April 2022

Brightspace Learning Environment

Brightspace Editor – Advanced code editor visual update and accessibility improvements | Updated 

Minor visual updates made to the advanced code editor in Brightspace increase the readability of tags and text in the advanced code editor and place the Save and Cancel buttons in consistent locations. Improved compatibility with screen reader technology is also included in this feature.

Previously, certain screen readers in specific form settings were unable to access or read from the advanced code editor.

This feature makes no changes to the functionality or workflows associated with the advanced code editor.


The updated location of the Save and Cancel buttons for the advanced code editor
Figure: The updated location of the Save and Cancel buttons for the advanced code editor.
 

This feature has accessibility impacts, including: 
•    WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 3.2.3 Consistent Navigation 
 

Technical Details

Impact:

  • Slight impact to users due to minor changes in the location of the Save and Cancel buttons in the advanced code editor and additional support for screen reader users.

Availability:

  • This feature is available to all clients 

To enable:

  • This feature is automatically enabled for Brightspace Editor users.

  

Data Hub – Course Access Log Brightspace Data Set | New

This release adds the new Course Access Log Brightspace Data Set (BDS), which returns information on users accessing their course offerings using the Pulse app. The data set creates a row with a timestamp when a user initially accesses a course, and creates additional rows for every 30 minutes that the user spends in the course.

The new Course Access Log BDS complements the existing Course Access BDS, which only reports on course access from the LMS via a browser.
 

Technical Details

Impact:

  • Slight impact to administrators due to the addition of a new data set.

Availability:

  • This feature is available to Brightspace Insights and Brightspace Core clients in all regions.

To enable:

  • Ensure the Can Access Brightspace Data Sets permission is granted to administrators at the org level and the d2l.Tools.BrightspaceDataSets.Version configuration variable is set to version 7. New and changed data sets appear the first time the data set runs after the version update.
  • Ensure that Brightspace Pulse is enabled in your organization. For more information, see Deploying Brightspace Pulse.

 

Data Hub – End of Adoption Period for Brightspace Data Sets Version 7 | New

Brightspace Data Sets Version 7 was first announced in the October 2021/20.21.10 release notes. With this release, the adoption period for Version 7 has ended and it is the only supported version.

Version 7 includes major changes that remove columns in existing Brightspace Data Sets:

  • Removed VisibleStartDate, VisibleEndDate, PostingStartDate, and PostingEndDate columns from Discussion Forums BDS.
  • Removed VisibleStartDate, VisibleEndDate, PostingStartDate, and PostingEndDate columns from Discussion Topics BDS.
  • Removed ChecklistItemCount column from Checklist Objects BDS.
  • Removed NumberOfItems column from Checklist Category Details BDS.

For more information about this version update, refer to Motivations behind the changes in Data Hub Brightspace Data Set Major Version 7.0 October 2021 Release in Brightspace Community.
 

Technical Details

Impact:

  • Large impact to administrators who have not already opted in to Brightspace Data Sets Version 7.

Availability:

  • This feature is available Brightspace Insights and Brightspace Core clients in all regions.

To enable:

  • Ensure the Can Access Brightspace Data Sets permission is enabled for administrators at the org level and the d2l.Tools.BrightspaceDataSets.Version configuration variable is set to version 7. New and changed data sets appear the first time the data set runs after the version update.

 

Group/Section Management – Asynchronous Group Creation | New

This feature moves group creation and enrollment to background task, minimizing risk of timeouts when creating large numbers of groups requiring enrollments.

When instructors create and save a new group category, the Groups tool displays the category and prompts instructors that their group or groups are being created in the background; further, it indicates that the instructor will be notified once the groups are created. The instructor who created the group receives a subscription alert in the minibar that indicates that the groups for their courses have been created.

While this is in process, the Brightspace UI indicates that "Group creation is in progress". While processing, users are unable to make changes to groups or enrollments.

To facilitate these changes, and the potential for allowing clients to make much larger numbers of groups in a category, this feature introduces pagination to the Groups tool, that limits each page to a maximum of 200 groups. In addition, the header row for the category has been moved to above the grid and the Delete and Email options are added to the Category dropdown menu.

The updated Groups page with the 'Group Creation in Progress' message highlighted.
Figure: The updated Groups page with the 'Group Creation in Progress' message highlighted.

The updated Groups page with the Category dropdown menu and the Delete and Email options highlighted.
Figure: The updated Groups page with the Category dropdown menu and the Delete and Email options highlighted.
 

Technical Details

Impact:

  • Slight impact to instructors due to ability to create groups as a background task, and due to changes to the Groups tool layout.

Availability:

  • This feature is available to all clients.

To enable: 

  • This feature is automatically enabled.

 

Intelligent Agents – Create Agent page facilitates more flexible scheduling and frequency options | Updated

Building on the Intelligent Agents – Agent List page changes | Updated feature released in February 2022/20.22.2, this feature changes the Intelligent Agents Create Agent page to facilitate additional scheduling options and frequency options to allow for improved flexibility.

The changes to the Create Agent page include:

  • A modernized user interface. This is a visual upgrade and does not impact functionality.
  • Scheduling options have been moved to the top of the page.
  • The ability to expand/collapse each section on the agent creation page (Scheduling, Criteria, Actions) to improve usability.
  • Two new agent frequency options:
    • One-Time Run allows instructors to choose a single date and time to run.
    • Hourly allows instructors to choose a date and time to run between. If no dates are chosen, the Hourly agent runs every hour with the first time being "now" (that is once the agent is saved and enabled).
  • The existing Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Annually options all now have a Scheduled Time option that users complete to determine what time that the agent will run on the dates scheduled for the agent to run.
  • The Subject line of the agents' emails now supports up to 128 characters. This brings it inline with the Email tool. Previously, the character limit was 100 characters.


The layout of the Intelligent Agent scheduling page, with the Daily option highlighted.
Figure: The Intelligent Agent scheduling page with the Hourly option selected.
 

This feature implements PIE items D7457 (increase Intelligent Agent email character limit to 128); D5830 (Allow easier 'once off' intelligent agent scheduling); D5208 (Add "Time' Option to Restriction to Schedule of Intelligent Agent); and D7726 (Ability to Run Intelligent Agents Multiple Times Per Day).

 

Technical Details

Impact:

  • Slight impact to instructors due to the new options when scheduling an Intelligent Agent.

Availability:

  • This feature is available to all clients.

To enable: 

  • This feature is automatically enabled.

 

My Courses Widget – Language now managed in language pack | New

This feature adds language pack support for the My Courses Widget, allowing customers to customize language terms within the widget. Administrators can make these changes with the Language Management tool. Language terms are found under the Tool Package WebComponents in Collections d2l-my-courses\d2l-my-courses, d2l-enrollments\Enrollment, and d2l-image-selector\ImageSelector.

This feature implements PIE items D6255 (Language Management variables allowing custom terms) and D4457 (Ability to update the message in the language management tool).
 

Technical Details

Impact:

  • Slight impact to administrators due to the ability to customize language tools in the My Courses Widget.

Availability:

  • This feature is available to all clients.

To enable: 

  • This feature is automatically enabled.

 

New Content Experience – Add and edit dates for Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive link topics | Updated 

When the new create and edit experience is enabled, instructors can use a new edit page for Google Drive and OneDrive links where dates can be added and edited or associated files can be replaced. This more closely aligns to how links to other web items can be edited and increases the consistency of create and edit workflows across Brightspace Learning Environment.

Previously, only the topic title could be edited for Google Drive and Microsoft One Drive link topics in the new content experience.

Administrators must ensure that the d2l.3rdParty.GoogleDrive.EnableGooglePicker configuration variable is enabled for the Replace button to appear for Google Drive topics and the d2l.3rdParty.OneDrive.EnableOneDrivePicker configuration variable is enabled for the Replace button to appear for OneDrive topics.

Note: Microsoft OneDrive files cannot be embedded in Brightspace, as a result the Display Options portion of the page does not display for OneDrive files. The Replace button only displays if the File Picker configuration variables are enabled.


The updated editing page for Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive link topics
Figure: The updated editing page for Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive link topics. 
 

Technical Details

Impact:

  • Moderate impact to administrators due to the need to enable the necessary configuration variables.
  • Slight impact to instructors due to the ability to edit dates and replace associated files for Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive link topics if they are opted in to the new create and edit experience. 

Availability:

  • This feature is available to all clients who have enabled the New Content Experience and the new create/edit workflow experience. 

To enable:

  • Ensure that the d2l.Tools.Content.LessonsCreateExperienceOptIn configuration variable is enabled, along with the d2l.3rdParty.GoogleDrive.EnableGooglePicker, and d2l.3rdParty.OneDrive.EnableOneDrivePicker variables, depending on which integrations are in use.

 

Rubrics – Customize language terms in Rubrics | Updated 

It is now possible to update the language package for the Rubrics tool with client-specific terminology. Using Language Management, administrators can apply the d2l-rubric lang term collection to apply language translations and create custom overrides to rubric web components. This enables instructors, learners, and other users to see language in Rubrics that more closely resembles the institutional policies for assessment language. 
 

The tpol package and language term collection for the Rubrics update.

Figure: The tool package and language term collection for the Rubrics update.
 

Technical Details

Impact:

  • Slight impact to administrators who now have the ability to apply translations and custom overrides to Rubric web components using the Language Management tool. 

Availability:

  • This feature is available to all clients

To enable: 

  • This functionality is automatically enabled for Rubrics users through the Language Management tool.

 

SCORM – Edit dates and associated grade items for LOR based SCORM packages | New

SCORM packages added from the LOR using the New Content Experience now have an improved editing experience. When the new create and edit experience is enabled, instructors see a new edit page for LOR sourced SCORM packages. The editing page allows instructors to edit dates and associated grade items (like Imported SCORM topics) and edit LOR details and version information (like other LOR topics). This brings greater consistency to the create and edit workflows for all activities in Brightspace. 

Previously, in the New Content Experience, only topic titles were editable for LOR based SCORM.  
 


Figure: The new edit page for LOR based SCORM packages in the New Content Experience 
 

Technical Details

Impact:

  • Slight impact to Administrators due to the need to set the value of the d2l.Tools.Content.LessonsCreateExperienceOptIn configuration variable. 
  • Slight impact to Instructors as there are new editing options for LOR based SCORM packages in the New Content Experience 

Availability:

  • This feature is available to all clients. 

To enable:

  • Ensure that the d2l.Tools.Content.LessonsCreateExperienceOptIn configuration variable is enabled so instructors can opt-in to the new create/edit experience. 

 

Integrations

IPSIS – Course Has Sections option permanently turned on | New

For course offerings with sections created by the IPSIS integration, the Course Has Sections checkbox in the Course Offering Information page is now permanently turned on and cannot be turned off. To effectively manage courses with IPSIS, all course offerings must allow sections. Previously, any user with the appropriate permissions could turn off the Course has sections option in a course offering with sections created by IPSIS, which would convert all sections in the course offering to groups.

Technical Details

Impact:

  • Slight impact to administrators due to the Course has sections option that is now permanently turned on.

Availability:

  • This feature is available to all clients using IPSIS. 

To enable:

  • This functionality is automatically enabled all course offerings with sections created by IPSIS.

 

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