Did you know Special Access is an option available in the Assignments tool that allows the instructor to grant learners special accommodations?
Special Access permissions allow instructors to set different availability dates and times for specific learners. For example, you could extend the deadline for learners who require remedial help or who are submitting work beyond the original scope of the assignment. You can also add Special Access after an assignment’s end date has passed for learners who have a legitimate excuse for missing the deadline or for learners you want to submit additional material, such as planning notes or a bibliography. The special access icon displays on the Assignment list page beside any assignment that includes special access settings.
Add Special Access in the Assignment Creation Experience
Select Allow users with special access to submit outside the normal availability dates for this folder if you want to give certain students different submission options from the rest of the class.
Select Allow only users with special access to see this folder if only certain students are allowed to see this folder.
Click Add Users to Special Access to select students who will get the special access.
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Updates to the Assignment tool give instructors greater control over the behavior of availability dates for their learners. As a result, instructors can:
Stop late submissions.
Let learners view assignment information and submissions after it ends.
Schedule the visibility of an assignment.
Allow learners to view an assignment while preventing them from attempting it.
Post the start and end of an assignment to the Calendar.
The Assignment list page for both instructors and learners contain all activity dates and date settings, including:
Access restricted
Submission restricted
Hidden
The Availability Date Defaults page, the Assignment page with activity dates and date settings
The availability date settings let instructors setup assignments to achieve a few different workflows for students:
To stop late submissions, set an end date that is submission-restricted. Learners will be able to see the assignment information after the end date, but will not be able to submit.
To let learners access their submissions after the assignment has ended, set an end date that is submission-restricted.
To prevent learners from attempting an assignment but still allow them to view details like instructions and attachments, set a start date that is submission-restricted.
To schedule the visibility of an assignment you want students to see at a specific time, set a start date that is hidden to completely hide it from students; or set a start date that is access-restricted to let students see the name and dates of the assignment but no other details.
To show the start and end of an assignment in the Calendar, include start and end availability dates on the assignment and select Add availability dates to Calendar.
Instructors can choose the default settings for availability dates for any new assignment. The settings are available on the Availability Date Defaults page, which can be found under Course Admin.
The Availability Dates Defaults page displaying the different options for Start and End Dates in Assignments and Discussions.
Important: Making a change on the Availability Date Defaults page will not affect the availability dates of any previously-created assignment or discussion, but it will affect the date properties of special access dates.
Properties of Availability Dates for Assignments
The availability dates for Assignments properties are described below. These properties align and behave the same way as the same properties available to Discussions topics and forums.
The Availability Start and End Dates each have a set of three options. Instructors can select one option for each date. By choosing an option, instructors decide whether learners can see the assignment and access it. The options are:
Visible with access-restricted (before start/after end)
The assignment will be visible to learners before the Start Date or after the End Date, but they cannot click or open it.
With this setting, learners can see the name, dates, and restrictions. Learners cannot see the assignment description or attachments.
Visible with submission-restricted (before start/after end)
The assignment will be visible to learners before the Start Date or after the End Date and they can click or open it, but they cannot submit or mark it as complete.
With this setting, learners can see all details about the assignment including description, attachments, and rubrics, but they cannot upload files, enter comments, or mark the assignment as complete (for observed in person/on paper submission).
Hidden (before start/after end)
The assignment is hidden to learners until the start date is reached or after the end date passes.
Learners will not see the assignment anywhere across Brightspace, including corresponding Calendar events and Notifications.
The Assignment List page contains all activity dates and date settings. The hover tooltip includes the information about start and end dates with settings to explain how the assignment appears to learners before and after these dates.
The Assignment List page with activity dates and date settings.
Assignment Special Access
The special access for Assignments screens remains unchanged. However, special access dates inherit the date properties as follows:
When the parent assignment has an availability date set, its date property is inherited by the corresponding special access date. For example, if the assignment is hidden before a start date, then the special access start date is also treated as hidden.
When the parent assignment does not have an availability date, the special access date inherits its date property from the course default. For example, if the assignment does not have an end date, then a special access end date is set for a learner. This also occurs if the course default for assignment end dates is submission-restricted, making the special access end date be treated as submission-restricted.
Note: Whenever the availability date settings are changed from the Availability Date Defaults page, those changes will immediately impact the date properties of special access dates.
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.
Use the Assignments tool to help you set and manage deadlines, unclutter your inbox, and save trees!
The Assignments tool is an efficient way to manage and collect your student's individual and group assignments digitally. Brightspace's Assignments Tool allows instructors to create a secure location for students to submit class assignments.
The Assignments tool allows instructors to set up a place for students to submit their assignments digitally, with the ability to:
Control the window for submission
Facilitate individual submissions or group submissions (provided the groups have been set up using the Groups tool first)
Collect and assess submissions (with a connection to the Grades tool, if needed)
Enable plagiarism detection through Turnitin
Additionally, you can use Brightspace's Interactive Rubrics to increase efficiency. The interactive rubrics allow instructors to establish set criteria for grading assignments. Instructors can attach rubrics to assignment submission folders so that the criteria are visible to students at any time, only after grading has been completed, or not shown to the students at all. The rubrics click-and-score simplicity saves time when grading because rubrics are built into the grading workflow. For more information about rubrics refer to Brightspace Tip #204: Interactive Rubrics.
Follow these steps to do it.
To create an assignment submission folder:
On the NavBar (of the course you want to create a submission folder), click Activities and then choose Assignments from the drop-down menu.
Click New Assignment.
Enter a Name for your submission folder.
To evaluate the assignment with a numeric value, enter a Grade Out Of. A grade item with the same name as your assignment is automatically added to your gradebook. Alternatively, you can click on the "In Grade Book" menu item to reveal a drop-down list. Select the "Edit or Link to Existing" option and then navigate to a grade item that is already in your Grade Book.
Set a Due Date.
Enter assignment instructions.
Upload any files, link to any existing activities or external weblinks, attach any files from Google Drive or OneDrive, and record and/or upload any audio or video notes.
Expand Availability Dates & Conditions and do the following:
Use Manage Special Access to enable the assignment to be available only to a select group of users or to add individualized due dates for certain users.
Expand Submission & Completion and do the following:
For the Assignment Type, specify if this is an Individual Assignment or Group Assignment.
Select an existing category to align your assignment to or click New category to create a category.
Select a Submission Type:
For File submissions, set the number of Files Allowed Per Submission and the Submissions rules.
For File or text submission, set the number of Files Allowed Per Submission and the Submissions rules.
For Text submissions, set the Submission rules.
For On paper submissions, set Marked as completed to one of the available options: Manually by learners, Automatically on evaluation, or Automatically on due date.
For Observed in person assignments, set Marked as completed to one of the available options: Manually by learners, Automatically on evaluation, or Automatically on due date.
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.
Online groups can enrich class discussion and provide a virtual environment for sharing information. You can use groups to organize users’ work on projects and assignments, or you can create special work areas for users with different learning needs. The Groups tool allows instructors to form virtual groups of students to support peer collaboration.
Users can belong to multiple groups within the same course. For example, each user can simultaneously belong to a group for class projects, a group for special interest discussions, and a group for advanced users. Each group can have its own discussion forums, assignments, and locker area to work in. You can grade members of groups individually or as a team.
Groups can be designated as Self Enrollment (allows students to add themselves to a Group), No Auto Enrollment (instructor assigns students to Groups), or random enrollment (Brightspace system distributes students equally into Groups).
Group Enrollment Type
Description
# of Groups
Groups of #
Groups will be created by either number of groups (i.e., 4 groups total) or group size (i.e., groups of 4 students). Students will be randomly assigned to each group.
# of Groups - No Auto Enrollment
This option allows instructors to manually assign students to groups.
# of Groups - Self Enrollment
Groups of # - Self Enrollment
# of Groups, Capacity of # – Self Enrollment
Blank groups will be created for students to sign-up for. Students will be able to see the other members of their group.
Single user, member-specific groups
This option creates groups of one (1). Each group has a single user where the first name and last name of the learner is the name of the group.
To support growing class sizes, the Groups tool now allows enrollment of up to 3000 users per group within a group category. Previously, the limit was 200 users per group.
Important: Currently, there is no way to hide the names of group members from other students who are in the same group. Therefore, creating groups for remedial or disability purposes could violate confidentiality laws if group names and/or group members makes the purpose of the group obvious.
Follow these steps to do it.
To create a group category you should:
On the navbar, click Groups.
On the Manage Groups page, click New Category.
Enter a Category Name and Description.
Select an Enrollment Type from the drop-down list.
Depending on the chosen Enrollment Type, enter the Number of Groups to create, the Number of Users per group, or both.
To apply a distinctive prefix to each group name and code in the category, enter it in the Group Prefix field. If you do not fill in this field, the prefix defaults to "Group".
Depending on the chosen Enrollment Type, to automatically enroll users to groups, select Auto-enroll new users.
Depending on the chosen Enrollment Type, to randomly place users in groups, select Randomize users in groups. If you do not choose this option, users are placed alphabetically based on the Classlist.
If you select an Enrollment Type that supports self enrollment, to set a deadline after which learners can no longer self enroll in the group, select Set Self Enrollment Expiry Date.
Click Save.
To create a group you should:
Note: Groups reside in categories. You must create a category before you can create a group. These instructions assume you have already created a category for the group.
On the navbar, click Groups.
On the Manage Groups page, from the View Categories drop-down list, select the category you want to add a group to.
From the context menu of the category, click Add Group.
If you do not want to use the default name provided, enter a group name.
If you do not want to use the default group code provided, enter a group code.
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.
#LearnEverywhereXULA (#LEX) is our award winning Brightspace course that is organized around the eight General Standards for Higher Education set forth in the Quality Matters Higher Education Rubric Sixth Edition. The information, activities, and assignments in the #LEX course aids faculty in developing high quality, well-designed, objective-driven courses on Brightspace for Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) students.
When faculty complete the #LEX course, they have the opportunity to expand their horizons even more through #LEX Advanced certification. With the certification, faculty learn about using design and automation features available in Brightspace to apply better pedagogical practices within their courses by making them more user-friendly, accessible, and efficient.
#LEX Advanced takes a deeper dive into tools like Rubrics, Release Conditions, Intelligent Agents, HTML Templates, Awards & Badges, and more. #LEX Advanced certification also includes topics such as accessibility, academic integrity, rethinking assessment strategies in the age of AI, securing online testing environment, online discussions, group work, and video lectures.
A #LEX Advanced badge can be earned for participation in a #LEX Advanced workshop OR for completing its corresponding module in the #LEX course.
Our #LEX Advanced certification has five levels. Faculty can move up a certification level with every fourth #LEX Advanced badge they earn. Complete four modules to earn the #LEX Advanced Level 1 certification. Complete eight modules to earn the #LEX Advanced Level 2 certification. Complete twelve modules to earn the #LEX Advanced Level 3 certification. Complete sixteen modules to earn the #LEX Advanced Level 4 certification. Complete twenty modules to earn the #LEX Advanced Level 5 certification.
Faculty can view the badges they've earned by clicking on Activities in the NavBar and then click on Awards within the #LearnEverywhereXULA course.
Are you interested in becoming #LEX Advanced certified? Attend one of our upcoming #LEX Advanced workshops to start earning your badges. Alternatively, you can earn badges by completing modules in the #LearnEverywhereXULA course.
NOTE: Faculty who are not enrolled in the #LearnEverywhereXULA course can request enrollment using this enrollment request form.
#LEX Advanced Certifications
Congratulations to those faculty who have earned #LEX Advanced Certification!
Learners sometimes have a hard time keeping track of everything they need to get done. They may have to jump in and out of multiple courses to figure out if there are upcoming assignments or projects with due dates in the near future (or in the past!). This can be frustrating for them, and it can also lead to missed deadlines.
The Work To Do Widget is a simple way you can help students stay on top of their work.
Example of the Work To Do widget
How the Work To Do Widget Works
The Work To Do widget is designed specifically for students and displays all their overdue and upcoming learning activities in one place. Overdue work appears at the top of the list, and upcoming items are listed below. This makes it incredibly easy for students to see what's most urgent.
All quizzes, assignments, checklists, and other activities with due or end dates automatically appear in the widget. Students can see the widget on their My Home page in Brightspace, as well as on their individual course homepages. This means they can get a quick overview of all their courses at once, or focus on just the tasks for your specific course.
Example of the Work To Do widget showing no activities due
Making It Visible for Your Students
To ensure your students can take advantage of this helpful tool, all you have to do is make sure the Work To Do widget is enabled on your course homepage. When you use the default course homepage in Brightspace, the widget is automatically included. If you’ve customized your homepage, you may need to add it. A few minutes of effort on your part can save your students a lot of stress and help them stay organized all semester long.
The Work To Do widget can be seen by users with the role of student. Instructors will see the Work To Do widget when they view the course as a student.
Note: Instructors who have opted to customize their course homepage and want their students to be able to see the Work To Do widget on their customized course homepage, will have to add the widget to the course homepage.
For additional information and frequently asked questions about the Work To Do widget, see the following article in the Brightspace Community: Introducing the Work To Do Widget.
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.
Use due dates in Brightspace to help students stay on track. Students will see due dates when they look at entries in the course calendar, Work To Do Widget, and in the Pulse App.
Due dates and availability dates are generally entered when the instructor creates assignments, assessments, discussion topics and forums, etc. The dates automatically populate into the course calendar.
Instructors can use the Manage Dates tool to view, edit in bulk, and bulk offset date availability from one central location. You can also set the calendar status of all content topics and modules, discussion topics and forums, assignment submissions folders, grades categories and items, announcement items, quizzes, checklists, and surveys in their course in the Manage Dates tool.
Follow these steps to do it.
To add availability and due dates in Content:
Get into the course you want to add availability and due dates to course objects.
On the NavBar (of the course you want to change dates in), click Content.
On the Table of Contents page, click Bulk Edit.
For any topic or module that you want to add availability or due dates to, click Add dates and restrictions.
Do any of the following:
Click Add start date. Enter your start date details.
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: “due today” by jflorent is dedicated to public domain under CC0 and is a derivative of calendar by tigerlily713 from PixabayÂ
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 2025/20.25.08 release that were added to our system this month:
1) Brightspace – New Window icon for all menu items
To help users better anticipate navigation behavior in Brightspace, a New Window icon now appears next to all menu items that open in a new tab or window. This change applies to all applicable menu items across the platform interface.
The icon design is also updated to better align with current styles used in Brightspace.
View an example of this change in the Print Thread menu in a discussion topic (see image).
The New Window icon appears beside a menu item.
From a course, navigate to a topic in Discussions, select the actions drop-down for a thread, then view the New Window icon appears beside Print Thread.
2) Groups – Enrollment limit increase
To support growing class sizes, the Groups tool now allows enrollment of up to 3000 users per group within a group category. Previously, the limit was 200 users per group.
This increased limit applies to all enrollment workflows, including:
Automatic enrollment during group creation
Automatic enrollment during Classlist enrollment, where automatic enrollment group types exist
Manual enrollment using the Enroll Users and Import options within the Groups tool
Groups enrollment via the Bulk User Management tool
Enrollment using Brightspace APIs
The 3000-user limit is now strictly enforced across all methods of group enrollment. Previous workarounds that bypassed the former enrollment limit will no longer function for any group that has reached the 3000-user limit.
Currently, the automatic enrollment overflow functionality enrolls users into other groups in the same category if the selected group is full. However, when the 3000-user limit is reached in all groups, further enrollment attempts will fail. To continue processing enrollments, you must add additional groups to the category.
In cases where enrollment fails due to the user limit, the following indications appear:
Brightspace APIs return an error
Bulk User Management and Group Import CSV display user-specific errors in the import results
IPSIS and Banner integrations report failures
In the Groups tool, additional users cannot be selected without deselecting users already enrolled in the group
This feature implements the following PIE items:
D6942 (Allow for more than 200 people in a group/section)
D4750 (Remove 200 member cap on Self-enrolling Groups)
3) Quizzes – Print your quiz
In response to customer feedback, this update provides instructors with a simple way to print an offline quiz that supports all native Brightspace quiz question types, shuffling and randomization options, question pools, multiple versions, and an Answer Key.
From the Manage Quizzes page, click the drop-down beside the quiz name and select Print.From the Print Quiz page, select a version tab, configure formatting, and click Print [Version].
Options to support multiple quiz versions include:
Shuffle Quiz (under Timing & Display) to shuffle quiz sections and questions.
In the Timing & Display section of the quiz settings, select Shuffle Quiz to randomize the order of questions and sections within the quiz.
Shuffle questions in this section (when creating or editing a section).
When creating or editing a quiz section, select Shuffle questions in this section to randomize questions, sections, and pools within the section.
Randomize answer order when creating or editing a supported question type, for example, Multiple Choice.
When creating a multiple-choice question, select Randomize answer order to present answer choices in a different order for each learner.
To help instructors quickly and easily grade printed quizzes taken offline, an Answer Key is provided for each version. It includes the correct answers and, where applicable, the grading method.
To grade a quiz, instructors can select Show correct answers and print the required version of the quiz with an Answer Key.
This feature implements the following PIE items:
D362 (Print Quiz and Quiz Key)
D3718 (Quizzes - Generate PDF of the Quiz for Printing)
D5909 (Make all screens which have "forms" exportable to PDF)
D8049 (Printing Quiz)
D11794 (Quizzes: Print Test for Offline Completion)
4) PIE – Enhancement to the Product Idea Exchange (PIE)
This update enhances the Product Idea Exchange (PIE) based on customer feedback and introduces a new idea submission pipeline. D2L is refocusing on using PIE for new product ideas only. For bugs, support issues, or feedback on existing features, customers should use the Customer Support Portal or speak with your Customer Success representative. Updated guidelines for PIE are available in the Community.
This update makes it easier to:
Engage directly with the D2L Product Management team
Receive faster updates on submitted ideas with simplified statuses and streamlined process
Gain visibility into how ideas influence the product roadmap
D2L will provide feedback on submissions that do not follow the updated guidelines to provide an opportunity to update the submissions. Submitters receive a notification and have 90 days to enhance it.
D2L is also reviewing existing PIE submissions to inform migration plans. Customers are encouraged to revisit older submissions marked as Feedback Review Window and provide comments on those still relevant.
The current PIE interface remains open for commenting until August 31, after which it becomes read-only for six months to allow historical reference and migration.
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.
Notifications enable you to customize what methods you want to use to receive notifications, such as email, as well as what events will trigger notifications.
Students can control how they receive information about course activity through their notification preferences. They can customize which actions in Brightspace will trigger a notification.
The Notification tool allows users to:
Subscribe to a summary of activity for each course and receive a daily email.
Specify your preferred email address for instant notifications and announcements.
Receive instant notifications about course activity, such as edited content, new discussion posts, assignments, grades, course announcements and upcoming quizzes.
Instructors can help their students to keep up with their coursework by encouraging them to setup their notification preferences. Additionally, there is a Getting Started for Learners Video Playlist that students should watch to get familiar with Brightspace.
Follow these steps to do it.
To customize notification preferences, users should:
From your Personal Menu (located in the Minibar), select Notifications.
Select the email address to which notifications will be sent.
Select the course activities for which you would like to receive notifications.
Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen.
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.
Did you know, D2L rolled out a modern, upgraded, responsive, and accessible Brightspace Editor? The Brightspace Editor is the primary method of creating content in Brightspace. The Brightspace Editor allows users to enter text, pictures, or embed audio/video. Advanced users can even embed HTML code.
You can create course content using the Brightspace Editor. For example, the Brightspace Editor is available when you edit discussion topics, create custom instructions for assignment submission folders, create quizzes, create announcements, and create content topics.
Brightspace Editor
I find myself using emojis to help convey tone and emotion, which can be difficult to express through text alone. 🙂 You can easily insert an emoji using the "Other Insert Options" button in the Brightspace Editor's toolbar.
The Brightspace Editor has many icons that match those of common word processing software: bold, left justify, bullets, tables, and so on. It’s important to remember the Brightspace Editor is not a word processor. When you add pictures, links or embed videos, you are creating references to items that are stored internally (in Brightspace) or externally (another web site). If those items are changed or deleted, the reference will not display properly.
Brightspace Editor: A Breakdown of New Features
Redesigning the editor provided opportunities for D2L to provide a better experience. Some new features were added to the Editor, but there was also a focus on improvements in accessibility, responsiveness, and ease of use:
Improved accessibility – D2L ensured that toolbars met the new WCAG 3.0 standards for button spacing and that the keyboard navigation makes sense to users, especially those using screen reader technology. They also recreated their great color picker that highlights WCAG AA compliance to end users.
Enhanced responsiveness – The toolbar collapses intelligently based on the size of your screen, with different breakpoints. This means that formatting options collapse together, alignment options, and 'insert' options - creating a great experience on any device.
Ease of use – The editor now looks more like a standard web text editor - with all formatting options at the top. Contextual menus are inside the editing experience for quick access while typing. They included the advanced code editor that makes editing html code easier. They upgraded the tables feature and added: format painter, word count, and @mentions in Discussions. All areas clients suggested for improvement in the Product Idea Exchange (PIE).
Enhancements to the Editor
More and different formatting options.
An improved color picker with WCAG compliance checking.
A full set of emojis and special symbols
The move of footer options like 'preview' ' source' 'accessibility checking' and 'expand' to the main toolbar.
Updates to the font size menu
Removal of Spellchecker*
Removal of Cut/Copy buttons (which no longer worked on most browsers anymore in any case)
A refreshed Accessibility checker
The Brightspace Editor now remembers the open or closed state of the More Actions button, per user, in order to reduce clicks for users that frequently use options in the expanded editor.
*NOTE: The Brightspace Editor does not have a built in spell checker. Your web browser’s built-in spell check functionality is available in the new Brightspace Editor and D2L recommends using it.
Additions to the Editor
Format painter that enables you to copy and apply text formatting.
New Advanced Tables that includes sorting options.
Contextual menus for editing text, links, and images (image editing is not available in all areas)
Word Count including character and selection word count
Advanced Source Code Editor that includes code suggestions and color coding for tags.
Lato font
@mentions support in Discussions
An 'Other Insert Options' menu for overflow items to improve responsiveness.
Limited text pattern support: * * for italics, ** ** for bold, ## for H2, ### for H3, etc until H6.
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.
