D2L Brightspace Reviews & Product Details

I really like the clear layout of the courses. Courses look fresh, clean, and easy to use for both staff and students. The added bonus that really adds to the experience is tools like QuickEval, Class Progress and Intelligent Agents. These tools make Brightspace stand out from the crowd when it comes to other VLE's and provide our staff with the tools that can help them stage academic interventions. These tools allow our staff to quickly pinpoint students progress and intervene using automated emails. I also like how it integrates with existing tools we use (Turnitin, SCORM, Respondus, YuJa Panorama, Microsoft Teams). The integrations are easy to manage and create a seamless experiences for our staff and learners. Finally I would have to argue that the support from D2L is unmatched, any issues we have faced have been resolved swiftly and the active community sites help with day-to-day queries. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There are some areas where I personally feel like Brightspace is lacking data analytics. One example would be when an announcement is posted in a course it would be great to see how many students have read the announcement (this is a feature available in Blackboard). While the impact is minimal it was a well used feature in our previous VLE, allowing staff to track engagement with their learners. I have no major dislikes with the VLE - performance is good, it runs well and quickly, my dislikes are minor "niggles" where I wish you could change the background colour, or have more options for release conditions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Ease of use and performance stand out, along with the AI features and API integrations. I also appreciate the support teams available over chat, as well as our direct teams. The customizations are helpful too, especially since they’re role-based. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

With the API-specific rules, if a user doesn’t have permission to access certain materials, those items can’t be pulled through the API. In stricter situations, it would be helpful if users could retrieve data even when it falls outside their role permissions. Creating an API role dashboard could make that possible and give us a clearer way to manage access. Also, we’re not fans of the discussion boards; that area feels clunky and is hard for students to navigate. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

After 17 years of working with D2L Brightspace, I continue to be impressed by its reliability, accessibility, and user centered design. The platform is easy to navigate, with clearly organized tools that support both instructors and learners. Brightspace’s emphasis on accessibility has consistently made it possible to create inclusive, high quality online learning experiences.

Equally valuable is the outstanding support provided by the D2L team. Their responsiveness, expertise, and genuine commitment to customer success have been consistent throughout my experience. Combined with the system’s long term stability and dependable performance, Brightspace has proven to be a trustworthy, well evolved LMS that I’m proud to recommend. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I wouldn’t really use the word “dislike.” There are just a few things I’d like to see improved, especially in the attendance area. For example, the name column isn’t fixed the way it is in the gradebook, which makes the attendance view less user-friendly and a bit harder to navigate. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like how D2L Brightspace is well-organized and easy to navigate, making it simple to access course materials, assignments, and grades in one place. The clear layout helps me stay on track with deadlines, and the ability to submit assignments and receive feedback directly on the platform is very convenient. I also appreciate the announcements and calendar features, which keep me updated and help me manage my time effectively. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

One downside of D2L Brightspace is that it can sometimes be difficult to navigate, especially when course layouts vary between instructors. This inconsistency can make it harder to quickly find assignments or important information. Additionally, the platform can occasionally be slow or glitchy, which can be frustrating when trying to access materials or submit work on time. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I love how D2L Brightspace often gets updated and takes into account user feedback to provide the most flexible and easy-to-use platform. The user and course management features are my most used, and D2L Brightspace makes everything easier to handle on the administrative side. Managing enrollments, roles, and permissions is very straightforward, reducing time and errors. The initial setup was very, very easy too. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The data hub and data sets are the biggest headaches. I would love access to the full database instead of the CSVs provided by D2L. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

One of the strongest upsides to D2L Brightspace is the intuitive student experience. From the student perspective, they have a very intuative interface that takes them right into the learning with minimal fuss preventing them from getting right to the learning. The implementation team was very helpful, but it was also challenging for us as we were implementing right as they crossed over to a new data platform. From the customer support standpoint D2L walked with us hand-in-hand across implementation and into the frontier of CBE. For the most part, D2L's heavy use of LTI functionality allowed us to integrate many of the tools we were already using in other systems. The system is used on a daily basis by students and weekly by faculty. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The administration of the D2L platform is kind of a chore. There are so many differentiated parts and the integration and implementation of new tools can be very burdonsome. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

D2L Brightspace is a powerful LMS that has evolved into an easy to use and engaging tool for educators to provide online learning experiences for students in k-12. I have been involved with D2L for almost 20 years. I love the advancements in audio and vidoe tools which are game changers and am excited to explore Lumi. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

D2L is almost too comprehensive. It has so many tools and great features that it can seem overwhelming to new users. The integrations with Respondus, Wayground and Canva are sometimes glitch and should be refined. D2L is rarely down and is quickly repaired. AI tools look a bit rough so far but are exciting. Finding the best ways to get support can be challenging. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I find D2L Brightspace incredibly valuable for its wide range of features and the level of customization it offers. It serves as a comprehensive all-in-one course platform, allowing for assignment submissions, quizzes, and interactive student experiences, which are key to improving the overall student experience. The platform's commitment to accessibility and continuous improvement, along with its clean visual design, really stands out to me. I appreciate the depth of features, especially within quizzing and assignments, allowing for a lot of customization to suit our needs. The ability to assign specific deadlines and access periods to students or groups is great, and it easily facilitates accommodations for students. Furthermore, the integration with our website for seamless user login and automatic course enrollment works really well now, streamlining our processes. The initial setup was easy, thanks to the support from a dedicated customer service rep who guided us through everything. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

With the amount of features and the level of customization it can produce comes a pretty good learning curve, there are nuances and quirks to understand. I would say that it is more complex than our previous learning management system, although that complexity ends up being a good thing for the quality of the final product that you can produce. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I love the functionality and the robustness of the platform. The accessibility features are helpful and easy to use. The experience is user-friendly, and meshes well with pedagogy. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Continued improvement in the user editing experience would be great! It hsa gotten easier and easier to edit and create in Brightspace, and continued efforts in making creation and editing an easy, intuitive experience is appreciated. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I love the control D2L Brightspace gives me as an admin, especially how it lets me fine-tune roles and permissions, unlike other LMSs I've worked with. Although I'm not a course designer, I appreciate the Lumi AI tools, which are a huge time saver. With the Lumi Pro suite in our Brightspace site, I'm able to build content, like modules, quizzes, and assignments, using external files much faster. The Lumi Quizzes can automatically generate banks of quiz questions, which saves a lot of time. Also, Lumi Feedback ensures students receive curated feedback on their submissions based on instructor-provided rubrics faster than they normally would. I'm also grateful for D2L's implementation team, who, despite having many meetings, ensures that our institution's Brightspace team is totally aligned and clear on all things related to its implementation. And I appreciate that D2L listens to their customers and is providing a much-needed makeover to the Learning Object Repository system. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There are some admin features where certain things are located among their 'admin tools' that are sometimes not really intuitive. Either where they're located or how you manage them. I find the LOR (Learning Object Repository) to be pretty confusing to interact with and update content in. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.