Frequently Asked Questions

D2L “Brightspace” is a Learning Management System (LMS) that will be implemented throughout all CUNY schools by the end of Fall 2025. It is a modern and easy-to-use platform for faculty, students, and staff that can support all course modalities, teaching, and learning goals. Visit the Brightspace Self-Guided Training for Instructors to learn about this platform and CUNY’s Brightspace webpage to learn more about CUNY’s transition.

• Interface: Brightspace provides a user-friendly interface that is easy to navigate for both instructors and students. It tends to receive positive feedback for its dashboard, which effectively highlights courses, announcements, and due dates.
• Customization: Offers many customization options for both instructors and administrators, allowing for a more personalized learning environment. This includes custom learning paths, personalized feedback, and adaptive learning that adjusts to the learner's pace and performance.
• Analytical Tools: Brightspace provides detailed insights into student performance, engagement, and learning outcomes. These tools can help instructors identify struggling students and intervene early.
• Mobile: The service offers a user-friendly and feature-rich mobile app that allows students and instructors to engage with course content, participate in discussions, and complete tasks from their mobile devices.
• Accessibility: It also excels at integrating with various third-party tools and systems, including video conferencing tools, plagiarism detection software, and more. It is also noted for its commitment to accessibility, ensuring that learning materials are accessible to all students.

This semester marks a significant milestone for the faculty and students of The City College of New York (CCNY) as we begin the phased rollout of the Brightspace learning management system (LMS). This initiative aims to enhance our digital learning environment by introducing a platform renowned for its intuitive design, comprehensive analytics, and robust mobile capabilities.

This official transition will begin this Fall, and courses will be delivered during the Spring 2025 semester.

Once you receive notification that you have access to Brightspace, you will be given instructions on how to access it. Those who received this notification should use the following URL to access Brightspace: https://brightspace.cuny.edu.

You will be redirected to a CUNY Login page where you can enter your login credentials:  FIRSTNAME.LASTNAME##@login.cuny.edu  and password. If you have received “early” access, please note that some features, functionality, and other aspects of the system will differ and change as the CUNY LMS Transition implementation team continues configuring our digital learning environment.

Yes! The Brightspace Pulse App is widely available from any app store. We recommend downloading the App and becoming familiar with its mobile interface. The Brightspace mobile app allows for up-to-date notifications, calendars, deadline notices, and course views and allows for on-the-go edits to coursework and structure.

Here is a link to Brightspace Pulse downloads:

• Google Play
• Apple Store

Only course content and the course structure in Blackboard will be migrated to Brightspace. 

Course migration is an automated process that moves course content from Blackboard to D2L, “Brightspace,” but not student records such as grades. Initially, CUNY will migrate four years of historical courses (over 150,000 courses) based on the college’s starting transition date.

Our contract with D2L provides for the migration of up to 525,000 courses. The LMS Advisory Team will solicit campus input to inform the secondary course migration strategy. The LMS transition campus teams will have access to a full course migration timeline.

• Compliance with Accessibility Standards: Brightspace aligns with WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) 2.1 AAA standards. These guidelines ensure web content is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.
• Automated Closed Captioning: Brightspace offers automated closed captioning for video content. This feature is crucial for deaf or hard-of-hearing users, ensuring that audio content is accessible.
• Intuitive and Easy-to-Use Interface: The platform is designed to be intuitive and easy to use, which benefits users with cognitive or learning disabilities.
• Mobile Responsiveness and Native Mobile Applications: Brightspace’s mobile-friendly platform ensures that users can access the LMS through various devices, which is particularly important for users with physical disabilities who may rely on mobile devices for accessibility.
• Content Templates: These templates are designed to be fully accessible, aligning with WCAG 2.1 AAA Standards, ensuring consistency and accessibility in course materials.
• Built-In Accessibility Checker: Brightspace includes a built-in accessibility checker that helps educators create content that meets accessibility standards.
• Color Contrast Ratio Checker: This tool ensures that text and background colors on the platform meet the required contrast ratios for readability, important for users with visual impairments.
• Multiple Ways to Engage and Learn: The platform supports different learning styles and needs by allowing content to be presented in various formats and providing multiple means of interaction.
• Support for Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Brightspace’s features align with UDL principles, offering multiple means of representation, action, expression, and engagement to support diverse learners.

• By incorporating these features, Brightspace is committed to making digital learning accessible to all users, regardless of their abilities or disabilities. To learn more, visit https://www.d2l.com/accessibility/.

• CUNY owns the data. According to the D2L RFP, D2L complies with CUNY's data storage privacy, trust, and security protocols. 

• D2L has policies that apply to all information-handling practices, including client confidentiality. Data is classified as “Strictly Confidential,” covering Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or confidential information. They have confidentiality provisions in their contracts and restrict access to customer data except for maintaining the service or responding to technical or service problems as requested by the customer.

As has always been true, the intellectual property of faculty using D2L will be governed by CUNY’s Intellectual Property Policy (cuny.edu).

CUNY will offer the Brightspace Basic Series of Training live webinar over the spring 2024 semester. The description of each module follows. All Brightspace training is voluntary.

CUNY Brightspace Training Sign Ups

You may register for one or more workshops (via Zoom).

• Getting Started in Brightspace: an overview of key features and tools, course management – class list, groups/sections, communicating with students, adding content basics, assignment basics, quiz basics, adaptive release, key terms, and resources for instructors.
• ABCs of Content: overview and table of contents, modules; adding content to courses (from existing course content or building it from scratch); creating activities for learners; instructor settings for assignments, discussions, and quizzes.
• Engaging Learners: brief UDL overview and overview of accessibility in Brightspace, tools and features for communication (announcements, activity feed, discussions, and virtual classroom), tools and features for engagement (calendar, progress)
• Assessing Learning: assignments, quizzes, evaluating learners via quick eval and submissions, rubrics, grade book basics.
• Quizzes: an advanced workshop on the question library, importing questions, quiz formats, features, accommodations, and special access.
• Gradebook: a deep dive into setting up the gradebook, including using the set-up wizard, adding assessments and grade schemas, and releasing grades throughout the semester and as a final course grade.
• Ask Me Anything: trainers will consult on specific questions about your course (migrated or new) or applying your teaching practice in Brightspace.