Using Google Tools and D2L’s Brightspace Platform Together

If you’re a teacher reading this, chances are high that you’ve either interacted with or heard about Google learning tools or software for educators. Many of you are already familiar with Google Classroom™, Google Drive™, or Google Docs™ and have achieved student success and satisfaction by incorporating them into your teaching and learning.

We’re here to tell you that you can use the Brightspace platform without having to say goodbye to these tools because Brightspace and Google integrate seamlessly in multiple ways! We know that choosing the right online learning tools can be challenging, but we strive to make teaching and learning easier by helping you use the tools you’re already comfortable with, while also exploring new and exciting features in Brightspace.

With this powerful integration, you can discover the best combination of Brightspace and Google for your own teaching and learning circumstances—use what works, leave what doesn’t. Let’s start with a brief overview of a few ways to use Google tools directly within Brightspace.

1. Insert files from Google Drive™

Do you love keeping your teaching resources organised in Google Drive™, but (understandably) cringe at the thought of downloading and re-uploading everything to share it with your students? Fortunately, Brightspace integrates with Gmail™ and Google Drive™! That’s right, you can access your email account and stored files without ever having to leave Brightspace.

Conveniently add files from your drive into the Content tool for students to consume as they progress through your class materials. Or, do so in the course Activity Feed when you need to highlight important or time-sensitive information right on your class homepage.

Students can submit work from their own drives, sharing work with teachers quickly and efficiently. They can also add documents into their Portfolio, allowing them to track and share their progress, reflections, and learning experiences.

And if you’re looking for easier access to your Google tools, you can add our Google Workspace widget to your class homepage!

2. Stay connected with Google Meet™

Staying connected with your students and building a collaborative digital community is important, especially when face-to-face interactions aren’t an option. You can easily set up a virtual meeting using Google Meet™ directly in Brightspace (in any place that uses Quicklinks!) to promote more engaging conversations with your learners.

For example, you can create and insert a Google Meet meeting into a Brightspace Announcement or an Activity Feed message to provide your students with easy access to virtual meeting links. They’ll be able to view the link and click to join the meeting without having to navigate away from the class homepage. Best of all, you can do all of this with the click of a button.

3. Integrate with Google Assignments™

We know that Google Assignments™ are widely used, and Brightspace allows you to create new Google Assignments™ without leaving the LMS. As a result, your students will be able to access assignments in the Content area of your class (via an LTI link), where they will be sent to a Google interface to view assignment instructions and select a file to submit. Then, enjoy familiar Google features like assessing, grading with rubrics, and viewing plagiarism scores.

As you can see, you can make the Google tools that you know and love even better by integrating them with D2L’s Brightspace learning platform for flexible, personalised learning. For more information on the above integrations, check out this Google integration article in the Brightspace Community.

Written by

Brigitte Grogan

Brigitte is a Success Coach at D2L helping educators use Brightspace in effective and meaningful ways. As a former educator, Brigitte works with a pedagogical mindset while sharing best practice workflows. She is passionate about education and the role that technology plays in todays education.