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Academic Technology Launchpad: Finding your Courses

Student Technology Help Desk

Finding your Brightspace Courses

Finding your Courses 

Your Brightspace courses are listed in two places -- the My Courses widget on the organizational homepage and the Course Selector waffle icon, which will follow you throughout Brightspace.

Org homepage with course selector and my courses widget

To access a course, select the course. If the course is not yet available, it should give some indication of when it will begin or end underneath the course name in the My Course widget.

Brightspace Course Availability FAQs

Missing or not yet accessible Brightspace courses

A few reasons this may happen:  

  1. Instructors may not have made the course available to students yet in Brightspace. This is the most common reason.
    • By default, courses are made available in Brightspace 2 days prior to the start date of the course. Some instructors may opt to make their courses available earlier or later.
    • Check your course enrollment and start date in your myMadisonCollege Portal.
    • Check your student email for any course information from your instructor. 
  2. Only officially enrolled students in a course will be able to access that course in Brightspace.
    • If you are on a wait list for a class, you will have temporary, read-only guest access. If you get moved off the waitlist and are officially enrolled as a student in the course, you will have full access as a student.
    • Check your course enrollment status in your myMadisonCollege Portal to verify you are enrolled.
  3. Courses from previous semesters are made unavailable to students through an automated process.
    • If you would like access to a previous semester's Brightspace course, contact the instructor to request access.
  4. Check the My Courses widget to make sure that you have the correct semester or 'All' selected to allow you to view the course.
    • On your Brightspace organizational homepage, at the top of My Courses module, ensure the correct option is selected to allow you to view the course. 

 My Courses widget with terms circled

Waitlisted Students 

 

  • Waitlisted students are not fully enrolled in a course, but are waiting for a seat to become available. You can check your waitlist status in the myMadisonCollege Portal.
  • Waitlisted students have temporary and view-only guest access to course content in Brightspace unless/until fully enrolled.
  • Waitlisted students cannot take quizzes or tests, complete assignments, participate in discussions, view or receive grades, or fully participate in a course.

 

Additional Waitlisted Student FAQs
  • What happens during the enrollment drop and add period?
    • You may be allowed to enroll in the course and then will have full access to the course as a student or you may be removed from the course after the 7th day from the start date because a space did not open for you to be enrolled in the course. 
  • How long does it take to get full access to course materials after I am moved from the waitlist and am enrolled in the class?
    • Usually within about 10 minutes after becoming an enrolled student in a course, you would have access to the materials in Brightspace. 
    • Occasionally, it will take an overnight process to switch from waitlisted to enrolled status in Brightspace.
    • If your access is not automatically updated within this timeframe, please contact Student Technology Help and we will help you get that corrected. 

  • How do I know whether I have waitlisted or full student access to a Brightspace course?

    • In Brightspace, waitlisted students appear in the Classlist with the role 'Learner_Guest_Waitlist'.
    • To view your Classlist, navigate to your course and choose Classlist from the Course Tools dropdown menu.Classlist menu option in Brightspace
  • I'm on a waitlist for a course, but it doesn't show up in my courses listed in Brightspace - Why?
    • The instructor may not be using Brightspace for the course.
    • There may not yet be an instructor assigned to the course.
    • Contact the instructor (if known) or Student Technology Help with questions.
  • I had guest access as a waitlisted student for a course, but now it disappeared?
    • If, after the 7th calendar day from the course’s start date, you do not move from the waitlist to enrolled status, you will automatically be removed from the course.  
    • If you have questions about your enrollment status, check your Student Center in your MyMadisonCollege Portal or contact the Enrollment Center at 608.246.6210.

Completed Course Availability for Students

 

After the course ends:

  •  Brightspace courses from previous semesters are automatically made unavailable to students at a scheduled time, usually approximately 4 weeks after the end of the class.
  • In the meantime, you can:  
    • Narrow your view in the My Courses widget or search for your courses in the Course Selector (waffle icon) 

course selector options

  • Contact the instructor for the course who can make the course unavailable to you. 
  • Check which courses you are officially enrolled in by looking at your class schedule through the myMadisonCollege Portal.
  • Most courses are completely removed from the Brightspace system after 2 years.

 

Brightspace logoSign in to Brightspace

Madison College's online Learning Management System

 

Find your courses and more from the organizational homepage in Brightspace