Assignments – File size information in submission receipt email | New

File size information now displays next to the file name in the submission receipt email sent to learners upon making a submission to an assignment submission folder.

This feature implements PIE item D5253.

 

Impact of Change Technical Details

Slight impact to learners due to file size information included in submission receipt emails.

Availability: This feature is available to all clients.

To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for Assignments users. No further action is required.

 

Assignments – Submission ID displays for Learners | New

A new column that displays Submission ID information is visible to learners on the View Feedback page in Assignments.

 

submission_ID_feedback

Figure: Submission ID visible to learners when reviewing Submission Feedback information

 

Impact of Change Technical Details

Slight impact to learners due to Submission ID information available when viewing their Submission Feedback.

Availability: This feature is available to all clients.

To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for Assignments users. No further action is required.

  

 

Brightspace Learning Environment – Supported browsers | Updated

 

As previously announced in the August 2019/20.19.8 release, Microsoft Internet Explorer is approaching End of Life (EOL) status as a supported browser. Starting January 1, 2020, Brightspace Learning Environment will no longer support Internet Explorer. As of the December 2019/20.19.12 release, if users attempt to access Brightspace Learning Environment using Internet Explorer in a test environment, an unsupported page appears. The unsupported page contains links to download supported browsers and a link to the End of Life (EOL) communication on the Brightspace Community. This allows clients to preview the unsupported page in their test environments and test any language term changes they want to make.

 

For more information on previous Internet Explorer EOL communications:

 

 

 

 

Impact of Change Technical Details

Moderate impact to administrators due to the ability to customize and localize the banner text.

Availability: This functionality is only available to existing clients using Internet Explorer.

To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for existing Brightspace Learning Environment users. No further action is required.

New clients can no longer access Brightspace Learning Environment using Microsoft Internet Explorer.

The text of the unsupported page is customizable using the Language Management tool.

If clients need to access their test environments using Internet Explorer in the last few weeks prior to January 1, 2020, contact D2L Technical Support or their Technical Account Manager.

 

Configuration Variable Browser - Removal of non-functional configuration variables | Removed

The d2l.Tools.Notifications.AllowInactiveCourses (User) and d2l.Tools.Notifications.AllowPastCourses (User) configuration variables, which previously controlled the ability to send notifications from Inactive and Past courses, are removed from the Config Variable Browser. The behaviors these configuration variables controlled were previously removed from Brightspace Learning Environment.

 

Impact of Change Technical Details

This feature has no impact on Brightspace Learning Environment users.

N/A

 

Content - Sort HTML templates in alphanumeric filename order | New

To make it easier to find HTML templates when using Content, instructors can now select a new option to sort templates in alphanumeric order based on filename. Previously, HTML templates were sorted alphanumerically based on directory structure.

Administrators can set the default sort order for the org or specific org units by editing a new configuration variable. By default, HTML templates are sorted alphanumerically based on directory structure.

 

Impact of Change Technical Details

Slight impact to administrators due to a new configuration variable that controls the default sort order for HTML templates.

Availability: This feature is available to all clients using the classic and new Content experience.

To enable: To sort HTML templates in alphanumeric order by filename, by default, administrators must edit a new configuration variable. By default, HTML templates are sorted alphanumerically based on directory structure.

Slight impact to instructors due to a new option for sorting HTML templates in alphanumeric order based on filename. Administrators specify the default sort order for HTML templates in the org or specific org units; however, instructors can override this from the Settings option in Content.

 

Content – Sort order changes in Upload / Create menu | Updated

When using the Upload / Create menu to add activities to Content, the placement of the New Assignment option has moved. Previously, it appeared between New Discussion and New Quiz. Now, New Assignment appears above New Checklist.

 

upload_create_sort_order

Figure: Updated sort order of the Upload / Create menu

 

Impact of Change Technical Details

Slight impact to instructors due changes in the sort order of the Upload / Create menu in Content.

Availability: This feature is available to all clients.

To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for Content users. No further action is required.

 

Data Hub – New columns available for Discussion Topics data set | New

To increase the value of the Data Hub offering, this release includes new columns for the Discussion Topics data set:

  • GradeItemId
  • ScoreOutOf
  • ScoreCalculationMethod
  • IncludeNonScoredValues
  • Version

 

Impact of Change Technical Details
Moderate impact to administrators due to the addition of new columns in Brightspace Data Hub.

Availability: This feature is available to AWS-hosted and co-located Brightspace Insights and Brightspace Core clients in the following regions: North America, EMEA, and APAC.

To enable: Ensure the Can Access Brightspace Data Sets permission is granted to administrators at the org level. New data sets appear the first time the data set runs after the version update. You must also ensure the d2l.Tools.BrightspaceDataSets.Version configuration variable is set to version 3 or version 4.

 

Data Hub – Tools data set available | New

This release includes the new Tools Brightspace data set that reports on all the tools that exist in the organization.

 

Impact of Change Technical Details

Slight impact to administrators due to the availability of the new Tools Brightspace data set in Brightspace Data Hub.

Availability: This feature is available to AWS-hosted and co-located Brightspace Insights and Brightspace Core clients in the following regions: North America, EMEA, and APAC.

To enable: Ensure the Can Access Brightspace Data Sets permission is granted to administrators at the org level. New data sets appear the first time the data set runs after the version update. You must also ensure the d2l.Tools.BrightspaceDataSets.Version configuration variable is set to version 3 or version 4.

 

Grades - Synchronization with Assignments and Discussions via API and import options | Updated

Grades are now fully synchronized in the Assignments and Discussions tools when grades are added to Brightspace via the existing Import as CSV, Import as Excel, and API entry options. This change builds upon recent grades synchronization updates for Assignments and Discussions.

Note: Synchronization only occurs for new grade entries. Existing grade data for assignment submissions and discussions will not automatically be migrated because of the high impact to all past data and reports.

This feature implements PIE items D3610, and D391.

 

Impact of Change Technical Details

Slight impact to instructors who can now use existing grade import and API entry options to synchronize their grade book with Assignments and Discussions.

Availability: This feature is available to all clients.

To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for Grades users. No further action is required.

  

 

Quick Eval – Display unevaluated submissions past course end date | New

 

The d2l.Tools.UnassessedActivities.DaysToExtendEndDate configuration variable has been added to Brightspace Learning Environment to allow administrators to extend the visibility of unevaluated learner submissions in Quick Eval past the end date of a course. Previously, unevaluated learner submissions were removed from Quick Eval when a course’s end date was reached. The new configuration variable can be set to display unevaluated learner submissions for 7, 30, or 60 days beyond a course's end date. This allows instructors to continue to use Quick Eval for courses past their end date for a specified amount of time.

 

This feature implements PIE item D5437.

 

 

 

Impact of Change Technical Details

Slight impact to administrators due to a new configuration variable that allows unevaluated learner submissions to display in Quick Eval past the end date of a course.

Availability: This feature is available to Brightspace Core clients.

To enable: Use the d2l.Tools.UnassessedActivities.DaysToExtendEndDate variable to determine if unevaluated learner submissions display in Quick Eval for 7, 30, or 60 days beyond a course’s end date.

 

LTI Advantage - Brightspace APIs | New

Brightspace APIs now include new routes that are specific to LTI Advantage routes.

 

Impact of Change Technical Details

Slight impact to administrators due to the availability of new LTI 1.3 Brightspace APIs.

Availability: This feature is available to all LTI Advantage clients.

To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for LTI Advantage users. No further action is required.

 

LTI - Updated permissions | Updated

LTI now includes a new Delete External Learning Tools permission. In addition, the Manage External Learning Tool Links permission is updated to Manage and Delete External Learning Tool Links to better describe permission functionality.

 

Impact of Change Technical Details

Slight impact to administrators due to the creation of a new LTI-related permission and an updated pre-existing permission.

Availability: This feature is available to all LTI clients.

To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for LTI users. No further action is required.

Quizzes – January (20.20.01) New Quiz Builder experience defaults to On (opt-in) | New

In January, as part of the 20.20.01 release, the default value for the d2l.Tools.Quizzes.NewQuizBuilderExperience configuration variable is changing from Off to On (opt-in). This gives instructors the choice to opt in or out of the New Quiz Builder experience in their courses. Administrators still have the option to set this configuration variable to Off if desired. Organizations who already have the configuration variable set to On or On (opt-in) do not see any change.

 

Impact of Change Technical Details
Slight impact to administrators due to the change to the default status of the New Quiz Builder experience configuration variable.

Availability: This feature is available to all clients.

To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for Quizzes users. No further action is required.

 

Release Conditions – Learners are notified when a release condition triggers new content | Updated

In a course that uses release conditions to unlock additional content, learners previously were not informed when new content became available as a result of a release condition that was satisfied. Because there was no automatic notification or refresh of the table of contents, there was the potential for frustration when learners think they are done a module, and are later informed that there are steps left to be completed.

Now, when release conditions are satisfied, the learner is notified using a pop-up ("toast") message that there are new items available in the course.

 

Impact of Change Technical Details

Slight impact to users in courses that use release conditions due to the new notification.

Availability: This feature is available to all clients who use release conditions in their courses.

To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for release condition users. No further action is required.

 

Release Conditions – Updated ordering of Tools | Updated

When adding Release Conditions to activities or content, the View Conditions for, and Condition Type menus now display tools in an updated order.

 

release_condition_sort_order

Figure: When browsing for release conditions, Assignments is now at the top of the list of tools

create_release_condition_sortorder

Figure: When creating new release conditions, Assignments is now at the top of the list of tools

 

Impact of Change Technical Details
Slight impact to instructors due to the order of tools being changed when browsing or creating release conditions.

Availability: This feature is available to all clients.

To enable: This functionality is automatically enabled for all users. No further action is required.

 

Rubrics – Pre-announcement for configuration variable default setting change | Updated

{In January 2020/20.20.01, the default setting for the d2l.Tools.Rubrics.CreateExperienceOptIn configuration variable changes from Off to On. This change comes a year after the configuration variable became available for the updated creation experience in January 2019; the default setting at that point was Off.

The configuration variable d2l.Tools.Rubrics.CreateExperienceOptIn has 3 possible states: OnOff, and On (opt-in)On (opt-in) gives the option to separate org units to determine whether to opt in from the Create Rubric screen. Currently, and until January 2020, the default is Off. In January the default setting will change to On. With this change, clients continue to be able to turn the d2l.Tools.Rubrics.CreateExperienceOptInoff. The target date for turning this on and removing the ability to opt-out is November 2020.

In addition, the changes in January 2020 will include the ability to share rubrics from the organization level using the updated Rubric creation experience.

 

Impact of Change Technical Details

No client impact until January 2020. Slight impact in January 2020 to clients who may need to adjust the configuration variable setting.

Availability: This feature is available to all clients starting in January 2020.

To enable: In January 2020, d2l.Tools.Rubrics.CreateExperienceOptIn is automatically updated to the new default for all clients using the new Rubric creation experience. Any client who has already set it to On or On (opt-in) will not see any change.

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