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the word update written on a chalk board

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 some of the updates in the December 2024/20.24.12 release that were added to our system this month:

1) Brightspace Editor – TinyMCE version

This release updates Brightspace Editor to TinyMCE version 7.2.1 across all production instances, following its initial rollout to test environments in October. This update provides minor defect fixes from TinyMCE, but introduces no functional changes to the editor itself. While no known issues have been identified, D2L recommends that all clients review their course content edited with the Brightspace Editor to ensure all content functions as expected.

2) Consistent Evaluation – Learner View of Grade in Assignments, Discussions, and New Quiz Evaluation experiences

Consistent Evaluation enables instructors to evaluate learner submissions to Assignments, Discussions, and Quizzes using an improved and optimized experience. With this release, the Consistent Evaluation and the New Quiz Evaluation experiences are updated to provide instructors the ability to view the grade scheme that is applied to learners in real time, based on the grade they enter during the evaluation process. For example, if the grade scheme applied to a course is a Letter Grade, instructors can view that letter grade instantly from the consistent evaluation experience. The letter grade is based upon the grade entered during an evaluation. The instructor can also choose to Hide Learner View of Grade or Show Learner View of Grade directly from the evaluation experience. This update also applies to the Completion Summary option available in the New Quiz Evaluation experience.

Note: The Consistent Evaluation experience is the only available evaluation experience for Assignments and Discussions. However, it is still an optional and opt-in experience for Quizzes. For more information about how to opt-in to the New Quiz Evaluation experience, refer to Quizzes – Optimize productivity with an improved quiz evaluation experience | New. For more information about the New Quiz Evaluation experience, refer to Visual tour of the new quiz evaluation experience.

Previously, instructors could not view the applied grade scheme grade when evaluating a submission. Instructors would have to save the grade they entered during their evaluation, and then navigate to Grades to compare the grades entered in the evaluation experience to the applied grade scheme grade.

Note: Grade Schemes are set up using the Grades tool. Schemes can be set up with different representations of grades, including Letter Grades. In the following examples, the Grade Scheme applied is Letter Grade and the submissions are linked to that grade scheme. For more information about how to create a Grade Scheme, refer to Create Grading Schemes using the Grades tool.

Applied grade scheme displayed under Learner View of Grade
With this update, instructors can refer to the applied grade scheme displayed under Learner View of Grade. This view updates in real time as the instructor enters a grade in the Overall Grade field.
Hide Learner View of Grade from the Evaluation Options menu
The instructor can select Hide Learner View of Grade from the Evaluation Options menu (...). Instructors can select Show Learner View of Grade to make the learner view visible again.

This feature implements the following PIE item:

  • D7572 (New Assignment Grade Experience - Add Letter Grade Preview for Overall Grade and Rubric Score).

3) Lumi Chat – Improved user experience with generative AI and surveys

Originally known as Brightspace Virtual Assistant (BVA), Lumi Chat is an inline help tool that is integrated into Brightspace for clients with the End User Support package. It is the first point of contact for end users to ask product questions directly within Brightspace and receive persona-specific documentation from Brightspace Community. Two new changes are coming to Lumi Chat this month:

  • Generative AI responses for users' questions
  • CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) Surveys

Lumi Chat now provides generative AI responses to users' queries. Generated answers take the user query, identify the user's intent, and create a freeform text answer with information from D2L's knowledge bases while also linking to related documentation resources where applicable. The update improves user experiences with increased precision and problem-solving power at no additional cost to End User Support-subscribed clients.

Note: Lumi Chat functions independently of other D2L Lumi products and does not use any D2L Lumi generations.

Additionally, CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) Surveys are now integrated into Lumi Chat to gather feedback on the user experience. The survey is prompted automatically when the user closes the chat window after entering queries and is accessible any time through the star icon in the Lumi Chat window. Participation in the prompted survey is optional for users and does not include an additional cost or enablement steps.

Window showing the star icon you would click on in the Lumi Chat window to provide feedback
Click the star icon in the Lumi Chat window to provide feedback.

4) Rubrics – The Criteria descriptions limit increased to 500 characters

To support larger criteria descriptions, administrators and instructors can now add up to 500 characters to the description of the criteria when creating and editing rubrics. This new limit provides more context about learning expectations.

Full descriptions of criteria are available in the Learner view.

For instructors, when evaluating, up to three lines are displayed. To display the complete text, they must click more.

Click more to display the complete text for the rubric description.
Click more to display the complete text for the rubric description.

Previously, the Criteria description field was limited to 256 characters.

Important: This change applies only to new rubric items created or edited after this release. Existing rubrics retain their original 256-character limit unless manually updated.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

  • D6443 (Brightspace Rubrics – Expand characters allowed in description of criterion)
  • D9982 (Increase the Character limit for the Rubric criteria description)
  • D5135 (Rubric Criteria Description)

5) Pulse – External links open in native browser

The November 20.24.11 Release Notes General Announcements communicated that the Brightspace Pulse app would stagger the release of updates until January 2025.

As part of that staggered update cadence, external links now open in a device's native browser to improve user experience and enable new functionality.

Additionally, this update applies new security upgrades that strengthen login and content access for a safer learning environment, including an update to the log in process to include Proof of Key Code Exchange (PKCE) and deep linking for a more secure mobile app log in experience.

Previously, external links opened using the in-app browser, which had limited functionality and did not strengthen log in with new security features.

To ensure that users can access these improvements, they must first update their Pulse app to the latest version. Then, they must log out and log back in to their Pulse app to apply the required update.

Step 1: Update the Pulse app to the latest version

Users can refer to either the Google Play Store or Apple App Store to update the app.

Step 2: Log out and log back in to the Pulse app

The Pulse app will prompt users to log out to apply the latest security updates and gain access to the ability to view external links in your native browser.

Users can choose one of the following methods to log out:

  • Use the in-app prompt to log out
    • From the prompt, users can tap Log out now and then log back in to apply updates.
  • Remove account from Pulse app
    • Users can also tap and hold their account name in Pulse to select Remove Account. Then they can tap Add Account to find their institution and log in again with their credentials. This also applies the required security updates.

Important: For security purposes, users have 30 days from when they are notified by the prompt to log out of the Pulse app. After 30 days, users will be automatically logged out of all Pulse accounts, and they will need to manually log in to Pulse again to continue using Pulse.

Note: For more information about how to log out of all accounts, or remove and add accounts in the Pulse app, refer to Manage multiple Brightspace Pulse accounts. If users encounter difficulties logging back in, refer to the Logging in section of Troubleshooting Brightspace Pulse.

If you are interested in getting more information about these and all the December Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform December 2024/20.24.12 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
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

the word update written on a chalk board

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 some of the updates in the November 2024/20.24.11 release that were added to our system this month:

1) Brightspace Community – Increased usability with Community enhancements

The Brightspace Community now provides increased usability with the following enhancements:

  • Suggested Results in question workflows (English only): Quickly get answers with automatic searches across the Community as you type your questions.
  • The Ask a Question page, with the question "how to share my award?" and the Suggested Results for the question shown on the right side of the page.
    On the Ask a Question page, type your question to view Suggested Results on the right side.
  • Community announcement banners (English only): Keep up to date with essential news via announcements on specific category pages and within knowledge bases.
  • ASC Homepage Known Issues automated search (English only): Search directly from the ASC homepage using the new ASC global search bar. Immediately find Known and Fixed Issues that may provide a workaround or a new workflow, speeding up your return to teaching and learning. Note that Known Issues and Fixed Issues can not currently link to cases.
  • Learning Center course filters in Community search using course tags (English only): Use simple tag filters to find the course that meets your needs.
  • Quicker search loading times: Search results now load faster with this update.
  • Event tags for Group or Community-wide Events (English only): Identify group-specific or community-wide events with ease using the new tags in your search experience.
  • Quicker access to the Best Answers (English only): Look for the Accepted tag on question results to quickly find the most reliable answers to your Brightspace inquiries. Comments on questions also appear in search results.
  • Persistent saved filters: Maintain your selected search filters on the Search Results page even when switching content sources (for example, from articles to discussions), ensuring your filters stay intact.
  • Specific documentation article feedback (English only): Use the new feedback feature to vote and provide detailed feedback on Community articles.
  • The "Was this article helpful?" question shown with the feedback prompt shown with the feedback textbox and Submit Feedback button.
    At the bottom of a topic page, respond to the Was this article helpful? question. When the feedback prompt appears, type your feedback and click Submit Feedback.

2) Groups – Restore groups and categories

A new Recycle Bin option is available in the Groups tool, enabling you to restore individual group units or entire categories within a course offering. When you restore groups, existing enrollments and lockers are also reinstated (if present). Any activities linked to the restored groups, such as discussions or assignments, can then be individually restored through their respective restore pages.

Recycle Bin in the Groups tool
Click Recycle Bin to view the deleted groups and group categories.
The Recycle Bin showing a group with the checkbox checked.
Select the check box for a group or group category and click Restore.

Note: Groups and categories deleted before this feature was introduced in this November 2024/20.24.11 CD update do not appear in the Groups Recycle Bin. To restore these previously deleted items, contact D2L Support for assistance.

This feature implements the following PIE item:

  • D5136 ( Restore groups and group categories)

If you are interested in getting more information about these and all the November Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform November 2024/20.24.11 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
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

the word update written on a chalk board

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 some of the updates in the October 2024/20.24.10 release that were added to our system this month:

1) Assignments – Retract button removed for users without the Give Feedback permission

With this release, the Retract button is removed from submission evaluation pages for users who have the Assignments > Delete Feedback permission but not the Assignments > Give Feedback permission.

Previously, all users with the Delete Feedback permission could click the Retract button on submission evaluation pages. However, when they clicked the button, nothing happened unless they also had the Give Feedback permission.

Submission evaluation page with Retract button
Before this update, on the submission evaluation page for users with the Delete Feedback permission but not the Give Feedback permission could click Retract.
Submission evaluation page with Retract button removed
After this update, the Retract button is removed from the submission evaluation page for users with the Delete Feedback permission but not the Give Feedback permission.

2) Brightspace Editor – Path detection warning and configuration variable

A warning now appears when a user attempts to add an object (such as a link or image) in Brightspace Editor that has a path outside of the current course offering. The warning tooltip explains that if the item is copied to another course, the incorrect path would also be copied, potentially preventing learners from accessing the object.

This new warning alerts the content creator to ensure a consistent experience for learners.

The path detection warning and tooltip shown in the Brightspace Editor.
The path detection warning and tooltip appear in the Brightspace Editor.

Note: Files shared from Public Files or external URLs are not affected and will not trigger the warning.

If you are interested in getting more information about these and all the October Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform October 2024/20.24.10 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
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

the word update written on a chalk board

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 some of the updates in the September 2024/20.24.9 release that were added to our system this month:

1) Assignments – Update to assignment annotations PSPDFKit

With this release, the software that powers annotations (PSPDFKit) in the Assignments tool is updated from version 20.24.03 to 20.24.04. As part of this update, the unsupported PSPDFKit Bookmarks tool is disabled and the Bookmarks option in annotations is removed to avoid confusion. This update also fixes defects and prevents further defects related to PSPDFKit being out of date.

Previously, instructors could click Bookmarks and add bookmarks to the document. However, added bookmarks were not saved after refreshing the page.

bookmarks before the update
Before this update, instructors could click Bookmarks to add bookmarks to pages of a PDF. However, these bookmarks were not saved.
toolbar showing bookmarks are removed after the update
After this update, Bookmarks is removed.

2) Quizzes – Attach rubrics to written response questions

For Brightspace implementations that use the new quiz evaluation experience, it is now possible for instructors to attach a rubric to written response (long answer) questions on a quiz.

click Add Rubric to attach a new or existing rubric to written response question
When creating new or editing existing written response questions, instructors can now click Add Rubric to attach a new or existing rubric.

Subsequently, within the quiz, instructors can use the rubric to grade the written response quiz questions. The rubric appears below the learner's answer or the instructor can click Pop Out to open the learner response in a separate dialog, enabling the instructor to view the rubric and the written response in separate windows.

The link for the Pop Out window to view the response submission
The instructor can click Pop Out to view the response submission in a separate window, or open the rubric below the submission in the same window.
The rubric appears in the quiz window for the written response question.
The rubric appears in the quiz window for the written response question.

Learners can now see the rubric for written response quiz questions while they are taking the quiz. After the quiz is complete and graded, the learner can review the rubric in the graded quiz for any feedback the instructor provides during the evaluation.

NOTE: The rubric is visible to learners provided the rubric visibility option is set to make visible to students.

3) Quizzes – Optimize productivity with an improved quiz evaluation experience

Grading workflows are now optimized in the quiz evaluation experience to improve instructor productivity. The new quiz evaluation experience can now be turned on in the quiz page you are grading.

the down arrow that expands the new quiz evaluation experience dialog box is highlighted
Instructors can click the down arrow on the top right of the page to expand the dialog used to turn on or turn off the new quiz evaluation experience.
new quiz evaluation experience dialog
The dialog indicates if the experience is on or off and provides buttons to turn it on or off.

After instructors have opted into the new experience, they can scroll between users and select the quiz attempt they want to evaluate for the user.

right and left arrows to move between user attempts
In the new quiz evaluation experience, instructors can use the right and left arrows to select the learner and then select the quiz attempt they want to evaluate from the drop-down list.

In the main assessment area there are now two panels, which is consistent with other updated experiences in Brightspace. The following question types are supported in the new quiz evaluation experience:

  • Multiple choice
  • Written response
  • True or false
  • Short answer
  • Fill in the blank
  • Multi-select
  • Question pools

All other types of questions (matching, arithmetic, significant figures, and multi-short answer) are not currently supported.

If users attempt to use an unsupported question type, an alert message appears:

unsupported questions message with prompt to switch back to Classic quiz evaluation experience
The message indicates that the question type is not supported and provides a link to switch to the Classic quiz evaluation experience.

On the left panel, evaluators can filter by Pending evaluation or Retaken questions only, and can view attempt details, quiz questions, and answers. From this area, evaluators can leave feedback for specific quiz sections.

filter drop down that shows pending evaluation or retaken questions only
The Filters drop-down enables evaluators to see questions that are Pending evaluation, or Retaken questions only.

On the right panel, evaluators can enter or review the grade and feedback for the quiz attempt, or use other quiz management options, such as Edit Quiz, Preview Quiz, Reset Evaluation, and Quizzes Event Log, in the Evaluation Options menu.

quiz management options (three dots on right panel)
Instructors can update the Attempt Grade, add Attempt Feedback, or use the Evaluation Options menu to Edit Quiz, Preview Quiz, Reset Evaluation, or view the Quizzes Event Log.

This feature implements the following PIE item:

  • D10157 (Add the ability to attach a rubric to Written Response Questions for grading)

More information about the New Quiz Evaluation Experience can be found in the Brightspace Community.

If you are interested in getting more information about these and all the September Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform September 2024/20.24.9 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
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

the word update written on a chalk board

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 some of the updates in the August 2024/20.24.8 release that were added to our system this month:

1) Assignments – Assessment workflows enhanced and available in all environments

Advanced Assessments help instructors and administrators to better manage courses with large class sizes and multiple evaluators, delegate and manage evaluator workflows, and reduce bias in marking.

Advanced Assessments allows instructors to:

  • Assign multiple evaluators to evaluate a single assignment submission when creating or editing assignments.
  • Choose which evaluators can publish grades for the assignment from the Assignment tool by setting them as publishers.
  • Match evaluators to learners.
  • Choose from two multi-evaluator workflows: One Shared Evaluation (Co-Marking) or Multiple Individual Evaluations.

For more information, refer to the Create an assignment topic and watch the Assign Evaluators and Publishers in Assignments | Instructor video.

Prior to the release of Advanced Assessments, there was no ability to create and evaluate delegated co-mark or multi-evaluate assignments.

In the May 2024/20.24.5 release, Advanced Assessment features were released to test, development, and staging (non-production) environments.

With this release, Advanced Assessment workflows for Assignments are available in all production environments of Brightspace. New features that are added to Advanced Assessments with the August release include:

  • Turnitin integrations
  • Accessibility improvements, including assistive technologies for keyboard-only users

Refer to the Advanced Assessment for Assignments in test, development, and staging environments of Brightspace blog post for details.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

  • D6901 (Restrict Teaching Assistant to Publish The Assignment Grade)
  • D142 (Multiple Graders in Dropbox)
  • D6977 (Assignments Role Permissions: Separate See/View from Submit)
  • D6654 (Auditor to view submissions of Assignments)

2) Assignments – Email status message no longer displayed after an assignment submission

With this release, the Confirmation Email Sent Successfully message is no longer displayed for learners in the Email Status field after they submit an assignment. However, when a learner submits an assignment, an email as a receipt of the submission is still sent to them.

The Review Assignment Submission page with the Email Status field.
The Review Assignment Submission page with the Email Status field.
The Review Assignment Submission page without the Email Status field.
The Review Assignment Submission page without the Email Status field.

Previously, even if a confirmation email was not sent to a learner, they also received the Confirmation Email Sent Successfully message in the Email Status field on their Submission History page.

3) Discussions – Reading View improvements

To improve the user experience for learners, this release introduces several updates to the learner Reading View in Discussions. These improvements include the following:

  • The Start New Thread button is duplicated at the bottom of the page when viewing a topic, eliminating the need to scroll back to the top of the page.
  • The Add Attachments section is opened by default when creating a new post or new topic. Previously learners had to open the section manually to add attachments.
  • The Add Attachments section is wider on screen when learners create a new thread.

This feature implements the following PIE item:

  • D8141 (Add a second Start a New Thread button to the bottom all threads)

If you are interested in getting more information about these and all the August Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform August 2024/20.24.8 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
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

the word update written on a chalk board

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 some of the updates in the July 2024/20.24.7 release that were added to our system this month:

1) Grades – Automatic Zero for Missing Submissions

The Automatic Zero feature allows a score of zero (0) to be automatically applied to unsubmitted learner activities after the due date passes. Applying the Automatic Zero feature eliminates the need for instructors to manually set missing submissions to zero. Additionally, learners receive a more accurate view of their grade calculations for individual activities and for the overall course.

Supported submissions include file and text-based assignments, quizzes, and LTI tools. All activities must have grade associations.

Instructors can select between system-added and manually-entered zero scores. Automatic Zero applies to both individual and group assignments and respects any exemptions and release conditions set for an activity. Automatic Zero is triggered within one minute of the due date and is based on local time zones for both instructors and learners. The feature follows the same rules as existing due dates.

NOTE: There are no changes to Grades data sets, as methods for identifying system-entered grades already exist.

This feature implements the following PIE item:

  • D3202 (Automatically assign zero after a due date has passed).
Automatic Zero for Missing Submissions checkbox
For instructors, the Automatic Zero for Missing Submissions check box appears in the Grade Calculations area of Grade Settings when the Automatic Zero function is turned on.

NOTE: The automatic zero for missing submissions is unchecked by default. Changes to the setting only take effect on assessments with future due dates.

Automatic zero applied tooltip
Instructors see an automatic zero applied to a missing submission with an explanatory tooltip.

2) SMS Notifications – End of Life

As of this release, SMS Notifications are permanently removed from Brightspace. Short Message Service (SMS) Notifications allowed users to subscribe to select notifications to be forwarded to their mobile phone number. Stored phone numbers are deleted following this release and are no longer needed to send notifications. The Mobile Carrier Management page is removed from Admin Tools; and the Notification Number seen when viewing a user in the Users tool is also removed.

Email-based notifications remain, and users can still receive email notifications if they subscribe. Alternatively, users can use the Brightspace Pulse app to receive the same mobile push notifications that were available with SMS Notifications.

For more information, refer to the Intent to EOL SMS Notifications blog post and the High Impact Changes Timeline.

If you are interested in getting more information about these and all the July Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform July 2024/20.24.7 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
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

the word update written on a chalk board

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 some of the updates in the June 2024/20.24.6 release that were added to our system this month:

1) Assignments – Annotations update from Version 2023.4.0 to 2024.3.0

This release updates the Assignment Annotations tool from PSPDFKit Version 2023.4.0 to Version 2024.3.0 This update fixes several defects; in addition, the icons used in the following areas have received minor updates:

  • Main toolbar
  • Line tools
  • Ink tools
  • Page Layout tools
  • Sidebar tools
  • Drawing sub-toolbar
  • Highlighter sub-toolbar
  • Text Highlighter sub-toolbar
  • Eraser sub-toolbar
  • Note sub-toolbar
  • Textbox sub-toolbar
  • Line and Arrow sub-toolbar
  • Rectangle sub-toolbar
New main toolbar appearance compared to old toolbar.
This feature updates the appearance of the icons in the main toolbar (above) to the new style (below).
New line tools compared to old line tools
This feature updates the appearance of the icons for the line tools (left) to the new style (right).
New ink tools compared to old ink tools.
This feature updates the appearance of the icons for the ink tools (left) to the new style (right).
New page layout tools compared to old page layout tools
This feature updates the appearance of the icons for the page layout tools (left) to the new style (right).
New sidebar tools compared to old sidebar tools.
This feature updates the appearance of the icons for the sidebar tools (left) to the new style (right).
New highlighter tools compared to old highlighter tools
This feature updates the appearance of the icons in the highlighter and drawing sub-toolbars (above) to the new style (below).

NOTE: Safari browsers using versions older than version 15.4 are legacy browsers and are no longer supported for the Annotations software. For more information, refer to Browser support.

2) Assignments – Google and Microsoft 365 options available in File Upload

The option to directly upload a file from Google Drive™ and Microsoft OneDrive® is now available when editing and evaluating an assignment. Users can upload a file by clicking File Upload, and then clicking Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive in the Add a File window.

Previously, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive files could only be added as link attachments. These links connected users to the file within its location, but the file was not uploaded to the assignment. Now, files stored in Google and Microsoft storage accounts are directly added to the assignment, eliminating the need for instructors to provide sharing permissions to users.

Edit assignment window with file upload, OneDrive, and Google Drive highlighted
Select Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive in Add a File to upload files when editing an assignment.

3) Brightspace – In-Product Feedback

This release introduces in-product feedback into Brightspace as a new way to allow users to provide their feedback. Administrators, instructors, and learners in higher education or corporate organizations may receive a small survey prompt in Brightspace. The in-product feedback asks users for ratings on one to two questions; these questions ask about users’ experience with Brightspace as a whole, their experience meeting goals in Brightspace, or their experience in a particular workflow.

New product feedback rating screen
Users can provide feedback by rating your experience with tools and processes in Brightspace.

4) Brightspace Editor – Updated storage location for feedback attachments in Assignments, Discussions, and Quizzes

With this release, when instructors access Assignments, Discussions, or Quizzes, and use the Insert Stuff file picker to attach feedback, those files are now stored in the Feedback Files location. This location is designated for the learner feedback area.

Learners can review their feedback files from the Grades page, just like files attached from Feedback Files.

Note: Only feedback added from the Overall Feedback field and the Completion Summary page in Quizzes appears in Grades for learners.

Similar to the feedback files, once feedback is deleted, it cannot be restored.

Previously, when an instructor attached feedback files through the Insert Stuff file picker, the files were stored in Manage Files.

This feature implements the following PIE item:

  • D2629 (Student view of Grades tool - easy access to ALL Grades and feedback regardless of assessment tool)

5) Manage Dates – Bulk edit and offset dates for recurring Intelligent Agents

With this release, users can edit and offset multiple intelligent agents that have already been set up with a recurring schedule (for example, daily or weekly). In addition to editing an intelligent agent in the Intelligent Agents tool, users can now use Bulk Edit Dates to add or remove a new start date or end date, or use Bulk Offset Dates to offset the start date or end date from the Manage Dates tool.

Click Bulk Offset Dates to adjust the start or end date of multiple agents.
Click Bulk Offset Dates to adjust the start or end date of multiple agents.
Users can offset the Due Date, Start Date, and End Date either forward or backward.
Users can offset the Due Date, Start Date, and End Date either forward or backward.

Previously, intelligent agents had to be manually edited or offset in the Intelligent Agents tool.

As of this release, intelligent agents with a one-time run schedule do not appear in Manage Dates and must be updated in the Intelligent Agents tool. Editing intelligent agents with a one-time run schedule in Manage Dates is under consideration for a future enhancement.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

  • D3475 (Intelligent Agents start dates and end dates visible on the list page)
  • D4843 (Edit dates on multiple Intelligent Agents at once)
  • D6643 and D7321 (Include Intelligent Agents in Manage Dates)
  • D9154 and D9899 (Bulk Offset Intelligent Agent run dates with Manage Dates)

If you are interested in getting more information about these and all the June Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform June 2024/20.24.6 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
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

the word update written on a chalk board

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 some of the updates in the May 2024/20.24.5 release that were added to our system this month:

1) Awards – Certificate ID for an issued award

To improve security when issuing certificates, instructors can now use a new replacement string field when creating their certificate templates to add an automatically-generated numeric ID. This ID uniquely identifies the issued award, which can be verified using the new Brightspace API.

The feature introduces a new replacement string {CertificateID} that instructors can add to their PDF templates. A unique ID is generated and populated into the replacement string {CertificateID} on an ongoing basis when released.

The unique generated ID is 12 numeric characters long and is stored in the Brightspace database as CertificateID, along with other data for the issued award.

Note: The {CertificateID} replacement string follows existing rules of other current replacement strings and is marked read-only.

To support this change, the new Awards Brightspace API has been introduced, which allows the verification of issued certificates:

  • /d2l/api/bas/(version)/issued/certificates/(certificateId)

The feature is only available on certificates issued with this release when the Certificate ID replacement string is added to the certificate template. The Certificate ID does not have to be added to a certificate template to be auto-generated, but the ID has to be added to be visible to the learner.

Previously, the {CertificateID} replacement string was not available.

2) Grades – Feedback files are now available in Grades for Assignments, Quizzes, and Discussions

This feature allows instructors to ensure that learners can easily review feedback from the Grades tool.

Instructor feedback added in Assignments, Quizzes, and Discussions is now visible to learners under Grades.

Learners can review feedback from the Grades page.
Learners can review feedback from the Grades page.

Previously, feedback files were only available to the learner by accessing the activity.

3) Manage Files – Receive notification when zipping and unzipping files

As of this release, whenever users add (zip) or extract (unzip) one or more files to a ZIP archive in Manage Files, a new dialog confirms that files are being zipped or unzipped in the background. Once the process is complete, a notification appears in Update alerts (the bell icon).

Previously, adding files to a ZIP archive was not a background process and thus there was no notification after zipping. In addition, the notification for unzipping files appeared in the Subscription alerts area.

A notification dialog appears when zipping or unzipping files. Click Close to resume work.
A notification dialog appears when zipping or unzipping files. Click Close to resume work.
Once files are successfully zipped or unzipped, a notification appears under Update alerts.
Once files are successfully zipped or unzipped, a notification appears under Update alerts.

If you are interested in getting more information about these and all the May Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform May 2024/20.24.5 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
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

the word update written on a chalk board

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 some of the updates in the April 2024/20.24.4 release that were added to our system this month:

1) Brightspace Community – Navigation and content improvements

To enhance the user experience in Brightspace Community, D2L is making the following improvements:

  • New and improved search functionality (available late Q1).
  • Relaunch of the Approved Support Contact (ASC) homepage (available early Q2).
  • New Brightspace tool navigation structure for Instructor Documentation (Higher Ed) (available early April 2024).

New and improved search functionality

An improved search tool is scheduled to be implemented in Brightspace Community.

This improved search uses natural language processing AI to iteratively improve the accuracy of search results and supports the use of search synonyms for terms often used interchangeably (for example, Dropbox and Assignment).

Additionally, this new federated search indexes and surfaces content from external sources such as corporate blogs, the Brightspace Tutorials YouTube channel, Brightspace Learning Center, and Developer (Valence API) documentation.

New Brightspace tool navigation structure for Instructor Documentation (Higher Ed)

Based on higher education instructor feedback gathered during Fusion 2023, we are restructuring the Instructor Documentation (Higher Ed) knowledge base to organize content into alphabetized Brightspace tool categories. This new navigation structure will be available in early April 2024.

The new navigation structure shown on the left of the page to quickly find topics organized into alphabetized Brightspace tool categories.
Higher education instructors can use the new navigation structure on the left of the page to quickly find topics organized into alphabetized Brightspace tool categories.

2) Discussions – View attached file feedback for discussion evaluations

Instructors' attached files now appear in the Attached Files section for each learner's discussion evaluation. Learners can view attached file feedback when viewing their evaluated discussion topic.

Instructors can view all attached files by clicking on the learner's name and selecting Discussions. Learners can view all attached files by clicking on Discussions in Class Progress. Instructors and learners can view all attached discussion evaluation files in the Class Progress tool.

Additionally, the Discussions tool's evaluation process is now consistent with the Assignments and Quizzes tools' evaluation processes.

Learners can view their feedback for a discussion topic in the Attached Files section of their evaluation.
Learners can view their feedback for a discussion topic in the Attached Files section of their evaluation.
Instructors can attach a file in the discussion evaluation experience for their assessment.
Instructors can attach a file in the discussion evaluation experience for their assessment.

If you are interested in getting more information about these and all the April Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform April 2024/20.24.4 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
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

the word update written on a chalk board

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 some of the updates in the March 2024/20.24.3 release that were added to our system this month:

1) Brightspace Editor – Consistent link creation with the ability to choose link format

As of this release, inserting a link into Brightspace Editor opens the Add Link dialog which allows users to determine if their links open in a new window (set as the default) or in the current window. The text box in the Add Link dialog also allows users to add text to their link. This provides users with a consistent workflow and control over how links respond in their content.

The Add Link dialog opens when inserting links with the context menu or with keyboard shortcuts (for example, ctrl+K or command+K).

Additionally, the dialog includes a new Insert Quicklink option, allowing users to easily insert a quicklink. When using Insert Stuff > Insert Link or Insert Quicklink > Link, the same Link, Text, and Open In options are displayed ensuring consistent link creation.

Finally, this feature updates the icons shown in Insert Quicklink to ensure all icons use the new style.

Previously, adding links throughout the editor resulted in different workflows, different fields, and different behaviors in the way that links would open. The previous Whole Window option is removed, as it was being treated as the current window and thus cause inconsistent behavior. Several options have been renamed from the previous version to improve consistency:

  • The option to have links open in the current window was previously called same frame.
  • Link was previously named URL.
You can access the new Add Link dialog using the context menu, or with keyboard shortcuts.
You can access the new Add Link dialog using the context menu, or with keyboard shortcuts.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

  • D9265, D7107, and D10615 (Ability to set links to “open in new window” when inserting a link via the context menu)
  • D8186 (Link target is not available except from the Quicklinks menu)
  • D8051 and D8279 (Enhancements and better hyperlink options in HTML Editor)
  • D10602 (Consistent process for adding URL)
  • D10475 (Making Insert Quicklinks smoother and faster)

2) Quizzes - Improved experience for generating quiz reports

This release introduces a better experience for instructors when running and exporting quiz reports with large amounts of data. To avoid time-out failures and screen freezing, the following report types now run asynchronously:

  • Attempt Details
  • Question Statistics
  • Question Details
  • User Statistics
  • User Attempts

When reports are ready for downloading, Brightspace generates a notification that instructors can access from the bell icon in the navbar.

Quiz reports are generated asynchronously. Instructors are notified when they are ready for download via the bell notification icon in the navbar.
Quiz reports are generated asynchronously. Instructors are notified when they are ready for download via the bell notification icon in the navbar.

Previously, quiz reports were generated slowly and would time-out in large classes.

If you are interested in getting more information about these and all the March Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform March 2024/20.24.3 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
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