Observer Role Access Information

This page is to learn more about the Observer Roles Access when conducting a Teacher Observation.

Note that instructors can organize their course in different ways, and they may not use all tabs in the default Navigation Bar in Brightspace (BrS). 

Observers Navigation Bar will contain the same tabs the students can see and access. Though you may access these tabs, it does not mean you will be able to interact with the content in them or see student's work. Below we provide further information as to what content observers can or cannot see, access or interact with:

Announcements

Observers only can view posted visible announcements.

Contents

Any visible content can be seen here by the student and observer.  

Assignments

Observers can view the list of assignments set to be visible for students. However, observers cannot view other student submissions. 

Discussions

Observers can see forums and topics. They cannot create a thread/topic.  

If the settings for a topic are set to "You must start a thread before you can read and reply to other threads" The observer will not see any post within that topic. If the instructor removed this setting after first enabling it, the observer could see any post and will still see the message "You must start a thread before you can read and reply to other threads."  

Quizzes 

Observers can view a list of quizzes currently visible for students. This includes viewing the instructions and quiz details such as Number of total attempts allowed, Time limit, and Availability date(s). Observers cannot start the quiz. 

Grades

Observers cannot see students’ grades and do not have access to the gradebook or the Quick Eval. 

Groups

Observers cannot view a group unless they are a part of that group. They cannot view Group Assignment/Discussion either if they are not a part of the group. 

Class Progress

Observers cannot view students’ progress throughout the course.