Tag: updates

1) Quizzes – Improved filter and source dropdowns in Question Library

This update improves the source and filter dropdowns in the Browse Existing Questions dialog to better align with Brightspace standards and provide a more consistent experience.

Both dropdowns now include a search option, helping instructors find sources and filters more quickly.

2) Quizzes – Flag questions and strikethrough answer options

This release introduces the question annotation option in Quizzes. Learners can flag quiz questions to revisit later and apply strikethrough formatting to answer options to help narrow their choices.

Learners can select the bookmark icon beside a quiz question to flag it for review. Flagged questions appear in the left navigation, allowing learners to quickly return to them.

Learners can also select the strikethrough icon beside answer options to eliminate choices they believe are incorrect.

Instructors can disable these tools for learners by selecting Hide question annotation tools in the Timing & Display section of the quiz edit page.

When creating or editing a quiz, in the Timing & Display section, select Hide question annotation tools to disable question flagging and answer option strikethrough for learners.

This feature implements the following PIE item:

• D7075 (Highlight, strikeout, and flag quiz questions and answer choices)

3) Work To Do widget – Evaluation activities are hidden by default

The Work To Do widget now helps learners with multiple roles, such as teaching assistants, focus on upcoming and overdue work by hiding evaluation activities by default. Previously, the widget displayed both personal course due dates and evaluation tasks for users with multiple roles, making it more difficult to track learner deadlines.

This feature implements the following PIE item:

• D8285 (Allow users to show/hide assignments by Role in Work to Do Widget)

4) Work To Do widget – Automatically marks modules as complete

This release updates the Work To Do widget so that when learners complete all activities in a module, the module is automatically marked as complete and removed from the widget.

Learners now see only activities that still require completion, reducing clutter in the widget.

Previously, completed modules that have due dates could continue to appear as overdue because the module itself was not automatically marked as complete. As a result, learners could see overdue modules that no longer required action and could not be manually dismissed.

NOTE: This change applies only to modules completed after this release. Existing modules that are already overdue continue to appear as overdue.

This feature implements the following PIE item:

• D8813 (Work to Do - Remove Completed Module Dates)

1) Assignments – Publisher selection dropdown locks after learners begin an activity

After learner submissions begin, instructors can no longer change the Publishers setting on the assignment creation page. Locking the Publishers setting after submissions begin ensures that publishing rules remain clear and predictable during evaluation and publishing workflows. Changing publisher rules after activity is underway can affect who can publish evaluations and may result in conflicts that require additional intervention. This update provides a smoother, more reliable evaluation and publishing experience.

Important: To change the publisher selection after the dropdown locks, instructors must recreate the assignment and ask learners to resubmit. To avoid this scenario, review publisher selections during course setup and before the assignment is available to learners. For assignments that use Advanced Assessment, confirm which publishers can publish evaluator evaluations before submissions or evaluations begin.

Instructors can use start dates or hide assignments until the required configuration is complete. After submissions or evaluations begin, instructors can still add, update, enroll, or unenroll publishers. Only the publisher selection dropdown is locked.

Previously, instructors could change the Publishers configuration after receiving submissions.

2) Discussions – Anonymous Discussion posts are visible when assessing learners and viewing statistics

With this update, instructors with the See Anonymous Post Author permission can view anonymous posts when assessing individual learners in Discussions. Anonymous posts display an Anonymous post label to indicate that the learner posted anonymously.

Previously, instructors with the See Anonymous Post Author permission could reveal a learner's name on an anonymous discussion post, but they could not see anonymous posts when assessing learners or view discussion statistics that included anonymous posts.

Instructors without the See Anonymous Post Author permission continue to be unable to assess anonymous posts.

Discussion statistics now include anonymous post counts for roles with permission to see anonymous post author information. Statistics include counts only for anonymous posts created after this feature is introduced.

3) Groups – Increased limit for groups per category (200 to 1000)

Categories that allow instructors to specify the number of groups now support up to 1,000 groups. Single-user, member-specific enrollment type groups also support up to 1,000 groups per category.

This update makes it easier to create larger group sets in high-enrollment courses.

The 1000-group limit applies to all group creation methods and cannot be exceeded. This includes creating groups on the Manage Groups page, creating groups using the API, and automatically creating groups when enrollment capacity increases.

Previously, instructors could create up to 200 groups per category.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

• D888 (Ability to create more than 200 groups in one Group Category)
• D6824 (Max number of groups per category)

1) Brightspace – Rubric Icon in Assignments, Discussions, and Quizzes

Instructors can now identify which Assignments, Discussions, and Quizzes include attached rubrics directly from list pages, helping instructors and administrators quickly audit assessments, confirm rubric setup, and reduce configuration errors.

When a rubric is attached to an activity, a rubric icon appears beside the item in the Assignments, Discussions, and Quizzes list pages. Written response questions in the Quiz Creation page also display a rubric indicator when a rubric is attached. Activities that include both rubrics and learning outcomes continue to display the rubric icon.

The rubric icon is informational only and does not link to the rubric, consistent with other informational icons such as release conditions and anonymous marking.

This feature implements the following PIE item:

• D5453 (Rubric Used on Assignment or Discussion Indicator Symbol)

1) Assignments – Improved Assignments Submissions layout with accessibility enhancements

D2L refined the Assignments Submissions page by improving the layout in both standard and wide views, reducing the need for horizontal scrolling, and creating a cleaner, more consistent experience. All recent accessibility improvements remain in place.

This change improves the visibility of key information, such as submission dates and learner names, making the page easier to review.

Previously, the page layout with a long file could make it difficult to view key information without scrolling, especially when additional columns, such as Turnitin Similarity Report, were enabled.

This feature implements the following PIE item:

• D13434 (Remove unnecessary scrolling from the Assignment submission page where Turnitin is enabled)

2) Quizzes – Improved Browse Question Library Import button styling and behavior

This update improves the consistency and usability of the Import options in Browse Question Library.

Available import options vary depending on whether the quiz contains sections:

• The main Import action remains a button for quizzes with no sections.
• The Import to Section option is now a separate button for quizzes with sections.

This change makes actions more visible and easier to access. Previously, the Import option appeared as a split button with multiple actions in a dropdown.

1) Quizzes – Improvements to the Quizzes evaluation

The quiz evaluation experience now includes an Incorrect filter that lets instructors quickly view quickly view answers marked incorrect. In addition, feedback fields automatically expand as needed, providing more space to review and enter feedback.

Instructors can now filter the quiz questions to review only the questions a learner answered incorrectly. This enhancement helps instructors identify trends and determine whether updates to questions or instructional materials are needed.

Previously, the available filters were Pending Evaluation and Retaken questions only. With this update, the new Incorrect filter displays only questions marked incorrect.

Additionally, feedback fields for questions are now displayed as a single line and automatically expand when instructors enter additional comments. Previously, the Feedback field for each question displayed several lines even when no feedback was entered, requiring users to scroll unnecessarily.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

• D1865 (Filter for Viewing only Questions Missed)
• D9123 (Quiz Filter to list only questions that were answered incorrectly)
• D12922 (Quizzes: Filter when marking to only see questions answered incorrectly)

1) Awards – Longer text fields and preserved formatting for Badges and Certificates

To provide greater flexibility when creating Awards, instructors can now enter more detailed information in award text fields. This update increases character limits and preserves formatting, allowing clearer criteria, descriptions, and evidence to display consistently across Award views.

The following fields now support increased character limits:

• Name (256 characters)
• Description (512 characters)
• Criteria (1000 characters)
• Evidence (on issued award) (1000 characters)

Previously, text fields had lower character limits, which restricted context and detailed instructions. In addition, line breaks entered in these fields were not consistently preserved when Awards were displayed.

This feature implements the following PIE item:

• D13138 – Awards description field

2) Classlist – export Classlist details to CSV and improved Print output

Instructors can now export Classlist details to CSV. The Export button enables full or partial user exports, mirroring Classlist view content for offline or administrative use.

Printed Classlists now include pronouns (if visible) and course identifiers, providing more complete context for in-person workflows and record keeping.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

• D9855 (Printing Classlist with pronouns)
• D9391 (Classlist – allow export of pronouns)
• D2124 (Export of Classlist)
• D6948 (Classlist to Excel or CSV)
• D2658 (Include course title with Classlist printout)
• D9215 (Show course offering code on exported or printed Classlist)
• D6667 (Classlist export)

3) Pulse – Engagement tracking improvements

This release improves the reliability, timeliness, and consistency of engagement tracking from Pulse. This enhancement ensures that engagement data more accurately reflects how learners are interacting with their courses across platforms.

Engagement related events in Pulse are now logged immediately. For example, when a learner taps on a course to open it, the Course Access details are sent to the database, the Last Accessed date in Classlist updates, and an Intelligent Agent that checks for course engagement knows not to notify the instructor. Downstream tools that report on learner engagement now represent both Web and Pulse activity equally.

Previously, Pulse events were sent asynchronously in batches, resulting in missing or late engagement tracking data and discrepancies between different tools.

Key improvements:

• System Access Start events are sent immediately when the app is launched.
• System Access Start events are decoupled from System Access End events.
• When the app is in the background or idle, System Access End events are sent after 30 minutes of inactivity.
• Course Access events are sent immediately when a user clicks into a course.

For more detailed definitions of engagement metrics, refer to About engagement and session length data.

This feature implements the following PIE item:

• D13317 (Use both Web and Pulse login for Course Activity)

1) Assignments – Group assignments now supported in Advanced Assessment

Group assignments are now supported in Advanced Assessment, enabling instructors to collaboratively evaluate groups of learners in Brightspace using Co-Marking, Delegation, and Multi-Evaluator capabilities. This update leverages the existing Groups tool, allowing learners to submit work as a team and receive shared feedback and grades through Advanced Assessment.

The feature introduces the following key improvements:

• Seamless group evaluation: instructors can allocate evaluators to groups rather than individuals.
• Consistent experience: interface terminology and visuals have been updated to reflect group workflows:
  • References to Learners are replaced with Groups, such as Allocate Evaluators to Groups.
  • Evaluation and feedback panel text reflects group-based workflows.
• Improved workflow integrity: confirmation prompts prevent accidental evaluator setting loss when switching between group and individual assignments.

To enable group assignments, instructors must first create groups in Course Admin > Groups. Then, when creating an assignment, they must select Group Assignment under Submission & Completion.

To trigger the Advanced Assessment workflow, select evaluators in the Evaluation & Feedback dropdown.

The selected evaluators will be shown in the Evaluation & Feedback accordion where you can proceed to manage the group allocations.

Additionally, the following changes were made in the Manage Allocations table:

• New dropdown options are available to assign evaluators to groups.
• Group member names are displayed in a separate pop-out.

When sections are enabled, a Sections filter appears in the Manage Allocations dialog. Instructors in the selected section display a small tag under their names to indicate the applied filter, and only groups containing learners from the selected sections appear in the left-hand column.

When switching between individual and group assignments after evaluator allocations are made, existing allocations are removed. A confirmation prompt appears to alert users.

Notes:

• Group assignments in Advanced Assessment are only supported in the new assignment creation page. Legacy assignment creation page users should follow the prompt to the new page, to create group assignments in Advanced Assessment.
• Grades sync as before; individual overrides remain possible.
• Group assignments are not currently supported in Quick Eval.
• Switching between individual and group assignment types is disabled after learner submissions are made.

Previously, group assignments were not supported in Advanced Assessment. This update removes that limitation, enabling the use of Co-marking, Delegation, and Multi-evaluator features for groups.

2) Assignments – Improved error messages when uploading unsupported file types

Brightspace now provides clearer and more consistent error messages when learners attempt to submit file assignments using unsupported file types. These improvements help learners understand which file types are allowed and make it easier to correct submission issues.

The updated messaging appears across assignment submission workflows and Activity Display, ensuring learners receive appropriate guidance based on the context of their submission.

Updated error messages for file submissions

When a learner attempts to upload a file from Google Drive, One Drive or Locker with a restricted or unsupported file extension, Brightspace now displays more specific messages depending on the number of restricted file types configured for the assignment.

Assignment submission page

• If fewer than seven file types are restricted, learners see a message listing the allowed file extensions, such as:
  • Your work could not be submitted. You can only submit files with the following file extensions: PDF, DOCX, or TXT.
• If seven or more file types are restricted, learners see a simplified message:
  • Your work could not be submitted. You can only submit files with allowed file extensions.

For file assignments, learners can now also see the list of Allowed File Extensions. This list previously appeared only for File and Text assignments and is now available for File assignments as well.

Improved feedback in Activity Display
In Activity Display, learners now receive clearer visual indicators when uploaded files are not allowed:

• If a learner uploads files with unsupported extensions, Activity Display identifies which uploaded files are not allowed.
• If a file has no extension or the file type cannot be detected, Activity Display notifies the learner that the file type is unsupported.
• If five or more files with unsupported extensions are uploaded, Activity Display displays a consolidated message indicating that multiple files are not allowed.

Improved validation when configuring Custom File Types in Assignment Creation
When instructors set Allowable File Extensions to Custom File Types during assignment creation, Brightspace now requires at least one file extension to be entered before the assignment can be saved.

If the field is left blank, Brightspace displays a clear inline error message and prevents the assignment from being saved. This improvement helps instructors avoid invalid assignment configurations and reduces submission issues for learners.

Note: These changes improve messaging only and do not alter which file types are allowed for an assignment.

3) Class Progress – User progress for Content charts now loads asynchronously

The completion progress bars for the Content Completed and Content Visited charts now load asynchronously as instructors scroll down the Class Progress page. Progress details appear for each user as they come into view, allowing the page to continue loading smoothly regardless of the number of users or content objects being calculated.

The d2l.Tools.ClassProgress.AsyncContentChartsCount (Org) configuration variable determines the threshold for the number of content objects that triggers content charts to load asynchronously. The default value is 50 content objects and can be increased to a maximum of 1,000.

Previously, courses with a large number of users or content objects could experience page timeouts when viewing the Content Completed or Content Visited columns in Class Progress.

4) Grades – Improved navigation within the Enter Grades page

The Enter Grades page now offers improved horizontal navigation, making it easier to work with large gradebooks. Instead of relying on a horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the page, instructors can use navigation arrows on either side of the gradebook, along with a scroll bar at the bottom of the grid, to navigate across grade columns.

This update also improves how dropdown menus behave, preventing them from appearing underneath other fields such as user names.

Previously, horizontal navigation relied on a scroll bar at the bottom of the page, which was not always visible unless users scrolled down.

1) Announcements – Images appear in emailed Announcement notifications

When instructors create an announcement (or administrators create a global announcement) which includes in-line images, any instant notification or emailed copy of that announcement now includes those images in the body of the email. Previously, only images added as file attachments to the announcement were included with the notification email, and in-line images were not shown.

Note: This update applies only to images. Videos embedded in announcements are not included in emailed announcement notifications.

This change ensures that learners who rely on email notifications can see the same visual content that appears in the original announcement, helping them notice important information that may have previously been missed when images were omitted from the email version.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

• D7210 (Images in announcements do not appear in the email-version of the notification)
• D12152 (Permit images to be sent in an email notification for an announcement)
• D7939 (Include images in Brightspace-generated email of Announcements - partial release; videos are not included)

2) Assignments, Quick Eval – Improved usability for assistive technology users

As part of D2L’s ongoing commitment to accessibility and inclusive design, with this release, they have made several updates to enhance the experience for users relying on assistive technologies.

• The Submissions page in Assignments: The dropdown menus for submissions, feedback, and results per page now include accessible labels. Previously, these menus only had titles, which some screen readers could miss. This change ensures that all users can access and understand these controls.
• The Submissions view in Quick Eval: The number of search results returned is now read aloud by assistive technology, making it easier for users to understand the scope of their results.

3) Awards – Increased flexibility in Awards text fields

To improve localization and language flexibility, administrators and instructors can now personalize certificates in the Awards tool using new replacement strings. These strings populate dates in a short YYYY-MM-DD format, which provides more consistent rendering across multilingual certificate templates.

Previously, existing date replacement strings used long-form formats. This caused issues when certificates were created in one language and the date string rendered in another, often breaking formatting. The new short-form format resolves this issue.

The following replacement strings are now available:

• {CourseStartDateShort}: Inserts the course start date.
• {CourseEndDateShort}: Inserts the course end date.
• {AwardDateShort}: Inserts the award issue date.
• {AwardExpiryDateShort}: Inserts the award expiry date.

4) Quizzes – Single Session Quiz

Instructors can now require learners to complete a quiz within a single Brightspace login session, helping maintain academic integrity. When this setting is enabled, learners cannot resume the quiz using another browser session. For example, if a learner starts a quiz on a laptop, they cannot continue the quiz on another device such as a smartphone or tablet.

When this configuration variable is enabled, instructors can navigate to the Availability Dates & Conditions section while creating or editing a quiz and select Lock each attempt to a single login session.

IMPORTANT:

• This setting only restricts access to the quiz. It does not prevent learners from having multiple active sessions in Brightspace.
• While this feature enhances academic integrity, you should use it with caution. We suggest reserving this option for live testing environments where you are available to assist immediately. If a student experiences a technical glitch or a dropped connection, they will be unable to resume the quiz attempt without your direct intervention to reset the session restriction.

This feature implements the following PIE item:

• D11297 (Prevent multiple sessions taking one quiz attempt simultaneously)

1) Assignments – Group Assignment evaluation email enhancements

This release introduces enhancements to the Email Group button in Group Assignment Evaluation.

If a group has no members, or if the users in the group do not have an internal D2L email set up or an external email linked, the Email Group button no longer appears. The button now displays only when it is actionable, reducing confusion and improving interface clarity.

This update enhances the overall experience by aligning with accessibility and usability best practices, ensuring that only relevant options are shown to users.

Previously, the Email Group button appeared even in groups with no users, which caused confusion.

2) Discussions – Enforce timely learner engagement with first post due dates

To ensure timely learner participation, instructors can now specify a due date for the first post in a discussion topic. This supports course pacing, institutional policies, and consistent expectations for learner engagement. This mirrors the behavior of Assignments and Quizzes, making the course experience more consistent and predictable.

Previously, instructors could not set due dates for initial discussion posts, which made it difficult to assess timely engagement or enforce deadlines. This update improves grading accuracy, simplifies compliance with participation policies, and supports smoother course migrations from learning management systems that already include this functionality.

The first post due date follows the same behavior as Assignments and Quizzes:

• Due dates must be between the start and end dates of the discussion topic.
• Availability types (for example, Hidden, Visible with access restricted, Visible with submission restricted) are respected.

Additional improvements include:

• Calendar tool integration: The first post due date appears in the calendar.
• Notifications: Administrators can enable notifications. When enabled, the due date will trigger a notification in Brightspace and push notification (Pulse App).
• Grading: Discussion due dates support automatic-zero grading.
• Other enhancements:
  • In Manage Dates, first post due dates are visible and editable.
  • In the Discussion List, due dates appear next to each topic.
  • In New Content Experiences, Overdue and Late indicators appear when deadlines are missed. Classic content will continue to show the due date on the content topic.
  • In Quick Eval and Consistent Evaluation, first post due dates appear in evaluation workflows.
  • In the Work to Do widget, due dates appear.

Note: Discussion due dates must fall within the topic's availability window to appear in the calendar and trigger notifications.

This feature implements the following PIE item:

• D143 (Due Date for First Post for Discussions)

3) Groups – Group deletions now processed via background job

To support the ongoing expansion of the Groups tool, all group deletion workflows are now processed asynchronously to reduce timeouts and errors.

Previously, when deleting groups within Brightspace, the web request would sometimes time out when there were too many groups to process.

When a user initiates a deletion, the background process deletes all groups, categories, and their associated activities. While processing, groups and categories appear in the recycling bin indicating that deletion is in progress, and the Restore option is not available. The Restore option becomes available only after the deletion is completed, which may take a few minutes.

This feature applies to all group deletion methods, including via the Manage Groups page, Org Unit Editor, SIS integrations such as Banner or IPSIS, or API deletion routes.

4) Quizzes – Zero point quiz questions

Instructors can now assign 0 (zero) points to a quiz question to collect non-graded information, for example, feedback or personal input.

This feature eliminates the need for workarounds such as assigning 0.01 points or manually adjusting scores after submission. Instructors can enter zero points in the points field for any question type within the quiz, ensuring that these questions do not contribute to the quiz's total points. This feature is especially useful for gathering additional information from learners during a quiz or for implementing an "Honesty Code" question at the beginning of the quiz.

Previously, instructors were restricted from entering zero points for quiz questions.

This feature implements the following PIE item:

• D706 (Quiz question with no points value)

1) Announcements – Email a copy of an announcement to your Classlist

In response to multiple Product Idea Exchange (PIE) submissions, when Instructors create a new announcement in a Course Offering, they can now choose to send a copy to all users in their Classlist as an email, sent as if from the instructor themselves.

In the user interface for creating or editing an announcement, a new Send Email Copy checkbox now appears when an instructor creates or edits an announcement.

When an instructor selects the new checkbox, the system emails the content of the announcement to all users in the Classlist, including those who have opted out of announcement notifications, upon publishing. The email will originate from the email address of the person who publishes the announcement.

The checkbox will be automatically deselected when an announcement is copied or edited, and must be selected again before republishing.

Please be aware that if users are already receiving an automated notification email about announcements, this may result in duplicate or similar emails. Users who are not subscribed to receive a notification for announcements will also receive an email, ensuring that important information contained within the announcement is delivered to every learner.

For consistency with automated emails in Intelligent Agents and assignment submissions, the system sends the message to internal email addresses if users have them. If users do not have internal email addresses, the system sends it to their external email address.

Users without a valid email address will not receive an emailed copy of the announcement.

For announcements scheduled to publish at a later date, clicking the Send email copy checkbox emails the copy to users in the Classlist at the time that the announcement is published.

This feature implements the following Product Idea Exchange (PIE) items:

• D1923 (Email Notification Option when Creating New News Items)
• D3817 (Default email notification when publishing a news item)

2) Assignments – Advanced Assessment now shows when an evaluation has no designated evaluator

A new alert in the assignments user interface now notifies instructors when an evaluation currently has no evaluator assigned, so they can quickly identify the problem and take steps to assign a new evaluator.

This update helps prevent unexpected evaluation errors and improves clarity, especially for institutions with large enrollments and multiple sections.

Previously, if an instructor used Advanced Assessment features to delegate evaluation to a user who later became unenrolled from a course, there was no way to identify which submissions needed to be assigned a new evaluator. Learner submissions could remain unevaluated for extended periods of time, causing confusion and errors.

3) Brightspace – Progress bar for uploading files

With this release, Brightspace improves visual consistency and accessibility by updating progress bar indicators across several tools. These improvements enhance support for screen readers and assistive technologies.

Visual indicators have been updated in the following areas:

• New Content Experience – Upload a file
• Quizzes – Add Existing Question
• Import Quiz Questions – Upload a file
• Quiz Study Support – Check if the quiz meets the study support requirements
• Generate Question – Choose a file to generate a question
• Content Uploader – Upload a file
• Manage Groups – Export progress bar
• Upload File (Classic Content) – Upload a file

4) Brightspace Editor – Equation editor now uses the latest WIRIS version

The equation editor Instructors and Learners use to compose equations in the Brightspace Editor (WIRIS) has been updated to the latest version, 7.24.0.

This update includes no functional changes to the equation editor, but does include WIRIS defect fixes.

5) Grades – Bulk edit now supports excluding items from final grade

Instructors can now use the Exclude from Final column when bulk editing grade items in the Grades tool. Selecting this option excludes the grade item from the final grade calculation.

Previously, this setting was only available when editing individual grade items. This enhancement helps instructors manage large grade books more efficiently by allowing them to update multiple items at once.

Note: This option is only available in courses using the Points grading system. Courses using Weighted or Formula grading systems can exclude items by assigning a weight of 0 or excluding them from the formula, respectively.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

• D1773 (Bulk Edit Grade Item)
• D9984 (Course-level configuration to include/exclude grade from Final Grade)
• D8386 (Gradebook – Bulk edit)
• D8515 (Add a category in the bulk edit)