Release Notes

May 2025/20.25.05

Preview Release Notes

Video: Release Highlights

Release Highlights for May 2025/20.25.05 will be available on May 1.

General Announcements

Permissions for Analytics Builder are now grouped under Analytics Builder on the Edit Permissions page. Previously, administrators could find Analytics Builder permissions under Insights.

To view the change log for this release note landing page, go to Change History at the bottom of this page.

Assignments – Retract feedback in bulk on the Submissions page | Updated

The Submissions page in the Assignments tool now aligns with Discussions and Quizzes, allowing instructors to retract feedback in bulk. This enhancement improves consistency and eliminates the need to use multiple tools for retraction tasks.

The bulk Retract Feedback option allows instructors to choose how many learners to retract published feedback from.

Selective retraction is also supported. Instructors can select users by checking the box next to their names and then clicking More Actions > Retract Feedback.

The More Actions > Retract All option retracts feedback for all users, regardless of which users are selected.

Retract All option selected from More Actions menu in Submissions list.

Figure: From the Submissions page, click More Actions and select Retract All to remove published feedback in bulk.

After clicking Retract All, instructors are notified of the number of evaluations to be retracted and must confirm by clicking Retract.

Confirmation dialog to retract feedback for learners with Retract and Cancel buttons.

Figure: A confirmation dialog displays the number of learners affected. Click Retract to proceed or Cancel to exit.

Previously, instructors could only retract feedback individually in the Assignments tool.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

D1361 (Allow method to bulk unpublish dropbox feedback)
D5593 (Retract Assignment Feedback in Bulk)

Technical Details

Impact:

Slight impact to instructors due to the ability to bulk retract evaluations from the assignment submission page.

Availability:

This feature is available to all clients.

To enable:

This feature is enabled automatically.
This functionality requires the Assignments > Give Feedback and Assignments > Delete Feedback permissions.
This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing configuration variables.

Courses – Non-functional configuration variables added to production environments | New

To prepare for the June 2025/20.25.06 release of Brightspace, non-functional configuration variables are now available in production environments for the new Courses tool. These variables support the upcoming replacement of the existing Course Management tool.

Although these variables are fully functional in test and development environments, they are non-functional in production.

Refer to Updates to Course Management for more information about the Courses tool replacing the existing Course Management tool.

The following Courses tool configuration variables (non-functional) are added to production environments of Brightspace:

Variable	Type	Default Value	Description
d2l.Tools.Courses.EnableAutomaticTemplateCreation ( OrgUnit )	Org	ON	When ON, enables auto-template creation during course creation process. When OFF, auto-template creation is not available.
d2l.Tools.Courses.RequireDepartment ( OrgUnit )	Org	OFF	When ON, forces a user to select a Department during the course creation process with the Courses tool.
d2l.Tools.Courses.RequireSemester ( OrgUnit )	Org	OFF	When ON, forces a user to select a Semester during the course creation process with the Courses tool.

Technical Details

Impact:

Slight impact to administrators who can see these variables in production, though they remain non-functional.

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.
These new configuration variables are non-functional and added to prepare for an upcoming release.

Notifications – Unsubscribe from all | New

To improve user experience and reduce unwanted emails, notification emails from Brightspace now include an Unsubscribe link. Selecting the link opens a confirmation screen that allows users to opt out of email notifications, including instant and summary notifications.

This is the paper note and pencil icon used for notes.

Note: The Unsubscribe link does not require the user to enter Brightspace login credentials, which allows users without access to opt out directly.

Previously, users without login access could not unsubscribe unless they logged in to adjust their notification settings.

Administrators must enable the new d2l.Tools.Notifications.Email.UnsubscribeLink configuration variable. This configuration variable is OFF by default. The Unsubscribe link only appears if the configuration variable is set to ON. If left off, the Unsubscribe link does not appear in notification emails.

Brightspace confirmation message stating successful unsubscription from notifications and course update emails.

Figure: The Unsubscribe All Notifications confirmation page appears after clicking Unsubscribe in an email.

Note: If a user accidentally unsubscribes, they must log in to Brightspace to resubscribe to Notifications.

Technical Details

Impact:

Slight impact to instructors and learners who receive email notifications.

Availability:

This feature is available to all Brightspace Core clients.

To enable:

This functionality is automatically enabled for all clients.
Set the new d2l.Tools.Notifications.Email.UnsubscribeLink configuration variable to ON to enable this functionality. This configuration variable is OFF by default.
This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing permissions.

Groups – Export group enrollment data | New

Instructors can now export group enrollment data from the Groups tool to support easier attendance tracking, group-specific class lists, and contact list creation.

A new Export button now appears in the Groups tool for users with the Manage Groups and Categories permission. Instructors can use this button to export group data to a CSV file. The exported content includes:

Group category details
Group names
User enrollment information
Enrollment dates

You can choose a specific group or all groups within a selected category to include in the export.

Note: User details, such as First Name, Last Name, and Username, only appear if the user's role has the appropriate User Information Privacy permissions to view user data.

Previously, there was no built-in method to export group data or user enrollment dates from the Groups tool.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

D295 (Export Groups: Export Group Enrolments and/or Statistics to a CSV spreadsheet)
D9175 (Add times and dates of students enrolled in groups created)

This feature partially implements the following PIE items:

D7413 (Viewing Group Category/Group Enrollments Quickly)
D345 (Show all Group Categories (or more than one Group Category) on the main Groups page)
D5236 (Printing Groups)
D454 (Group Statistics: View the date and time students self-enrolled in a group)

Manage Groups page showing group list and highlighted Export button

Figure: From the Manage Groups page, click Export to download group data.

Export page with select category, select group dropdowns, and export button for groups

Figure: From the Export page, use the Select Category and Select Group drop-downs to choose the desired group set, then click Export to download group data.

Technical Details

Impact:

Slight impact to administrators who must assign appropriate permissions to roles that want to use this feature.
Slight impact to instructors who can export details of a group category and groups if permitted.

Availability:

This feature is available to all clients.

To enable:

This functionality is automatically enabled for all users.
Ensure the Groups and Sections Management >Manage Groups and Categories permission and User Information Privacy permissions are applied to the required roles.
This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing configuration variables.

My CPD Records – Improved Awards workflow | Updated

This feature is part of the D2L for Associations, Corporate, and Upskilling for EDU package that must be purchased separately. For more information, contact your D2L Client Sales Executive or Account Manager.

To make it easier for learners to track professional development, the My CPD Records tool now includes a streamlined workflow when creating a record from an external source or from Awards in Brightspace.

Learners can add a new record directly from an award using the new Add Record button on the My CPD Records main page. The Add Record button is also available for adding records for external sources.

MY CPD Records page with the Add Record button in the bottom-left corner

Figure: Click Add Record to access the workflows for adding a new record or a new award.

Add From Award dialog showing a list of awards with selection and search options

Figure: In the Add From Award dialog, select an award from the list, then click Next to continue adding the record.

Add From Award dialog with pre-filled CPD details like name, type, category, and credit time

Figure: In the final step of the Add From Award workflow, the award information is pre-populated from the previous step. Fill in the remaining fields and click Save to create the record.

Technical Details

Impact:

Slight impact to learners due to the improved workflow for adding records from Awards and other sources.

Availability:

This feature is available to all clients who have the D2L for Associations, Corporate, and Upskilling for EDU package.

To enable:

This functionality is not automatically enabled. Contact your D2L Client Sales Executive or Account Manager to enable this tool.
This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing permissions or configuration variables.

Quick Eval – Evaluate learners across Assignments, Discussions, and Quizzes | New

This release enables instructors to quickly iterate through their list of submissions in Quick Eval even if those submissions are sourced from different activity types or courses. For example, an instructor has activities to grade in Assignments, Discussions, and Quizzes and has been assigned items that appear in Quick Eval Submissions. The instructor directly accesses each submission to evaluate the items instead of navigating back to Quick Eval and going into each item again.

Previously, instructors had to click into each submission to view the evaluation and then click Back to Quick Eval to go to the Submissions view and then find the next submission to evaluate. With this release instructors are redirected to the next evaluation as listed in the Quick Eval.

This is the bullhorn icon used for warnings.

Important: This feature only works when New Quiz Evaluation Experience is enabled. Administrators must set the d2l.Tools.Activities.CEQuizzesOptIn (OrgUnit) configuration variable to ON, not ON (OPT IN).

Quick Eval activity open with forward and backward arrows to navigate between learners for evaluation.

Figure: From the Submissions view, select a submission and click on the linked learner’s name. In the activity evaluation page, use the forward and backward arrows to toggle to the next or previous learner to evaluate.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

D5475 (Add a "Next Item" button when grading from Quick Eval)
D8199 (Auto Advance to next item in Quick Eval)

Technical Details

Impact:

Slight impact to administrators who can control accessing Assignment, Discussions and Quiz Evaluations from Quick Eval using the d2l.Tools.Activities.CEQuizzesOptIn (OrgUnit) configuration variable.
Slight impact to instructors who can now toggle between learner submissions in Quick Eval.

Availability:

This feature is available to all clients.

To enable:

This functionality requires the Quick Eval > View Quick Eval permission.
Set the d2l.Tools.Activities.CEQuizzesOptIn (OrgUnit) configuration variable (default: ON (OPT IN)) to ON.

Quizzes – Enhanced Learner Submission View | Updated

The quiz submission page now features a sleeker, modernized layout. The previous banner image has been replaced with a checkmark icon, along with other visual updates.

Submission confirmation message with clipboard and calendar.

Figure: The quiz submission page before this update.

Submission confirmation with timestamp and checkmark icon.

Figure: The quiz submission page after this update.

Technical Details

Impact:

Slight impact to learners due to the refreshed user interface (UI) of the quiz submission page.

Availability:

This feature is available to all clients.

To enable:

This feature is enabled automatically.
This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing permissions and configuration variables.

Quizzes – Improved quiz monitoring with Session IDs in Attempt Logs | New

This release introduces the new d2l.Tools.Quizzes.ShowSessionId (Org Unit) configuration variable (default: OFF), which allows administrators to control whether instructors can view the Session ID column in quiz attempt logs.

When enabled, instructors can use session IDs to discern when learners have multiple sessions within a quiz attempt, helping detect potential academic dishonesty.

The Session ID column highlighted on the Attempt Logs page.

Figure: Check the Session ID column when viewing Attempt Logs > Detailed.

Technical Details

Impact:

Slight impact to administrators, who can control the visibility of session IDs in attempt logs using the d2l.Tools.Quizzes.ShowSessionId (Org Unit) configuration variable .
Slight impact to instructors, who can view the Session ID column within Attempt Logs.

Availability:

This feature is available to all clients.

To enable:

Set the d2l.Tools.Quizzes.ShowSessionId (Org Unit) configuration variable (default: OFF) to ON.
This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing permissions.

Change History

10-April-2025 Preview Release Notes published.

11-April-2025 Updated the Quick Eval – Evaluate learners across Assignments, Discussions, and Quizzes | New feature to replace the animated GIF.

15-April-2025 Removed the Assignments, Discussions, and Quizzes – Expand and collapse evaluation components | New feature. This feature will be available in a future release.