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January 2020, version 20.20.1

Brightspace Learning Environment – Support for Internet Explorer | Removed

As of January 1st, Brightspace has ended support for Internet Explorer. All versions of Internet Explorer will no longer be able to access Brightspace. We recommend using the most up-to-date version of Firefox or Chrome.

Classlist – Total number of users field and floating buttons | New

To improve ease of use, the total number of users for their selection (whole class, section, group) now appears in a field at the bottom of the Classlist page for at-a-glance viewing to help instructors keep track of the total number of learners, which may extend beyond the users visible on the page. On the Print Classlist and Email Classlist pages, the clickable Print and Email buttons now float consistently on screen, to ensure easy access to these actions without excessive scrolling.

This feature implements PIE items D508 and D4186.

Copy Course Components - Add validation logic to the copy process | New

Copy Course Components now contains a validation logic step to the course copy process, which can inform users if they performed a copy from the source previously, avoiding unnecessary duplication of copied course components.

This feature implements PIE item D1812.

 

Discussions – Assessment consistency changes | New

When assessing discussions, instructors have new multi-select options to Publish Feedback and Retract Feedback. In the Status column, the Draft / Published checkbox has been replaced by information on the date when feedback was saved as draft or published. These changes are visible on both the Users and Assessments tabs. The Save, Save and Close, and Cancel buttons have also been removed as their functionality has been replaced by the Publish Feedback and Retract Feedback options.

 

Figure: Previous view when assessing a discussion topic

Figure: Updated view when assessing a discussion topic

Grades – Export sorting options | New

This feature introduces the ability to sort exported gradebooks based on the following options: OrgDefinedID, Username, Last Name, and First name. The sort options available are based on the User Information Privacy permissions for the role.

This feature implements PIE items D1058 and D1804.

Groups – Self-enrollment group capacity, start dates and descriptions | New

This feature includes three improvements to Groups:

• Group members can now see the description of their group. For self-enrolled groups, group members will now see the group description at all times, including before and after enrollment. For other group types, instructors can now choose to display the description to members of the group. This visible group description setting is off by default for non-self-enrollment groups. Previously, all group descriptions were hidden from group members.

• An instructor can now increase or decrease the capacity for self-enrollment groups after they have been created, and prior to the group sign-up expiry date. Decreasing a group size to an amount smaller than has already signed up for a group will not re-allocate users to other groups. Previously, self-enrollment groups were not editable after they were created.

• Instructors can set Start dates for self-enrollment groups. This feature allows them to schedule self-enrollment groups availability, ensuring learners are prepared and have equal opportunity to self-enroll.

This feature implements PIE items D1027, D373, and D3002.

Quizzes – Synchronization with Grades | New

Quiz scores and feedback entered in Grades now synchronize automatically with Quizzes. To further streamline the workflow, the Overall Feedback fields in Grades and Quizzes are now consolidated, and the Grade Item Public Comments field has been removed from Grades. All comments entered in the Overall Feedback field in Grades synchronizes automatically with the Overall Feedback field in Quizzes. This update creates a more direct workflow and aligns Quizzes with the consistent feedback experience implemented in Assignments and Discussions. Refer to the blog post Improving Consistency Of Synchronization Between Grades And Quizzes Tool (20.20.01 – January Release) for more information.

Note: Synchronization only occurs for new grade entries. Existing grade data for quizzes will not be migrated due to the high impact to all past data and reports.

This feature implements PIE item D391.

Rubrics – Share rubrics with other org units during creation | New

When creating new rubrics, users can now share the rubric created at the organization level with other org units. The rubric creation process provides the capability to either share or, conversely, block rubrics from being shared with other org units. Previously, this was only possible by using the legacy rubric editor.

Figure: The Add Org Units button enables users to make the rubric available to other org units.

 

 

 

December 2019, version 20.19.12

Brightspace Learning Environment – Supported browsers | Updated

As previously announced in the August 2019/20.19.8 release, Microsoft Internet Explorer is approaching End of Life (EOL) status as a supported browser. Starting January 1, 2020, Brightspace Learning Environment will no longer support Internet Explorer. As of the December 2019/20.19.12 release, if users attempt to access Brightspace Learning Environment using Internet Explorer in a test environment, an unsupported page appears. The unsupported page contains links to download supported browsers and a link to the End of Life (EOL) communication on the Brightspace Community. This allows clients to preview the unsupported page in their test environments and test any language term changes they want to make.

For more information on previous Internet Explorer EOL communications:

• Intent To End Of Life Notice For: Internet Explorer Support
• Internet Explorer Browser Support Transition Planning

Content - Sort HTML templates in alphanumeric filename order | New

To make it easier to find HTML templates when using Content, instructors can select the new Sort HTML Templates by name option from the Content Settings page in Content. Selecting this new option sorts templates in alphanumeric order based on filename. Previously, HTML templates were sorted alphanumerically based on directory structure.

Figure: The new Sort HTML Template by name option in the Content Settings page

Content – Sort order changes in Upload / Create menu | Updated

When using the Upload / Create menu to add activities to Content, the placement of the New Assignment option has moved. Previously, it appeared between New Discussion and New Quiz. Now, New Assignment appears above New Checklist.

Figure: Updated sort order of the Upload / Create menu

Grades - Synchronization with Assignments and Discussions via API and import options | Updated

Grades are now fully synchronized in the Assignments and Discussions tools when grades are added to Brightspace via the existing Import as CSV, Import as Excel, and API entry options. This change builds upon recent grades synchronization updates for Assignments and Discussions.

Note: Synchronization only occurs for new grade entries. Existing grade data for assignment submissions and discussions will not automatically be migrated because of the high impact to all past data and reports.

This feature implements PIE items D3610, and D391.

Quizzes – January (20.20.01) New Quiz Builder experience defaults to On (opt-in) | New

In January, as part of the 20.20.01 release, the default value for the d2l.Tools.Quizzes.NewQuizBuilderExperience configuration variable is changing from Off to On (opt-in). This gives instructors the choice to opt in or out of the New Quiz Builder experience in their courses. Administrators still have the option to set this configuration variable to Off if desired. Organizations who already have the configuration variable set to On or On (opt-in) do not see any change.

Release Conditions – Learners are notified when a release condition triggers new content | Updated

In a course that uses release conditions to unlock additional content, learners previously were not informed when new content became available as a result of a release condition that was satisfied. Because there was no automatic notification or refresh of the table of contents, there was the potential for frustration when learners think they are done a module, and are later informed that there are steps left to be completed.

Now, when release conditions are satisfied, the learner is notified using a pop-up ("toast") message that there are new items available in the course.

Release Conditions – Updated ordering of Tools | Updated

When adding Release Conditions to activities or content, the View Conditions for, and Condition Type menus now display tools in an updated order.

Figure: When browsing for release conditions, Assignments is now at the top of the list of tools

Figure: When creating new release conditions, Assignments is now at the top of the list of tools

Rubrics – Pre-announcement for configuration variable default setting change | Updated

In January 2020/20.20.01, the default setting for the d2l.Tools.Rubrics.CreateExperienceOptIn configuration variable changes from Off to On. This change comes a year after the configuration variable became available for the updated creation experience in January 2019; the default setting at that point was Off.

Currently, and until January 2020, the default is Off. In January the default setting will change to On. The target date for turning this on and removing the ability to opt-out is November 2020.

In addition, the changes in January 2020 will include the ability to share rubrics from the organization level using the updated Rubric creation experience.

November 2019, version 20.19.11

Assignments - Improvements to Assignments | Updated

The Assignments page shows a count of new submissions and resubmissions in the New column, which you can opt-in /opt-out of displaying.

This feature implements PIE item D5396.

Figure: Assignments page with the New column

 

Assignments – Letter grading available | New

Selectbox Grade Items can bow be associated with Assignments. When grading an assignment through Assignments or Grades, the evaluator is shown a dropdown menu with the associated grade scheme levels. This feature functions identically for rubrics and numeric values as the previously existing Selectbox grade item type in the gradebook.

Figure: Select a letter grade when assessing an assignment submission

Intelligent Agents - Email images and enrollment permission checks | New

Users can now insert images directly into the body of intelligent agent emails using the Add Image button in the HTML editor. The images are attached to the email and shown in place when viewed in the recipient's external mail client.

Quizzes - Restore quiz attempts in the Quiz Attempt log | Update

When an instructor restores a learner's deleted quiz attempt, note the following workflow changes:

• A deleted quiz attempt can only be restored if the learner does not have another quiz attempt in progress.
• The Restore button only appears for the latest deleted quiz attempt.

 

Quizzes – Save feedback as draft | New

Instructors can now clearly see when feedback is saved as a draft, or published, while evaluating quiz submissions. On the quiz evaluation page, the Graded (G) checkbox and Save button have been replaced by the Publish and Save Draft buttons.

Figure: The Publish and Save Draft buttons allow instructors to quickly save drafts of feedback left on quiz submissions

Quizzes - Set quiz options in Quiz Builder | New

The new Quiz Builder experience now allows instructors to set additional quiz options when creating quizzes. A More Actions button is visible when users select the checkbox for one or more questions; allowing instructors to set questions as mandatory or bonus directly from Quiz Builder, and change the number points assigned to a question or set of questions. There is no change in how the bonus, mandatory, or points features work.

October 2019, version 20.19.10

Accessibility - Compliance with WCAG 2.1 level AA | Updated

As part of D2L's ongoing commitment to design and develop against WC3 accessibility best practices, the Brightspace Learning Environment 20.19.10/October 2019 release now aligns to the updated WCAG 2.1 level AA standards in both compliance reporting and all new development work. It is D2L’s intention to be an industry leader in inclusive design, and these changes improve support for individuals with alternative fine motor, cognition, and low vision needs. There are no major changes to workflows with these improvements; however, we have updated our shared components, such as fonts, buttons, menus, and input fields to better support WCAG 2.1 level AA requirements and recommendations. These changes include:

• Adding input type and auto-complete to appropriate fields to facilitate a user’s ability to complete forms.
• Adding escape key commands where appropriate to components that appear on hover or focus.
• Updating components that activate on down event to ensure that a user can cancel actions.
• Improving color contrast on additional components in Brightspace Learning Environment.

 

Assignments – Change to immersive navigation bar | Updated

When evaluating an assignment submission, the user interface has been updated slightly. The Next Student and Previous Student buttons above the submission and learner information have been replaced by forward and back chevrons that display in the immersive navigation bar. Previously, these buttons were displayed across the entire width of the page. The information on which user you are evaluating (e.g. 1 of 12) displays between the back and forward chevrons.

Figure: Evaluating an assignment with the new immersive navigation bar.

 

Brightspace Learning Environment – Improvements to consistency | Updated

To provide a more consistent experience, there have been changes to update the language, interface controls, and workflows throughout Brightspace Learning Environment.

The language and methods by which instructors make activities hidden or visible to learners across different tools is now consistent. Changes include:

• The visibility control now uses a checkbox with the consistent terminology Hide from users in all instances. This change affects the Assignments, Discussions, Quizzes, Surveys, and Grades (grade item and grade category) tools.
• In Discussions, the Visibility, Availability Dates, and Locking options move from the Properties tab to the Restrictions tab.
• The Hide from users checkbox appears under the title field of all activity creation pages in the Content tool.
• In Content, on the table of contents, there is now a visibility icon button for use with both content topics and modules. The icon serves as a visibility switch. The visibility status of a topic appears when the topic is not visible, when the table of contents is in bulk edit mode, or when a topic is in edit-in-place mode. The table of contents fly-out no longer provides the ability to switch the visibility of a topic or module.
• In Content, the Hide from users and Make Visible to users options are available in the context menus for topics and modules in the table of contents, and in the context menus of topics on the topics’ detail page.

The Instructor view of the list page of several tools now has consistent icons in a consistent order for activity restrictions. Changes include:

• All common activity icons appear before tool-specific icons.
• There is now only one Special Access icon in Quizzes (previously there were two, one for each type of Special Access). The Special Access icon also now appears in Assignments where it previously did not.
• All icons have been updated to the Daylight style (except the Bonus Grade item, which will be done in a future release).
• Alt-text appears on all icons on the activity pages. In some cases, the alt-text has been changed to provide consistent text across all icons of the same type.

Across many tools, including Quizzes, Surveys, Grades, and Discussions, the Restrictions tab provides the ability to control the visibility status and availability dates for an activity. Changes include:

• Changes to the Restrictions tabs in Quizzes, Survey, Grades, and Discussions to show Hide from Users with a check box control to turn on or turn off the visibility of the item.
• Previous sections containing the visibility settings in Surveys, Grades, and Discussions (for Forums and Topics) are renamed to Availability.
• Availability dates in Grades (for a grade item and grade category) and Discussions (for Forums and Topics) now appear and can be hidden.

There is now a consistent individual and bulk process workflow to hide or show activities. With this workflow, users can quickly change the visibility status from the list of activities without first having to edit the activity. Changes include:

• In Quizzes, Surveys, and Grades, users can hide or show individual items under the context menu of an individual item or bulk items from the More Actions button at the top of the page.
• In Discussions, users can hide or show individual items under the context menu of each topic and forum. Bulk hide or show is not available for Discussions.

The language and methods by which instructors save content on the New Activity page (Content tool) are now consistent. Whether the item is visible or not is determined by the Hide from Users permission check box. Changes include:

• Publish and Save as Draft have been combined into a single button called Save.

In addition, there are other consistency updates throughout the Brightspace Learning Environment:

• The Completion Method icon in the table of contents in the Content tool is now a menu. I
• In the Grade book, on the context menu for a grade item, the Grade All option is now Enter Grades.
• In the Grade Item and Grade Category event log, the Visibility property is now Visibility Status. Status options are now Hidden or Not Hidden.
• In the Grade Item and Grade Category event log, the End Date Restriction and Start Date Restriction properties are now Availability End Date and Availability Start Date.
• In the Grade Item and Grade Category event log, changes to the Visibility and Date properties are now logged independently.
• In Surveys, the display of availability dates on the survey Administrator and User list pages are now consistent with the display currently used in Quizzes.

For additional information about the changes as a result of this feature update, see Activity Visibility Improvements - Part 1 and Activity Visibility Improvements - Part 2

 

Brightspace Learning Environment – Supported browsers | Updated

As previously announced in the August 2019/20.19.8 release, Microsoft Internet Explorer is approaching End of Life (EOL) status as a supported browser. Starting January 2020, Brightspace Learning Environment will no longer support Internet Explorer. To provide more visibility about this upcoming change, when an existing user logs in to Brightspace Learning Environment using Internet Explorer, a banner now informs the user about the approaching EOL date. The banner also includes a recommendation to upgrade their browser and a link to the EOL communication on the Brightspace Community. After logging in, the user can dismiss the banner for that session. For each subsequent session, the banner displays; however, the user can dismiss it.

For an optimal experience that offers better performance, accessibility, and security, D2L strongly recommends that all users access Brightspace Learning Environment with a supported browser.

Figure: The Internet Explorer End of Life banner on the login page.

Figure: The Internet Explorer End of Life banner in Brightspace Learning Environment.

Brightspace Pulse - iOS support | Updated

The latest version of Brightspace Pulse is supported on Apple devices with iOS 11 or higher. Older versions of Brightspace Pulse will continue to work on Apple devices with iOS 10, but will not receive any app updates. For an optimal experience, D2L recommends installing the latest version of Brightspace Pulse on Apple devices with iOS 11 or higher.

Intelligent Agents - Email Attachments | New

You can now add attachments to automated email messages when creating and editing intelligent agents. The intelligent agent email template contains an Attachments area that enables you to upload local files, select from available course files, or record audio. Attachment size is based on the email attachment size setting for your organization.

Quizzes – Change to immersive navigation bar | Updated

When evaluating a quiz submission, the user interface has been updated slightly. The Next Student and Previous Student buttons above the submission and learner information have been replaced by forward and back chevrons that display in the immersive navigation bar. Previously these buttons were displayed across the entire width of the page. The information on which user you are evaluating (e.g. 1 of 12) now displays between the back and forward chevrons.

Quizzes - Enter as User permission | New

In the past, users with appropriate permissions to preview and grade quizzes could use the Enter In-Progress Quiz as User feature to create a restricted impersonation session. They could then use the impersonation session to submit the quiz on behalf of the user. Now, administrators can control the ability to preview and grade in-progress quizzes using the Enter In-Progress Quiz as User permission. With this change, users marking quizzes no longer need to have impersonation permissions, administrators can be sure that there are no privacy infringement issues, and instructors will not accidentally infringe on a learner's privacy.

 

September 2019, version 20.19.9

 Activity Feed - Inline rendering of remote plug-in attachments | New

When an instructor attaches a remote plug-in via a Quicklink to a message or assignment post, the plug-in now renders inline as an embedded attachment. This allows users to view the material without navigating away from Activity Feed. Previously, a remote plug-in attachment rendered as a simple web link.

Figure: An Activity Feed post with a remote plug-in attachment

Activity Feed - Message posts now support embed codes | New

To allow instructors and learners to share more material in a course, users can now paste embed codes directly into the body of message posts. These embed codes automatically attach and display inline for all users to view and interact with.

Figure: An Activity Feed post with an embed code attachment

Activity Feed - Improved attachment workflow and thumbnail previews | New

Users can now attach web links to message and assignment posts by pasting them into the body of messages or the instructions of assignments. The display of link attachments has also been enhanced to show a thumbnail and description, if available. Previously, links could only be added to posts by the Click and Attach workflow and the display was limited to a simple link icon and title.

Figure: An Activity Feed post with the new link styling containing a thumbnail preview and description

Assignments - Grades entered in Assignments and Grade Book are synchronized | New

When an instructor enters a grade for an assignment submission in the standard or spreadsheet view of Grade Book, the grade also appears with the submission in Assignments. Previously, grades entered in the Assignment tool were passed on to Grade Book; however, grades for assignment submissions entered in Grade Book were not passed to the Assignments tool. This change ensures data consistency between Assignments and Grade Book. Currently Assignment grades are not synchronized when the Assignment tool is updated by the Brightspace API or when Grade Book is exported and imported.

Note: This synchronization only occurs for new grade entries. Existing grade data for assignment submissions will not automatically be migrated because it would impact all past data and reports.

This feature implements PIE items D3610, and D391.

 

Brightspace Pulse - Activity Feed notifications | New

To help keep learners up to date on course activity, Brightspace Pulse now displays Activity Feed notifications in the Updates tab, for example, messages and links to course materials and external resources. Tapping an Activity Feed notification displays the post in Brightspace Pulse.

 

Discussions - Grades entered in Discussions and Grade book are synchronized | New

When an instructor enters a grade for a discussion in the standard or spreadsheet view of Grade Book, the grade also appears with the discussion post in Discussions. Previously, grades entered in the Discussion were passed on to Grade Book; however, grades for discussions entered in Grade Book were not passed to the Discussions tool. This change ensures data consistency between Discussions and Grade Book. Currently Discussion grades are not synchronized when the Discussion tool is updated by the Brightspace API or when Grade Book is exported and imported.

Note: This synchronization only occurs for new grade entries. Existing grade data for discussions will not automatically be migrated because it would impact all past data and reports.

This feature implements PIE items D3610 and D391.

 

Release Conditions - Release condition for topic completion | New

The Completed content topic is a new release condition that is met when a user completes a content topic. The method of completing the topic depends on the type, such as viewing a file or submitting an assignment. Similar to the currently available Visited content topic release condition, optional topics can also trigger this release condition.

This release condition ignores exemptions, meaning that if the learner completes the activity, the release condition can be met, regardless of the activity being required, optional, or exempt.

Figure: The Completed content topic release condition is now available from the Condition Type drop-down list.