mycourselink (Students)

mycourselink (Brightspace by Desire2Learn) is the online learning management system at Lakehead University used to deliver fully online and remote learning courses, and as an online component for on-campus classes.  mycourselink is also used to provide academic support and training opportunities for students.  Visit the Self-Registration link in mycourselink to view all of the non-academic and training courses available for students.

Accessing mycourselink and Course Sites

mycourselink can be accessed through the mycourselink login page: https://mycourselink.lakeheadu.ca using a Lakehead University account username and password.  Please note that every new Lakehead account is set up with a temporary password that must be changed by the user.  Visit the Setting and Resetting Passwords for details.

Course sites are typically "opened" on the first day of the term and will appear under the My Courses widget. Students are advised to contact their instructors if they do not have access to their online sites. Please be advised that not all on-campus classes will have an online course site.

Graduate and teaching assistants requiring access to online course sites are advised to contact their supervisors to arrange access.

Pinning Courses in myCourselink

The Pin feature in mycourselink makes it easy for students to quickly find courses they regularly access and have them appear first on the All tab and on the Course Selector drop-down menu.  The Pinned tab lists only Pinned courses.

To manually Pin a course, mouse over the course image, click on the ellipses (three dots) menu and then select Pin.  A Pin icon will appear on the image to indicate the course is Pinned.  Click on the Pin icon to remove the course from the Pinned list.

mycourselink homepage

Figure: My Courses widget on mycourselink homepage that shows the All and Pinned tabs, and the Course Selector drop-down menu listing Pinned courses. 

Please note: Not all on-campus classes will utilize mycourselink for course delivery. Students should check with their instructors to confirm if they will be using mycourselink for their on-campus classes.

Features and Tools Available in mycourselink

The Brightspace platform:

  • supports content in multiple formats (e.g., audio, video, text)
  • offers tools to create engaging and interactive learning such as quizzes, discussions, video assignments, virtual classrooms, and digital portfolios
  • provides features that motivate and recognize learners' achievements through online certificates and badges, grade items, and embedded feedback
  • includes built-in analytics for learners to track their own progress on course activities
  • meets global accessibility standards across all tools to ensure usability by individuals with disabilities and interoperability with assistive technologies
  • integrates with other University supported technologies such as Video Assignments, Zoom, and Riipen.

Course sites are set up using a standard default template and include the following course tools and links on the course navigation menu:

navigation menu in a course site

  • Content - a repository for course materials
  • Assignments - a tool to submit and collect marked assignments
  • Quizzes - a tool to take quizzes, tests, and exams online
  • Discussions - an asynchronous communication tool for posting and replying to messages
  • Classlist - list of enrolled students
  • Grades - a tool for viewing individual grades for assessments
  • Library - quick link to Library Research Guides
  • Other Tools - a collection of other course tools and integrated applications
  • Jump To - a selection of quick links to University services and supports
  • Help - support documentation for mycourselink

mycourselink also includes an internal email system (separate from Lakehead email), instant messaging, subscription alerts, and a notifications feature.  These options are located on the top-level main navigation menu that appears on all course sites. 

navigation menu

The layout of a course homepage includes the following additional course tools:

  • Announcements - a communication tool to post important news and announcements
  • Updates - a tool that displays information from other tools (e.g., unread submission, ungraded quizzes, etc)
  • Calendar - displays a list of upcoming events associated with other course tools (e.g., assignment due dates, quiz periods, etc.)

The following is a selection of instructional "how-to" video playlists for the commonly used course tools.  Please note that references may be made within these resources to tools and plugins that Lakehead does not have or has not enabled at this time. 

How-to Student Videos

Additional Resources