Content

You can access your course content via the Content link in the blue nav bar at the top of your course site. The Content tool serves as the primary hub in a course. Content is the home for all of your course lectures, files, assignments, discussions, quizzes, and other activities. When you want to view a specific content module, click a module name to display the topics your instructor has added. To view a topic or page of content, click on the topic name. Your content will appear on a page as seen below. 

Course Content

Printing a Content File

Viewing an Attached File

As you go through your courses, you may notice that some instructors use attached files with their course activities. While Brightspace has a built-in document reader, it cannot always display every document as intended. When viewing an attached document in Brightspace, it is recommended that you use the View as Page option at the bottom of the webpage. This will allow you to view the file in its intended format.

Content Completion

Brightspace tracks your Content Completion automatically or manually depending on how your instructor set up the course. If your instructor decided to track Content Completion automatically, then Brightspace will automatically mark any Content Item complete when you click into it. While this is helpful, please note that it does not track if you completed the item itself, it only tracks that you clicked on the item. In some cases, there may be times where an item is not showing it is completed even though you clicked on it. Unfortunately, this happens if a link is designed to take you outside of Brightspace. You can try to get around this by clicking on the previous or next Content Item, then use the arrow buttons on the right side of the screen to go to that item.

If your instructor decided to track Content Completion manualy, then you will be responsible for clicking each checkbox as you complete the contente items. As you click on these checkboxes, it will report the item as completed to the system and you will see your progress from the Content Progress Bar at the top of the module. Please note that checking these checkboxes does not automatically complete the item itself, you will still need to complete the item and use the checkbox as a reminder that you completed that Content Item.

Note: Content Completion does not necessarily mean that activities have also been completed. Brightspace calculates this percentage based on how the instructor sets up how they want Content Completion to be tracked. Make sure to check Assignments, Quizzes, and other categories to see if an activity was missed.

RTF Files in a Course

RTF (Rich Text Format) files are universal text documents that are able to go between devices using different operating systems and word processors. You may see these files being used in some courses, however, not all devices have the programs they need to view and edit RTF files. Please select your device below to see the instructions on how to view and edit an RTF file:

Windows

Microsoft Word is the best program to open an RTF file. All NICC Students should have access to Office 365 for free using their NICC email. For those that do not have Office 365, you will need to do the following:

Once you have finished registering for an account, you should be taken to the Office 365 Education suite. 

If you have Office 365 already installed on your computer, you can sign in using your new account. If you do not have Office 365 installed, click the Install Office button in the Office 365 Education suite to download and install all 365 apps. 

After you have Office 365 installed on your computer, you can then open the RTF file using Microsoft word to view and edit.

Mac OS

Mac does not have a native word processor that can open RTF files, however, all NICC Students should have access to Office 365 for free using their NICC email. For those that do not have Office 365, you will need to do the following:

Once you have finished registering for an account, you will then need to go to the App Store and download the Office 365 apps you wish to have on your computer. After they have been downloaded, you will need to sign in to them using the new account you set up in order to activate the app. From there, you should be able to open and edit an RTF file.

Chrome OS (Chromebook)

Google Drive is recommended for RTF files on a Chromebook as you can convert them to Google Docs. You will need to do the following to view and edit an RTF file on Chrome OS:

Once opened, the file can be edited. If the file needs to be edited for an assignment, you will need to do the following:

From there, you should be able to upload the file to submit to your assignment. Please contact your instructor if you do not know which file format you should choose when downloading the assignment.

FAQs

Why isn't Brightspace showing that I completed an item in Content?

It is possible that your instructor has the course set up to automatically record Content Completion, and that the item is set to go to an external source. Unfortunately, Brightspace cannot record Content Item visits if the item takes you to an external website. One way to get around this would be to do the following:

From there, Brightspace should recognize that you have visited the item.

Why can't I select a Content Item?

If a Content Item's text is black instead of blue, it is because that item has a Start Date or End Date on it. This means that you can see the item is there, but you cannot view it until the Start Date has been met or after the End Date has been met.

Why am I getting an error when I click on a Content Item?

It is possible that the item was linked to an external website that is no longer available. You will need to reach out to your instructor via their contact information in the course syllabus or the Getting Started module so they can update the item.