We’re thrilled to announce that the UCA Board of Trustees and the Arkansas Legislative Council has officially approved D2L Brightspace as UCA’s new learning management system (LMS)! The transition from Blackboard to Brightspace will begin Spring 2026.
This move is an important and necessary step forward—Blackboard Learn Original will no longer be available after June 30, 2026. That means all Summer 2026 and future courses will take place in D2L Brightspace.
How We Got Here
The Teaching Technology Advisory Committee (TTAC)—made up of faculty from every college, Torreyson Library, and the Graduate School, along with staff from IT and the Office of Accessibility Resources—led a year-long, faculty-driven review of major LMS platforms. After testing, demonstrations, and campus feedback, D2L Brightspace was chosen for its modern design, intuitive tools, and innovative teaching features.
What’s Next
CETAL and IT will soon share detailed timelines for training, migration, and support. Faculty will have many opportunities to learn the new system and move their courses over well before Blackboard access ends.
Training will take place throughout Spring 2026, beginning in January, with course migration continuing through Summer 2026.
Questions? Please reach out to Dr. Amy Hawkins at aamy@uca.edu.
Learn About Brightspace
D2L Brightspace is a comprehensive learning management system that is modern and easy to use for faculty, staff, and students. It offers new capabilities to support teaching and learning across different modalities, supports growth in online learning, provides advanced analytics that contribute to student success, and lays a foundation for engaging learning experiences that facilitate Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) in online courses. Brightspace is celebrated for its modern design, intuitive tools, and innovative teaching features.
Notable strengths:
- Content Creation Flexibility: Rich HTML editor with extensive template options
- Accessibility Excellence: Built-in accessibility checker that helps ensure all materials meet standards
- Robust Discussions: Discussion forums offer advanced moderation and assessment capabilities
- Intelligent Agents: Automated communications based on customizable triggers
- Plain Language: Navigation, settings, and in-tool support is all written in plain language
More resources:
Brightspace 101: Building Better Learning Experiences (Video)
Bright Ideas: Getting Started with Brightspace (Video)
Brightspace Tutorials are videos resources for learning how to use the D2L products that power Brightspace solutions.
Brightspace Guided Training (Website)
If you are new to online learning, new to Brightspace, or just looking for how to do something new in your Brightspace classroom, this is the perfect starting place for you.