If you have not done so already, please feel free to access our D2L guided instructor training course by clicking the link with the D2L moose on your homepage. At first this training looks barren with only a few items, but as you complete each module a new one will open up! This training goes through the basics of D2L all the way through more advanced tools and is available to all instructors of the college. Complete this training to be automatically entered for a prize at the end of the semester!
This release updates the Assignment Annotations tool from PSPDFKit Version 2023.4.0 to Version 2024.3.0 This update fixes several defects; in addition, some icons and menus have received minor changes and may vary from the previous version.
Assignments – Microsoft 365 option available in File Upload | New
The option to directly upload a file from Microsoft OneDrive® is now available when editing and evaluating an assignment. Users can upload a file by clicking File Upload, and then clicking Microsoft OneDrive in the Add a File window.
Previously, Microsoft OneDrive files could only be added as link attachments.
Brightspace – In-Product Feedback | New
Some of you may see a new in-product feedback rating window as you access parts of D2L. This is an extremely rare occurrence and once prompted for feedback you will not be asked again in the future.
The in-product feedback asks users for ratings on one to two questions; these questions ask about users’ experience with Brightspace as a whole, their experience meeting goals in Brightspace, or their experience in a particular workflow.
Exam Guidelines can now be viewed using a side panel that does not overlay on top of exam content. The side panel can be left open throughout an exam, providing students with better visibility of exam guidelines when needed. This information was previously only available prior to starting the exam.
Instructor Guided Training – Reminder
If you have not done so already, please feel free to access our D2L guided instructor training course by clicking the link with the D2L moose on your homepage. At first this training looks barren with only a few items, but as you complete each module a new one will open up! This training goes through the basics of D2L all the way through more advanced tools and is available to all instructors of the college.
XPAA-232 (90052) Is Your Course User Friendly? Friday June 21st 9:00 am – 10:00 am. Description: This PD workshop shares helpful tips on ways to help increase student engagement and the successful completion of a course. Topics explored are course navigation, course terminology, professional etiquette, and PTC policies pertaining to the grading timeframe and email response time.
XPDE-205 (90054) Focus on Facilitation. Friday June 21st 10:00 am – 12:00 noon. Description: This Brightspace PD session will share great tips on how to facilitate an existing course. The session will evaluate assessments, releasing grades, moderating discussions, editing, and enhancing content, adding supplementary materials, creating groups, posting announcements, and using the manage dates feature. The overall purpose of this session is to increase student interactions and engagement within courses to improve student success rates.
To register for the PD sessions, please click on link and register by Thursday June 20th by 12:00 noon ET:
Grades – Feedback files are now available in Grades for Assignments, Quizzes, and Discussions | New
This feature allows instructors to ensure that students can easily review feedback from the Grades tool.
Instructor feedback added in Assignments, Quizzes, and Discussions is now visible to students under Grades.
Previously, feedback files were only available to the student by accessing the activity.
Figure: Students can review feedback from the Grades page.
Instructor Guided Training – Reminder
Going forward we will be adding a reminder to these monthly updates regarding the Guided Instructor Training. If you have not done so already, please feel free to access our D2L guided instructor training course by clicking the link with the D2L moose on your homepage. At first this training looks barren with only a few items, but as you complete each module a new one will open up! This training goes through the basics of D2L all the way through more advanced tools and is available to all instructors of the college.
This summer, we are continuing to offer access to virtual, interactive PD workshops. The overall goal of PD workshops is to provide educators with access to the best practices, current research trends and innovative strategies. Are you ready? Then don’t delay. Sign up for the next PD workshop virtual workshops today! Click on the link to review the summer 2024 PD virtual workshops being offered. Once you have registered, a helpful suggestion is to mark your calendars to remember which PD workshop you signed up for. Links to PD workshops will be sent out the day before the PD workshop session is scheduled for.
Instructors’ attached files now appear in the Attached Files section for each student’s discussion evaluation. Students can view attached file feedback when viewing their evaluated discussion topic.
Instructors can view all attached files by clicking on the student’s name and selecting Discussions. Student can view all attached files by clicking on Discussions in Class Progress. Instructors and students can view all attached discussion evaluation files in the Class Progress tool.
Additionally, the Discussions tool’s evaluation process is now consistent with the Assignments and Quizzes tools’ evaluation processes.
Image: Leaners can view feedback for a discussion topic in the Attached Files section of their evaluation.Image: Instructors can attach a file in the discussion evaluation experience for their assessment.
Removal of SMS notification settings for D2L
As a heads up, on May 3rd we will be disabling SMS Text notification settings for all users in D2L. This is a feature that is not widely used, but is available for students on an opt-in basis from their account page. This feature is sunsetting DURING summer semester otherwise, so it will be turned off early before the semester begins.
I apologize for any inconvenience caused. Push notifications, which is more widely used, will not be affected by this change.
This year, D2L Fusion 2024 will offer free virtual On-Demand conference sessions content beginning on July 8th. Below are the details pertaining to accessing this content:
• Access Fusion On-Demand for recordings and resources to view at your own pace, during or after the event.
• Hear from educators and experts from around the world to stay up to date with industry trends and see the latest product and innovations available to you.
• Hear about teaching, learning and professional development topics.
To register, please go to https://www.d2l.com/fusion/. Click “Register Today”, and select Fusion On-Demand (not in-person) and complete the rest of the registration form.
Brightspace Editor – Consistent link creation with the ability to choose link format | Updated
As of this release, inserting a link into Brightspace Editor opens the Add Link dialog which allows users to determine if their links open in a new window (set as the default) or in the current window. The text box in the Add Link dialog also allows users to add text to their link.
The Add Link dialog opens when inserting links with the context menu or with new keyboard shortcuts (for example, ctrl+K or command+K).
Additionally, the dialog includes a new Insert Quicklink option, allowing users to easily insert a quicklink. When using Insert Stuff > Insert Link or Insert Quicklink > Link, the same Link, Text, and Open In options are displayed ensuring consistent link creation.
Image: You can access the new Add Link dialog using the context menu, or with keyboard shortcuts.
Quizzes – Improved experience for generating quiz reports | Updated
This release introduces a better experience for instructors when running and exporting quiz reports with large amounts of data. To avoid time-out failures and screen freezing, the following report types now run asynchronously:
Attempt Details
Question Statistics
Question Details
User Statistics
User Attempts
When reports are ready for downloading, Brightspace generates a notification that instructors can access from the bell icon in the navbar.
Previously, quiz reports were generated slowly and would time-out in large classes.
Image: Quiz reports are generated asynchronously. Instructors are notified when they are ready for download via the bell notification icon in the navbar.
Announcements – Copy announcements to other courses in published state | Updated
The ability to copy announcements to other courses was originally released for the Announcements tool in November. This update allows instructors to Publish the copied announcement on copy rather than having to do so separately after copying.
Image: Publish on Announcement option
Calendar – View quiz start and quiz end dates as separate events in Calendar | New
When an instructor adds a Start Date and End Date in Quizzes and then selects Add Availability Dates to Calendar, both dates are displayed in the Calendar tool as separate events. Previously, only one event displayed showing when the availability of that quiz ended.
Image: New calendar items for quizzes.
Brightspace Editor – Insert Stuff uses new file picker when uploading from users’ computer | Updated
This release updates the Insert Stuff > My Computer file picker with the version currently used in the Insert Image workflow, which allows drag-and-drop file uploads from the user’s computer. Previously, the file picker used an older file picker that did not support drag-and-drop of files.
External Learning Tools – Improvements to Assignments and Grades Service error handling | Updated
This update allows grades in eligible 3rd party platforms with a higher value than what would be allowed in D2L to be passed to the gradebook. For example, if a grade in a 3rd party platform was a 110 but the max grade for an item in D2L was set to 100, that grade would still pass to the gradebook and be set to 100, the new maximum.
Quizzes – Written response questions remain as pending evaluation until being manually graded | Updated
When instructors grade quiz attempts, any ungraded written response questions remain as pending evaluation until the instructor manually grades them. Previously, when instructors clicked Publish or Update for a quiz attempt, the written response question’s pending evaluation status would be removed.
If a written response question is not graded, the status shows a pending evaluation message for the learner view. In the learner view, learners always see the message “This question has not been graded” until the instructor grades the question.
The instructor view displays the message “not auto-graded; a default value of 0 was assigned” until they grade the question.
Announcements – Copy announcements to other courses | New
This highly-requested feature adds the ability to copy announcements to other courses. Instructors must be enrolled in both the source and destination courses.
A single announcement can be copied to multiple course offerings. Users can copy announcements from the Announcements tool or the Announcements widget from the context menu of an announcement by selecting Copy to Other Courses. Once copied, the announcement is in a draft state and users must publish the copied announcement in the destination course to complete the copying process.
The following attributes are copied:
Headline
Display Author Information
Content Note: The copied Content attribute includes any associated files such as inserted images.
Start and End Date
Attachments
Pin state
Figure: Click Copy to Other Courses from the announcement drop-down menu.Figure: Select the destination course or courses for the announcement and click Next.Figure: Click Copy to copy the announcement to the destination course.
Assignments and Discussions – Review key assessment information when publishing evaluations | Updated
The Publish All dialog for Assignments and Discussions is improved and standardized to show key information about learner evaluations. Previously, the Publish All dialog did not display any information about learner evaluations or other key information, and the dialog messaging was not consistent across the Assignments and Discussions tools.
Figure: Review learner evaluation information in the Publish All dialog before clicking Publish.
Awards – Export achievements as digital credentials | New
Learners can now export their earned awards in a standards-compliant format using the new Export Digital Credential option. This feature allows the download of certificates or badges as an industry-standard Open Badges 2.0 compliant Badge for their own record keeping or sharing.
Figure: Click the new Export Digital Credential option in Awards.
