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Brightspace New Content Experience

Prof. Emma O'Neill image
I really like the clear, clutter-free look of the NCE. It provides the opportunity to guide students more clearly on their learning journey through the module, particularly when linked with the pre-made HTML pages.
Prof. Emma O'Neill, VET30620-Vet Musc & Neurology II School of Veterinary Medicine
Prof. Crystal Fulton image
The clean look of NCE helps emphasise key content. Images and textual enhancements complement information design and amplify the visual appeal of material for students. I was so impressed that now I have applied it across my modules.
Prof. Crystal Fulton, IS40530: Information & Reference Services School of Information & Communication Studies
Orla Daly, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems & Liam Fogarty, Educational Technology Services image
The NCE was an excellent host for our 'Are You AI Ready?' module, providing clear navigation that allowed us to present our content consistently and support both staff and students in engaging with the content while looking clean and modern.
Orla Daly, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems & Liam Fogarty, Educational Technology Services, Are You AI Ready? Investigating AI Tools in Higher Education: Faculty Guide
Dr. Claire McGuinness image
The NCE in Brightspace enabled me to design an engaging, seamless learning pathway by organising learning materials and assessments into clear weekly units, making it easy for students to navigate and access everything they need in one place.
Dr. Claire McGuinness, IS10050 Digital Judgement School of Information and Communication Studies

On this page

NCE inc search box

What is the New Content Experience (NCE) in Brightspace?

The New Content Experience (NCE) is a refreshed presentation of learning content in Brightspace. Designed to streamline content creation, enhance collaboration, and create engaging and accessible learning experiences for faculty and students.

Following a transition period during the 2024/25 academic year, all 2025/26 modules now use the Brightspace New Content Experience.

NCE assessible activities view

What is happening?

All 2025/26 modules now use the Brightspace New Content Experience.

Support and training resources are available now to help faculty prepare for and adopt the New Content Experience.

Figure 1: New Assessable Activities View

Benefits of the Brightspace New Content Experience

  1. User-Friendly Interface: The New Content Experience offers a user-friendly and intuitive interface, making content creation and navigation easier for both instructors and learners.
  2. Clear learning pathways: The New Content Experience is designed to assist faculty in scaffolding the learning journey, thereby enhancing student engagement and accessibility. By structuring the learning process through clear pathways and signposting, it enables a more logical progression through learning materials.
  3. Clean Minimalist Design: With a minimalist design and simplified content structure, the New Content Experience provides a clutter-free environment, enhancing focus on learning material and ease of use for users.
  4. A Brand New Assessable Activities View: The Assessable Activities View provides a comprehensive overview to assignments, quizzes, and discussions, allowing both instructors and learners to track requirements, completion status, feedback, and grades within the “My Learning” area in Brightspace. 
  5. Efficient Evaluation Process: Instructors can efficiently evaluate and review draft grades directly within the Assessable Activities View, streamlining the grading process and providing timely feedback to learners, fostering a more dynamic and interactive learning environment."
  6. Taking Advantage of New Features & Developments: By transitioning to the New Content Experience, faculty can take advantage of system developments, as all new features and updates will be implemented within the New Content Experience, ensuring access to the latest advancements in  educational technology

Support and Training

To help you get your content ready for the New Content Experience in Brightspace, we are offering a range of support options : 

  • Short training sessions are available as part of our Brightspace training programme.  These sessions focus on preparing and organising your content for the New Content Experience

  • 1:1 online support appointments can be booked through IT Services.  These are ideal for instructors who need dedicated time to resolve specific content setup issues

  • How-to guides and support articles are available in our Knowledge Base, covering key features and common tasks in the New Content Experience

  • IT Support Hub : You can submit a support request at any time if you have questions or run into issues

Links to all of these resources are available in the "Getting Started" section below.

Getting Started

Quick guides for Instructors

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How to upload and share content with your students in the NCE How to upload and share content with your students in the NCE
How to upload and share content with your students in the NCE
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What do I need to check to move to the New Content Experience What do I need to check to move to the New Content Experience
What do I need to check to move to the New Content Experience
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How to copy content from one Brightspace module to another (Instructor) How to copy content from one Brightspace module to another (Instructor)
How to copy content from one Brightspace module to another (Instructor)
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Enhancing Engagement through Unit Descriptions in the NCE Enhancing Engagement through Unit Descriptions in the NCE
Enhancing Engagement through Unit Descriptions in the NCE
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Making assessment activities visible in the My Learning area in the NCE Making assessment activities visible in the My Learning area in the NCE
Making assessment activities visible in the My Learning area in the NCE
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How to add a Yuja video to your module in the NCE How to add a Yuja video to your module in the NCE
How to add a Yuja video to your module in the NCE

FAQ

No. Starting 15 July 2025, the New Content Experience (NCE) in Brightspace is the default content experience for all newly created modules.

From 15 July to 14 August 2025, instructors have the ability to view and access content in the Classic Content Experience — but only Module Coordinators in teaching modules can switch between the Classic and New Content Experiences during this time.

This option is temporary. After 15 August 2025, all modules will permanently use the New Content Experience, and the ability to toggle between views will no longer be available.

Once the New Content Experience is enabled in a module, all instructors and students interact with content through the new display.

Yes, there are differences in how content displays, new ways for creating and moving units and content.  After adding content you should check to make sure it displays how you intend it to display. 

Further information on the steps to add content are in this (opens in a new window)knowledge base article and (opens in a new window)more.  

Yes.   Review the (opens in a new window)checklist of key items to check to ensure your content displays well in the NCE and use the New Content Experience Module Content Readiness Widget on the home pages of your teaching modules to review any content that needs attention.

No - the New Content Experience impacts the display of content only in the My Learning area of modules.  Other tools in Brightspace such as assignments, quizzes, and discussions,etc are unaffected.

The new experience now supports a maximum of five levels of units and subunits. Top-levels are called Units. The second level sub-units are called Lessons and 3rd level sub units are called Folders. It is recommended that instructors use a minimum amount of 'subunits' to avoid multiple layers where students have to click down into subunits to access the resource/content. This is consistent with Universal Design Learning (UDL) best practices.

Yes, the New Content Experience is designed for mobile devices.  It is recommended that a full web browser is used with Brightspace on mobile devices.  (opens in a new window)Brightspace Pulse displays are unaffected by which content display tool is in use in modules.

You can contact IT Services via the IT Services Helpdesk at www.ucd.ie/ithelp

IT Services are offering (opens in a new window)Bookable 1:1 online support appointments for instructors who want to become early adopters of the New Content Experience.  

Short training sessions for instructors on using the New Content Experience are also available.  Book here

All our support resources are linked from the project web page: Brightspace New Content Experience - UCD IT Services

Instructors can also open support queries at any stage via the (opens in a new window)IT Support hub

Timeline Key Dates

  • May 2024

    New Content Experience available to toggle on/off in all staff sandboxes

  • Mid-July 2024

    The 2024/25 academic year module containers will become available in Brightspace

  • July/August 2024

    Targeted Training & support for New Content Experience being rolled out

  • September 2024

    Recommended that all Stage 1 core modules at the undergraduate level and, where feasible, graduate-taught programmes, begin using the New Content Experience

  • January 2025

    NCE is available to all Spring modules

  • 15 July 2025

    25/26 New module shells available

  • 15 August 2025

    NCE becomes the sole content experience in Brightspace

  • 2025/26 academic year

    Full rollout of New Content Experience

UCD NCE Module Content Readiness Widget

The New Content Experience Module Content Readiness Widget is visible to instructors on the home pages of teaching modules.  The widget analyses the content in the module and displays pre-existing module content from the Classic content experience that needs to be reviewed in order to display in the New Content Experience - making the review of module content quicker and easier for all instructors.

Meet Our Project Team

Meet our project team, working together to achieve our goals with expertise.

Profile photo of Catherine Murphy

Catherine Murphy

IT Project Manager – Educational Technology Services

Team Lead

Profile photo of David Kane

David Kane

Project Manager – Educational Technology Services

Team member

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Nicola Carrigan

Senior IT Specialist – Educational Technology Services

Team member

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Rachel Hickey

Senior IT Specialist – Educational Technology Services

Team member

Profile photo of Martin Heduan

Martin Heduan

Senior Educational Technologist

Team member

UCD IT Services

Computer Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.

Contact us via the UCD IT Support Hub: www.ucd.ie/ithelp