Brightspace Pulse

Brightspace Pulse is a mobile app that helps learners stay connected and on track with their courses. It provides a view of due dates, readings, assignments, evaluations, grades, and announcement items. The Pulse app is one of the easiest ways to get notifications from courses and provides a way to access courses from a mobile device.

Brightspace Pulse is available for download from any global Google Play™ store or Apple App Store®.

Look Inside the Pulse App

The Pulse app provides students with access to D2L when they are away from their desktops. Students can view all of the D2L course sites in which they are enrolled [A]. Individual modules display the different types of activities and items in Content [B].

mockup of cell phone with screenshots of the pulse app

Students can set notification preferences so that they can be informed of approaching due dates and announcements that have been posted [C]. Pulse also provides students with a view of the Work to Do widget so they can manage their time according to weeks with heavier work loads [D].

mockup of cell phone with screenshots of pulse app

Optimize the Pulse App

To make the most of the Pulse app, students must subscribe to instant notifications and instructors must utilize specific tools within D2L.

Step 1: Students subscribe to instant notifications

Provide students with instructions on how to subscribe to instant notifications. This can be done in a couple of ways.

Create a news item that contains the link to the page on setting up instant notifications and encourages students to download the Pulse app.
Email CTL@depaul.edu to request that the "D2L Student Settings" page be added to a course. This page contains instructions for downloading the Pulse app and subscribing to course notifications.

Step 2: Instructors add dates, create a gradebook, and use the News tool

Dates

Add dates directly to items in a D2L course, such as Quizzes, Submissions, Discussions, and items added to Content.

Grades

In D2L's Grades area, instructors can set up the gradebook for a course and associate individual grade items with other tools (e.g. Submissions, Quizzes, Discussions) so that they can be assessed within D2L. Students can then easily access those grades within the Pulse app.

For more information on how to set up a gradebook in a D2L course, visit Grades Overview.

News

The News tool in D2L enables instructors to communicate updates, changes, and new information to students quickly and effectively. News items appear in the News widget on the Course Homepage, the first page that students see when they enter a course.

For more information on how to use the News tool in D2L, visit Updating the News Widget in D2L.