Brightspace Learning Environment

Assignments - Preview Activity in Evaluation mode | Updated

Previously, users who did not have edit permissions for assignments could not preview assignments. As a result, not all evaluator types could see assignment information such as assignment instructions, start date, or due dates.

Now, in Evaluation mode, there is a Preview Activity option in the Assignment context menu to see a preview of the assignment. Evaluators with the See and Manage Assignment Submission Folders permission can use the Preview Activity option to view the assignment information, but cannot edit the assignment properties or dates.  
 

Figure: The Preview Activity option appears on the context menu for the assignment.

 

Figure: The Assignment Preview enables users to view the assignment information but they cannot edit it. 

Brightspace Editor – Drag/drop and copy/paste images | Updated

This feature complements the Brightspace Editor functionality as released in the Brightspace Editor – Improvements | Updated feature released in May 2021 / 20.21.5.
The drag/drop and copy/paste functionality of images is now available in the following areas that contain no user-specific data.

• Content Module/Topic Descriptions
• Quiz/Survey/Self-Assessment - Description, Header. Footer
• Grades - Description
• Content Course Overview descriptions
• Discussion Forum/Topic descriptions

Note: Similar to current functionality, image files added to these areas are saved in the root of the Manage Files area of the organization unit the user is currently in.

This feature partially implements PIE items D7884, D2190, and D7968.
 

Brightspace Editor – Email notifications for users tagged in discussion posts and threads | Updated

This feature updates the Brightspace Editor – Additional functionality | Updated feature released in June 2021 / 20.21.6 and now adds the ability for users tagged in discussion posts and threads to receive email notifications.

The new Discussions - new mention in a discussion post or thread option appears in the Notification Administration page (Admin Tools menu > User Related > Notifications > Notification Defaults) when the following configuration variables are turned on:

• d2l.Tools.WYSIWYG.Mentions
• d2l.Tools.Discuss.Notifications 

The d2l.Tools.WYSIWYG.Mentions configuration variable is turned off by default.


When the above configuration variables are turned on by your administrator, the Discussions - new mention in a discussion post or thread option is displayed to all users under the Instant Notifications area (on the minibar, click on your username > Notifications > Instant Notifications).

If your administrator has enabled the Discussions - new mention in a discussion post or thread option under Notification Defaults (Admin Tools menu > User Related > Notifications > Notification Defaults) the new Discussions - new mention in a discussion post or thread option under the Instant Notifications area (your username > Notifications > Instant Notifications) is enabled by default for all newly created users. Users can disable this option if required.

The ability to tag users is controlled by multiple permissions. A role must have the following permissions to use the @mention functionality when it is enabled for their organization unit:

• User Information Privacy > See First Names*
• User Information Privacy > See Last Names*
• Users  > Search for {role}

When a user is tagged, their profile is linked to their tagged name. To view the profile of another user, the following permission is required:

• User Profile > View Other Users’ Profiles

Brightspace Pulse – Operating system support | Updated

The latest version of Brightspace Pulse is supported on devices with iOS® 12+ or Android^TM 6.0+ (2015 release). Older versions of Brightspace Pulse will continue to work on devices with iOS 11 or Android 5.0, but will not receive any app updates. For an optimal experience, D2L recommends installing the latest version of Brightspace Pulse on devices with iOS 12+ or Android 6.0+.
 

Classlist - Configuration to disable emailing Inactive users| Updated

This feature updates the Email Classlist functionality by adding the new configuration variable d2l.Tools.Classlist.EmailInactiveUsers. This allows clients to set whether to email inactive users that added to the email list when using the Email Class button.
Note: This only prevents clients from sending email to inactive users when using the button; it is still possible to select all using the multi-select option to send to the entire classlist.

This variable is not enabled by default. When enabled, it takes effect when the configuration variable d2l.Tools.Classlist.DisplayInactiveUsers is also enabled; otherwise, it is ignored. The following permissions also need to be enabled at the org level:

• Has Access to the Classlist (Classlist tool); and
• Access Email (Email tool).

Previously, all visible learners on the classlist were emailed, regardless of their activity status.

This feature implements PIE item D7733.

Content - Add Print Button to PDF file types | Updated

This feature adds the option to print PDF file types to Classic Content.

The Print button is visible when viewing a PDF topic or the Course Overview as a PDF. This button will also only appear for users with Compile and Print Content permission.

No option to print PDFs was previously available.

Figure: PDF view in Brightspace Classic Learning Environment - Content prior to this release, highlighting the absence of a print functionality.
 

Figure: PDF view in Brightspace Classic Learning Environment - Content highlighting the location of the Print button.

Content – Customize language terms in the New Content Experience | New

With this release, administrators can use the Language Management tool to override default language terms in the New Content Experience, not including the New Learner Experience. This allows administrators to use terminology that is consistent with their organization, for example, using custom terms for "unit," "lesson," and "folder." Previously, language terms in the New Content Experience were not customizable.

Language terms for the New Content Experience are located in:  

• Package: Content; Collection: NewExperience 

• Package: Content; Collection: Lessons 

• Package: WebComponents; Collection: d2l-activities\activityEditor 

Course Import - View Course Import history | New

Users can now view the history of course import attempts for courses in a specific org unit. From the Import/Export/Copy tool on Course Admin, users can view the Course Import History page, which includes the following information for each course import attempt:  

• the original package name 
• status of the import 
• user who created the import job 
• the timestamp for the import attempt 

The content is sorted by Start Time (Descending) by default. After users have viewed the page, they can return to the Import/Export/Copy Components landing page in the Course Administration or click View Import Log to see a more detailed log. The log opens at the last line for the conversion you are viewing.

  

Figure: The View Import History link is available from the Import/Export/Copy Components tool in the Course Administration area of their course.


 

Figure: On the Course Import History page, you can view the import log for more information about the import attempt. 

This feature implements PIE items D2336 and D5473.
  

Course Publisher - Log Out option available to end session | New

Previously, when a user closed a course provided by Course Publisher to return to their home Brightspace Learning Environment, it did not end the Course Publisher session.  

Now, users can ensure that the session has ended using the Log Out option on the Learner menu.

Figure: The Log Out button appears in the Learner menu. 
 

Course Publisher - Tool availability update | New

Course Publisher is now available to all Brightspace Core and Brightspace Legacy clients. in Admin Tools. For more information on Course Publisher, review the Course Publisher – Distribute courses to external Learning Management Systems | New feature from the May 2021/20.21.5 Release Notes, or visit the Course Publisher - Administrator Guide.

The information banner that appears when you publish a course for the first time is being updated to include more language around possible overages incurred by creating a course. The new warning states: A course has been published for this recipient. Learners accessing this published course may add to your Brightspace user licenses. To learn more, please visit the Community. To proceed, download the .zip file or copy the LTI link below and send it to your recipient's administrator.

A direct link to Brightspace Community is included in the warning to provide additional information.

Data Hub – Added and removed columns in Discussions | Updated

As part of the visibility and posting restrictions for Discussions introduced in the August 2021 release, this release adds and removes several date columns from the Discussion Forums and Discussion Topics Brightspace Data Sets.

The following date columns are added to Brightspace Data Sets versions 6.12 and 7.0:

• StartDate
• StartDateAvailabilityType
• EndDate
• EndDateAvailabilityType

Note: These columns are populated even if the d2l.Tools.Discuss.ConsolidatedDatesEnabled configuration variable is turned off.

The following date columns are removed in Brightspace Data Sets version 7.0:

• VisibleStartDate
• VisibleEndDate
• PostingStartDate
• PostingEndDate

Data Hub - Brightspace Data Sets Version 7 | New

Brightspace Data Sets (BDS) version 7 is now released, which will increase the value of the Data Hub offering. Version 6 will exist in parallel for 6 months (October 2021 to March 2022). All clients will be updated to BDS version 7 in April 2022.

Included in the update to version 7 are major changes to existing Brightspace Data Sets:

• Checklist Category Details BDS:
  • remove NumberOfItems column.
• Checklist Objects BDS:
  • remove ChecklistItemCount column.
• Discussion Forums BDS:
  • remove VisibleStartDate column.
  • remove VisibleEndDate column.
  • remove PostingStartDate column.
  • remove PostingEndDate column.
  • add StartDate column (also available in v6.12).
  • add StartDateAvailabilityType column (also available in v6.12).
  • add EndDate column (also available in v6.12).
  • add EndDateAvailabilityType column (also available in v6.12).
• Discussion Topics BDS: 
  • remove VisibleStartDate column.
  • remove VisibleEndDate column.
  • remove PostingStartDate column.
  • remove PostingEndDate column.
  • add StartDate column (also available in v6.12).
  • add StartDateAvailabilityType column (also available in v6.12).
  • add EndDate column (also available in v6.12).
  • add EndDateAvailabilityType column (also available in v6.12).

More information about the changes to Discussion Forums and Discussion Topics is captured in a separate release note.
 

Integrations

LTI® 1.3 - Additional substitution parameters available | New

Previously in LTI Advantage, substitution parameters that were duplicated in the Security Settings were not available in the LTI Select Substitution Parameter dropdown in Brightspace Learning Environment. Now, administrators and instructors can use additional substitution parameters when setting up new links.

The ability to send time zone parameter substitutions in LTI Advantage is also added in this update.