Finally... Brightspace Confirmed for Fall 1

[grogers14]

For those of us who don't know the difference, why would Brightspace be any different than Canvas or Moodle or whatever else a school might use?  I don't understand why moving to a different platform would change the entire layout of every course from exams to papers.

Brightspace is similar to Canvas. Strut Learning Platform is what UMPI has utilized since the creation of YourPace. Strut created and owns most of the courses. There's no way to contact the professor or other students who are in the course on Strut. UMPI is limited in what they can change on Strut because they don't own most of the courses especially the business courses. There's a great deal more flexibility in Brightspace than Strut. Brightspace can also link directly to the UMPI library which can't be done on Strut. Strut is not a LMS like Canvas. It's a different type of LMS. It's very limited in what can be done with it. It's kind of old school looking too....like Blackboard in the 90's.

I understand now, makes sense.  But, I'm still not understanding why this means that courses will all be projects/papers based and none will be exams?  Couldn't a teacher choose to have exams?

With the change to a new software, they most likely will revise curriculum which could result in less exams. A lot of CBE programs are trying to move to projects and essays for their finals just because its easier to prove to accrediting bodies, like New England Commission of Higher Education, the class is a "real" college class and isn't just a free A.