Video: Release Highlights
Announcements
- The new Brightspace Community has been available for almost a year and we’re continuing our efforts to deprecate elements of the Legacy Community that no longer serve our members. Our next step is to implement redirects from legacy pages to the new Community using insight and feedback from our members. We invite you to share the links you’ve bookmarked or continue to use so that we might help direct you to current and up-to-date resources in the new Community. To share your ideas, see Requesting Redirect Links (URLs) from Legacy Community. For information about future Community plans, refer to Community Transition Plan.
- The process used to perform updates to Brightspace Editor is improved. This process supports seamless Brightspace Editor updates and ensures that updates can be rolled back where necessary.
- Previously, learning outcomes could only be located using the exact term or spelling used in the outcome name. Now, in Assignments, Quizzes, and the New Discussion Editing Experience, the search algorithm returns lists of outcomes using a fuzzy search technique commonly presented in most search engines. The new search algorithm returns results based on patterns approximately like the search criteria, improving quality or results to account for basic spelling mistakes or typos. The exact match is bolded to help identify the actual search query text within the returned results. Other locations in Content that access Learning Outcomes continue to use exact search terms or spellings of outcome names when using search functions.
- With this release, users accessing the Chat tool now see a banner indicating the tool will no longer be available as of January 2024. For more information about this update, refer to Intent to End Of Life Notice for: Chat.
- Brightspace Pulse app is updated to provide a more consistent assistive technology experience between iOS and Android platforms. In addition, there is an added option to enable 3rd Party cookies within the Pulse app settings. As a result of these changes, users are required to log back in to the Pulse app.
- Course-specific Achievement Scales and Mastery View settings are now included for the Outcomes component. Users can use the Outcomes component when copying to single courses with the Import/Export/Copy functionality. These settings are also now included when using Copy Course Bulk (CCB) batch copy scripts to bulk copy outcomes. Creating a new course shell from an existing master course will apply all the scales and settings from the master course. If settings are copied to existing courses with Outcomes, the copied settings will not overwrite Achievement Scales or Mastery View settings.
- When evaluating activities in Assignments and Discussions, users can no longer use the Publish or Save Draft buttons if their evaluation exceeds the limit for field restrictions. This limitation applies to the Overall Grade, Overall Feedback, and Annotations fields. Previously, a warning was displayed in the Overall Feedback field when the limit was reached, but the limitation was not enforced; and users could continue attempting to save their evaluation by clicking Publish or Save Draft.
To view the change log for this release note landing page, see Change History at the bottom of this page.
API – Automatic update of scopes for registered apps | Updated
In April 2023, new OAuth2 scopes were added for Content and Discussions actions to provide separate manage and readonly scopes. Since then, D2L has assisted third-party vendors whose apps are using the old read scope to using the new manage and readonly scopes. To facilitate this change, the October 2023/20.23.10 release includes a one-time, automatic action that identifies apps that have the old read scope and updates those apps to the new manage and readonly scopes.
Scopes are updated when all clients have received the 20.23.10 update. Refer to the 2023 Wave Schedule for further details regarding releases.
To learn more about updates to API and API scopes, refer to Upcoming changes to content and discussion API scopes and API Updates.
The registered OAuth2 scopes with all registered apps are now examined to look for any of the following registered scopes and update the app to include the additional scopes:
Registered scope
|
Additional scopes
|
| content:modules:read |
- content:modules:readonly
- content:modules:manage
|
| content:topics:read |
- content:topics:readonly
- content:topics:manage
|
| discussions:forums:read |
- discussions:forums:readonly
- discussions:forums:manage
|
| discussions:posts:read |
- discussions:posts:readonly
- discussions:posts:manage
|
| discussions:topics:read |
- discussions:topics:readonly
- discussions:topics:manage
|
Note: If the app is already registered with wildcard scopes (for example, content:modules:* or content:*), changes do not occur as the new scopes are included.
Technical Details
Impact:
- There is no impact to Brightspace users. This change only affects partners and API users.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all users.
Brightspace Editor – Users can set the Text Direction attribute for the entire page | New
This feature allows instructors, when creating Content or Widgets, to set the directionality for all text on a page when using the Attributes menu in Brightspace Editor. The Text Direction attribute can be applied to the entire page by navigating to Attributes > Page Attributes and selecting the desired text direction. The attribute can have text be Default, Left to Right or Right to Left.
Previously it was only possible to set the text direction attribute on Selected Items.
Figure: Set the text directionality of your Content or Widget by selecting it from the Text Direction drop-down menu.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to instructors due to the ability to set text directionality of Content or Widgets pages.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all users.
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing permissions.
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing configuration variables.
Data Hub – Brightspace Data Sets improvements for October | Updated
This release adds new columns to existing Brightspace Data Sets (BDS):
- The DateDeleted, DeletedBy, and Version columns are added to the Checklist Item Details BDS.
- The DateDeleted, DeletedBy, and Version columns are added to the Checklist Category Details BDS.
These new columns help users better understand deletions and changes in Checklist tool data sets. For all of the above data sets, DateDeleted and DeletedBy only include data from October 2023 onward. Version is fully populated with historical data.
This release also changes the existing LTILinkId column in the LTI Launches BDS to Can be null. Previously, this column was not nullable.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Moderate impact to administrators due to the addition of new columns to existing Brightspace Data Sets.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all Brightspace Core 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 8.
- New and changed data sets appear the first time the data set runs after the version update.
Data Hub – Outcomes Course Specific Scales Brightspace Data Set | New
This release adds the new Outcomes Course Specific Scales Brightspace Data Set (BDS) to provide details about which achievement scales and achievement thresholds are associated with each course. Each row in the data set represents a course with an associated achievement scale, and includes the ID of the outcome registry, the date the course was associated with the achievement scale, and the user who last modified the association.
This data set includes historical data back to May 2023/20.23.5 when the course-specific achievement scales feature was released.
Previously, administrators had to manually track which achievement scale was assigned to each course.
Note: The AchievementThreshold column is available to all clients upon release but will display NULL until a new functionality is added in a future release.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to administrators due to the addition of a new Brightspace Data Set.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all Brightspace Core 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 8.
- New and changed data sets appear the first time the data set runs after the version update.
Insights Report Builder – End of Adoption Period for Brightspace Data Sets Major Version 8 | Removed
The adoption period for Brightspace Data Sets (BDS) Major Version 8, which was launched in January 2023/20.23.1 and became the default version for Data Hub in July 2023/20.23.7, has ended for Insights Report Builder. To maintain the data integrity and health of our platform, we are deleting BDS Version 7 data sets from Insights Report Builder with this release. We will also delete DataFlows, cards, reports, and dashboards that use BDS Version 7 to avoid having orphaned assets that are difficult to track, maintain, and delete.
Author users must make sure all their assets that use BDS Version 7 are remapped to BDS Version 8. For step-by-step instructions for updating Insights Report Builder, refer to Updating Insights Report Builder for Brightspace Data Set Major Version 8.
For more information about the timeline for adopting new versions in Insights Report Builder, refer to Change Management of Brightspace Data Sets Major Version within Insights Report Builder.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Large impact to administrators who have not already opted in to Brightspace Data Sets Version 8.
Availability:
- Insights Report Builder is available to clients who have the Performance+ package or who have purchased Brightspace Insights in the previous packaging model.
To enable:
- Ensure that the Can Manage Insights Report Builder permission is enabled for administrators at the org level.
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing configuration variables.
Lessons – Add and manage release conditions on Create and Edit topic pages | New
Adding and managing release conditions is now available on the Create and Edit pages in the New Content Experience (Lessons) for all content topic types, including: Files (HTML, PDF, Audio, and Video), Weblinks, LTI links, LOR, and SCORM. This change aligns with how release conditions are managed in Assignments, Quizzes, and Discussions. In addition, the collapsible panel that appears under Start Dates and End Dates is renamed from Availability Dates to Availability Dates & Conditions.
The existing workflow for managing release conditions (through the menu item) is still available – this feature introduces the ability to manage the release conditions while editing the topic.
Figure: Click the Add Release Condition option in the Availability Dates & Conditions panel to add a release condition.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to instructors due to the ability to add and manage release conditions while adding or editing a content topic in Lessons.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients currently using New Content Experience (Lessons).
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all users with permissions to edit topics in Lessons. Ensure the Attach/Remove Release Conditions on Modules and Topics permission is granted to instructors.
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing configuration variables.
Lessons – Add and manage standards on Create and Edit topic pages | New
Adding and managing standards is now available on the Create and Edit pages in the New Content Experience (Lessons) for all content topic types including: Files (HTML, PDF, Audio, and Video), Weblinks, LTI links, LOR, and SCORM. This change aligns with how standards are managed in Assignments and Discussions.
The existing workflow for aligning standards (through the menu item) is still available – this feature introduces the ability to manage the associated standards while editing the topic.
Note: The name of the Standards tool and some menu items and links therein depend on the language term you have defined in the d2l.Languages.Terminology.LearningOutcomes configuration variable. Based on that setting, the Standards button might be labeled Competencies, Expectations, Objectives, or Learning Outcomes. In this topic, assume the configuration variable is set to Standards.
Figure: Click Standards in the primary view to align standards to a content topic.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to instructors due to the ability to add and manage learning standards while creating or editing content topics in Lessons.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients with the Standards tool enabled for their organization and currently using the New Content Experience (Lessons).
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all users of the Standards tool.
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing permissions.
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing configuration variables.
Added on 13-September-2023 Preview Release Notes published.
Added on 18-September-2023 Updated the LTI – View summarized results in Migration Log with an improved interface | Updated feature to include the updated user interface design.
Added on 5-October-2023 Updated the Data Hub – Outcomes Course Scale Definition Brightspace Data Set | New feature to correct the data set name from Outcomes Course Scale Definition to Outcomes Course Specific Scales.
Added on 5-October-2023 Added an announcement about updates to course copy properties related to the Outcomes component.
Added on 5-October-2023 Added an announcement about field limitations when evaluating in Assignments and Discussions.
Added on 5-October-2023 Added an announcement about changes requiring users to log back in to the Brightspace Pulse app.
Added on 5-October-2023 Updated the Learning Outcomes announcement about search algorithm updates.
Added on 5-October-2023 Updated the Data Hub – Brightspace Data Sets improvements for October | Updated feature to remove the updates to the Checklist Completions BDS. These updates will be available in a later release.
Removed on 5-October-2023 Removed the LTI – View summarized results in Migration Log with an improved interface | Updated feature for a future release.
Added on 10-October-2023 Updated the Data Hub – Brightspace Data Sets improvements for October | Updated feature to remove a reference to the IsComplete column, which is not being added this release.
Added on 13-October-2023 Updated the API – Automatic update of scopes for registered apps | Updated feature to clarify the release of new scopes.