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Brightspace Tip #298: January Continuous Delivery Updates

update

D2L (the company that owns Brightspace) uses Continuous Delivery to update our Brightspace system. The Continuous Delivery model gives us regular monthly updates allowing for incremental and easily integrated changes with no downtime required for our Brightspace system.

Our Continuous Delivery update occurs on the 4th Thursday of each month. D2L provides release notes to help users stay up-to-date with the changes.

Here are a few updates in the January 2022/20.22.1 release that were added to our system this month:

1) Brightspace Learning Environment – Improved editing features in Audio-Video Editor

This feature introduces new capabilities to the Audio-Video editor for files uploaded to the Content Service. Users can now edit video timelines, create chapters, and add captions to their videos. D2L recommends using the desktop experience when editing audio-video files.

Video files uploaded as topics in Classic Content (through the Upload/Create > Video or Audio workflow) can be edited from course content. Video Notes can be edited with the new Audio-Video Editor as well.

Example of the Advanced Editing link in the Audio-Video Editor
Example of the Advanced Editing link in the Audio-Video Editor

Editing timelines allows users to skip unwanted sections of a video recording.

Chapter titles can be used to create a Table of Contents for videos to allow quick navigation to specific sections.

Captions can be uploaded from a .vtt or .srt file or automatically generated to make videos accessible to all users.

An example of Advanced Editing options in the Audio-Video Editor
An example of Advanced Editing options in the Audio-Video Editor

NOTE: The editor features are available for all Video Notes AND for newly uploaded audio-video files. The editor features DO NOT apply to files that were uploaded prior to this feature being introduced. Audio/Video files that were uploaded prior to our January 2022 Continuous Delivery Updates and are located in Manage Files, will not see the Advanced Edit workflow. Migrating these videos is currently a manual process involving downloading and re-uploading your media files through the Upload/Create > Video or Audio workflow in Content.

This feature addresses the following accessibility criteria:

  • WCAG 2.1 Success criterion WCAG 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded)

For additional information, including screenshots, of the updated Audio-Video player and editor visit the Evolving the Audio-Video Experience blog post in the Brightspace Community.

2) Brightspace Learning Environment – Improved viewing features in Audio-Video player

To improve the functionality of the Audio-Video player in Brightspace Learning Environment, multi-bitrate streaming, and search functionality are now available.

Multi-bitrate streaming allows high-definition videos to be played at standard definition to reduce the bandwidth necessary for users to watch videos.

The new search functionality allows users to locate key words in video captions and quickly navigate to those sections.

An example showing the search for a keyword in the video caption track
An example showing the search for a keyword in the video caption track

This feature addresses the following accessibility criteria:

  • WCAG 2.1 Success criterion WCAG 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded)

For additional information, including screenshots, of the updated Audio-Video player and editor visit the Evolving the Audio-Video Experience blog post in the Brightspace Community.

3) Brightspace Learning Environment – Supported browsers

With this release, Brightspace Learning Environment's browser version check now displays warnings for browsers earlier than the following versions:

  • Chrome 93 (released in August 2021)
  • Safari 13 (released in September 2019)
  • Firefox 91 (released in August 2021)
  • Edge 93 (released in August 2021)

You can access Brightspace Learning Environment with older versions of the supported browsers; however, D2L does not test Brightspace Learning Environment against these older versions. This means you may encounter unexpected user interface behavior and appearance or broken and unsupported functionality. In most cases, D2L does not fix software defects experienced in unsupported browser versions. For an optimal experience that offers better performance, accessibility, and security, D2L strongly recommends that all users access Brightspace Learning Environment with the latest version of a supported browser.

4) Brightspace Pulse – Subscription notifications for Discussions

With this release, subscription notifications in Brightspace Pulse are now consistent with subscription notifications in Brightspace Learning Environment. From the Notifications > Subscriptions tab in Brightspace Pulse, learners now receive all replies to discussions they are subscribed to and @mentions in discussion threads. Previously, the subscription notifications that learners received in Brightspace Pulse were inconsistent with the subscription notifications that they received in Brightspace Learning Environment.

5) Calendar – Improvements to Date and Time Selection Web Components

Building upon the Calendar – Improvements To Date And Time Selection Web Components | Updated feature released in Brightspace Platform March 2021/20.21.3 Release Notes, this release updates the date and time picker in Brightspace Learning Environment to include the following usability changes:

  • The Set to Today button is renamed to Today. The Today button continues to set the date and the time based on the context. For example, choosing Today for an End Date sets the current date and sets the time to 11:59 PM.
  • Added a Now button that sets the current date and time. The Today and Now buttons only appear when a date and time are required. When only a date is required, only the Today button appears and functions the same as the Now button.
  • The Today, Now, and Clear buttons are center-aligned in the date and time picker.
The new date and time picker
The new date and time picker
The previous date and time picker
The previous date and time picker

This feature addresses the following accessibility criteria:

  • WCAG 2.1 Success criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard

6) Content Service – Uploaded media files use Content Service

To improve the functionality of audio-video files in Brightspace this feature ensures most audio-video files are handled by the Content Service. The new capabilities are documented in the Brightspace Learning Environment – Improved viewing features in Audio-Video player | New, and the Brightspace Learning Environment – Improved editing features in Audio-Video Editor | New features from this release. Newly uploaded audio-video files can now take advantage of all the features of the Content Service, and similar behavior is experienced in all locations where media files can be uploaded or edited. Audio-video files that were uploaded prior to this release do not have access to the features available to files hosted by the Content Service. All audio-video files uploaded to Content service are now automatically converted to mp4 files (or mp3 for audio) to ensure they are playable on all supported devices.

Note: Videos uploaded as Assignment submissions or uploaded to a course’s Manage Files area continue to use the legacy method for handling files.

7) Discussions – Scoring Rubric drop-down for evaluations

To make the Discussion evaluation consistent with the Assignments evaluation, this feature adds the Grading Rubric drop-down to the sidebar menu. This allows the instructor to choose a grading rubric when evaluating a discussion.

If a normal topic assessment with Points/Custom Points-based rubric is selected, this rubric is the one whose score transfers to the Overall Grade field. The score transfer does not occur if Allow assessment of individual posts or a Percentage rubric is selected.

The new Discussions evaluation with the Grading Rubric drop-down
The previous Discussions evaluation without the Grading Rubric drop-down
The previous Discussions evaluation without the Grading Rubric drop-down

If you are interested in getting more information about these and all the January Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform January 2022/20.22.1 Release Notes.

Additionally, refer to the Brightspace Release Notes for Continuous Delivery Releases, for details about current, past, and to preview upcoming continuous delivery updates.

Want more information?

View current, past, and preview upcoming Continuous Delivery release notes
View all the Brightspace training recaps
Instructors Quick Start Tutorial
Brightspace Known Issues
Request a sandbox course
Sign-up for Brightspace training sessions
You can find Brightspace help at D2L's website.
Join the Brightspace Community.
Try these Brightspace How-To documents.
Visit our Brightspace FAQs for additional Brightspace information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.

Image credit: image by geralt from Pixabay

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