Video: Release Highlights
General Announcements
- We are excited to announce that as of August 1, 2024 the Brightspace Tutorials YouTube channel will have only recent, updated videos that reflect current Brightspace workflows. We will unlist and eventually permanently remove outdated videos that no longer accurately capture Brightspace's current interface and experience. As of August 1, the specified list of videos on the Brightspace Tutorials YouTube channel will be unlisted, and embedded video links in our documentation will be updated with up-to-date videos exhibiting the workflow. On October 31, all the specified outdated videos will be permanently removed. To view the list of videos and learn more about this initiative, refer to Unlisting and Removal of Brightspace Tutorials Videos.
- In July 2024 (20.24.07), D2L released Data-enabled Creator+ Practices and planned to update existing Creator+ Practices in client environments throughout August 2024. However, due to D2L's acquisition of H5P, which will enhance Creator+ Practices with improved data and reporting features, the transformation of legacy practices is postponed. This update will be completed by the end of 2024, integrating both new data capabilities and H5P functionality into all legacy and data-enabled Creator+ Practices.
- Due to improvements to our backend database system, the first differential after this release will be notably larger than usual (and possibly as long as a full data set) to generate for the following Brightspace Data Sets (BDS): Organizational Unit Ancestors, Organizational Unit Descendants, and Release Condition Results.
- To ensure consistency across Brightspace, the default font face and size now aligns with the system settings. The d2l.Tools.Content.FontFace configuration variable is now Lato, and the d2l.Tools.Content.FontSize configuration variable is now 19 for all HTML topics created after the update. The default font and size changes are not retroactive to existing HTML topics or orgs and org units that have an override setting.
- D2L is now in a reseller partnership with YuJa, selling YuJa Panorama and YuJa Verity products. YuJa Panorama improves the accessibility of your digital media and course content, and YuJa Verity enables automated and live proctoring workflows to ensure exam integrity though Brightspace. For information about purchasing YuJa, contact your Client Sales Executive or Account Manager.
- D2L is now in a reseller partnership with OpenSesame. OpenSesame provides a comprehensive catalog of eLearning courses from diverse publishers and helps empower corporate employees by mapping courses to core competencies. Corporate clients looking to enhance their learning experience with these tools can contact their Client Sales Executive or Account Manager for details on purchasing OpenSesame solutions.
To view the change log for this release note landing page, go to Change History at the bottom of this page.
Assignments – Assessment workflows enhanced and available in all environments | Updated
Advanced Assessments help instructors and administrators to better manage courses with large class sizes and multiple evaluators, delegate and manage evaluator workflows, and reduce bias in marking.
Advanced Assessments allows instructors to:
For more information, refer to the Create an assignment topic and watch the Assign Evaluators and Publishers in Assignments | Instructor video.
Prior to the release of Advanced Assessments, there was no ability to create and evaluate delegated co-mark or multi-evaluate assignments.
In the May 2024/20.24.5 release, Advanced Assessment features were released to test, development, and staging (non-production) environments.
With this release, Advanced Assessment workflows for Assignments are available in all production environments of Brightspace. New features that are added to Advanced Assessments with the August release include:
- Turnitin integrations
- Accessibility improvements, including assistive technologies for keyboard-only users
Refer to the Advanced Assessment for Assignments in test, development, and staging environments of Brightspace blog post for details.
This feature implements the following PIE items:
- D6901 (Restrict Teaching Assistant to Publish The Assignment Grade)
- D142 (Multiple Graders in Dropbox)
- D6977 (Assignments Role Permissions: Separate See/View from Submit)
- D6654 (Auditor to view submissions of Assignments)
Technical Details
Impact:
- Moderate impact to instructors due to the ability to use Advanced Assessments features.
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 permissions. The Assignments > Give Feedback permission is required to populate both the evaluator and publisher lists.
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing configuration variables.
A new org-level configuration variable, which turns Advanced Assessments on or off, will be added in a future release.
If you are interested in controlling the rollout of Advanced Assessments, fill out this online form before your August update. In this case, the features will be hidden on your site, and you can use the future configuration variable to choose when to enable them.
Once Advanced Assessments features are enabled in your instance and assignments are created, we do not recommend disabling the features with the future configuration variable.
Assignments – Email status message no longer displayed after an assignment submission | Removed
With this release, the Confirmation Email Sent Successfully message is no longer displayed for learners in the Email Status field after they submit an assignment. However, when a learner submits an assignment, an email as a receipt of the submission is still sent to them.
Figure: The Review Assignment Submission page with the Email Status field.
Figure: The Review Assignment Submission page without the Email Status field.
Previously, even if a confirmation email was not sent to a learner, they also received the Confirmation Email Sent Successfully message in the Email Status field on their Submission History page.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to learners who no longer receive the Confirmation Email Sent Successfully message in the Email Status field after they submit an assignment.
Availability:
- The email status on the Assignment Submission page no longer appears to all clients. Learner email receipts are still sent after an assignment submission.
To disable:
- This message is automatically removed for all users as of the August 20.24.8 release.
Brightspace Community – Product and Services Preview page now more widely available with text content to replace the PDF | Updated
To improve the Product and Services Preview content's reach, we are localizing this content to be available in American English (en-us), French (fr-ca), Spanish (es-mx), Portuguese (pt-br), Dutch (nl-nl) and Arabic (ar-sa) starting in August 2024. Further, to improve its findability using the Brightspace Community search function, we are changing the distribution from an attachment to being embedded text in the article. In August 2024/20.24.8, we will provide information in both PDF and embedded text formats, however, in September 2024/20.24.9, we will no longer provide the PDF.
To create a printable version of the Product and Services Preview information, please follow the steps below:
- Highlight the Preview announcement(s).
- Right-click and select Copy.
- Paste the content into a text editing document. This process copies over all text, images, tables, and links.
Manager Dashboard and Learning Groups Completion Tracking – Track course completion with release conditions | Updated
Users can now use release conditions to track course completion in Completion Tracking. Previously the only option available was content topic completion. Users can create new release conditions on the Course Completion Tracking page. Learners who complete a course by fulfilling the required release conditions have their completion reflected in Manager Dashboard, Learning Groups, and the My Courses badge. This is consistent with the behavior of topic-based completion tracking.
On the Course Completion Tracking page, users can select either All required content topics are complete for topic-based completion, or Defined conditions have been met for release condition-based completion.
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Warning: It is not recommended that users change the Course Completion Tracking type after learners have begun the course. |
Figure: Select Defined conditions have been met to enable release condition-based completion tracking.
The release conditions available for release condition-based completion tracking are as follows:
- Assignments
- Submission to folder
- Receive feedback on submissions
- Awards
- Grades
- Grade value on a grade item
- Released final grade score
- Quizzes
- Score on a quiz
- Completed quiz attempt
Figure: Click the Condition Type drop-down menu to select a release condition for completion tracking.
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Note: Both types of completion tracking cannot be enabled at the same time. |
Technical Details
Impact:
- Moderate impact to administrators and instructors as they can set a course's completion to be either topic-based or release condition-based.
- Slight impact to learners whose course completion can now be determined by topic-based or release condition-based fulfillment.
Availability:
- Completion Tracking is a feature of Manager Dashboard and Learning Groups, included with Brightspace Core for Corporate or Brightspace Core for Upskilling/Professional Development for Education.
To enable:
- On the Course Completion Tracking page, administrators must select Enable Completion Tracking for this Course to enable completion tracking. Then users can select between All required content topics are complete for topic-based completion or Defined conditions have been met for release condition-based completion.
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing permissions or configuration variables.
D2L Lumi – Enhance course material with AI-generated content | New
For well over a decade, artificial intelligence (AI) has been built into D2L's products to transform and improve learning. As AI technology advances, D2L is continuing its longstanding commitment of innovation with new generative AI capabilities coming to Brightspace and Creator+ that focus on improving workflow efficiencies for course creators and educators while adhering to D2L's Responsible AI Principles. Uplifting course material can be challenging. A previous discussion could have not elicited the desired level of learner engagement. Last year's assignment may need a refresh because of new or updated content. Perhaps there are not enough questions in the question bank to cover all learning material. These are important tasks and ones where AI can help accelerate and suggest new approaches.
D2L Lumi Idea for Discussions and Assignments are new workflows that allow educators and course creators to use AI to update and refresh course material. The AI-generated ideas for discussion topics and assignments are inspired by existing course content to keep activities relevant and engaging. Users can implement these ideas as-is or modify them to create other ideas for activities.
Figure: Select the Number of Ideas, Content Source, and Bloom's Taxonomy level (optional), and click Generate.
D2L Lumi Question leverages AI to create new quiz questions based on course content while ensuring subject matter experts review generated questions and can modify them. This ensures accuracy and relevancy before the questions are added to Question Library. Assignments, discussions, and quiz questions can be refined to meet specific pedagogical goals and include the ability to select a Bloom's Taxonomy level.
Figure: Select a Content Source, Number of Questions, Question Type, and Bloom's Taxonomy level (optional), and click Generate.
These new workflows for D2L Lumi Idea for Discussions and Assignments and D2L Lumi Question for Quizzes are included in the new D2L Lumi Pro for Brightspace package.
For users with a Creator+ subscription, educators and course creators can now leverage AI to generate Practices within Content modules in the Classic Content and New Content (Lessons) experience with D2L Lumi for Creator+. AI Practice Generation streamlines authoring new Practices with the ability to review and edit the content before inserting it into course material.
Figure: Insert a Practice without editing, or choose Regenerate Question, Edit Source Text, and Discard Question.
The new Consumption Dashboard in Brightspace tracks who is leveraging D2L Lumi and which courses are implementing it. Administrators can view this information to provide insight into the impact D2L Lumi is having across their organization.
Figure: View your organization's use of D2L Lumi in the Consumption Dashboard.
To learn more about these features, refer to Introducing New Brightspace Generative AI Capabilities.
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Note: D2L recommends that input submitted to D2L Lumi be in English. Brightspace does not prevent non-English language content from being submitted as input. |
Technical Details
Impact:
- Moderate impact to administrators who can implement and track the usage of D2L Lumi in their organization.
- Large impact to instructors who can use D2L Lumi to generate ideas for assignments and discussions, quiz questions, and Practices for their course.
Availability:
- The Consumption Dashboard and D2L Lumi are subscription-based purchases that require D2L Lumi Pro for Brightspace, D2L Lumi for Creator+, or both.
- Users with Brightspace Core require an additional subscription to D2L Lumi Pro for Brightspace to access D2L Lumi for Discussions, Assignments, and Quizzes and the Consumption Dashboard. If users want to create AI-generated Practices, they must have a base subscription to Creator+ to gain access to D2L Lumi for Creator+.
- Users with Creator+ automatically have access to creating AI-generated Practices and the Consumption Dashboard but must first reach out to their D2L representative to have this capability enabled. If users want D2L Lumi Pro for Brightspace for Discussions, Assignments, and Quizzes, users require an additional subscription.
- To purchase these subscriptions, contact your D2L representative.
To enable:
- To enable, navigate to Organization Tools and select the Availability toggle for Consumption (Toolid 903000) and Generative AI (Toolid 905000).
- To use the Consumption Dashboard, ensure that users are granted the Consumption > See Consumption Dashboard permission.
- To use D2L Lumi, ensure that users are granted the following permissions:
- Generative AI > Generate Questions
- Generative AI > Generate Ideas for Discussions
- Generative AI > Generate Ideas for Assignments
- To configure D2L Lumi, the D2L.Tools.GenerativeAI.isEnabled configuration variable must be enabled for your whole organization, a semester, or a department.
- To configure AI-generated Practices for Creator+, the d2l.Tools.CreatorPlus.IsPracticesAIEnabled configuration variable must be enabled for your semester, department, or whole organization.
Data Hub – Brightspace Data Sets improvements for August | Updated
The following changes to existing Brightspace Data Sets (BDS) are available in this release:
- Quiz User Answers
- new column: OutOf (decimal, nullable)
- new column: TimeStarted (datetime2, nullable)
- new column: IsBonus (bit, nullable)
- new column: IsDeleted (bit, non-nullable)
- new column: LastModified (datetime2, non-nullable)
- new column: LastModifiedBy (int, non-nullable)
- new column: QuizTimeCompleted (datetime2, non-nullable)
- Release Condition Objects
- new column: Guid1 (uniqueidentifier for the OutcomeId, nullable)
- new column: Guid2 (uniqueidentifier for the Scale Level Id, nullable)
- Survey User Answers
- new column: IsDeleted (bit, non-nullable)
- new column: LastModified (datetime2, non-nullable)
- new column: LastModifiedBy (int, non-nullable)
- new column: SurveyTimeCompleted (datetime2, non-nullable)
Technical Details
Impact:
Availability:
- This feature is available to all Brightspace Core clients.
To enable:
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Ensure the Brightspace Data Sets > Can Access Brightspace Data Sets permission is granted to administrators at the org level.
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Ensure the d2l.Tools.BrightspaceDataSets.Version configuration variable is set to version 9.
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New and changed data sets appear the first time the data set runs after the version update.
Data Hub – Creator+ Practices Engagement Brightspace Data Set | New
This release adds a new Brightspace Data Set (BDS) called Creator+ Practices Engagement to track learner engagement with Creator+ Practices.
The Creator+ Practices Engagement BDS is only visible in Brightspace instances with Creator+ enabled.
Each time a learner attempts a Practice and checks their answer, the following data is saved:
- Practice ID
- Practice attempt ID
- User ID of the learner
- Date and time the attempt was completed
- Status of the attempt
- ID of the Brightspace course containing the Practice
Administrators can download this data set to access engagement data for all instantiated Practices in their Brightspace environment. Previously, this data was not available.
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 with Creator+.
To enable:
- Ensure the Brightspace Data Sets > Can Access Brightspace Data Sets permission is granted to administrators at the org level.
- Ensure the d2l.Tools.CreatorPlus.IsEnabled configuration variable is set to ON at the org level.
- Ensure 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.
Discussions – Consistent deletion and restoration workflows for group-restricted discussions | Updated
This release updates the deletion and restoration workflow for discussions associated with a group. When a user deletes a group, the associated activities, including discussions, are also deleted. These discussions cannot be restored unless their associated group is restored first.
Once the group has been restored, associated discussions can be restored using the Discussions restore workflow. This updated workflow is consistent with other group-associated activities such as assignments and lockers.
Previously, discussions that were deleted when their associated group was deleted could nominally be restored independently using the Discussions restore workflow. In practice, restoring these discussions resulted in errors and other issues.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Moderate impact to administrators and instructors due to the need to restore associated groups before restoring discussions.
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 configuration variables or permissions.
Discussions – Reading View improvements | Updated
To improve the user experience for learners, this release introduces several updates to the learner Reading View in Discussions. These improvements include the following:
- The Start New Thread button is duplicated at the bottom of the page when viewing a topic, eliminating the need to scroll back to the top of the page.
- The Add Attachments section is opened by default when creating a new post or new topic. Previously learners had to open the section manually to add attachments.
- The Add Attachments section is wider on screen when learners create a new thread.
This feature implements the following PIE item:
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to learners due to improvements in the user experience in Discussions with Reading View.
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 configuration variables or permissions.
Learning Outcomes – Org unit filtering in the Outcome Achievement dashboard in D2L Achievement+ | Updated
Achievement+ was introduced as an add-on package for Brightspace Core in the July 2024/20.24.7 release.
To help identify assessment trends and uncover the origins of achievement data, the new Org Unit filter in the Outcome Achievement dashboard enables the aggregation and disaggregation of data up and down the organizational structure. Filtering by org unit updates the dashboard to reflect data from course assessments within the selected units.
Figure: Click the Org Unit drop-down to filter or Search the entries on the Outcome Achievement dashboard.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to administrators due to the ability to filter the achievement results by Org Unit on the Outcome Achievement dashboard.
Availability:
- This feature is available in Achievement+, an optional add-on package to Brightspace Core. Contact your D2L Client Sales Executive or Account Manager to learn more.
To enable:
- This functionality requires Brightspace Insights to be enabled for your organization. Additionally, Grades Mastery View and the Learning Outcomes tool must be enabled, with achievement thresholds set in courses to run Achievement+.
- This feature requires enabling the new Insights > Can See Outcome Achievement Dashboard permission for all roles that will use the Outcome Achievement dashboard.
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing configuration variables.
Mastery View – Learner sorting improvements | Updated
The sort component for learner names in Grade book Mastery View is updated to improve consistency with other areas of Brightspace and to resolve minor visual issues with the previous sort functionality. Instructors can now sort learner names in any of the following orders:
- Last name alphabetically
- Last name reverse-alphabetically
- First name alphabetically
- First name reverse-alphabetically
Figure: Click Learner to view the sorting options in Mastery View.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to instructors due to the ability to sort learner names in multiple ways.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients with Mastery View enabled in Grades.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for all Mastery View users.
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing permissions or configuration variables.
Outcomes Management – Release condition based on Checkpoints in Course Overall Achievement | New
This feature introduces a new Overall level of achievement release condition to Learning Outcomes. The condition is based on the learner's overall level of achievement for a given outcome in a course.
This new release condition allows instructors to set up competency-based education (CBE) workflows when using the Outcomes Management tool. Previously, instructors had to trigger content or events from the Competencies tool, or employ workarounds using other triggers less aligned with the achievement level in order to set up CBE workflows.
For more information about CBE, refer to The Complete Guide to Competency-Based Education.
Technical Details
Impact:
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Slight impact to instructors due to the ability to set up Overall level of achievement release conditions in their course.
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Slight impact to learners due to having Overall level of achievement release conditions set up in their course.
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 configuration variables or permissions.
Portfolio – Add submitted assignments to Portfolio | New
With this release, instructors can use the Assignments tool to add learner-submitted assignments directly to a learner's Brightspace Portfolio. When an instructor adds an assignment submission to Portfolio, all submission versions, feedback, and grades are added to Portfolio.
Instructors can navigate to the Assignments tool and click an assignment to open it. Then, from the Users tab of an assignment, instructors can click + Add to Portfolio to add a learner's assignment submission to Portfolio.
From Brightspace Portfolio, instructors and learners can review the submission as evidence. Instructors can share it with parents and guardians. Portfolio evidence includes all associated grade evaluations, feedback, and submission versions.
Once an instructor adds a learner's submission to Portfolio as evidence, it is permanently available independent of the Assignments tool. Therefore, assignment submissions added to Portfolio as evidence remain in the learner's Portfolio after the course has ended.
Previously, instructors could not add assignment submissions directly to Portfolio from the Assignments tool.
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Important: Assignment submissions that are added to Portfolio do not automatically update when an instructor adds grades or feedback to the assignment submission from the Assignments tool. If an instructor wants updated grades or feedback to be included with a submission added to Portfolio, they must add the submission to Portfolio again to update it. The newer version of the submission is added as a new and separate piece of Portfolio evidence and does not replace the original submission. |
Figure: From the Assignments tool, click + Add to Portfolio to add submissions directly to Portfolio.
This feature implements the following PIE items:
- D4253 (Portfolio: Assignment/Dropbox tool - students add file from their Brightspace Portfolio)
- D10766 (Add to Portfolio from a Course Offering)
Technical Details
Impact:
- Moderate impact to instructors due to the ability to add assignment submissions directly to Portfolio from the Assignments tool.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients.
To enable:
- This functionality requires that learners and instructors already have required permissions to use Assignments and Portfolio.
- Instructors must be granted the new Portfolio > Can Add Assignment Submissions to Portfolio role permission.
- Instructors must be granted the existing Portfolio > Can Access the Portfolio Instructor View permission.
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing configuration variables.
11-July-2024 Preview Release Notes published.
11-July-2024 Update to the announcement about backend improvements to database for specific data sets to clarify that the differential will take as long as a full data set to generate.
11-July-2024 Update to the Completion Tracking – Track course completion with release conditions | Updated feature to indicate that it is not recommended that users change the Course Completion Tracking type after learners have begun the course.
16-July-2024 Update to the link for the Unlisting and Removal of Brightspace Tutorials Videos blog to direct users to a new version of the blog.
16-July-2024 Updated the image in Learning Outcomes – Org unit filtering in the Outcome Achievement dashboard in D2L Achievement+ | Updated.
1-August-2024 Added the OpenSesame partner reseller announcement.
1-August-2024 Added the YuJa partner reseller announcement.
1-August-2024 Renamed a release note to D2L Lumi – Enhance course material with AI-generated content | New and updated terminology in the release note.
1-August-2024 Update to the Assignments – Assessment workflows enhanced and available in all environments | Updated feature to include links to additional resources and provide further enablement information.
1-August-2024 Update to the Data Hub – Creator+ Practices Engagement Brightspace Data Set | New feature to correct the name of the new data set.
1-August-2024 Update to the Manager Dashboard and Learning Groups Completion Tracking – Track course completion with release conditions | Updated feature to change the title and add further clarification for availability.
1-August-2024 Added the release announcement about Creator+ data-enabled Practices.
15-August-2024 Update to the Data Hub – Creator+ Practices Engagement Brightspace Data Set | New feature to add additional enablement information.