Brightspace for Students

For directions on how to add content to your portfolio, please visit Brightspace View and organize evidence KB article.

Below are the steps to do so.

1.  Login to Brightspace at brightspace.stonybrook.edu using your Stony Brook NetID and password
2. On the Brightspace homepage, along the red navbar at the top of the page, click Discover

3.   Search for the course you wish to self-enroll in

4.   Click the title of the course, and then the blue button Enroll in Course
5. Click the blue Open Course button to enter the course and complete materials

TIP- If you want to return to the course after enrolling, you can: 

1.  Login to Brightspace at brightspace.stonybrook.edu using your Stony Brook NetID and password
2. On the homepage, in the My Courses area, navigate to the semester for your course 

3.  Click on the your desired course

If you would like to send an email to all of your instructors at once from Brightspace, check out this video:

Or view these instructions:

1. Once you are logged into Brightspace, select the envelope icon at the top of the page
2. Select "Email"

1. Click on the "Address Book" button

3. Make sure you are filtered by "System Contacts"
4. On the contact table, click on "Role" to filter each users role alphabetically. This will organize all Instructors together.

5. Choose the select box for each of your instructors
6. Click on the "To", "Cc", or "Bcc" buttons to choose which fields these contacts will be in

7. Select "Add Recipients"
8. Type your message in the "Body" field and then select "Send"

Brightspace users will get notifications of course announcements, grade releases, discussion replies, and more through the Notification Bell near the top right of Brightspace (An orange dot on the bells means there are new notifications). Click the notification bell to see the notifications, which course the notification is for, and when the notification was sent:

In addition to seeing notifications in the bell, you can also choose to receive emails with course updates by updating your notification settings.

Update Your Notification Settings

Update your notification settings to receive (or not receive) course update notifications by email:

1. Log into Brightspace
2. Near the top right, click your name/initials and select Notifications
3. Under Summary of Activity, choose if you'd like to get a daily or weekly summary of activity for each of your courses

4. Under Instant Notifications, check or uncheck options as desired. For example, to get notifications in your email for all new announcements and announcements updated check Email for those two
    

5. Under Customize Notifications, choose whether to include grades in notifications from Grades and/or whether to allow future courses to send notifications
   
6. You can exclude some courses - so you don't get email/SMS instant notifications selected in step 5 for those courses:
   1. Under Exclude Some Courses, click Manage my course exclusions.
      
   2. For any courses you don't want instant notifications for click the X to the right of the course to exclude it from notifications (the course will then be grayed out with a  circle arrow restart notifications icon)
   3. Click Close
      
7. At the very bottom, click Save to save your notification settings
    

Students have various options to view feedback left by instructors, however each option can vary depending on where the feedback was left in Brightspace.  In addition, instructors must have enabled certain features within their course in order for students to view feedback in specific areas.  Listed below are locations where students can view feedback:

Exams/Quizzes

Assignments

Discussions

Manual Grade Items

Feedback for Exams/Quizzes

To see how you can view feedback for Exams/Quizzes, check out this video:

Or read the options below:

Exams/Quizzes Option 1

1. Students can access feedback by going to the Exams/Quizzes tab of the Navbar. Please note! Students will not be able to see this tab if the instructor did not enable it in their course.
2. From here, a student is able to see a list of exams/quizzes.  If they completed a quiz, under the "Evaluation Status" section, they will see a message that says "Feedback: On Attempt" that they can select.
   
3. Once this is selected, the student can view their overall grade for each attempt, and if they click on the link to the attempt they can see additional details. 
   
4. After the attempt is clicked on, the student can see their overall feedback for the exam/quiz. 
   
5. A student is also able to view feedback on individual questions in this area as well, however only if the instructor has enabled that setting. 
   

Exams/Quizzes Option 2

1. Students can access feedback in the Class Progress tab of the Navbar. Please note! Students will not be able to see this tab if the instructor did not enable it in their course.
2. Once a student is in the Class Progress tool, they can select the "Quizzes" tab.
3. In the Quizzes tab of the Class Progress tool, the student can view their completed exam/quiz, and if they select "Details", they can see the overall feedback left by the instructor.
4. If the instructor left feedback on individual questions, it can be accessed by clicking on the link to the attempt.  Please note however that the instructor must have enabled the setting to show all questions with user responses in the quiz. 
   

Feedback for Assignments

To see how you can view feedback for Assignments check out this video:

Or read the options below:

Assignments Option 1

1. If an assignment is listed as a graded item, then a student should be able to see their grade and feedback for the assignment in the Grades tab of the Navbar.
2. Once a student is in the grades tab, they can see their grade, overall feedback, and a link to inline feedback left by the instructor.
    

Assignments Option 2

1. Students can also access their feedback from the Assignments tab of the Navbar. Please note! An instructor must have enabled the Assignments tab in the Navbar for this option.
2. Once a student locates a specific assignment, they can view a link to their feedback under the "Evaluation Status" column. 
   
3. Then a student can view overall feedback left by the instructor, and they can also click a link to access any inline feedback left as well. 
   

Assignments Option 3

1. Students can also access their assignment feedback from the Class Progress tool in the Navbar. Please note that an instructor must have enabled this in the Navbar in order for students to access feedback using this option.
2. Once in the Class Progress tool, a student can select the "Assignments" tab.
3. Then a student can locate their assignment they wish to view, and if they select the "Details" button.  Once selected, the student can view overall feedback left by the instructor, and they also have a link to view inline feedback as well. 
   

Feedback for Discussions

To learn how to view feedback for discussions, view this video:

Or read the options below:

Discussions Option 1

1. If a discussion is listed as a graded item, then a student should be able to see their grade and feedback for the discussion in the Grades tab of the Navbar.
2. Once a student is in the grades tab, they can see their overall grade for the discussion and any feedback left by the instructor. 
   

Discussions Option 2

1. Another option to view discussion feedback is by accessing it through the discussion tab in the Navbar. Please note, if the instructor did not enable the discussion tab in the Navbar, then a student cannot access their feedback using this method.
2. One a student is in the discussion area, they can click on the link to a discussion topic. 
   
3. At the top of the discussion thread they selected, they will see their score for their thread and any feedback given.
    

Discussions Option 3

1. Students can also see feedback on their discussion posts in the Class Progress tool in the Navbar. Please note that an instructor must have enabled this in the Navbar in order for students to access feedback using this option.
2. Then they can select the discussion tab in the Class Progress tool.
3. Then the student can access a specific discussion they wish to view feedback on.  Once found, the student can select the details tab in that discussion to view the overall feedback. 
   

Feedback for Manual Grade Items

To view feedback on all other types of grade items, watch this video:

Or read the options below:

Manual Grade Items Option 1

1. Students are able to view feedback on manually created grade items in the grades tab of the Navbar.
2. Then they can find the grade item they are looking for to see potential feedback left by the instructor. 
   

Manual Grade Items Option 2

1. Students can also view feedback on a manually created grade item in the Class Progress tool in the Navbar. Please note that an instructor must have enabled this in the Navbar in order for students to access feedback using this option.
2. Then students can select the grades tab in the Class Progress tool.
3. In the grades tab, the student can find a specific grade item.  Once found, the student can select the feedback button to view feedback left by the instructor. 
   

There are several reasons why you, as a student, might not see a course in Brightspace:

• You might not be enrolled. Confirm in SOLAR that you are enrolled in the course.
• You might need to wait 24 hours for your enrollment to populate in Brightspace. Once you enroll in a course, it can take up to 24 hours for your enrollment to also apply to Brightspace.
• The course might not use Brightspace. Check with your instructor on whether the course uses Brightspace.
• The course might not be active.  When a course is inactive, students will not see it in their My Courses list.

• You might be looking in the wrong "tab" of My Courses. The My Courses widget has tabs for each semester; use the < > arrows to navigate and click into the current semester (e.g., Fall 2025, Spring 2026) to see its courses.

  
• The Brightspace course might have a start/end date. If you see the course in Brightspace but can't click into it, the course likely has a start/end date set on it, and you will be able to click into the course when it is available (as per that start or end date).
  

Contact your instructor if you believe you should have access to a course in Brightspace but do not see it or cannot access it.

If you still cannot access a course in Brightspace after verifying the above, see Submit a ticket below.

Taking exams in Brightspace with LockDown Browser

When taking exams with LockDown Browser in Brightspace, start in a regular browser and go to your course in Brightspace first. Do not open Respondus. 

1. Log into Brightspace with a regular browser (e.g., Chrome, Safari, Firefox)
2. Click into your course and then into the quiz/exam
3. Download or Launch LockDown Browser:
   1. If you have used Respondus this semester in Brightspace, click Launch LockDown Browser
   2. If you get an error or have not used Respondus this semester in Brightspace
      1. Click Download and install the latest version of LockDown Browser
      2. Once the download/installation is complete, return to your quiz in Brightspace
      3. Click Launch LockDown Browser
4. Lockdown Browser will load, and you can start the quiz
   

LockDown Browser + Webcam Requirement

Watch this brief video to get a basic understanding of LockDown Browser and the webcam feature.

Larger View

If you are trying to use LockDown Browser for Chromebook with your D2L Brightspace exam, you'll first need to allow pop-ups for your D2L/Brightspace environment in the Chrome Browser.

See here for more information on how to do this.

ALLY is automatically available within Brightspace and will allow students to download course materials in ePub, Electronic Braille (BRF), Audio (MP3), and BeeLine Reader.

For instructors, Ally also provides a Course Accessibility Report. Instructors can add it as a Content item.

Download Content in Alternative Formats - for Students

Students can download different formats of course materials by clicking on the ALLY icon.
 

Faculty can check each course item by clicking on the accessibility score.

Learn more about ALLY:

Add a Course Accessibility Report to Your Course - for Instructors

You can add a Course Accessibility Report to your course. This report has to be added in the content area but since Learners/Students can see the link but can't open it, we recommend creating an Instructor Resources Module to add the report to and hide the Module so it doesn't confuse students.

1. In a course you are instructor for, click Content
2. Optional: Near the bottom left, click Add a Module then type Instructor Resources 
   (if you already have a hidden Module for instructor resources, select that Module)
3. In that Module, select Existing Activities and then scroll down and select External Learning Tools
4. In the Add Activity window, select Ally Course Accessibility Report
5. Hide the report/Instructor Resources Module:
   1. Next to the newly added Ally Course Accessibility Report, select the ⌄ drop down and then select Hide from Users
   2. If you added the report to an Instructor Resources Module, near the top center, click the ⌄ drop down next to the Module name (e.g., Instructor Resources) and select Hide from Users
      Tip: If you don't see Hide from Users and instead see Make Visible to Users, the module is already hidden.
      
6. To view the report, as an Instructor, Course Builder, Teaching Assistant, or Grader, click Ally Course Accessibility Report and the report will open in a new tab