Author: Joseph Clamp

D2L May 2022 Updates
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D2L May 2022 Updates

H5P 1.3 Update

In our previous D2L update a 1.3 H5P update was mentioned. That has gone through with great success, and it may be accessed the same as always: under the “Insert Stuff” menu when creating a file.


Please note that the old 1.1 H5P link is still active and at the very bottom of the “Insert Stuff” menu and can be used just in case there are difficulties authenticating your account in the 1.3 version.

Brightspace Learning Environment – Updated default font and color stylings for improved accessibility

The default font for some items has been changed to be compliant with WCAG guidelines. The new color is slightly darker & thicker to meet these guidelines.


Brightspace Learning Environment – Managing & Uploading Files Error Message Updated

The error message shown when a user uploads an invalid file has been updated to better represent upload restrictions that are enforced by Brightspace.

D2L April 2022 Updates
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D2L April 2022 Updates

Online Learning Integrations: H5P Version 1.3

After the Spring Semester finishes, we will be updating our h5p integration from version 1.1 to 1.3.

If you have not done so this semester, please open your h5p profile.

This will link your email address with content that you have made and make the transition to the new version much easier!

Announcements: Copy Feature

With this update users may now select “Copy” from the context menu of announcements! This will open a new edit window with a copy of the selected announcement with all field copied over EXCEPT for start/end dates.

D2L Monthly Update, January 2022
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D2L January Updates

*Changes going live January 26, 2022

Known Issues: Faculty Tools, Attendance Register Generator & Attendance from Participation Generator

There is currently an issue with the aforementioned tools after the addition of a new type of participation, “Q” (Quarantined). The faculty tool webpage they are located on have workarounds to get them functioning again temporarily.

I apologize for the inconvenience and we are looking into the matter!

Brightspace Learning Environment – Improved viewing features in Audio-Video player

To improve the functionality of the Audio-Video player in Brightspace Learning Environment, multi-bitrate streaming, and search functionality are now available. 

The search function only searches captions of videos for the search value.

Brightspace Learning Environment – Supported browsers update

With this release, Brightspace Learning Environment’s browser version check now displays warnings for browsers earlier than the following versions:

  • Chrome 93 (released in August 2021)
  • Safari 13 (released in September 2019) 
  • Firefox 91 (released in August 2021)
  • Edge 93 (released in August 2021)

Please note: users can still use D2L with older browsers, but they will be displayed the warning message as new versions of D2L are not tested in older browser versions and things may act unexpectedly in them.

Calendar – Improvements to Date and Time Selection Web Components

Added a Now button that sets the current date and time. The Today and Now buttons only appear when a date and time are required. When only a date is required, only the Today button appears and functions the same as the Now button

Pictured: New Date & Time Picker with added functionality
Discussions – Scoring Rubric drop-down for evaluations

To make the Discussion evaluation consistent with the Assignments evaluation, this feature adds the Grading Rubric drop-down to the sidebar menu. This allows the instructor to choose a grading rubric when evaluating a discussion

Pictured: grading rubric dropdown in discussion evaluations.

D2L December 2021 Updates.
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D2L December Updates

D2L Functionality – Announcement Emails

With this update we have made a new requirement for students to have email notifications turned ON for new announcements. When a student logs into D2L they will be prompted to change their announcement settings to receive emails when a new announcement is posted. This should help ensure that students have every possibility of seeing new announcement posts. Please note that this functionality already exists in D2L and some students may already have it turned on.

Notifications Setting Area
Students will be required to turn this option on!
Brightspace Learning Environment – Alerts

Alerts in the minibar will now persist for 90 days. Previously, alerts only lasted 7 days total. These alerts will continue to go away once checked as they currently do.

D2L Discussions – New Discussion Evaluation Experience

This will make large changes to how the Discussion Evaluation Experience looks to make it fit in line with the New Assignment Evaluation Experience that is already in use.

Also, please note this is a visual upgrade first and foremost, tool functionality will not change but where you find those tools may.

New Discussion Evaluation Experience Screen:

A screenshot of the new discussion evaluation experience

D2L Quizzes – Improved Language Terms

With this updated, many interface labels and dialogs now use more descriptive language in quizzes. For example, “Automatic Grade” is now “Automatically Publish Evaluation”. This should help keep things inline with the new grading experience and new discussion evaluation experience.

Please note that functionality has not changed, the only changes are to how things are labeled. All previously tools are still available and nothing has been added.

D2L Content – Adding Print Button to PDF file types.

In an upcoming update, we will add the option to print PDF file types to Classic Content as no option was previously available.

The Print Button will be visible when viewing a PDF topic or the Course Overview as a PDF.

Before
After
Coming Soon! Simple Syllabus – A new syllabus management system

We are in the process of implementation a new syllabus management system called Simple Syllabus. Once implementation is complete, we will no longer be using Word templates for syllabi/course information sheets.

Important details about this transition:

  • For Spring 2022, the syllabus and course information sheet processes will remain the same, and links to these documents will need to be in each course’s Getting Started module.
  • During this transition, we will also be moving away from having a separate syllabus and course information sheet. The information from both documents will be merged into one syllabus.
  • Simple Syllabus will also be integrated with D2L, therefore there will be no need to use the links we have been previously using.
  • We will now be able to track which students have read the syllabus, how much they have read, and can require students to acknowledge they have read it all in one place.
  • The goal is to have the system fully implemented by Summer 2022.

September & October D2L Updates 2021
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Changes will be made live on October 28th.

D2L October 2021 Updates

D2L Assignment Creator Experience – Create select box grade items

Support added for creating new select box grade items. Previously, only numeric grade items could be created from the new assignment experience.

When creating a new assignment as an instructor, under Grade Out Of, click Ungraded.

Click In Gradebook, and then Select Edit or Link to Exiting

From the Edit or Link to Existing dialog, the following options may display under Create a new grade item:

  • If the Grades tool has available grade categories, the Choose Grade Category option displays. Clicking this button displays available grade categories for association. 
  • If the Grades tool has multiple grades schemes, the Change Grade Type & Scheme option displays. Clicking this button displays available grade types and schemes for association.

Click OK, and then Save.

In Gradebook Options when creating a new assignment
Edit or Link to Existing options when creating a new assignment
D2L Assignment Creator Experience – Minor Label Changes:

To make interface text more clear, the following labels have been renamed:

  • Score out of is now Grade out of
  • In Grades is now In Gradebook
  • Choose in Grades is now Edit or Link to Existing
  • Remove from Grades is now Not in Gradebook
D2L Assignments – Restricting File Extensions For Submissions

Instructors will now be able to specify the type of files that can be submitted for each assignment.

When creating an assignment with file submissions, there is a new drop down in the submissions and completion section of the new assignment creation experience. In this drop down, instructors can choose the restrictions they want. Choices include:

  • Annotatable files, which include all file types that are supported by the Annotation tool in Assignments. For more information, see File types supported by Annotations.
  • .PDF only
  • Files that can be previewed without any conversion, such as .HTM, .HTML, .MHT, .MHTML, and .BMP
  • Images and videos
  • Custom filetypes (You may enter file extensions that are allowed for file submissions. When this is set, students are given a list of acceptable file extensions when attempting to submit a file.)

Note: The current error message for a student uploading an invalid file type is a place holder and is set to be updated in the November update.

D2L Rubrics – Additional Information on Grade Tiles

When a rubric is collapsed, instructors can now see if the rubric is complete. If it is complete, the collapsed rubric shows the overall level of the rubric. If it is not complete, the number of unscored criteria appears on the tile.

Before Change:

After Change:

D2L Rubrics – Brightspace Editor Additional Functionality:
  • The Brightspace Editor toolbar now appears in the following locations:
    • Rubrics Creation and Edit experiences in the Description field
    • Rubrics Creation and Edit experiences in the Feedback field
    • Evaluation mode in the Feedback field.
  • The Insert Stuff and Insert Quicklink buttons now appear in the different views with additional formatting options.  
The Brightspace editor in the Rubrics Description Field
The Brightspace Editor in the Rubrics Feedback Field
D2L Rubrics – Copy and Delete Criteria Groups

It is now possible to copy or delete a criteria group on a rubric. The delete option is only available if there is more than one criteria group. When a rubric with attached assessment items has submissions evaluated against it, the rubric is locked and can no longer be edited or deleted.

The copy and delete options are available in the action menu on the criteria group header.
D2L Brightspace Editor – Drag & Drop / Copy & Paste Images

As the title suggests, drag & drop / copy & paste functionality of images is now available in the following areas:

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

D2l Brightspace Pulse – Operating System Support Update

The latest version of Brightspace Pulse is supported on devices with iOS 12+ or Android 6.0+. Older versions of Pulse will continue to work on devices with iOS11 (Iphone 5c and back) or Android 5.0 (2015~ phones and back), but they will not receive any app updates going forward.

Coming Soon! D2L Content – Adding Print Button to PDF file types

In an upcoming update, we will add the option to print PDF file types to Classic Content as no option was previously available.

The Print Button will be visible when viewing a PDF topic or the Course Overview as a PDF.

Before
After
Coming Soon! D2L Discussions – New Discussion Evaluation Experience

We will have a new discussion evaluation experience up and working in December. This will make large changes to how the Discussion Evaluation Experience looks to make it fit in line with the New Assignment Evaluation Experience that is already in use. Please note the following interface is a work in progress and may change before final release.

Also, please note this is a visual upgrade first and foremost, tool functionality will not change but where you find those tools may.

New Discussion Evaluation Experience Screen:

A screenshot of the new discussion evaluation experience