Video: Release Highlights
Announcements
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Clients may notice an update to their Ouriginal integration in the form of a new Ouriginal Similarity score on submission folders. This was released in November in a hotfix. For more information see the fixed issue article: LE - Urkund - Ouriginal Significance May Not Be Shown.
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At this time, Video Tutorials and Video Course Packages are no longer updated. As such, video tutorials no longer appear in Brightspace Help and Downloadable Help Packages. Instead, refer to Brightspace Guided Training for instructional videos.
To view the change log for this release note landing page, see Document Change History at the bottom of this page.
Brightspace LeaP – Available in the Singapore region | New
As of this release, Brightspace LeaP is now available to clients who require Singapore hosting for regional or data residency requirements.
The regional LeaP LTI Launch Point URL for Singapore is https://leaplti-ap.brightspace.com/D2LLink.
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Impact of Change
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Technical Details
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Slight impact to users due to the ability to access Brightspace LeaP LTI in Singapore AWS region.
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Availability: This feature is available to all Brightspace Performance Plus clients.
To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for all Brightspace LeaP users.
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Brightspace Learning Environment – Improved editing features in Audio-Video Editor | New
This feature introduces new capabilities to the Audio-Video editor for files uploaded to the Content Service. Users can now edit video timelines, create chapters, and add captions to their videos. D2L recommends using the desktop experience when editing audio-video files.
Editing timelines allows users to skip unwanted sections of a video recording.
Chapter titles can be used to create a Table of Contents for videos to allow quick navigation to specific sections.
Captions can be uploaded from a .vtt or .srt file or automatically generated to make videos accessible to all users.
Videos can be edited from course content or by using the Edit > Advanced Editing option in the Admin Tools menu.
No permission changes are required for this feature.
In Content/Lessons, the editor features are only available for newly uploaded audio-video files and do not apply to files that were uploaded prior to this feature being introduced.
This feature addresses the following accessibility criteria:
• WCAG 2.1 Success criterion WCAG 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded)
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Impact of Change
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Technical Details
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Slight impact to users due to new abilities in the Audio-Video editor.
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Availability: This feature is available to all clients
To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled.
Administrators with the Media Platform > Can Insert All Video Notes and Can Administer Video Notes and the Content Service > Can Manage All Objects permissions can see the Edit options for all Video Notes.
Users with the Media Platform > Can Upload Video Notes and Can Administer Video Notes permissions, along with the Content Service > Can Manage Objects permissions can see the Edit options for Video Notes they uploaded.
For additional information, including screenshots, of the updated Audio-video player and editor visit the Evolving the Audio-Video Experience blog post.
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Brightspace Learning Environment – Improved viewing features in Audio-Video player | New
To improve the functionality of the Audio-Video player in Brightspace Learning Environment, multi-bitrate streaming, and search functionality are now available.
Multi-bitrate streaming allows high-definition videos to be played at standard definition to reduce the bandwidth necessary for users to watch videos.
The new search functionality allows users to locate key words in video captions and quickly navigate to those sections.
This feature addresses the following accessibility criteria:
• WCAG 2.1 Success criterion WCAG 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded)
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Impact of Change
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Technical Details
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Slight impact to users due to new abilities in the Audio-Video player.
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Availability: This feature is available to all clients
To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled.
For additional information, including screenshots, of the updated Audio-video player and editor visit the Evolving the Audio-Video Experience blog post..
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Brightspace Learning Environment – Supported browsers | Updated
With this release, Brightspace Learning Environment's browser version check now displays warnings for browsers earlier than the following versions:
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Chrome 93 (released in August 2021)
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Safari 13 (released in September 2019)
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Firefox 91 (released in August 2021)
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Edge 93 (released in August 2021)
You can access Brightspace Learning Environment with older versions of our supported browsers; however, D2L does not test Brightspace Learning Environment against these older versions. This means you may encounter unexpected user interface behavior and appearance or broken and unsupported functionality. In most cases, D2L does not fix software defects experienced in unsupported browser versions. For an optimal experience that offers better performance, accessibility, and security, D2L strongly recommends that all users access Brightspace Learning Environment with the latest version of a supported browser.
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Impact of Change
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Technical Details
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Moderate impact to users depending on the browser they choose to use with Brightspace Learning Environment.
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Availability: This feature is available to all clients.
To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for Brightspace Learning Environment users. No further action is required.
For more information, see Browser support.
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Brightspace Pulse – Subscription notifications for Discussions | Updated
With this release, subscription notifications in Brightspace Pulse are now consistent with subscription notifications in Brightspace Learning Environment. From the Notifications > Subscriptions tab in Brightspace Pulse, learners now receive all replies to discussions they are subscribed to and @-mentions in discussion threads. Previously, the subscription notifications that learners received in Brightspace Pulse were inconsistent with the subscription notifications that they received in Brightspace Learning Environment.
This feature implements PIE item D8654.
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Impact of Change
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Technical Details
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No impact to administrators.
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Availability: This feature is available to Brightspace Pulse clients in all regions.
To enable: Download the latest version of Brightspace Pulse, available from any global Google Play™ store or Apple App Store®. The app is generally released at the beginning of the month, and then sometimes mid-month, if issues are found. Depending on how your device is configured, the app may update automatically, or you may have to manually check for new versions.
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Slight impact to learners due to receiving all subscription notifications in Brightspace Pulse.
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For more information, see View notifications in Brightspace Pulse.
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Calendar – Improvements to Date and Time Selection Web Components | Updated
Building upon the Calendar – Improvements To Date And Time Selection Web Components | Updated feature released in Brightspace Platform March 2021/20.21.3 Release Notes, this release updates the date and time picker in Brightspace Learning Environment to include the following usability changes:
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The Set to Today button is renamed to Today. The Today button continues to set the date and the time based on the context. For example, choosing Today for an End Date sets the current date and sets the time to 11:59 PM.
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Added a Now button that sets the current date and time. The Today and Now buttons only appear when a date and time are required. When only a date is required, only the Today button appears and functions the same as the Now button.
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The Today, Now, and Clear buttons are center-aligned in the date and time picker.
This feature implements PIE item D7627.
This feature addresses the following accessibility criteria:
Figure: The new date and time picker in Brightspace Learning Environment
Figure: The previous date and time picker in Brightspace Learning Environment
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Impact of Change
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Technical Details
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Slight impact to users due to usability updates of the date and time selector web components.
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Availability: This feature is available to all clients.
To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for all tools that use the date and time selector.
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Content - Completion tracking for New Learner Experience | Updated
With this release, the activity completion tracking in New Learner Experience (LX) no longer includes optional activities. This removes redundant information and provides clarity for learners to distinguish between optional and required course content. Updates include the following:
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Removed completion count 0/0 from Table of Contents, navigation menu, and End of Unit page for modules with no required activities.
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Removed empty progress meter from navigation menu and End of Unit page for modules with no required activities.
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Removed completion checkmark from navigation tile for optional or exempt activities that the learner has completed.
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Total Activities component added to End of Unit page, only for modules with one or more optional activities. This component provides a count of all required activities in the module, a count of all optional activities in the module, and the note "Optional activities are not required for the completion of this Unit".
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Header on End of Unit page is now "Optional Activities Unit" for modules with no required activities. Previously, the header was "Nice work so far!" if any activities in the module were incomplete, or "Congratulations!" if all the activities in the module were complete.
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Button on End of Unit page is now I'm Done! for modules with no required activities. Previously, the button was Back to Content if any activities in the module were incomplete.
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These are the pieces left to complete this unit list on End of Unit page only includes incomplete required activities. Previously, the list included all incomplete activities, both required and optional.
Figure: Old navigation and End of Unit page for a module with no required activities, showing 0/0 progress meters.
Figure: New navigation and End of Unit page for a module with no required activities, showing where the progress meter has been removed and the Total Activities component has been added.
Figure: New End of Unit page for a partially complete module, with a combination of required and optional activities.
This feature implements PIE items D7824 and D8581.
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Impact of Change
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Technical Details
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Slight impact to learners because optional and exempt activities display differently and are no longer included in completion tracking.
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Availability: This feature is available to all clients.
To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for New Learner Experience users.
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Content - Date management and display for LOR Links in Lessons | New
This release introduces a new layout and date management experience for editing linked LOR objects in the new Content experience (Lessons). The experience is consistent with the Content - Date management and display in Lessons | New feature released in August 2021/20.21.8.
Previously, the edit page for LOR link content topics in Lessons only allowed users to edit the title and provided no additional information about the object.
Figure: Old LOR edit page, where Edit Title is the only property that can be changed.
With this release, the edit page for LOR link content topics in Lessons includes:
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Ability to change topic name.
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Ability to add or change Due Date, Start Date, and End Date.
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Ability to change display option.
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Information about the LOR object, including:
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Document name
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Version number
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Last edit date
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File type
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Repository name
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Settings button, which opens the Learning Object Properties dialog.
Figure: New LOR edit page, including date management, display options, document information, and settings button.
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Impact of Change
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Technical Details
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Slight impact to administrators due to the ability to allow users to opt-in to the new LOR object edit experience.
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Availability: This feature is available to all clients.
To enable: Ensure the d2l.Tools.Content.LessonsCreateExperienceOptIn configuration variable is set to On(Opt-In).
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Moderate impact to instructors due to the new edit experience for LOR link content topics.
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N/A
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Content - Link to Content Report in Lessons | New
This release adds a link to the Content Reports page for courses using the new Content experience (Lessons). To access, open the settings menu by clicking the gear symbol next to +New Unit, and click View Reports.
Previously, the only way to access content reports from Lessons was creating a custom link on the navbar.
Figure: View Reports link as it appears in the settings menu in Lessons.
This feature implements PIE item D7643.
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Impact of Change
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Technical Details
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Slight impact to administrators and instructors due to the ability to access content reports without a custom quicklink.
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Availability: This feature is available to all roles with See Content Statistics permission.
To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for Lessons users.
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Content Service – Uploaded media files use Content Service | New
To improve the functionality of audio-video files in Brightspace this feature ensures most audio-video files are handled by the Content Service. The new capabilities are documented in the Brightspace Learning Environment – Improved viewing features in Audio-Video player | New, and the Brightspace Learning Environment – Improved editing features in Audio-Video Editor | New features from this release. Newly uploaded audio-video files can now take advantage of all the features of the Content Service, and similar behavior is experienced in all locations where media files can be uploaded or edited. Audio-video files that were uploaded prior to this release do not have access to the features available to files hosted by the Content Service. All audio-video files uploaded to Content service are now automatically converted to mp4 files (or mp3 for audio) to ensure they are playable on all supported devices.
Note: Videos uploaded as Assignment submissions or uploaded to a course’s Manage Files area continue to use the legacy method for handling files.
To manage media files used by the Content Service, this feature introduces the following new permissions:
The Content Service > Can Manage Objects permission allows users to upload video and audio files to Course Content using the Content Service, and edit their own content using the Advanced Editing options. This permission requires the Content > Manage Content (at the Course offering level) permission. Roles that currently have the Content > Manage Content permission are automatically assigned the new Content Service > Can Manage Objects permission.
The Content Service > Can Manage All Video Notes permission allows users to manage and edit video notes uploaded by any user at their Organization in the Audio/Video Notes Editor. This permission requires the Media Platform > Can Insert Any Video Notes, and the Media Platform > Can Administer Video Notes permissions. This permission is intended for administrators as it grants access to all Video Notes uploaded by your organization.
The existing Content Service > Can Manage All Objects permission (reserved for administrators) is updated to allow users to edit all Video/Audio notes in the Audio/Video Notes Editor. Users with this permission can also modify Video or Audio Notes with the built-in editing tools. This permission requires the Content > Manage Content, Media Platform > Can Insert Any Video Notes, Media Platform > Can Upload Video Notes, and the Media Platform > Can Administer Video Notes permissions. The Can Manage All Objects permission grants full access to Content Service objects, including the ability to permanently delete files, and should only be granted to roles that require unlimited access to files uploaded by your organization.
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Impact of Change
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Technical Details
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Slight impact to administrators due to new permissions and permission requirements introduced by this feature.
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Availability: This feature is available to all clients
To enable: Ensure that the new and existing permissions that control media file uploads are set appropriately for all necessary roles at your Organization.
For additional information, including screenshots, of the updated Audio-video player and editor visit the Evolving the Audio-Video Experience blog post.
For additional information on the Content Service, visit Brightspace Help.
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Slight impact to instructors and learners due to new options available to edit uploaded audio-video files hosted by the Content Service.
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N/A
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Course Import/Export – Logging improvements | New
To simplify user access to import/export logs, the Course Import/Export tool now includes import/export logs as part of the Course Import/Export History, which include navigation breadcrumbs. In addition, the logs display the results in the order of import/export operations. Previously, import/export logs opened in a new tab and displayed the results out of order, without navigation breadcrumbs.
Figure: The new import log in the Course Import/Export tool
Figure: The previous import log in the Course Import/Export tool
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Impact of Change
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Technical Details
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Slight impact to administrators and instructors due to workflow changes for viewing import/export logs.
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Availability: This feature is available to all clients
To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for all users.
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Data Purge - Additional columns displayed in Org Unit and User Purge Sets | Updated
When clients create a data purge set for Users or Orgunits, it was previously not possible to review the data of the purge set for potential issues (such as courses that are currently in use) before performing the archive or purge.
For the Org Unit data purge set:
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The OrgUnitName (OrgUnitId), OrgUnitType, Active Status, and Start/End date are now available for each orgunitid in the purge set.
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Users can now sort each column.
For the User data purge set:
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The Name (Username), Active Status, and Last Accessed date are now available for each username in the purge set.
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Users can now sort by Active Status and Last Accessed date.
Note: If descendants of an org unit are chosen, the child orgunits do not display.
Figure: Each OrgUnit now provides details that administrators can review before purging data.
Figure: Each User now provides details that administrators can review before purging data.
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Impact of Change
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Technical Details
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Slight impact to users who have permissions to create data purge sets.
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Availability: This feature is available to all clients.
To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for Data Purge users. The existing Can Manage Purge Sets permission must also be selected at the Organization level
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Discussions – New Evaluation experience can no longer be overridden | Updated
As described in the Discussions - New Discussion Evaluation Experience | Updated feature released in December 2021/ 20.21.12, this feature removes the d2l.Tools.Activities.CEDiscussionOptIn configuration variable. This means that administrators can no longer override the variable to opt-out of the new Discussions Evaluation experience.
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Impact of Change
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Technical Details
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Slight impact to Administrators due to the inability to override the d2l.Tools.Activities.CEDiscussionOptIn configuration variable.
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Availability: This feature is available to all clients.
To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for Discussions users.
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Moderate impact to Instructors due to the removal of the ability to use classic evaluation experience for Discussions.
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New Discussion Evaluation Experience in Brightspace Help.
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Discussions – Scoring Rubric drop-down for evaluations | New
To make the Discussion evaluation consistent with the Assignments evaluation, this feature adds the Grading Rubric drop-down to the sidebar menu. This allows the instructor to choose a grading rubric when evaluating a discussion.
If a normal topic assessment with Points/Custom Points-based rubric is selected, this rubric is the one whose score transfers to the Overall Grade field. The score transfer does not occur if Allow assessment of individual posts or a Text rubric is selected.
Figure: The new Discussions evaluation with the Grading Rubric drop-down.
Figure: The previous Discussions evaluation without the Grading Rubric drop-down.
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Impact of Change
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Technical Details
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Slight impact to instructors due to the ability to choose a grading rubric when evaluating a discussion.
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Availability: This feature is available to all clients.
To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for Discussions users.
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Reporting Tool - End of life | Removed
Effective January 2022, Brightspace's Reporting tool is no longer available to users. On or about January 1, 2022 the Reporting Tool will begin to be decommissioned. Please refer to Intent To End Of Life Notice For Reporting Tool on Brightspace Community for additional information.
To filter, aggregate, and transform your organization's data, D2L recommends using Data Hub, which is intended to replace the Reporting tool.
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Impact of Change
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Technical Details
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Slight impact to administrators due to the end-of-life status of the Reporting tool.
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Availability: N/A
To enable: N/A
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Widgets – Custom Widget Data New Permissions and API routes | New
This feature adds two additional permissions and three additional APIs to the Custom Widget Data tool. The new permissions are Retrieve Other Users Custom Widget Data and Modify Other Users Custom Widget Data; these new permissions are found under the Homepages tool.
These new permissions allow users with the above permissions to DELETE, GET, and/or PUT custom widget data for the specific orgUnitID and userID pair that they have access to see within the Classlist of the orgUnitID.
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Impact of Change
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Technical Details
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Slight impact to administrators due to the ability to set new permission options.
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Availability: This feature is available to all clients.
To enable: Grant Retrieve Other Users Custom Widget Data and Modify Other Users Custom Widget Data permissions to users.
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Slight impact to users due to the ability to DELETE, GET, and/or PUT custom widget data.
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The new APIs can be found at Brightspace Developer Platform.
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IPSIS - D2L Standard CSV Zip Name for Batch Display | New
To assist with the usability of IPSIS batch information, the zip folder name is now visible in batch information in IPSIS, and in the batch notification. This allows clients to identify which locally saved batch matches a specific batch process in IPSIS.
The zip folder name is visible on the latest batch status on the IPSIS dashboard, within each batch status on the batch tab, it is part of the Batch Identifier in the Batch filter on the Log Messages tab, and in batch notifications.
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Impact of Change
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Technical Details
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Slight impact to administrators due to changes in IPSIS Administration view.
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Availability: This feature is available to all clients
To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for IPSIS users.
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IPSIS – Support for surname prefixes during sort function | Updated
Continuing on the Support for surname prefixes during sort function feature released in December 2021/ 20.21.12, the sortable last name is now supported by the D2L Standard CSV.
The new version 2.1 CSV now includes the optional sort_last_name column in addition to the existing type, action, username, org_defined_id, first_name, last_name, password, is_active, role_name, email, relationships, pref_first_name, and pref_last_name columns.
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Impact of Change
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Technical Details
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Slight impact to any user who can edit the D2L Standard CSV.
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Availability: This feature is available to all IPSIS clients with a CSV source system.
To enable: Administrators must have the Manage IPSIS Bulk Operations permission.
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- Added on 6-January-2022Updated the Brightspace Pulse – Subscription notifications for Discussions | Updated feature to include PIE item D8654.
- Added on 6-January-2022Updated the Content - Date management and display for LOR Links in Lessons | New feature to remove the component where a preview of the LOR object is embedded in the edit page. This component will be added in a future release.
- Added on 6-January-2022Updated the Discussions - Scoring Rubric drop-down for evaluations | New feature to correct the rubric type that does not populate the overall grade.