By: Megan Shuker, Senior Manager, Product Management, and Elaine Jones, Product Manager
EOL Date: January 2024 release (20.24.01)
Figure: The Course Chat window.
What is Chat?
Chat is a tool that allows users to setup spaces to conduct online, synchronous, text-based communication. Chat is NOT the same as Instant Messages.
Why are we Making This Decision?
Online communication has evolved over time and has been replaced by instant messaging on mobile devices. Even AOL closed its chat rooms in 2010! Use of our chat tool has been declining over the years, and this decision allows us to simplify our platform by reducing confusion around tools that do similar things.
What is the Impact and Transition Plan for Active Clients?
We are reaching out to higher-use clients to understand use cases and recommend alternatives.
20.23.10 Update: Chat now displays an EOL banner
As of the October 2023 (20.23.10) release, users will see a new banner when accessing the Chat tool or a Chat window, giving them information about the upcoming end of life for the Chat tool.
Figure: As of the October 2023 (20.23.10) release, the Chat tool displays a banner about the tool's EOL date.
FAQ
Is Chat enabled on my environment? What is the best way to disable it?
Chat is an Organization Tool and can be disabled by turning it off at that level.
Can D2L Provide a list of users who have accessed Chat?
Yes – you can access this through the Chat Data Set, which will also be disabled when this End-of-Life transition takes place.
How can learners use D2L to communicate synchronously?
Learners can use the Instant Message tool or Discussions to communicate. We also have a course connector to Microsoft Teams, which allows administrators and instructor to seamlessly create Teams based on a course in Brightspace. In addition, learners will often use Slack, Discord, or WhatsApp to communicate within their groups.
Figure: An example of an instant message.
What will happen to my existing chats and chat data after EOL?
You should download the Chat Data Set prior to Dec 31, 2023 to save your data. After this date, all data will be deleted.
I use chats in Content today. Will those topics disappear? What happens to content module completion if they do?
Your content topics will remain, but the chats will no longer be available. Learners will see a message about the chat tool availability. Instructors will need to re-configure courses with chat-based content topics.
