MBA 687 OER
LMS AS SIMULATION PLATFORM

Brightspace as a Corporate Communication System

How the Discussions feature was adapted into a company-wide communication feed and a private Executive Inbox between Dirk Ekuts and each student consultant.

Why Brightspace Discussions?

A standard LMS discussion tool was deliberately repurposed to imitate two different layers of organizational communication: a company-wide corporate feed and a private client inbox. Students are not merely posting to a class discussion; they are choosing the appropriate communication channel for a consulting engagement.

1. SingTech — General Communications

Functions like a corporate distribution list or all-hands email. Messages can come from Singapore headquarters, HR, senior leadership, or operations.

  • Provides context, pressure, and organizational signals.
  • Not every message requires action.
  • Students do not reply in this channel.
  • Follow-up occurs through the Executive Inbox.

2. Executive Inbox

Simulates direct communication between the consultant and Dirk Ekuts. It is the primary working channel for the engagement.

  • Visible only to the student and instructor.
  • Used for requests, clarification, assumptions, and interpretation.
  • Deliverables are introduced and submitted in the same thread.
  • Functions like an executive email/message history rather than a casual discussion board.

How the Channels Work Together

Organizational signal appears

A company-wide message creates context. It may inform, pressure, clarify, or complicate the consulting work.

Student interprets the signal

The consultant decides whether the message changes assumptions, priorities, stakeholder concerns, or evidence needs.

Consultant uses the private channel

Questions, interpretations, and deliverables move through the Executive Inbox with Dirk.

Work accumulates as an engagement

The thread becomes a persistent record of client direction, student reasoning, and professional deliverables.

Brightspace Implementation Specification

The student-facing communication rules come directly from the course communication guide. The implementation notes below document the configuration used in the course so another instructor can reproduce the design.

Recommended structure

Forum: SingTech Communications Hub Topic A: Company Wide Communications (Read Only) Audience: all students Purpose: HQ / HR / C-suite / operations messages Student replies: disabled / not used Monitoring expectation: awareness only Group Category: SingTech Client Portals Group type: one student per group Membership: student + instructor access Important: groups may need to be rebuilt after a course copy Private Topics: Executive Inbox – [Student] Restrict topic to: SingTech Client Portals / assigned group Visibility: student + instructor only Purpose: client direction, clarification, and deliverable exchange

Build sequence

  1. Create the forum.
  2. Create the company-wide read-only topic.
  3. Create the group category for private client portals.
  4. Create one private group per student.
  5. Create/restrict Executive Inbox topics to the correct group.
  6. Test with View as Student and, ideally, a second student account.
  7. Confirm that students cannot see another consultant's inbox.

Course-copy warning

Group structures may not copy with the course. Rebuild the client-portal groups, then confirm topic restrictions before the first communication is released.

Validation test: use two student identities and verify that each sees company-wide communications plus only the correct private Executive Inbox.

Professional Framing for Students

There are no traditional “assignments” inside the simulation. Work is framed as professional deliverables: introduced through the Executive Inbox, developed through ongoing client interaction, and submitted back through that same channel.

This shifts the LMS from a place where students upload isolated files into a place that more closely resembles a client relationship with a communication history.