February 2025 edition
The Product and Services Preview document replaces the former 60/90 day Review/Preview. Along with Release Notes (which cover near-term delivery plans for February 2025), the Product and Services Preview document covers March and April 2025 to provide product and feature delivery plans for the 90 day preview window.
To create a printable version of the Product and Services Preview information
- Highlight the feature 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.
Enablement Information
Information about the default state of a released feature, function or change in a Brightspace site is included to provide additional information, supporting change preparation, or planning in your organization.
Availability (Enabled State)
Advanced knowledge about whether customers can control access to the feature, function, or changes. This allows Administrators, trainers and supporting roles in an organization an opportunity to know which items are controllable and which are not.
- On: Indicates that the feature’s default state is visible/on and that there is no override or setting to control this state by any user.
- Off: Indicates that the feature’s default state is hidden/off and that there is no override or setting to control this state by any user.
- On (Overridable): Indicates the features default state and that it can be controlled or overridden by a user. For example, a new permission that is automatically selected for specific roles, or an editable config variable default that is on both offer opportunities to configure or override the default states.
- Off (Overridable): Indicates the features default state and that it can be controlled or overridden by a Brightspace user. For example, a new permission that is not selected, a new setting or new config variable that is off by default both provide opportunities to review and enable if desired.
Site Actions (Enablement Method)
For any feature, function, or change that is controllable, how are they controllable. This allows Administrators, trainers, or supporting roles in an organization the opportunity to make decisions earlier and better plan for any work required to support any updates or changes. Some examples include;
- Role Settings
- Role Permissions
- Config variables
- In Tool settings (such as Grades Settings or Widget customization)
- In Application settings (such as Pulse Settings)
20.25.04
Analytics Builder - Allow Analytics Builder Authors to bring data from additional data sources| New
Planned Release: 20.25.04 | Feature ID: NTNGL-3023
Change and Enablement information:
- Role / Audience: Data Administrator
- Site Availability: OFF
- Site Enablement Actions: Contact D2L
Additional Information Overview:
Analytics Builder will allow customers to bring external data from additional data sources. Authors can use both Brightspace Data Sets and external data to build custom datasets, analyses and dashboards; and provide a more holistic insight to their stakeholders.
List of Supported Data Sources
- Upload a file
- Salesforce
- MySQL
- PostgreSQL
- ORACLE
- SQL Server
- Aurora
- MariaDB
- Presto
- Spark
- Teradata
- Snowflake
- Google BigQuery
- Timestream
- Exasol
- Databricks
- Trino
- Starburst
- Github
- Jira
- ServiceNow
- Adobe Analytics
Note: The data source needs to have a Public IP. Connections to private resources within your VPC is not supported.
List of Unsupported Data Sources
- S3
- S3 Analytics
- Athena
- RDS
- Redshift (Auto-discovered and Manual connect)
- AWS IoT Analytics
- Amazon OpenSearch Service
Workflow 1: Creating new datasets
- Login to Brightspace as Analytics Builder Author and navigate to Analytics Builder.
- Select Datasets -> New Dataset and create a dataset from a supported data source.
- Prepare the data to use in analysis and dashboards.
Workflow 2: Add data to existing datasets
- Login to Brightspace as Analytics Builder Author and navigate to Analytics Builder.
- Select Datasets -> Edit an existing dataset and Add data (either Data Source or Upload a file)
- Prepare the data to use in analysis and dashboards.
Assignments/Discussions - Bulk Feedback Submission in Assignments and Discussions Submission Page| NEW
Planned Release: 20.25.04 | Feature ID: NIM-3860
Change and Enablement information:
- Role / Audience: Administrator, Instructor
- Site Availability: OFF (Customer Overridable)
- Site Enablement Actions: Config Variable (Org Unit)
Additional Information Overview:
This feature enables instructors to give bulk feedback for learners in the Assignments & Discussion submission pages.
Enabling a bulk feedback tool in Assignments and in Discussions allows instructors to give feedback in the activity without needing to use the gradebook. This tool will let instructor add a draft if there was no draft, update a draft/publish evaluation feedback for multiple learners at once.
Functionality Overview
This feature enables instructors to provide text feedback to one or more learners within the Assignments or Discussions tools. Feedback behavior varies based on the presence of existing evaluations:
- If no draft exists, feedback creates a saved draft for the learner(s) in the respective tool.
- If a draft or published evaluation exists, feedback updates the existing evaluation.
Instructors can apply feedback to individual learners or groups using the Add Feedback button, or to all learners using the Add Feedback to All button.
Bulk Feedback with Attachments
When providing bulk feedback that includes file attachments, the following behaviors apply:
- Insert Stuff: Available in the HTML editor, but file uploads from My Computer are disabled. Links and YouTube videos can still be added, with associated data stored in Manage Files.
- Insert Image: Available with the ability to upload image files from My Computer. Uploaded images are restricted to this format and stored in Manage Files.
Configuration Variable Details
- The feature will launch with the configuration variable disabled by default.
- At the three-month mark (version 20.25.07), the configuration will be enabled.
- At six months (version 20.25.10), the configuration variable will be removed.
This phased approach ensures a smooth transition and allows for feature adjustments based on user feedback.
D2L Lumi - D2L Lumi Outcome Alignment for Assignments Now Generally Available| NEW
Planned Release: 20.25.04 | Feature ID: HAI-847
Change and Enablement information:
- Role / Audience: All
- Site Availability: Add-On
- Site Enablement Actions: Contact D2L
Additional Information Overview:
D2L Lumi Outcomes is now available in the Mumbai (ap-south-1) region. With this release, D2L Lumi Outcomes is now generally available to users entitled to D2L Lumi Pro for Brightspace.
Previously, D2L Lumi Outcomes was in all regions except Mumbai (ap-south-1).
Data Access/Data Hub - Brightspace Data Sets Major Version 10 | Update
Planned Release: 20.25.04 | Feature ID: NTNGL-2925
Change and Enablement information:
- Role / Audience: Data Administrator
- Site Availability: Off for all customers
- Site Enablement Actions: Config Variable (Org)
Additional Information Overview:
Brightspace Data Sets (BDS) Major Version 10 is now available. Version 9 will remain accessible through July 2025, giving users four months to accommodate the changes before migrating. All clients will be automatically migrated to BDS Version 10 in August 2025.
The upgrade to Major Version 10 includes disruptive changes to existing Brightspace Data Sets.
Insights Report Builder and Analytics Builder users need to update their existing reports that use BDS with major version updates.
Please see the Motivations behind the changes in Data Hub Brightspace Data Set (BDS) Major Version 10Blog Post for more Information.
Data Access/Data Hub - Data Set Updates for the 20.25.04 (April) Release | Update
Planned Release: 20.25.04 | Feature ID: FED-4359, AUT-52, and AUT-53
Change and Enablement information:
- Role / Audience: Instructor, Data Administrator, Administrator
- Site Availability: ON for all customers
- Site Enablement Actions: None (Automatic)
Additional Information Overview:
The following changes have been made to data sets for the April release (20.25.04):
Organizational Unit Ancestors Data Set - new column added
- Name: DateDeleted
- Description: – indicates the date in which the ancestor was removed or deleted from the organizational unit.
- Field Size: DateTime
- Field is: nullable
Organizational Unit Descendants Data Set – new column added
- Name: DateDeleted
- Description: – indicates the date in which the descendant was removed or deleted from the organizational unit.
- Field Size: DateTime
- Field is: nullable
Content Objects, Outcomes Aligned to Tool Objects, Assignment Summary, Discussion Topics, Question Library
The AIUtilization used in these data sets can now contain a value of "4" which is defined as, "Generated by built-in Brightspace AI capabilities but not yet reviewed by a human. Previously, the AIUtilization field supported values of either "0", "1", "2", or "3".
The new AIUtilization field definition is updated to be: Indicates whether built-in Brightspace AI capabilities were used and the level of AI involvement. Possible values:
- 0 - No built-in Brightspace AI capabilities were involved.
- 1 - Generated by built-in Brightspace AI capabilities and reviewed by a human.
- 2 - Generated by built-in Brightspace AI capabilities and edited by a human.
- 3 - Assisted or uplifted by built-in Brightspace AI capabilities.
- 4 - Generated by built-in Brightspace AI capabilities but not yet reviewed by a human.
Lessons - Previous and Next buttons to navigate between content topics | Updated
Planned Release: 20.25.04 | Feature ID: EP-1316
Change and Enablement information:
- Role / Audience: All
- Site Availability: ON for all customers
- Site Enablement Actions: None (Automatic)
Additional Information Overview:
In the New Content Experience, this update introduces Previous and Next buttons to navigate between content topics
Quizzes - New evaluation experience for Quizzes is now ON by default | New
Planned Release: 20.25.04 | Feature ID: BORG-4564
Change and Enablement information:
- Role / Audience: Instructor, Administrator
- Site Availability: ON (Customer Overridable)
- Site Enablement Actions: Config Variable (Org Unit)
Additional Information Overview:
The new evaluation experience for Quizzes is now ON by default. Clients can still choose to opt-out of the experience.
Quizzes - Instructors can now see Tab Id within the Quiz Attempt Log | Update
Planned Release: 20.25.04 | Feature ID: BORG-3800
Change and Enablement information:
- Role / Audience: Instructor, Administrator
- Site Availability: OFF (Customer Overridable)
- Site Enablement Actions: Config Variable (Org Unit)
Additional Information Overview:
When Tab Id is enabled (via config: d2l.Tools.Quizzes.ShowTabId) Instructors will be able to see the Tab Id within the Quiz Attempt log. This will allow instructors to be able to discern when learners have used multiple (browser) tabs within a Quiz attempt.
20.25.04
Analytics Builder - Analytics Builder is an independent tool from Insights Portal | New
Planned Release: 20.25.05 | Feature ID: NTNGL-2966
Change and Enablement information:
- Role / Audience: Instructors, Administrators
- Site Availability: ON for customers with Analytics Builder enabled.
- Site Enablement Actions: None (automatic)
Additional Information Overview:
With this release, Analytics Builder will now be listed as a separate tool from Insights Portal. Roles and permissions will be moved to Analytics Builder.
Assignments - Support Bulk Retract Feedback in Assignments Submission Page| New
Planned Release: 20.25.05 | Feature ID: NIM-3867
Change and Enablement information:
- Role / Audience: Instructors, Administrators
- Site Availability: ON
- Site Enablement Actions: None (automatic)
Additional Information Overview:
With this release, instructors will be able to retract feedback in bulk in Assignment submissions, eliminating the need to use the gradebook to bulk retract feedback.
Assignments - Support Bulk Retract Feedback in Assignments Submission Page| New
Planned Release: 20.25.05 | Feature ID: NIM-3867
Change and Enablement information:
- Role / Audience: Instructors, Administrators
- Site Availability: ON
- Site Enablement Actions: None (automatic)
Additional Information Overview:
With this release, instructors will be able to retract feedback in bulk in Assignment submissions, eliminating the need to use the gradebook to bulk retract feedback.
Course Management - New & Improved Courses tool enabling easier management of courses with a modern UI - Enabled in Production Environments | Update
Planned Release: 20.25.05 | Feature ID: AUT-1757
Change and Enablement information:
- Role / Audience: Administrator
- Site Availability: ON for all customers in production environments
- Site Enablement Actions: None (automatic)
Additional Information Overview:
A core workflow for Brightspace administrators, instructional designers and, often times, instructors is the creation and re-offering of courses. Users expect to find the tools required to manage courses but instead must navigate between various tools (Course Management, Import/Export/Copy Components, User enrollments, Bulk Course Tools) to accomplish their goals. This can make the Brightspace administration experience difficult to learn and cumbersome to use.
What we are doing:
Creating a new Course Management Experience that will offer functional parity with the current tool and workflows combined with a delightful user experience.
Users will be able to easily:
- Create a new Course
- Create a new Course Template or take advantage of the automatic Template creation
- Search for Courses and Templates
- Copy (Re-Offer) an existing Course
The New Course Manage Page will be available in all environments with this release. There will be no opt-out.
Quick Eval - Enable Accessing Assignment, Discussions and Quiz Evaluations from Quick Eval | New
Planned Release: 20.25.05 | Feature ID: NIM-4022
Change and Enablement information:
- Role / Audience: Instructors, Administrators
- Site Availability: ON (configurable)
- Site Enablement Actions: Config. Variable
- PIE: D5475, D8199
Additional Information Overview:
With this release, instructors can quickly iterate through their list of submissions in Quick Eval even if they are not the same activity type or in the same course. For example, an instructor has activities to mark in Assignment, Discussions and Quizzes and has been assigned those items such that it appears in Quick Eval Submissions. The instructor will now be able to go to each of these submissions to evaluate the items, instead of going back to Quick Eval and going into each item again.
How does it work:
- Instructor uses Quick Eval Submissions view
- clicks on an activity to evaluate
- In the Activity Evaluation screen, in the top right hand corner, it will say user x (order of user in submissions view) of y (total # of submissions in view for instructor)
- instructor can click forward/backward arrow to toggle to next or previous learner to evaluate
Config Variable:
This feature will be sharing the same config variable with the new quizzing experience an will be enabled when d2l.Tools.Activities.CEQuizzesOptIn ( OrgUnit ) is set to ON (not opt-in). Note this epic is ONLY for CE Quizzing and not compatible with legacy quizzing.
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