of their modern look and Bright color scheme that is often associated with newer websites with easy functionality, but menus are often hard to find and it is difficult to do basic tasks like scoring quizzes.

Pros

I like the ability for there to be an online classroom and I like that it records the lectures. I like how the online classroom allows for screensharing and chatting also. I also like the look of the software; it doesn't look dated.

Cons

At this point, I have used several types of software like Brightspace as I have been in higher education for almost 7 years now as an undergraduate student and now, a graduate student. I think out of all those other software that I have used, Brightspace is the least intuitive to navigate. On the outset, I think the website looks clean and modern and it feels like a website that would be easy to navigate. But when you actually do start navigating the website, you find out how hard it is to find simple commands. For example, to simply program and then score a quiz online is much harder than it needs to be. Menus for basic things like how to see the students' grades were hard to find and I had to ultimately turn to google to figure out how to grade the quiz. I am new to this software, so maybe it just takes some getting used to, but so far, as a new user, I am finding that Brightspace is not intuitive or easy to navigate.

Heather
  • Industry: E-Learning
  • Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 1+ year
  • Review Source
Value for Money
5
Features
5
Ease of Use
4
Customer Support
5

5
Reviewed on 05/01/2023

Hands down the best learning software to date

My other experience with this software it has made me love to learn again maybe love school again it’s so easy to use. It’s so user-friendly I can’t say that enough it is hands-down, the best learning software there is.

Pros

Everything about this software is super user-friendly they think about the student when they made this it’s not hard to years. It’s not hard to follow as long as you do the tutorials and follow what they say. At the beginning you can’t go wrong there’s nothing negative I can say about it. I’ve never had any issues using this and I’ve used this software at two different colleges. Hands down the best.

Cons

There’s only one thing that I kind of don’t really understand is the virtual classroom thing I’ve still not understood why some places use the virtual product classroom and sign the right space software and some don’t but I think that’s more of a college preference instead of a software preference to bright space

Amber
  • Industry: Higher Education
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source
Value for Money
5
Features
4
Ease of Use
4
Customer Support
5

5
Reviewed on 01/11/2021

D2L LMS Review

My overall experience with D2L is a great experience. I enjoy using this product as a staff, as well as a student. There are also many tutorial videos out there to search through when having an issue.

Pros

What I like most about this product is the ease of navigating each feature of the product. There are quite a few features, all of them being outstanding and easy to use.

Cons

There seem to be quite a few bugs for us with this product. However, the product has been integrated going on two years, so there is bound to be some issues going forward.

Alternatives Considered

CANVAS

Reasons for Choosing Brightspace

The other LMS was going away, and we had to look for a new product, also one that was cheaper.

Switched From

Blackboard Learn

Reasons for Switching to Brightspace

Brightspace was cheaper than others, with a much better quality.

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