Brightspace Learning Environment

Assignments - Competencies in the new assignment creation experience | Updated

This feature was originally released for the Assignments tool in June 2020/20.20.6. This update includes the capability to add and remove learning objectives from the Competencies tool when used with the new create and edit assignment experience.

The new experience also displays a warning if a learning objective does not have an associated rubric, as objectives must have an associated rubric in order to be evaluated.

Figure: The create and edit Assignments page with the Manage Learning Objectives functionality and warning

When a user opts in to the new experience, the Manage Learning Objectives functionality appears under the Evaluation & Feedback accordion if the Competencies tool is enabled and if the user is not using the Learning Outcomes tool.

The new Assignment creation experience remains in opt-in mode. We encourage you to enable it. As an instructor, if you are opting out of the new experience, a prompt appears encouraging you to leave feedback. We will continue to add features each month as we enable more advanced capabilities that will be documented in future release notes.

Impact of Change

Technical Details

Slight impact to instructors due to the ability to add and remove learning objectives from the Competencies tool in the new assignment creation experience.

Availability: This feature is available to all clients. To enable: The new assignment creation experience is disabled by default. To enable the new experience, set the d2l.Tools.Dropbox.CreateExperienceOptIn (OrgUnit) configuration variable to On (Opt-In). Instructors may opt into or out of the new assignment creation experience within a specific course at any time. If the new assignment creation experience is set as Off or On, instructors cannot control their use of the feature: If Off, the feature will not be available. If On, the feature replaces the old screens in the workflow without the option to switch back.

Brightspace Learning Environment – Castilian Spanish language pack | New

A new system language pack in Castilian Spanish (es-ES) is now available for purchase for Brightspace Learning Environment.

Impact of Change	Technical Details
No impact to administrators.	Availability: This feature is available as an add-on to all clients. To enable: Contact your D2L Client Sales Executive.

Brightspace Learning Environment - Supported browsers | Updated

This release introduces the following updates to browser support for Brightspace Learning Environment:

• Brightspace Learning Environment supports HTML5 Video Player and does not rely on Adobe Flash and Adobe Flash Player. However, you can still create Flash-dependent video content in Brightspace Learning Environment.
• The concept of a Maintenance browser is removed from the Brightspace Platform Requirements documentation, as this previously related to the now unsupported Microsoft Internet Explorer browser. All supported browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari) deploy using a continuous delivery model and Brightspace supports the latest versions of these browsers.
• As of the July 2020/20.20.07 release, Firefox ESR is no longer a supported browser, due to extremely low usage. To support clients through this transition, D2L will fix high-priority issues for Firefox 68 ESR (until the end of September 2020) and Firefox 78 ESR (until the January 2021 release).
• Brightspace Learning Environment's browser version check now displays warnings for browsers earlier than the following versions:
  • Chrome 81 (released in April 2020)
  • Chromium-based Edge 81 (released in April 2020)
  • Edge Legacy 44 (not receiving any further updates)
  • Safari 13 (released in September 2019)
  • Firefox 76 (releases May 5th, 2020)

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 a supported browser.

Impact of Change	Technical Details
Moderate impact to users depending on the browser they choose to use with Brightspace Learning Environment.	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.

Data Hub - Addition of new Brightspace Data Sets, new columns, and notice of deprecation | New

To increase the value of the Data Hub offering, this release adds nine new Brightspace Data Sets (BDS):

• Attendance Registers describes the registers for taking attendance that exist in your organization.
• Attendance Schemes describes the schemes that are available for use with attendance registers in your organization.
• Attendance Sessions maps the sessions that exist for each register in your organization.
• Attendance User Sessions provides the result for each user's session in each register in your organization.
• Intelligent Agent Objects describes all the agents created in your organization.
• Intelligent Agent Run Log lists all the times, inclusive of practice runs, each agent has run in the organization.
• Intelligent Agent Run Users lists the users that each agent run affected and the resulting action. Users not meeting agent criteria or part of a practice run are not included.
• User Attribute Definitions returns a list of all defined user attributes in your organization.
• User Attribute Values returns a list of all values for all defined user attributes for each user in your organization.

This release also adds new columns to existing data sets:

• SignupDate added to Users BDS.
• LastAccessed added to Users BDS.
• OrgRoleId added to Users BDS.
• ObjectId added to Quiz User Answers BDS.

This release also adds a system user entry to the Users BDS, because this value is now possible in User Attribute Definitions and User Attribute Values BDSs. The system user has UserId = 0 and is only included in the full version of the data sets. Customers are encouraged to download the full sets once to pick up the new system user before returning to differential sets.

The following data sets will be deprecated in January 2021, regardless of BDS version:

• Attendance Details
• Attendance Summary
• Intelligent Agent Runs

Impact of Change

Technical Details

Moderate impact to administrators due to addition of new columns and data sets.

Availability: This feature is available to Brightspace Insights and Brightspace Core clients in the following regions: North America, EMEA, and APAC. To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for Data Hub users. The existing Can Access Brightspace Data Sets permission must be selected for administrators at the org level. Ensure the d2l.Tools.BrightspaceDataSets.Version configuration variable is set to version 4 or 5.

Data Hub - Incomplete rubric assessments | Updated

This update now includes partially assessed, shared, and text-based rubric assessments in the Rubric Assessment data sets. The LevelAchieved value is NULL to indicate that the assessment is incomplete. Ensure that you review any queries written against this data set to determine if they are impacted by the additional rows of data and the fact that LevelAchieved can now be NULL.

Impact of Change	Technical Details
Medium impact to administrators due to changes to automated processes.	Availability: This feature is available to Brightspace Insights and Brightspace Core clients in the following regions: North America, EMEA, and APAC. To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for Data Hub users. The existing Can Access Brightspace Data Sets permission must be selected for administrators at the org level.

Discover - Index multiple courses using the Brightspace Developer Platform API | Updated

This feature was originally released for the Discover tool in May 2020/20.20.5. This update includes the ability for developers to use the Brightspace Developer Platform API to enable the Is Discoverable option when creating new courses, making it easier to index multiple courses for Discover. After creating the courses using the API, the courses are visible in Discover, available to learners for self-enrollment. Previously, developers could only use the Brightspace Developer Platform API to enable the Is Discoverable option on existing courses.

This feature implements PIE item D5908.

Impact of Change	Technical Details
Slight impact to developers who use the Brightspace Developer Platform API to create courses.	Availability: This feature is available to all clients. To enable: For information on enabling the Is Discoverable option in multiple courses, refer to the Brightspace Developer Platform documentation.

Email - Verify email address changes | New

Previously, users were able to add a forwarding email address, or add a reply to address without verifying their email address.

Now, when users add a forwarding email address, or add a reply to address, they receive an email prompting them to verify their email address. This feature also introduces the d2l.Tools.Mail.Verification.ID configuration variable that enables administrators to track down unauthentic email change requests.

This feature implements PIE item D4518.

Impact of Change	Technical Details
Slight impact to administrators due to the new d2l.Tools.Mail.Verification.ID configuration variable.	Availability: This feature is available to all clients. To enable: Set the d2l.Tools.Mail.Verification.ID configuration variable to either UserID or UserName. The default value is None.
Slight impact to all users due to the new email verification workflow.	N/A

Grades - Text file imports into grade book | Updated

This feature releases the new org level configuration variable, d2l.Tools.Grades.Import.ProcessTxtFileAs, to enable institutions to choose how they want to process the import of text files into the grade book; as either comma delimited or tab delimited files.

Impact of Change	Technical Details
Slight impact to administrators due to the new org level d2l.Tools.Grades.Import.ProcessTxtFileAs configuration variable.	Availability: This feature is available to all clients. To enable: This configuration variable is set to Comma by default. To process text files as tab delimited files, select Tab.
Slight impact to instructors due to the improved ease of importing Microsoft Excel ™ files into the grade book.	N/A

New Content Experience – Changes to styling and placement of the navigation and menu icon | Updated

This feature was originally released for the New Content Experience in May 2020/20.20.5. This update now includes the following changes to be more consistent with other areas of Brightspace Learning Environment:

• The navigation pane within the New Learner Experience viewer is now consistent with the table of contents in the course view.
• The Back to Content and Menu icons have switched positions to be consistent with the immersive navigation in other areas of Brightspace Learning Environment. The Back to Content link is now always the first icon in the set of navigation icons.
• The Menu icon continues to open the left navigation pane, which now always appears on the left side of the screen. When the menu is open, the menu icon now switches to an X to indicate that the user can click to close the menu.
• The immersive navigation bar now spans the entire width of the screen. Previously, it was restricted to 1230 px.

Figure: The left navigation pane appears consistent with the TOCs on the New Learner Experience.

Impact of Change	Technical Details
No disruption to users. These are styling changes and are aesthetic only; there are no functional changes.	Availability: This feature is available to all clients. To enable: Ensure the d2l.Tools.Content.NewLearnerExperience, d2l.Tools.Content.IsLessonsEnabled and d2l.Tools.Content.UseLessonsExperience configuration variables are enabled.

Quizzes - Quiz Builder configuration variable resets to On | Updated

This feature was originally released for the Quizzes tool in January 2020/20.20.1. This update now resets the d2l.Tools.Quizzes.NewQuizBuilderExperience configuration variable to On at the instance/organization level.

The course/department value of this configuration variable defaults to the value set at the instance/org level, unless it has been set to something else at the course level. If clients have explicitly set the value of the configuration variable at the course/department level, it continues to use that value, ignoring the instance/organization value change, and is not reset to On. If the configuration variable has not been set at the course/department level, it respects the new instance/organization value and forces the new experience to On.

Administrators still have the ability to turn the configuration variable to On (Opt-in), or Off. D2L encourages clients to leave the configuration set to On to give instructors who have opted out of the new experience a chance to familiarize themselves with the updated workflow of the new Quiz Builder. The August 2020/20.20.8 release will set d2l.Tools.Quizzes.NewQuizBuilderExperience configuration variable to On for all clients, and remove the ability for administrators to change the configuration variable. At that point, the new Quiz Builder will be the only available experience.

For additional information on the new Quiz Builder, visit the Community Blog post that details the features and functionality of the updated quizzing experience.

Impact of Change	Technical Details
Moderate impact to instructors who have continued to use the previous quiz creation experience due to workflow and user interface changes in the new Quiz Builder.	Availability: This feature is available to all clients. To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for Quizzes users. No further action is required.

Rubrics – Accessibility improvements in Rubric creation workflow | Updated

This feature was originally released for the Rubrics tool in June 2020/20.20.6. This update includes the following accessibility improvements in the rubric creation workflow:

• When you change the names of levels in the rubric create or edit experience, screen readers now read the updated name rather than the original default level names.
• Screen readers now indicate when new levels, criterion, groups, and overall score levels are added to a rubric. Previously, there was no loading progress indicator.
• Screen readers now state that there is a new level, criterion, group, or overall score level.
• The keyboard navigation tab sequence is improved when navigating to the Add and Cancel buttons in the Outcomes Picker window.

Impact of Change

Technical Details

Slight disruption due to improved accessibility when using the Rubric Creation functionality with assistive technology.

Availability: This feature is available to all clients using assistive technology with the updated Rubrics experience. To enable: This functionality is automatically available to updated Rubrics experience users. To turn on the updated Rubrics tool, ensure the d2l.Tools.Rubrics.CreateExperienceOptIn configuration variable is set to On or On (opt in) for the Org Unit, and d2l.Tools.Rubrics.CreateInstructorOptInconfiguration variable is set to On for the User.

User Management – Character limit enforced for text fields in User Profile | Updated

This feature was originally released for the User Management tool in January 2020/20.20.1. This update now enforces the 4000 character limit for long text fields in the User Profile page.

In the January 2020/20.20.1 release, reasonable character limits for long text fields in the User Profile page were added. The following Personal Info fields were limited to 4000 characters each:

• Interests/Hobbies
• Favorite Music
• Favorite Books
• Favorite TV Shows
• Favorite Movies
• Favorite Quotations
• Favorite Websites
• Future Goals
• Most Memorable Learning Experience

After the January 2020/20.20.1 release, if users had information in these fields that exceeded 4000 characters, it continued to display.

Impact of Change	Technical Details
No impact to administrators.	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. Clients who want to know if they have users that are affected by this change can contact D2L Support or their Technical Account Manager for additional information.

Widgets – Pinned tab in My Courses widget | New

A new Pinned tab now appears in the My Courses widget (Update Sort Logic view only). The Pinned tab allows learners and instructors to create a curated view of their pinned courses.

The Pinned tab appears in the widget only after a user pins a course in the Course Selector. The tab remains in view until all courses are unpinned. The My Courses widget remembers the last viewed tab and shows that same tab the next time the homepage is viewed. This makes it easy for instructors and learners who only wish to view pinned courses to see those courses upon login.

Note: D2L recommends all clients form a transition plan to the Updated Sort Logic view of the My Courses widget (available since 2018) if not already in use. The previous view of the My Courses widget will be retired in January 2021.

Figure: The Pinned tab appears in the My Courses widget when users pin courses

Impact of Change	Technical Details
Slight impact to administrators who may have to set the configuration variable to enable the Pinned tab.	Availability: This feature is available to all clients running Brightspace Core. To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for My Courses widget users who have the Updated Sort Logic view. Ensure the d2l.Tools.MyCoursesWidget.UpdatedSortLogic configuration variable is turned on.
Slight impact to instructors and learners who will note the new tab in the My Courses widget when they pin courses.	N/A

Integrations

Brightspace Learning Environment integrates with Google Meet | New

A new Quicklink integration is now available to enable you to stay connected and collaborate virtually from within Brightspace Learning Environment using Google Meet ™.

When the new Can create Google Meet video meetings permission is turned on for the Google Apps tool, you can now create and insert meetings using Google Meet in all places where Quicklinks are supported within Brightspace Learning Environment (Activity Feed, Announcements, Calendar, Email, Discussions, etc.).

Figure: The Insert Quicklink page with the Google Meet integration

Impact of Change	Technical Details
Slight impact to administrators due to the ability to enable the new Google Meet integration.	Availability: This feature is available to all Brightspace Learning Environment users who use Google Apps. To enable: Ensure that the Can create Google Meet video meetings permission is turned on for the Google Apps tool.
Slight impact to instructors who can now create meetings using Google Meet within Brightspace Learning Environment.	N/A

Digital learning solution by GO1 | New

GO1 online training content is now available for purchase through D2L, for use in Brightspace Learning Environment.

Your organization can access employee training resources for professional development, compliance, onboarding, and business training from the world’s largest aggregator of online training. The digital learning provider offers a single simple premium subscription to over 100 top publishers from around the world, offering content regionally across North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, the UK and EMEA. GO1 operates as an extension to your HR or L&D organization, helping to ensure the success of your training program. All purchased courses are SCORM-compliant and can be added to Brightspace Learning Environment as a SCORM package.

Impact of Change	Technical Details
Slight impact to course administrators due to the steps to add the purchased content into courses in Brightspace Learning Environment as a SCORM package.	Availability: This feature is available as an add-on package to all clients running Brightspace Core or higher. To enable: Contact your D2L Client Sales Executive.

IPSIS – Changes to ILP and LIS logic | New

Previously, when receiving a section association request from ILP, a new course offering with the oldest course's name was created. This feature updates the ILP logic and uses the Title in the section association request for the new course offering.

Previously in LIS and ILP, when a section association request was received, the start and end dates in the newly created course were blank. This feature updates the logic to use the oldest start date, and latest end date from the two courses being merged. An update request does not update the start and end dates to ensure that manually overwritten dates remain in place.

Impact of Change	Technical Details
Slight impact to administrators who no longer need to manually title sections and add start and end dates for courses created using LIS and ILP.	Availability: This feature is available to all clients using IPSIS. To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for IPSIS users. No further action is required.

LTI - Migration of API 1.1 to 1.3 | New

This feature provides an API for clients to manually uplift an LTI 1.1 link to an LTI 1.3 link. This is the first stage to support LTI migration. It allows clients to migrate specific LTI links from 1.1 to 1.3. Migrations are one way, from 1.1 to 1.3, and cannot be reverted.

Impact of Change	Technical Details
Moderate impact to administrators due to the ability to migrate LTI 1.1 links to LTI 1.3 links.	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.

LTI 1.3 - Support for substitution and custom parameters | New

Custom parameters allow a tool provider to add their own parameters to the launch data of an LTI link. Currently, in Brightspace Learning Environment, custom parameters are set up at the link level only. This means if a tool requires specific custom parameters for all links, they must be set up on a per link basis.

This feature supports custom parameters at the registration or deployment level. When created at a higher level, they cascade down to all links below. This supports the easy enablement of custom parameters that may be launched in the future.

At the LTI Advantage registration or deployment level, users with permission to edit the tool can maintain custom parameters. Custom parameters created at the parent level are visible at the child level but are not editable.

This feature improves the setup of an LTI Advantage tool, and the addition of any future custom parameters.

Impact of Change	Technical Details
Slight impact to Administrators due to the ability to set up custom parameters during deployment or registration of an LTI tool.	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.