Video: Release Highlights
General Announcements
- Additional functions are now available in Quizzes and Question Library for arithmetic quiz question types. The following functions can be used for arithmetic quiz question types:
- Documentation for D2L Course Merchant from the Course Merchant Knowledge Base is coming to Community in April 2024. This includes information about the customer-facing storefront, the backend store admin, and some of the most common workflows. Documentation about the Course Merchant Reporting Layer will be published at a later date.
- This update upgrades the Brightspace Editor to the latest TinyMCE minor version (6.8.3) only in test environments (usually named Test, Dev, Staging, or similar designations). Previous version was 6.2.0. This is a maintenance update that fixes defects without changing editor functionality. We recommend that clients review their own course content HTML within the editor to ensure that it continues to function as expected. This update will be added to all instances of Brightspace in the June 2024/20.24.6 release.
- D2L is now in a reseller partnership with Atomic Jolt. As part of this partnership, D2L will be providing two add-on solutions: Atomic Assessments, a sophisticated testing and interactive courseware system that integrates with Brightspace via LTI; and Atomic Search, which provides full text searching of Brightspace course content via a search box on every screen that supports access control, search scopes, and filtering. For information about purchasing Atomic Jolt, contact your Client Sales Executive or Account Manager.
- The Migration Domain Mapping API now enables the migration of Legacy LTI links to a different LTI 1.3 Advantage Registration domain, filling a long-standing and highly impactful gap in the migration service.
To view the change log for this release note landing page, go to Change History at the bottom of this page.
Analytics Builder – Create visualizations with enhanced reporting capabilities | New
With this release, The Analytics Builder, which was previously announced in the December 2023/20.23.12 release for launch in April 2024/20.24.4 is now being released with limited availability to new clients with the Performance+ package. Analytics Builder allows users to dig deeper into data and visualizations using their skills and knowledge of Brightspace Data Sets (BDS), but without the complexity of having to work directly with a data warehouse. With the new Analytics Builder, there is an easy-to-use visualization interface, a streamlined report creation workflow, enhanced reporting capabilities, global infrastructure support, and better accessibility features than what was previously available in Insights Report Builder.
Analytics Builder is available on the Insights Portal page to author or view reports based on user's permissions. Additionally, Analytics Builder provides the following capabilities:
- Start with a template visualization and customize it to be your own
- Create, edit, and share your reports, dashboards, and visualizations with other users
- Access fresh Brightspace Data Sets (BDS) data ready for visualization
- Schedule reports
- Ability to leverage row - and column-level permissions
Figure: The Analyses tab displays previously created Analysis sheets.
Figure: If you need to make your own visual, the Add Visuals menu allows you to select allows you to select a visual type for your analysis.
Figure: In this example, the report author has dragged the AttemptDate field into the X AXIS property and is in the process of dragging the UserId field to the Value property field. The sheet automatically draws the visualization based on the properties you have set.
Figure: The More actions menu beside the values enables you to further define values on your visual. The options differ depending on the context and field type.
For more information, refer to the Analytics Builder – Visualization Infrastructure Transition blog post.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Large impact to administrators due to the ability to use Analytics Builder for new reports.
Availability:
- This feature is currently limited to new clients who have purchased the Performance+ package.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for new clients who have not previously used Insights Report Builder.
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This functionality is dependent on the Can Use Analytics Builder and the Can Manage Analytics Builder permissions to be an author.
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This functionality is dependent on the Can use Analytics Builder permission to be a reader.
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing configuration variables.
Brightspace Community – Navigation and content improvements | New
To enhance the user experience in Brightspace Community, D2L is making the following improvements:
- New and improved search functionality (available late Q1).
- Relaunch of the Approved Support Contact (ASC) homepage (available early Q2).
- New Brightspace tool navigation structure for Instructor Documentation (Higher Ed) (available early April 2024).
New and improved search functionality
An improved search tool is scheduled to be implemented in Brightspace Community.
This improved search uses natural language processing AI to iteratively improve the accuracy of search results and supports the use of search synonyms for terms often used interchangeably (for example, Dropbox and Assignment).
Additionally, this new federated search indexes and surfaces content from external sources such as corporate blogs, the Brightspace Tutorials YouTube channel, Brightspace Learning Center, and Developer (Valence API) documentation.
Figure: You can filter by industry and enter search terms from the top navigation bar.
Figure: Use suggestions generated by predictive search to find relevant information quickly.
Figure: Use the redesigned search page with updated advanced search and filtering capabilities to find resources.
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Note: Some filter options displayed are for illustration purposes only and may be subject to change upon final implementation of the upgraded search. Selected check box filters appear at the top of each list of filter options. |
Figure: Enter search terms into the Search this space bar to search within specific documentation knowledge bases.
Relaunch of Approved Support Contact (ASC) homepage in Brightspace Community
To enhance the experience of Approved Support Contacts (ASCs) in Brightspace Community, an improved ASC homepage will be relaunched. This new homepage:
- Provides cases created and managed from within Brightspace Community, eliminating the need to redirect to the legacy site.
- Provides improved case filters, including Escalated Cases, Open Known Issues, and Open Service Requests filter options.
- Provides date filtering and the ability to download cases as .csv files.
- Enables ASCs to self-serve for service requests, allowing them to make org and account team requests without leaving the portal.
- Provides Suggested Solutions while ASCs create cases.
Figure: You can filter cases by date range and download them as .csv files.
Figure: Use inline support case suggestions when creating a new support case.
New Brightspace tool navigation structure for Instructor Documentation (Higher Ed)
Based on higher education instructor feedback gathered during Fusion 2023, we are restructuring the Instructor Documentation (Higher Ed) knowledge base to organize content into alphabetized Brightspace tool categories. This new navigation structure will be available in early April 2024.
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Note: D2L has done our utmost to ensure that this change in navigation structure minimizes breaking any existing URL links to Instructor Documentation (Higher Ed) knowledge base pages. This is only a change to the navigation structure and should not break bookmarked links. |
Figure: Higher education instructors can use the new navigation structure on the left of the page to quickly find topics organized into alphabetized Brightspace tool categories.
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Note: This release note does not include a Technical Details section as it does not describe a new feature introduced in Brightspace. |
Bulk Course tools – Bulk Course Import | New
This release introduces the new Bulk Course Import tool, designed to significantly enhance the ease and efficiency of importing courses in bulk. This tool is ideal for those who frequently need to import multiple courses, and for clients transitioning to Brightspace.
The Bulk Course Import tool provides the following features:
- Simplified configuration: Bulk Course Import allows administrators to select the Course Template under which the new courses will be imported. This streamlined process saves time and reduces complexity.
- Comprehensive Import History dashboard: This dashboard provides a detailed view of both completed and ongoing course imports, allowing for real-time monitoring of the import process.
- Enhanced SFTP integration: SFTP user details are available on the Configuration page for those who have set up Course Conversion and Bulk Course Import functions.
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Note: Administrators should work with their Implementation team, Customer Success team, or Support team for the set-up of their SFTP user account. |
For additional details about Bulk Course Import, review the Introducing Bulk Course Import blog post.
Figure: The Bulk Course Import History page displays a record of course packages that were imported previously.
Figure: Bulk Course Import displays your course template options to store and manage your imported courses.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Moderate impact to administrators who must enable the new tool and permissions.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients.
To enable:
- Ensure Bulk Course Import is enabled in Organization Tools.
- Ensure that the Manage Settings and the Can access Bulk Course Import History permissions are enabled at the org level.
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing configuration variables.
Data Hub – Brightspace Data Sets improvements for April | Updated
The following changes to existing Brightspace Data Sets (BDS) are available in this release:
- Checklist Completions
- new column: IsCompleted (bit, non-nullable)
- new column: DateDeleted (DateTime2, nullable)
- new column: DeletedBy (int, nullable)
- new column: Version (bigint, non-nullable)
- changed column: LastModified from nullable to non-nullable
- LTI Link Migration Audit
- new column: LegacyURL (nvarchar, nullable)
The following changes are related to Enhancing Consistency: Upcoming Updates to Brightspace Data Sets:
- Checklist Completions
- changed LastModified column's value format to remove the extra zeroes at the end of the timestamp.
- changed DateCompleted column's value format to remove the extra zeroes at the end of the timestamp.
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 9.
- Note: New and changed data sets appear the first time the data set runs after the version update.
Data Hub – End of Adoption Period for Brightspace Data Sets Version 9 | Updated
The adoption period for Brightspace Data Sets Major Version 9, which was announced in December 2023/20.23.12, has ended. Version 9 is now the only supported version and any clients who are still using Version 8 will be automatically migrated as part of this release. For more information about this version update, refer to Motivations behind the changes in Data Hub Brightspace Data Set (BDS) Major Version 9 in Brightspace Community.
Clients using Insights Report Builder must update their DataFlows, reports, and dashboards that use the data sets impacted by the version update. Anything mapped to BDS Version 8 will continue to function but will have outdated data. For more information about keeping your data up-to-date, refer to Updating Insights Report Builder for Brightspace Data Set Major Version 9 in Brightspace Community.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Large impact to administrators who have not adopted Brightspace Data Sets Version 9.
Availability:
- Data Hub is available to all Core clients.
- 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:
- For Data Hub, ensure that the Can Access Brightspace Data Sets permission is enabled for administrators at the org level and the d2l.Tools.BrightspaceDataSets.Version configuration variable is set to Version 9. New and changed data sets appear the first time the data set runs after the version update.
- If you are using Insights Report Builder, ensure that the Can Manage Insights Report Builder permission is enabled for administrators at the org level; If you are using Analytics Builder, ensure that the Can Manage Analytics Builder permission is enabled for administrators at the org level.
Discussions – View attached file feedback for discussion evaluations | Updated
Instructors' attached files now appear in the Attached Files section for each learner's discussion evaluation. Learners can view attached file feedback when viewing their evaluated discussion topic.
Instructors can view all attached files by clicking on the learner's name and selecting Discussions. Learners can view all attached files by clicking on Discussions in Class Progress. Instructors and learners can view all attached discussion evaluation files in the Class Progress tool.
Additionally, the Discussions tool's evaluation process is now consistent with the Assignments and Quizzes tools' evaluation processes.
Figure: Learners can view their feedback for a discussion topic in the Attached Files section of their evaluation.
Figure:
Instructors can attach a file in the discussion evaluation experience for their assessment.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to instructors who can now attach feedback files for learners during discussion evaluations.
- Slight impact to learners who can now view attached feedback files for their discussion evaluations.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all users.
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.
External Learning Tools – Migration Details for LTI 1.3 Advantage links from a different LTI 1.1 Legacy Link | Updated
With this release, the Migration Domain Mapping API enables the migration of legacy LTI links to a different LTI 1.3 Advantage Registration domain. Additionally, both the Migration Log and the LTI Link Migration Audit Brightspace Data Set now include details about these migrations.
If a legacy link differs from a 1.3 registration domain, the corresponding legacy domain is displayed in the Migration Log.
To check migration details, including information about a legacy domain, navigate to Course Admin > External Learning Tools > Migration Log. The Migration Log page shows all jobs for that course and provides access to the detailed migration log by clicking a link from the Job Id column.
Figure: Navigate to the Migration Details section of the Migration Job Report page to view information about migrations.
The LTI Link Migration Audit Brightspace Data Set now also includes migration details:
- Field: LegacyDomain
- Description: The field for the legacy domain, from which the link was migrated, is populated if it differs from the registration domain. The field can be null.
- Type: nvarchar
- Size: 2083
- Key: N/A
Previously, the Migration Log and the LTI Link Migration Audit Brightspace Data Set did not include any information about a legacy domain.
This feature implements the following PIE item:
Technical Details
Impact:
- Moderate impact to administrators who can now access information about a legacy domain in both the Migration Log and the LTI Link Migration Audit Brightspace Data Set.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all users with the Manage LTI Migrations or View LTI Migrations Log permission at the organization and the course offering levels.
To enable:
Learning Outcomes – Bulk create and import outcomes using CSV import format | New
To facilitate the bulk creation of outcomes and standards at the program or course level in Brightspace, instructors can use a downloadable CSV template to create an input file. They can replace the example data in the template with their own standards or learning outcomes, and then import the CSV file into Brightspace. Previously, it was only possible to bulk import standards from the Achievement Standards Network (ASN).
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Note: You can use both the Competency tool and the Learning Outcomes tool in the same organization at the same time; however, only one tool can be active in each course offering. |
Figure: Click Import from File to select a CSV file.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to instructors due to the ability to create a CSV file to bulk import standards and outcomes at the program and course level.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all users who have the Manage Outcomes permission.
Widgets – Create Course Widget | New
This release introduces the Create Course widget for all Brightspace Core clients. The Create Course widget provides a simplified option for users to create courses quickly without needing access to the Course Management tool. Using this widget, instructors and other non-administrative roles can quickly create a new course offering directly from their organization homepage. To create a course using the widget, enter a course name, select a department and create the course. The user creating the course is automatically enrolled in the course with a predefined role.
To configure the widget, administrators must define the available departments for courses, the prefix and suffix for the course code, and the role to be assigned to the course creator upon enrollment. The Create Course widget is an Org level widget. This means that all departments that are configured for use with the widget will be available to all users who have access to create courses using the widget.
A course template is automatically created to identify courses created using the widget. The naming convention used for the course template is: TCCCourseTemplate-{OrgID}-{template OUID}. The course code is automatically generated using the defined prefix, the course OUID and the defined suffix.
Beginning with the April 2024/20.24.4 release, the Create Course widget is automatically enabled for all new Brightspace Core customers. Administrators at institutions currently using Brightspace can activate the Create Course widget via Organization Tools. Following activation, you can immediately add the widget to your organization homepage and configure the required role permissions.
Figure: Users with correct permissions can click Create Course in the Create Course widget.
Figure: The confirmation screen appears after the user inputs the Course Name and Department in the Create Course widget.
Figure: Administrators can configure the Department options, Prefix, Suffix, and Role assigned to course creator for the Create Course widget.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Moderate impact to administrators who must enable the new tool and permissions, add the widget to the organization homepage, and configure the widget for use.
- Slight impact to instructors who can create course shells directly from the homepage in three steps.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients.
To enable:
- Turn on the Create Course widget in Organization Tools.
- Ensure the following permissions are set:
- Manage Create Course Widget for roles that will manage the configuration and access to the widget (typically Administrators).
- View Create Course Widget for roles that will be able to create courses using the widget (typically Instructors).
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing configuration variables.
Widgets – Custom Hosted Widget Replacement Service | New
With the December 2023/20.23.12 release, the Custom Hosted version of widgets in the Homepage Widget Expansion Pack (HWEP) has reached the End of Support milestone. With April 2024/20.24.04 release, the Custom Hosted Widget Replacement Service is now available in all affected non-production environments. The replacement service will be available in production environments in a future release.
This feature enables the identification and replacement of all instances of custom hosted widgets with equivalent system widgets. It is particularly beneficial for sites where custom hosted widgets are installed on a large number of homepages.
The service runs as a background task on the Brightspace site from the Custom Hosted Widgets page by clicking the Replace button.
Figure: Click Replace to run the Custom Hosted Widget Replacement Service.
The replacement service scans the entire Brightspace site and performs the following actions:
- Confirm entitlement and tool status
- Catalog all affected homepages and courses
- Migrate configuration files
- Migrate role configurations
- Replace custom hosted widgets
- Uninstall custom hosted widgets
When the service completes all tasks, it sends a notification to the Update Alerts section (represented by the bell icon) of the Brightspace main navigation bar.
Previously, the options for bulk replacing all instances of the Custom Hosted Widget with the system version and for bulk deleting all instances of the Custom Hosted Widget were unavailable.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Moderate impact to administrators due to the opportunity to use the Custom Hosted Widget Replacement Service.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients who use the Custom Hosted version of widgets.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all users who use the Custom Hosted version of widgets.
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing permissions.
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing configuration variables.
14-March-2024 Preview Release Notes published.
19-March-2024 Added Analytics Builder – Create visualizations with enhanced reporting capabilities | New.
4-April-2024 Updated Analytics Builder – Create visualizations with enhanced reporting capabilities | New.
4-April-2024 Updated the announcement about D2L Course Merchant documentation, which will not cover the Reporting Layer in this release.
4-April-2024 Updated Data Hub – Brightspace Data Sets improvements for April | Updated to remove all changes to the Attendance, Content, Quizzes, and Surveys data sets. These updates will be available in a future release.
4-April-2024 Updated Data Hub – Brightspace Data Sets improvements for April | Updated to change the new LTI Link Migration Audit column name from LegacyDomain to LegacyURL.
4-April-2024 Updated Data Hub – Brightspace Data Sets improvements for April | Updated to change the new DateDeleted column in the Checklist Completions BDS from non-nullable to nullable.
4-April-2024 Added Widgets – Custom Hosted Widget Replacement Service | New.
4-April-2024 Updated Widgets – Custom Hosted Widget Replacement Service | New to clarify availability of the replacement service.
4-April-2024 Added Widgets – Create Course Widget | New.
4-April-2024 Updated Brightspace Community – Navigation and content improvements | New to clarify information about new search functionality.
2-May-2024 Updated Data Hub – End of Adoption Period for Brightspace Data Sets Version 9 | Updated to clarify the permissions required to use Analytics Builder and Insights Report Builder.