Video: Release Highlights
Announcements
- We have updated the third party tool PSPDFKit to the latest version. This third party tool is used by the Annotations tool in Assignments. This update resolves several Annotation tool defects reported as a result of PSPDFKit being out of date. For more information about which defects have been resolved by this update, refer to our Known issues and Fixed issues lists on Brightspace Community.
- On June 19, 2023, the Legacy Brightspace Help site will be decommissioned. All links, references, and bookmarks clients have created must be updated by that date. For additional information refer to Community Transition Plan.
- Authentication using OAuth2.0 is now available for OneRoster REST integrations with Infinite Campus. Users can securely connect to Infinite Campus using the OAuth2.0 protocol. D2L previously only supported OAuth 1.0 as an authentication method with Infinite Campus.
- With the launch of the new browser-based Capture Web, we are ending support for the downloadable Capture App. Users who have the desktop Capture App saved to their computers are still able to use it, but no new features will be introduced. New users will now be directed toward Capture Web.
- In an effort to simplify our platform, the Chat tool will be permanently retired on December 31, 2023. Clients using Chat will need to move to an alternative tool, such as Instant Message or the Microsoft Teams Course Connector, before the end-of-life date. For more information, refer to Intent to EOL Chat.
- As announced in January 2023/20.23.1, the adoption period for Brightspace Data Sets version 8 is ending in July 2023. Any clients who are still using version 7 will be automatically migrated at that time. For more information, refer to Motivations behind the changes in Data Hub Brightspace Data Set (BDS) Major Version 8.
- The Brightspace Community Search widget, a custom widget, will reach End of Life status in September 2023. This legacy widget searches the documentation of our legacy Brightspace Community site and no longer returns up-to-date information. D2L recommends removing the widget before September 2023 from all homepages and deleting it from your list of custom widgets. For our End User Support customers, Brightspace Community search will be available through the Brightspace Virtual Assistant. For more information, refer to End of Life Information for: Brightspace Community Search Widget.
- As of June 1, 2023, any system language defaults that include links pointing to the legacy Brightspace Community or legacy Brightspace Help page will now point to the new Brightspace Community pages. For more information, see Community Transition Plan.
- There has been a minor update to collapsible panels used within parts of Brightspace. Users will see minor visual improvements in some areas, and clients using keyboard navigation will notice improvements navigating to, within, and exiting components.
- Overdue Assignments, System Access (last 14 days), and Grade Distribution (last 14 days) cards are now available through the Brightspace Insights Engagement Dashboard. These cards are available to Brightspace Core customers using the Ellucian Experience Premium Tier in the us-east-1 North American region. These new cards help to bring Brightspace Insights into the Ellucian Experience and support advisors needing to identify at-risk students quickly by allowing them to holistically investigate and determine an appropriate intervention approach. Customers can configure Brightspace Insights cards in Ellucian Experience or contact their Ellucian account representatives to learn more.
To view the change log for this release note landing page, see Change History at the bottom of this page.
Assignments – Accessible Rubric Confirmation dialog box in Consistent Evaluation experience | Updated
To improve accessibility and clarity for screen reader devices, the Rubrics Confirmation dialog box that appears when users navigate away from scoring an assignment or discussion post using a rubric now features the following changes:
- Screen reader-legible heading, text and buttons now appear in the dialog box.
- The dialog box heading now says Unscored Rubric Criteria in place of Confirmation, to improve the workflow clarity for all users, including those using screen readers.
Previously, the text in the dialog box was not accessible to screen readers.
Figure: The confirmation dialog box appears with the previous heading Confirmation. This dialog text was not accessible to screen readers.
Figure: The confirmation dialog box now appears with the updated heading Unscored Rubric Criteria. The text in this dialog is fully accessible to screen readers.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to instructors due to the updated heading text of the confirmation dialog box and the legibility of the box for screen readers.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all users.
Assignments – Availability dates are now on by default | Updated
Improvements to the Assignments tool's availability dates were introduced in the 20.22.12 release, which allowed instructors to have greater control over the access and visibility of their assignments before or after the start and end dates.
This release sets the configuration variable d2l.Tools.Dropbox.ConsistentDatesEnabled default to ON. Previously, the configuration variable's default state was OFF. Administrators can opt out of this feature after the release where the configuration variable is set to the default behavior.
The new Assignments availability date experience is scheduled to become the default experience in 20.23.12. This change can be reviewed in the High Impact Changes Timeline.
Figure: The before and after of the Availability Dates & Conditions menu when the d2l.Tools.Dropbox.ConsistentDatesEnabled configuration variable is enabled.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Moderate impact to administrators and instructors who have not already opted to turn on the new feature since launching in December 2022.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients.
To enable:
- The configuration variable d2l.Tools.Dropbox.ConsistentDatesEnabled is now automatically enabled by default.
Assignments – Consistent settings and interface of availability dates across Brightspace | Updated
To improve consistency in activity tools, this feature updates settings and the format of availability dates and states across Brightspace for both instructors and learners.
With this release, the Assignments List tab displays availability dates and states closely aligned with other activity tools to make a unified content experience. Availability dates are displayed below the titles of assignments and 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.
Previously, the availability dates in the Assignments List tab did not include a hover tooltip.
Figure: The format of availability dates and states in the Assignments tool before this update.
Figure: The format of availability dates and states in the Assignments tool after this update.
The corresponding updates for Discussions and Quizzes are planned for future releases.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to instructors and learners due to the ability to get more information about availability dates from the Assignments List tab.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all users if the configuration variable d2l.Tools.Dropbox.ConsistentDatesEnabled is enabled (the default state is ON).
Course Import – Course Groups added to Course Import and Export packages | New
This release adds the export of the # of Groups – No Auto Enrollments Group enrollment type to the Brightspace Export Package and includes the handling of this Group enrollment type on import. Exporting or importing this Group type includes workspace associations to Discussions, Assignments and Lockers, if those items are also present in the Brightspace Export Package. Exporting or importing a Group does not include user information or membership in the Group.
Note that Groups with automatic enrollments cannot be imported or exported at this time.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to instructors due to the ability to export or import Course Groups as part of Brightspace Export Package.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all users.
Course Import – Improve Import and Export of Gradebook settings | Updated
This feature adds consistency and addresses information gaps when exporting and importing a Brightspace Gradebook using a Brightspace Package. The following items can now be imported and exported:
- Calculation options (Grade System, Final Grade Released and Grade Calculations). Calculation options are only imported and overwritten if the gradebook is empty.
- Grade scheme associated to a grade item if the grade scheme is shared from the org level. Grade schemes are set to match an existing org level scheme if the Name and ShortName match. If no match is found, or if duplicate matches are found, the course's default scheme is selected instead.
- Grade categories maintain their display settings, as well as the display in calendar setting and whether they are excluded from final grade calculation. This is already possible for grade items.
- Gradebook display settings (Org Unit Display Options). These are only imported and overwritten if the gradebook is empty. This does not include the ePortfolio Artifacts options in Display Options.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to administrators and instructors due to the ability to import and export additional Gradebook settings.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all users.
Course Publisher – Set an enrollment limit | New
With this release, the Course Publisher tool enables course providers to set an enrollment limit. Course providers can set the number of enrollments coming in for a particular course higher or lower depending on their needs. This enrollment limit should be at least the current number of unique course users from that recipient.
An enrollment limit is only applied to enrollments by Course Publisher; manual enrollments are unaffected. If an enrollment is removed from the course and Course Publisher initially did that enrollment, the count is updated to reflect that.
To create or edit an enrollment limit, click the new Package Config option (the Gear icon) on the package lists table.
Figure: An example of setting an enrollment limit.
Previously, enrollment limits were not available in Course Publisher.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to administrators due to the ability to set an enrollment limit for a particular course.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all users.
Course Publisher – Improved enrollment capabilities | New
With this release, course providers no longer need to worry about managing the creation of users with the Instructor role or enrolling those users into the correct course sections. This feature allows users to be enrolled as instructors and into specific sections using data provided from the LTI request received by Brightspace.
When a user navigates from another LMS or Brightspace site through Course Publisher via an LTI link, they will now be placed in the correct role and into the correct section of the course.
To accommodate these changes, the new Link to Course functionality is added, including section information and links to the LTI or AICC download actions.
Figure: An example of section selection.
Previously, manual role and section enrollment management was required to ensure that users were given the proper isolation and visibility for the course they were accessing. The interface had the links directly on the table, which have now been replaced with the Link to Course and Package Config (Gear) icons.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to administrators due to the ability to automatically add users to specific sections using an LTI link.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all users. For enrolling instructors, the newd2l.System.Enrollment.InstructorRole ( OrgUnit ) configuration variable must be set to the corresponding role.
Creator+ – Create a full presentation from your browser with Capture Web | New
Capture Web is a new tool available with the Creator+ package, which enables users to create a full presentation from their browser without the need to download a desktop client. The tool includes both screen capture and mixed camera and screen presentations. The initial release of Capture Web supports Firefox, Chrome, and Microsoft Edge for desktop; but mobile browsers and Safari are not supported. As a workaround, users can use one of the supported browsers for their presentations.
The current Capture implementation requires users to download a desktop client. However, the desktop client is only supported on macOS and Windows. As a result, Capture is not available on many platforms, including Chrome books.
Capture Web is scheduled to replace the existing Capture App. Users that downloaded the app can continue to launch it from their desktop.
Note: If users have the permission Can access Capture App, the Add > Record Webcam button will instead be the Create Recording button. The functionality for both options remains the same. All functionality of Record Webcam is available in Create Recording.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Moderate impact to instructors who can now create presentations from their browser without downloading a desktop client.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients with Creator+.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all Capture users.
Creator+ – Create greater accessibility for your images with the Hotspot element | New
Hotspot is a new element for HTML Content pages that is launched through Brightspace Editor's Insert Element. By adding hotspots to images, learners can select icons associated with a part of the image to open a modal window that presents additional learning about the image. This can include a variety of content types, such as text, images, videos, or links. Creators can add up to nine hotspots on a single image with the ability to change the style and color of hotspot markers. The grid overlay allows the image to be fully accessible with the integration of micro alt tags.
Figure: An example of the element markers for the Hotspot tool.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Moderate impact to instructors who can add hotspots and micro alt tags to images for greater learner accessibility.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients with Creator+ wherever Insert Element is available.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all users.
Creator+ – Easily convert layouts with the new conversion feature | Updated
Introduced in the 20.22.5 release, the Layouts tool allows creators to more effectively organize content within a page using panels to create differently-sized columns. After selecting a layout from the Layouts menu, the chosen layout appears in the HTML Content page. Dotted lines define each content panel. Creators place their cursor inside a panel to begin adding content using the Brightspace Editor.
Now, the context menu provides an additional option that allows creators to switch the existing layout style for another layout style. Existing content will remain but will be redistributed into the new layout. Once a layout is placed, creators select the layout to display the context menu that allows them to move the layout position up or down within the page, remove the layout while keeping the content, or delete the layout and the content inside it.
Previously, layouts were not able to be converted.
Figure: Changing a layout in Content.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to instructors who can now convert layout structures when editing content.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients who have Creator+.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all users.
Data Hub – Session History Brightspace Data Set | Updated
With this release, the data type for the SessionId column in the Session History Brightspace Data Set has changed to BigInt. Previously, the data type for SessionId was Int.
This change allows a larger value with up to eight bytes to be saved, as the previous four-byte limit is too small for some larger organizations.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Moderate impact to administrators due to the change in recommended database settings. Administrators may need to update their data warehouse to use BigInt for the SessionId field if they have concerns that the number of files will exceed the limit of Int.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients.
To enable:
- Ensure the Can Access Brightspace Data Sets permission is granted to administrators at the org level. Ensure the d2l.Tools.BrightspaceDataSets.Version configuration variable is set to version 7 or 8. New and changed data sets appear the first time the data set runs after the version update.
Discover – Improved course description search | Updated
To provide users with a better search experience, this feature increases the amount of data indexed from a course description when searching for courses in Discover. Discover search will index 4KB of data from each course or activity description, expanding the number of searchable terms and making it easier to find relevant courses in Discover. Existing courses will automatically update.
Previously, Discover search indexed 1KB of data from each course description.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to all users due to improved results in the Search field of Discover.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all users.
Google Workspace – Access to external data is restricted when impersonating other users | Updated
With this release, users can no longer perform the following actions with the Google Workspace integration while impersonating another user:
- Link or unlink Google accounts
- Use the Google Filepicker
- Access Google Drive content topics
- Use the Google Workspace Widgets
- Use the Google Calendar Widget
When they attempt any of these actions, they see an alert informing them that they are restricted from using the workflow while they are impersonating a user.
Figure: Inline alert for Google Workspace Widgets that displays when the user is impersonating.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Moderate impact to administrators due to the inability to use Google Workspace while impersonating.
- Moderate impact to instructors due to the inability to use Google Workspace while impersonating.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all users.
Quizzes – Improved workflows for large quizzes | New
This feature updates instructors' workflows for large quizzes in two ways.
Instructors can now use the Load More button on the initial page load if a quiz has more than 200 questions, sections, and question pools.
If the Load More button is shown, list operations such as moving to the bottom or adding new questions continue functioning as expected. However, to see their changes, instructors must click the Load More button to reveal the updated list.
Figure: The Load More button.
Also, instructors can now select multiple items and use drag and drop to rearrange the question list.
Figure: Multiple items selected for movement using drag and drop.
This feature implements PIE item D10368 (New Quiz Experience: Drag & Drop - Moving multiple questions at once).
Previously, quiz questions, sections, and question pools rendered slowly. Creating and editing quizzes with many items could take significant time. Moving multiple items was only possible using the Move To action menu.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to instructors due to the ability to use the Load More button to reduce the load time of large quizzes and use drag and drop to move multiple items in the question list.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all users.
User and Role Management – Improved access and enablement for Auditor Tool and Bulk Auditor functions | Updated
This feature simplifies the enablement of Auditors in Brightspace. Auditors only require the Auditor tool to be enabled. Previously, Auditors had two enablement steps, including tool and configuration. Clients who have both the configuration variable d2l.Tools.UserManagement.OrgHasAuditors and User Auditors tool enabled will continue to see Auditors.
In addition, a new access point to Bulk Auditor Management is visible within the Users tool, making it easier to access bulk functions.
This feature does not affect the Auditor Widget, which is the primary access point for Auditors to access Auditor functionality.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to administrators due to the simplification of access and enablement of the Auditor tool and Bulk Auditor Management.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all Brightspace Core clients.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all users.
Added on 11 May 2023 Preview Release Notes published.
Added on 1-June-2023 Updated the Quizzes – Improved workflows for large quizzes | New feature to add animated GIFs instead of images and the PIE idea number .
Added on 1-June-2023 Updated the Creator+ – Easily convert layouts with the new conversion feature | Updated feature to replace an image with the animated GIF.
Added on 1-June-2023 Updated the Assignments – Consistent settings and interface of availability dates across Brightspace | Updated feature to mention the configuration variable d2l.Tools.Dropbox.ConsistentDatesEnabled and add a picture of the format of availability dates and states before this update and its description.
Added on 1-June-2023 Added the announcement about a new integration of Brightspace Insights within the Ellucian Experience.
Added on 1-June-2023 Added the Course Publisher – Set an enrollment limit | New and Course Publisher – Improved enrollment capabilities | New features.
Added on 1-June-2023 Two new announcements (Minor update to collapsible panels and system language defaults that include links) were added to the Announcements section.
Added on 1-June-2023 Added the announcement for the End of Life of Brightspace Community Search widget.
Added on 1-June-2023 Updated the announcement for the End of Life of Chat to add a link to the product blog post.
Added on 1-June-2023 Updated the Assignments – Availability dates are now on by default | Updated feature to reflect the date when the new experience becomes the default experience.
Added on 1-June-2023 Removed the Rubrics – Language term change in Fr-CA and Fr-FR language packs | Updated release note. This feature will be available in a later release.
Added on 1-June-2023 Updated the Creator+ – Create a full presentation from your browser with Capture Web | New feature to highlight interface changes.
Added on 1-June-2023 Updated the decommission date for the Legacy Brightspace Help site from June 1, 2023 to June 19, 2023.
Added on 6-July-2023 Updated the Course Import – Course Groups added to Course Import and Export packages | New feature to correct the description of the feature.