The best way to kick-off your partnership with TLC is to contact us. We have a direct email (teach@wit.edu) or you can schedule an appointment with one of our instructional designers! We would love to hear more about you and how we can help. Contact TLC!

Please allow 24 business hours in response time. Note that requests after 4pm will be triaged by urgency and addressed accordingly. 

Log on to my.wit.edu and select the Brightspace icon, or go directly to wentworth.brightspace.com.

Enroll in our faculty model course. To enroll in the course search “Faculty Model Course” in the Discovery section of your Brightspace homepage.

You can also check out the Getting Started for Instructors page on D2L.

Feel free to email us at teach@wit.edu or schedule a consultation with one of our Instructional Designers.

You might find the answer to your question in one of our self-help resources, starting with Get To Know Brightspace.

If not, put in a ticket at teach@wit.edu. Be as specific as possible, and include course name and number, as well as section numbers if relevant. Take screenshots of any errors you receive, and let us know exactly what you have tried already.

D2L has a Product Idea Exchange (PIE), where users can share product and feature ideas and upvote. Learn how to Access the PIE.

Zoom is often used for remote class times, office hours, guest speakers, or classroom events. Access Zoom through wentworth.zoom.us and click sign-in. For a crash course in Zoom, check out our self-paced training resource: Mastering Zoom.

You can add captions to videos you created through Panopto. Either record your video in Panopto, or upload the video media to Panopto. Under video settings, select captions, and one of the Panopto caption services.

Copy the Zoom meeting ID onto your clipboard or write it down. From Panopto, click on your initials in the top right of the screen and select “User Settings”. From there, fill out the Meeting Import Settings sections with both the Zoom meeting ID AND the folder associated with your class.

You can find these steps on the Zoom page.

Watch the video recording Tech Skill: Map Zoom recordings to Panopto

Instructors are encouraged to record short video content in Panopto or Zoom. Check out our Video Resources page for more information.

Absolutely! At any place where Rich Text is enabled, you can select the Panopto integration by clicking on the “Insert Stuff” icon and finding Panopto. This includes module descriptions, announcements, and creating file pages.

More about Panopto

myWentworth is a robust starting point for information about the Wentworth community. It is available as both a website and as a mobile app.  

Many essential faculty resources, including Academic Affairs and Employee Relations and Engagement (ERE) materials, are available in the Faculty & Staff Resources square.  

Visit my.wit.edu and enter your WIT credentials to reach myWentworth. We also recommend downloading the app. 

LeopardWeb allows you to review your roster and class logistics such as session times, dates, and locations. You will also submit midterm and final grades to LeopardWeb. Access LeopardWeb from myWentworth or by visiting leopardweb.wit.edu. 

Here are instructions for Submitting Grades via LeopardWeb.

Brightspace is the Learning Management System (LMS) used to facilitate courses at Wentworth. Whether your course is taught in-person, hybrid, or fully online, our students expect to use Brightspace as part of their course experiences. Access Brightspace from myWentworth or by visiting wentworth.brightspace.com. 

The Schumann Library, Wentworth’s university library, provides numerous on-campus and virtual services to the Wentworth community. Services include an extensive library catalog, research support, study spaces, copyright guides, and more. Access the Library from myWentworth or by visiting library.wit.edu.  

The academic calendar enables you to review dates for the upcoming semester, which can help you plan your syllabus and course schedule. Access the academic calendar from myWentworth or by visiting wit.edu/learning/academic-calendar. 

TechSpot, part of Wentworth’s Digital Technology Services (DTS), is Wentworth’s Technology Help Desk. Contact TechSpot for Wentworth account support and media services, including teaching equipment requests. Visit the TechSpot Service Portal (techspot.wit.edu/techspot) or email techspot@wit.edu to open a service ticket. Access TechSpot and additional DTS resources in myWentworth.  

The Teaching & Learning Collaborative (TLC), who created this guide, supports teaching and learning initiatives across campus, and is dedicated to the pedagogical success of all Wentworth faculty. We empower faculty, staff, and students to design and deliver impactful learning experiences in traditional classrooms and beyond. 

As part of Digital Technology Services (DTS), TLC supports effective and impactful Brightspace use on campus. Our work ranges from providing administrative support to playing an active role in designing learning experiences involving Brightspace and other technology tools. We also offer personalized learning design consultations, supportive course observations with instructional coaching, and partnership in showcasing faculty innovation and success in teaching and learning. Additionally, TLC supports pedagogical best practices through professional development trainings, webinars, podcasts, and collaborative events dedicated to improving teaching and learning at Wentworth.

This website, our “TLC Hub,” is an excellent place to start. Browse to your heart’s content.

Too many options to choose from? Try our Teaching & Learning Glossary, as it may help you familiarize yourself with terms and definitions common in teaching, learning, and pedagogical theories.

Typically, sections open one week prior to the first day of classes. Welcome materials, introductory activities, and Week 1 content should be ready for students to access in Brightspace so they can preview course expectations and prepare for the upcoming semester. If parts of your course are not student-ready by the first day of class, please hide them from student view and inform students when these materials will become available. Many of our students are eager to work ahead. 

Contact your dean/program chair/hiring manager for a copy of the syllabus to use as a starting point for your section. TLC does not keep a repository of syllabi, so any requests for syllabus copies must go to your dean/program chair/hiring manager.  

If a syllabus copy is not available, a syllabus template is available in myWentworth under Faculty & Staff Resources / Academic Affairs / Syllabus Template. 

Before sharing your syllabus with students, customize your syllabus with personal information (ie. your contact info) and semester-specific information (ie. due dates). TLC can assist with customizing your syllabus. 

Contact your dean/program chair/hiring manager to determine what content you need. Your dean/program chair/hiring manager is responsible for providing you with content to use for your course. TLC is responsible for providing you with access to that content in Brightspace, often by copying content from a blueprint course. If you are teaching a section with a blueprint course available, TLC can copy your section from the appropriate blueprint course. Please confirm what content you need with your dean/program chair/hiring manager before contacting TLC for assistance. 

If a blueprint course is not available, your dean/program chair/hiring manager can help you determine content options for the upcoming semester. TLC is available to assist with designing materials and activities, but because TLC staff does not include subject matter experts in your course’s topics, TLC is not responsible for creating content suitable to the course. 

A blueprint course is a standard version of the course pre-populated with content and activities, which any faculty can copy into their own section to customize and personalize for the upcoming semester. Blueprint courses are often available for courses in Wentworth’s part-time and graduate programs. Check with your dean/program chair/hiring manager to confirm what content to use in your course. 

If you are teaching two sections of the same course, you may be interested in preparing one section and then copying the prepared section into the second. This is called a course copy. TLC can assist with course copies (email teach@wit.edu with the course name, section, CRN#, Term), or you can complete a course copy yourself so long as you have access to both the prepared section and the receiving section. You may copy all components or just select components from the prepared section.  

Watch a video demonstrating how to copy components in Brightspace. 

If you are teaching two sections of the same course, you may be interested in merging the sections so that you and your students only need to access one Brightspace location. This is called a course merge. Only TLC staff should complete course merges. If you would like to merge your sections, please email teach@wit.edu with the course name, sections want merged, CRN#, and Term. Course merges need to be done before course content is added to prevent any loss.

A sandbox course is an empty course where you can build and experiment with Brightspace materials and activities. It contains a Demo Student but no real students, so it is a great way to beta-test Brightspace tools and features before building them in a live or upcoming section. Sandbox courses are created for faculty upon request. Please email teach@wit.edu to request a sandbox. 

Think like a student! If you were entering the course for the first time, would you know exactly where to go and what to click on? What guidance would you need to feel prepared in the course? How would the course’s layout and language affect your motivation to succeed?

We recommend five essential steps to prepare your Brightspace section, whether your section is in-person, hybrid, or fully online:

• Post syllabus, office hours, contact information, class meeting links in Brightspace. 
• Communicate regularly with students using announcements, discussions, email.
• Organize course content into clear categories: topic, week.
• Post assignments and assessments with due dates (syncs with calendar in Brightspace).  
• Post grades and timely feedback using rubrics in gradebook, ideally setting up the full gradebook and making it visible to students at the beginning of the semester.

There are additional ways to use Brightspace, but we call these five steps “essential” because they create a welcoming and supportive digital environment from the semester start, and you can build from them as the semester progresses. Students can easily access key materials about your course, including critical information about their academic performance. Plus, these practices help you look engaged and prepared, improving your chances of a good first impression.

Review resources on Designing your Course for additional guidance. TLC also offers one-on-one consultations for help with specific questions. Contact us to learn more.

WhoCanHelp is a student-facing resource that allows students to browse organizations on campus to assist them with academic, social, financial, or health issues they may be navigating. The goal of WhoCanHelp is to connect students to the organization most useful to them based on their reported concerns and circumstances. As a faculty, you can direct your students to WhoCanHelp, explore the resources with them, or submit a care report on behalf of a student. Access WhoCanHelp and other student resources from myWentworth or by visiting whocanhelp.wit.edu.  

The Wentworth community has developed a set of procedures to investigate and determine whether students have engaged in violations of academic honesty. Students are allowed to continue in their studies pending resolution of the case. If you suspect a violation of academic honesty policies, such as plagiarism or cheating, report it using the “Log an Incident” form. 

Read more about how violations of academic honesty are addressed. 

Course merges are when two or more sections are combined into one Brightspace course. Some instructors prefer managing one course with combined sections than managing multiple courses, especially when the content, assessments, and due dates are the same across sections.

Email us at least two weeks before the first day of classes. Include all course sections that should be merged (course name, sections want merged, CRN#, term). Course merges need to be done before course content is added to prevent any loss.

Faculty can copy courses they’ve taught before themselves. Here are the instructions along with a post-courses copy checklist. Brightspace Course Content

If you need help copying content, email us at least two weeks before the first day of classes. Include the course the content is coming from (course name, section, CRN#, term) and the course the content is being copied into (course name, sectino, CRN#, term).

In most cases, you will need permission to use another instructor’s materials. You can request their permission in an email and include their response in your request.

Email teach@wit.edu at least two weeks before the first day of classes. Include the course the content is coming from (course name, section, CRN#, term) and the course the content is being copied into (course name, section, CRN#, term).

Sometimes we work with the Dean to source permission. Check with your Dean or Director if you need help finding content for a course you are scheduled to teach.

Please allow at least 30-60 days for requests to use new academic technology tools, or integrate them into Brightspace. Email your request to teach@wit.edu

Please allow 24-48 hours for Registrar’s Office updates to flow through Banner and into Brightspace.

Since many of our systems are cloud-based and accessed using a browser, if you’ve already tried a different browser and cleared the browser cache or tried incognito mode, you’ve saved us some time and you’ll be less frustrated if we don’t ask you to do those things. If you’ve tried some troubleshooting on your own, please tell us what you’ve tried.

Keep your system up-to-date. Operating system (Mac, Windows, or Linux) updates and software (browsers like Firefox, Chrome, Edge, and Safari) updates account for a significant number of problems. Letting your system update regularly keeps your files safe and will prevent a number of problems. Most of the tools we use are cloud-based and vendors write their code to accommodate recent updates from the operating systems and browser vendors. Using a system that is not updated may cause errors or may prevent an application from working on your system. Ideally, reboot your system at least once per week and allow updates to run. Check your browser(s) regularly and make sure they are up-to-date.

Provide details of any error messages. If you are getting an error message, please either copy and paste the message or send a screenshot. Sometimes the message is more meaningful to us and points to the problem, other times we will pass the information on to the vendor support team to pinpoint the problem.

Check out the Brightspace Grade Book Page! We have prepared instructions on all things Grade Book. If you don’t find what you are looking for you can schedule a consultation with one of our Instructional Designers.

Here’s how to submit grades to LeopardWeb.

As of Spring 2023, a new method of submitting grades to LeopardWeb is available. Our friends from the Registrar’s Office have the most up-to-date information. Learn more at their Faculty Resources page.