Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes · Web viewAll locations of the Topic Score Details screen in the Discussions tool now have a consistent presentation across all

Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.6.0Cumulative Release Notes

Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release NotesJuly 2015 to April 2016/10.5.0 to 10.6.0 Releases

ContentsJuly 2015 to April 2016/10.5.0 to 10.6.0 Releases.............................................................................................6

Brightspace Degree Compass 10.6.0................................................................................................................. 7

Brightspace Degree Compass™ | New..................................................................................7

D2L Learning Environment 10.5.0................................................................................................................... 10

Content - Overdue assignments list added to Course Schedule view| New........................10Copy Course Components - Include associated files| Update.............................................11Roles and Permissions - Download content topics | New....................................................15


Bulk Tool Configuration - New Configuration tool | New......................................................16Content - Enhanced security for content file topics | New..................................................18Copy Course Components - User information in History page | Updated............................19Discussions - Top Score Details screen now has consistent appearance | Updated............20Dropbox - Track deleted submissions | New.......................................................................23Personal Dashboard and Course Setup Checklist | New......................................................24Quizzes - Ability to set multiple IP address ranges to quiz restrictions | Updated...............30


Changes to Copy Selected Components workflow | Updated..............................................32Data Export - Customizable Report Bundles | Updated.......................................................33External Learning Tool - New API-created link behavior | New............................................35Groups – Usability and administration enhancements | Updated........................................36Microservices - Proxy server support for Authentication | New...........................................41My Awards tool featuring Badges and Certificates | New....................................................42News - Recover deleted News items | Updated..................................................................47User Progress - Better metrics for time viewing topics | Updated.......................................49


Awards - Icon and template libraries management | Updated............................................51Copy Course Components - Improved copy content settings | Updated.............................53QuickLinks - QuickLinks tool no longer inserts http:// by default | Updated.......................55User Progress - Identify when learners access their courses | New....................................56

© 2016 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved. 2


User Progress - Identify if learners download content at the topic, module, or table of contents level | New...........................................................................................................57


Course Import - Long file paths no longer cause issues on import | Updated.....................60Game-Based Learning service | New..................................................................................61


Awards - Improvements to award sorting, sharing, and tool access | New.........................67Course import compatibility - Import IMS CP 1.1.4 packages | Updated.............................68Customization Configuration UI – Improvements to search, filter, and edit | Updated........69Data Export - Usability Improvements | Updated................................................................69Data Export - New filter and field added to All Grades Data Export | Updated....................72DocBuilder – Implement Warm-Up Task for Semester Start | Updated...............................73Language Management - Export and Import small custom language packs | Updated.......74OrgUnitId - {OrgUnitId} Replace String supported for homepage with external URL | Updated..............................................................................................................................78


Awards tool improvements | Updated.................................................................................79Brightspace platform - Supported browser changes | Updated...........................................81Copy Course Components - Copy Course History page | New.............................................82Discussions - Score rubrics when assessing discussion posts | New...................................84Quizzes - User Information Privacy permission required to view IP addresses | Updated. . .86Release conditions - NOT operator support | New..............................................................87


Awards tool improvements | Updated.................................................................................89Discussions - Support for holistic rubrics | Updated............................................................91Quizzes - Export quiz event log of all quiz attempts| New..................................................92Widgets - Improvements to the My Org Units widget | Updated.........................................93Microservices - Activity Sequence Service | New................................................................96


Awards - Usability Improvements | Updated.......................................................................97Import/Export/Copy Components - Support for import/export of External Learning Tool (LTI) Links | Updated...................................................................................................................97User Progress - Course Access progress indicator | New....................................................98



D2L Student Success System 10.5.1.............................................................................................................. 101

D2L Student Success System - Copy model configuration from past courses | New.........101


D2L Student Success System – Email dialog updates | Updated.......................................104


D2L Student Success System - Students at Risk widget | New.........................................105


D2L Student Success System - Copy Model Configuration integration with Copy Course Components | New...........................................................................................................109

Integrations 10.5.0....................................................................................................................................... 110

Brightspace® App Finder - Ability to discover partner apps for Brightspace by D2L | New......................................................................................................................................... 110Respondus LockDown Browser® - Special Access Override | Updated.............................112Turnitin® - LTI-based Integration | Updated.....................................................................114

Integrations 10.5.1....................................................................................................................................... 118

Respondus Dashboard Integration Enhancement | Updated.............................................118Respondus LockDown Browser® - Improved quiz workflow | Updated.............................118Turnitin® - LTI Integration Enhancements | Updated.......................................................120

Integrations 10.5.2....................................................................................................................................... 123

Banner Grades - Date Setting for failing grades | Updated...............................................123Brightspace Story Builder - Create visual story boards | New...........................................124Google Apps - ReadOnly Google Directory API route| New...............................................125Microsoft Office 365 - Simplified log in for users | New.....................................................127

Integrations 10.5.3....................................................................................................................................... 129

Brightspace® App Finder - Usability Enhancements | New...............................................129ReadSpeaker docReader - Turn on tool directly | Updated...............................................130

Integrations 10.5.4....................................................................................................................................... 131

Microsoft Office 365 Integration - Proxy server support for API requests | New................131

Integrations 10.5.5....................................................................................................................................... 132

Dropbox - Turnitin® exemption for individual users | New...............................................132



Integrations 10.5.6....................................................................................................................................... 135

Brightspace Banner Adapter - Multi-org Banner integrations | Updated...........................135

About D2L.............................................................................................................................................................136


Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release NotesD2L Learning Environment 10.5.1

July 2015 to April 2016/10.5.0 to 10.6.0 ReleasesThe following release notes are for clients who want information on all Brightspace Platform features released from 10.5.0 to 10.6.0 (July 2015 to April 2016).

Additional Information:

Continuous Delivery Upgrade Paths (https://community.brightspace.com/resources/documentation/continuous_delivery/continuous_delivery_upgrade_paths)

Platform Requirements (https://community.brightspace.com/resources/documentation/platform_requirements/brightspaceplatformrequirements)

Valence Development Platform (http://docs.valence.desire2learn.com/about.html)


http://docs.valence.desire2learn.com/about.html

https://community.brightspace.com/resources/documentation/platform_requirements/brightspaceplatformrequirements

https://community.brightspace.com/resources/documentation/platform_requirements/brightspaceplatformrequirements

https://community.brightspace.com/resources/documentation/continuous_delivery/continuous_delivery_upgrade_paths

https://community.brightspace.com/resources/documentation/continuous_delivery/continuous_delivery_upgrade_paths


Brightspace Degree Compass 10.6.0Brightspace Degree Compass™ | NewBrightspace Degree Compass is a personalized course recommendation tool that helps advisors and learners plan the most optimal path to graduation using predictive analytics. The tool taps into a volume of historical data which enables the predictive algorithm to guide learners to select courses in a way that improves academic success and drives on-time degree completion.

Figure 1: Degree Compass shows the courses that the student is likely to successfully complete.

Look and Feel Organization Wide

System Requirement Change Integration



Impact of Change Technical Details Next Steps

Slight impact to system requirements for administrators because Brightspace Degree Compass is a new product.

No disruption to existing tools or workflow.

Brightspace Degree Compass is a standalone D2L product that does not require D2L Learning Environment; however, Brightspace Degree Compass does require connectivity into the institution’s Student Information System (SIS) and degree audit module or application.

Brightspace Degree Compass is hosted in Amazon Web Services™ (AWS).

At this time, Brightspace Degree Compass is available in English for North American (U.S. and Canada) clients only.

Brightspace Degree Compass does not depend on any microservices, role permissions, or configuration variables.

The Brightspace Degree Compass algorithm combines a student’s academic history with the historical grade data of all learners who have taken the same degree path and generates a personalized set of recommended courses to assist both advisors and learners in course selection.

Brightspace Degree Compass supports the following Student Information Systems:

Banner 9.0

DegreeWorks 4.1.4

Brightspace Degree Compass supports the following Degree Audit Systems:

DegreeWorks v4.1.0 or above

To obtain Brightspace Degree Compass, contact your D2L Account Manager.




Slight impact to look and feel for advisors and learners because Brightspace Degree Compass is a new product.

Brightspace Degree Compass supports the following browsers:

Google Chrome

Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 and higher

Mozilla Firefox

Apple Safari 6.0 and higher

To access Brightspace Degree Compass, contact your institution.



D2L Learning Environment 10.5.0Content - Overdue assignments list added to Course Schedule view| NewLearners can view an actionable list of overdue assignments in the new Overdue tab in the Course Schedule view of the Content tool. Course activities that have a due date appear automatically in the Overdue list as soon as the due date passes. Only activities with an end date later than the due date (or no end date) appear in the list, to ensure that learners have time to complete the overdue activities. Learners can access the activity directly from the list to complete it. Once the activity has been completed, it disappears from the list, and when all overdue items are completed, the Overdue tab disappears from the Course Schedule view.

The Overdue tab only appears in the Course Schedule area when course activities are past the due date

The Overdue tab conveniently lists all overdue course tasks in one place so learners can more easily manage their time and workload. Overdue activities are sorted by most to least overdue.

Tool Change

Users Only Workflow




Slight impact to the graphical interface with the addition of the Overdue tab to the Course Schedule view. The tab only appears if there are overdue activities that can still be completed before the end of the content topic or course availability.

No new configuration variables or role permissions. This tool change is automatically available for users.

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Copy Course Components - Include associated files| UpdateThis update makes it easier and faster for instructors to include associated files when copying components from one course to another. Previously, instructors had to use the Course Files tool as well as select content in order to copy all associated files and prevent broken links. Now, when instructors use the Include associated files feature, D2L imports all files associated with selected course components to the new course. Users can select which content modules to copy rather than having to copy them all.



By default, this feature is turned on.

When the box is checked, all course files associated with the course component are copied to the new course.

Links and images in copied files remain intact. In addition, for content topics and modules, the feature analyzes HTML, HTM, and CSS files to retrieve any files referenced within them, such as embedded images, media, JavaScript, and CSS files. All these files are also copied, maintaining links and styles.

At this time, only direct links to files are processed. A D2L Quicklink is not processed. Instructors must manually select assignments, discussion topics, and content outside the course to copy any items associated by Quicklinks. A warning alerts users to what files did not copy.

See the list below for components and files included in the new feature.

Content

Overview description

Module and topic descriptions



Topic files

Question Library

Sections - messages, comments, feedback

Questions - question text, answer options, feedback, and hints

Quizzes



Description

Introduction

Page header and footer

Submission view message

News

Content

Dropbox

Instructions

Discussions

Forum and topic descriptions

Surveys



Description

Submission message

Page footer

Self Assessments



Page header and footer

This feature implements PIE item D171.



Look and Feel

Tool Change

Workflow


Moderate change to look and feel with the introduction of the Include associated files option.

Moderate tool change as the default to copy all associated files is turned on; however, users still have the option to copy files manually.

Moderate change to workflow as the process of copying all content files is easier, faster, and streamlined. Users do not have to know where to search for associated files to copy them.

The Copy Course Components > Select Components workflow is still a synchronous, web request-based process. When copying courses that are very large, users may encounter a timeout error. To avoid the timeout error, users may copy associated files manually, or select the Copy All workflow.

By default, this feature is enabled. If you encounter issues with the feature and want to disable it, contact D2L Support to ask them to disable the new D2L.LE.Conversion.Features.ICopyAssociatedFilesFeature feature toggle.

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Roles and Permissions - Download content topics | NewThe new permission, Download Content Topics, gives learners the ability to download specific content topics without having the ability to also download all the topics in a module or course at once.

Content permissions showing the new Download Content Topics permission.

Global Change Organization Wide

Role Permissions Workflow


There is a slight impact with this change. This adds a new permission to the Content tool in the Brightspace Platform. This global change allows administrators to give learners permission to download content topics individually, but not as a whole.

Download Content Topics is required by learners to download individual content topics. Learners cannot compile and download multiple topics with this permission.

Permission settings for Download Content Topics will be the same as Compile and Download Content initially.



D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1Bulk Tool Configuration - New Configuration tool | NewAdministrators can now access the configuration settings for Bulk Course Create and Bulk Course Export from inside the D2L Learning Environment. The configuration page resides within the tool, and the settings are stored in a database. To access the configuration page, users must have Bulk Course Create > Manage Settings and Bulk Course Export > Manage Settings.

Administrators now have a bulk configuration settings page to apply settings across many courses. The configuration is no longer stored in a flat config.xml file. It now appears as a configuration page in the tool, and the content is stored in a database.

Bulk Course Create - configuration page showing Course Settings options



Bulk Course Create - configuration page showing WebCT options

Configuration Variable Tool Change

Workflow


Slight workflow change as users complete bulk configuration changes in the configuration settings in the tool instead of the config.xml file.

Slight tool change to store configuration settings in a database instead of a flat file.

When the Bulk Course Create or Bulk Course Export process is triggered, configuration data is returned from the database.

Configure bulk changes in the interface rather than an external flat file.



Content - Enhanced security for content file topics | NewThis feature enhances the security of primary content files for content topics. By increasing the level of content protection, instructors can make sure learners cannot access content files earlier than they want them to. More specifically, this feature provides protection against premature access to content file topics with restrictions (draft state, date, or conditional release). For example, instructors can store answer keys in content and release them to learners after completion of an activity or a specified date.


Organization Wide Workflow




Slight impact to learners because they cannot access content file topics if there are restrictions.

Slight impact to administrators because of a new configuration variable.

Slight impact to instructors because they define content topic restrictions for files.

Affects file topics only and applies to only the primary file used for a topic.

This feature is turned off by default and is configured by the following new configuration variable: d2l.Tools.ManageFiles.UseContentRestrictedSecurity

Previously, if a learner did not have permission to the primary topic file for a restricted topic, but they knew the direct URL link to the file from the course path, they could still access the file. For example:

https://myschool.com/content/enforced/6723-Astronomy_Course/astronomy_quiz_answers.pdf

When the configuration variable is turned on, the primary topic file for a restricted topic is completely inaccessible via direct URL link. If a user knows the direct URL link and they attempt to access the file, a "not authorized" error message displays.

To use this feature, administrators must turn on the d2l.Tools.ManageFiles.UseContentRestrictedSecurity configuration variable at the Org level. Once the configuration variable is turned on, any existing or new restrictions are applied to the topic file and users cannot access the file via direct URL link.

Copy Course Components - User information in History page | UpdatedYou can now see who copied a course through the existing Copy Course Components History page.




The user name associated with the course copy action.

Tool Change


Slight change to the tool. The new information is listed on the Copy Course Components History page.

From Import/Export/Copy Components page, click View History to view.

Discussions - Top Score Details screen now has consistent appearance | UpdatedAll locations of the Topic Score Details screen in the Discussions tool now have a consistent presentation across all incidences of the screen. Instructors have access to the Topic Score Details from the following locations:

Assess Student link in the context menu of a thread or reply post.

Topic Score link on the Users tab of the Access Topic area.

Student link on the Assessments tab of the Access Topic area.

Submissions button in the Grades tool on the Enter Grades grid.

Submissions button in the Grades tool on the Grade Student page. The Top Score Details screen is available when you click the student’s name from the Enter Grades area.



Submissions button from the Grade Category page, available when you click Grade All from the context menu of a category from the Enter Grades or Manage Grades areas.

Submissions button from the Grade Item page, available when you click Grade All from the context menu of a grade item from the Enter Grades or Manage Grades areas.

Note: There is one incidence of Topic Score Details that was not changed to be consistent with the other incidences of the page. The instance available when you select a post from a topic, and then select More Actions > Assess has some behavioral differences from the remaining Topic Score Details incidences. As a result, no changes were made to that incidence.



Topic Score Details has consistent appearance

Look and Feel




Slight cosmetic changes. Changes include updated title bar text and changes to the number and placement of floating buttons at the bottom of the screen.

Inconsistencies have been changed to present a single consistent presentation with the same behavior.

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Dropbox - Track deleted submissions | NewThe File Submissions area of Dropbox has a log that can be filtered to determine if and when a learner submitted a file, and whether the instructor deleted the submission. If a submission was accidentally deleted, you can restore it from the submission log.

Track Deleted Submission Log with Returned Values



Tool Change

Users Only Workflow


Slight change to Administrators and Instructors who can now use the log to verify submissions and deletions, instead of manually researching the submissions.

From the File Submissions area of Dropbox, users can click Submission log to view the submission information. Users can sort by submitted, deleted, restored, or started to determine if there are any submissions that meet the criteria.

Instructors and Administrators can investigate any conflicts around Dropbox submissions. The Instructor or Administrator can use the Submissions log to see whether a student submitted an assignment, if the submission was deleted, and who deleted it.

Personal Dashboard and Course Setup Checklist | NewThe Personal Dashboard and Course Setup Checklist is an optional new landing page and workflow for instructors that provides a welcome tour and task list for a quick and easy way to set up courses in D2L Learning Environment.

The Personal Dashboard homepage is part of a new Personal Dashboard tool that is turned off by default and must be enabled by administrators. The Personal Dashboard homepage displays an instructor’s full course list, with the ability to set current courses as favorites for easier access. Instructors can also view a notification if their courses are not visible to students yet and access their own profiles from the Dashboard view. If an instructor needs to access their organization landing page, they can select the Classic Homepage link. They can also choose their default landing page to be either the Classic Homepage or the Personal Dashboard by clicking the Settings link. This will change which page they see when they log in to D2L Learning Environment. The Settings Link also allows them to reset the Welcome tour to view it again.



The Personal Dashboard landing page appears when instructors log in

TheCourse Setup Checklist contains a list of suggested course setup tasks with shortcuts to the tools. Tours appear on those pages to demonstrate how to get started on the task. The Checklist lets instructors keep track of completed items. The Course Setup Checklist can also be accessed from the top of course-level pages when there are still items to complete. This tool is ideal for new Brightspace by D2L users, as well as for experienced instructors, as it helps fast-track the process of setting up a course in D2L Learning Environment. The Personal Dashboard must be enabled first for the required Course Setup Checklist permissions to appear. Administrators must set the permissions for instructors to view the Course Setup Checklist.



The Course Setup Checklist lists common tasks required to create a course

The Personal Dashboard and Course Setup Checklist is intended for use by instructors with organization-level and course-level permissions only.

Organization Wide Role Permissions

Tool Change Workflow




Large impact to instructors due to new landing page interface and set up checklist interface. Existing tools used to set up a course remain unchanged (Content, Dropbox, Grades, etc).

There are two new role permissions that control access to the Personal Dashboard and Course Setup Checklist features:

Personal Dashboard > Can Access Instructor Dashboard is an organization-level permission that must be enabled for instructors.

Manage Courses > See Setup Checklist is a course-level permission that must be enabled for instructors.

These permissions only appear if the Personal Dashboards tool is enabled at the instance or organization level.

The Personal Dashboard is part of a new tool called Personal Dashboards, which must be enabled at the instance or organization level. This is off by default. It must be enabled first in order to access the permissions to access the Course Setup Checklist.

Moderate impact to administrators due to new tool enablement and role permission requirements for instructor roles.

The Course Setup Checklist is dependent on existing tool statuses for full functionality:

Import/Export/Copy Course Components

Content

Grades

News

Classlist

The Personal Dashboard and Course Setup Checklist behavior is impacted by the following existing role permissions:

Manage Courses > Change Status - Controls read-only vs. edit view of the course active status.

Manage Courses > Change Start and End Dates - Controls read-




only vs. edit view of course start and end dates.

Manage Courses > Change Course Image - Required to edit the course image.Note: This permission was previously named Change Welcome Widget Picture.

User Profile > Manage Own Profile - Controls read-only vs. edit view of profile area.

Import / Export / Copy Components > Import Content Packages

or

Import / Export / Copy Components > Copy Course Offering and Template Components - Required to see the tour pointing out Import Course in the Content tool.

Content > Manage Content

and

Content > Create and Edit Modules and Topics - Required to see the tour pointing out Add a Module in the Content tool.

Grades > Edit Course Settings

and

Grades > Manage Items and Categories

- Required to see the tour in the Grades tool

News > Add/Edit/Delete News




- Required to see tour in the News tool.

The following existing role settings affect the Personal Dashboard and Course Setup Checklist:

Role Alias - If an instructor does not have the See Setup Checklist permission for a course, they see their role for that course in the message area of the course tile. The course role shown respects the Role Alias settings.

Access Inactive Courses - Required to see ad set favorite courses that are not yet active

Access Past Courses - Required to see and set favorite courses after the course end date

Access Future Courses - Required to see and set favorite courses before the course start date

The following existing configuration variable affects the Personal Dashboard and Course Setup Checklist:

d2l.Security.BypassDateCheck

- If enabled, instructors who don't have the role settings Access past courses or Access future courses will see past and future courses in their All Courses list and be able to add the courses as favorites. The courses will not appear as links and they will not be able to access them until the date restrictions are resolved.




On-premise hosting requires the following:

Users' browsers must be able to reach subdirectories of https://s.brightspace.com

Web servers must be able to make outbound connections to subdirectories of https://s.brightspace.com

Quizzes - Ability to set multiple IP address ranges to quiz restrictions | UpdatedInstructors can now specify multiple IP address restrictions as ranges, with the option to add multiple IP address range restrictions. This new feature enables instructors to limit quiz availability to specific locations, such as computer labs or classrooms. This restriction ensures that users can only access a quiz from IP addresses in the specified IP address ranges.



Set a range of IP addresses in the Restrictions tab

Users Only Tool Change


Slight workflow change to the tool for instructors who choose to set Content IP address restrictions on their quizzes.

No new permissions or configuration variables required. Users with permissions to use Quizzes have full access to this restriction.

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D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2Changes to Copy Selected Components workflow | UpdatedIn order to mitigate the risk that large courses may result in a timeout for users, the process is moving to an asynchronous workflow. Moving the selected components workflow into an asynchronous job avoids copy timeouts when you are copying large courses. You are able to start the copy process and check the progress on the History page, which enables you to perform other tasks while the copy process is underway.

Figure 2: Copy Course Components, Import/Export/Copy Components page showing the ability to select View History

Figure 3: Copy Course Components - View History



Workflow Tool Change


Moderate disruption to workflow for Administrators or Instructors using the Copy Selected Components feature.

The OrgUnitWorkerQueue service now handles this additional type of job. The Copy Selected Components process now follows a similar asynchronous workflow to the Copy All process using a service instead of synchronously through web requests.

As a result of these changes, larger courses no longer cause synchronization timeouts.

Monitor the OrgUnitWorkerQueue queue size. During high-volume copy periods, ensure that the servers are balanced, and add more utility servers as required.

You can use the new Copy Course Components history page to monitor the processing status or copy another component package. You can use the history log to troubleshoot copy process issues.

Data Export - Customizable Report Bundles | UpdatedClients can now obtain customizable data exports in bundles. Based on their organization’s particular needs, they can choose between two bundles that contain the most popular types of data exports, getting more data than before.

Corporate Bundle Teacher Effectiveness/Assessments and Engagement Bundle

Final Grades

All Grades

Learner Usage/Progress

Final Grades

All Grades

Learner Usage/Progress

Instructor Usage

Rubrics

Content Progress



The Data Export tool extracts raw data from your D2L Learning Environment database. The different reports provide focused clusters of information:

Name of Data Export Examples of data available

Final Grades final grades

final adjusted grades

whether grades have been released

instructor comments

All Grade Values assignments

dates

grades awarded

weighting

Learner Usage/Progress amount of time learners have spent in their course content

how much content learners have accessed

how many discussions learners have participated in

total number of learner logins

Instructor Usage how many instructors are actively using D2L

which tools instructors are using

how often instructors are using various tools

Rubrics which assignments in a course are using rubrics

how instructors are using rubrics

student scores on rubrics

Content Progress number of visits a learner has made to content topics

total time a learner has spent in a content topic

most recent date a learner accessed a content topic



You can filter result sets from the reports to obtain the most useful information.

Figure 4: Sample Content Progress report, with selected results

Tool Change


Slight change for administrators, who have access to more data than before.

No change to interaction with the service or data.

n/a The new bundles are available for purchase on request. Contact your D2L Account Manager for more information.

External Learning Tool - New API-created link behavior | NewWhen creating or updating external learning tool links using Valence APIs, developers can now set the links to open in a new window. This creates a consistent user experience, since links created in the External Links tool in D2L Learning Environment already have this option in the workflow.

Global Change Workflow




Minor impact to workflow for developers of Content APIs due to new OpenAsExternalResource flag.

In the D2L Learning Environment Content APIs, the "OpenAsExternalResource" flag has been added. This caused a new D2L Learning Environment API version contract (1.6 is the new version for D2L Learning Environment APIs).

Developers require existing D2L Valence access credentials and authentications.

Groups – Usability and administration enhancements | UpdatedEnhancements have been made to the Groups tool that enable learners to join groups more easily, and give instructors and administrators the option to set up and manage groups more efficiently. The enhancements are as follows:

When creating or editing a group category, the Enrollment Type called # of Groups of # - Self Enrollment has been changed to # of Groups, Capacity of # - Self Enrollment to clarify its usage.

When creating or editing a group category, a Group Prefix field is now present.

When creating or editing a group category that supports self enrollment, a Set Self Enrollment Expiry Date option is now available.

When creating or editing a category, and when Set Self Enrollment Expiry Date is selected, the Allocate unenrolled users after Self Enrollment Expiry Date option can also be selected.

Once a category and groups with capacities have been created, capacity markers display (in the form x/y where x is the number of enrolled students and y is the capacity).

Learners can now see the names of the members of each group before they enroll.

Learners can now leave a group after they have self enrolled if they choose to enroll into a different group.

When enrolling learners in groups, there is a configurable Advanced Search Options link that opens a custom search and enroll page, if instructors want to use additional data to create groups of learners.

New configuration variables have been added that can be turned on to enable enhancements.

This feature implements PIE items D2335, D987, D880, D786, D777, and D649.



Figure 5: Updated Enrollment Type called # of Groups, Capacity of # - Self Enrollment and Group Prefix field on the New Category page



Figure 6: Set Self Enrollment Expiry Date option and Allocate unenrolled users after Self Enrollment Expiry Date option

Figure 7: Capacity marker and Leave Group option on updated Groups page



Figure 8: Configurable Advanced Search Options link on Enroll Users page

Configuration Variable Global Change



Slight impact to administrators due to the addition of new configuration variables.

New configuration variables:

d2l.Tools.Groups.DisplayAdvancedSearch - A boolean value to indicate if the group’s advanced search option is available.

d2l.Tools.Groups.LeaveGroupsEnabled - Enables or disables the leave group functionality for self enrollments.

d2l.Tools.Groups.IncludeOrgUnitIdInGroupCode - Allows the org unit id to be within the group code on group creation.

These configuration variables are set to off by default. To enable these in your environment, turn the System Value to on in Config Variable Browser > Tools > Groups.




d2l.Tools.Groups.EnrollExpiredTaskFrequencySeconds - The task frequency in seconds for enrolling users in expired groups.

This configuration variable is set to the recommended frequency of once per day (86400 seconds) and cannot be changed by administrators.

Moderate impact to instructors with the addition of optional workflow elements in the Groups tool.

The Enrollment Type called # of Groups, Capacity of # - Self Enrollment allows instructors to set up a specified number of self enrollment groups with a set capacity of members in each group.

The Group Prefix field allows instructors to set a customized prefix that automatically applies to both the name and code of each group generated. Additionally, the org unit ID can be added to the group code automatically to ensure the org unit code is unique, if this option is configured.

The Set Self Enrollment Expiry Date option is available for category types that support self enrollment. It allows instructors to set a deadline after which learners can no longer join the group.

The Allocate unenrolled users after Self Enrollment Expiry Date option automatically, randomly, and evenly enrolls learners into a group if they have not self enrolled before the Set Self Enrollment Expiry Date passes. This automatic enrollment recurs at a configurable interval after the expiry date to ensure that all learners are assigned to a group.

On the Enroll Users page, if the option is configured, an Advanced

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Search Options link displays that opens a new browser window pointing to a specified custom search and enroll page. Instructors can filter students according to certain criteria, such as age or demographic data, to determine who to put into each group.

Moderate impact to learners with the addition of optional workflow elements in the Groups tool.

In the Groups tool, for groups where a capacity has been set, capacity markers will display in the Members column so that learners and instructors can see how many spaces are left in each group.

On the My Groups page, learners can see the names of the members of each group by clicking on the link in the Members column (either a capacity marker or a single number).

On the My Groups page, learners can click Leave Group to leave a group that they self enrolled in until the date specified by the Set Self Enrollment Expiry Date option.

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Microservices - Proxy server support for Authentication | NewThe Authentication Service now supports proxy servers. This allows on-premise clients that use proxy servers to take advantage of Brightspace products that depend on the Authentication Service such as Brightspace Pulse.

Global Change System Requirement Change




Moderate impact to infrastructure for on-premise clients.

For on-premise clients using a proxy server, allow outbound traffic from D2L Learning Environment to https://auth.brightspace.com.

Important: You must specify the host name (not the IP address) and port 443.

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My Awards tool featuring Badges and Certificates | NewThe new My Awards tool enables Instructors to automatically award Badges and Certificates based on release conditions, or to award or revoke them manually.

Before Instructors can use this tool, it must be configured by an Administrator. In the Config Variable Browser, under Tools > Awards, the d2l.Tools.Awards variables are enabled by default at an organization level. Features of the tool can be turned off for specific courses.

Badges can be set at a departmental level and available to all instructors in the department, or specific to a single course or instructor. To add a new badge to a course, the instructor can complete the New Award page and define the name and description of the award, and set attributes for the award type, sharing, expiry, notification, the location of the image library to use to create the badges, and Issuer information. The image library contains some default icons you can use to create badges and default templates for certificates.



Figure 9: Adding an Award. The image shows the New Award page that the Administrator uses to add new awards to the system.



After Badges and Certificates are added to the repository, Instructors can add the awards to a course. To add awards, Instructors can click the Awards link in the navbar of a course, and click Add Awards to Course. Only the awards that are available to a specific course appear when the instructor clicks the button. Instructors can add certificates to a course by adding a PDF template when they create a certificate.

Figure 10: Adding an award to a course

From within a class list, an Instructor can review the badges and certificates that have been awarded to specific Learners or to the entire class by selecting all the Learners. From this page, the Instructor can grant awards that are not tied to release condition criteria to Learners, or revoke previously awarded badges or certificates. When an Instructor revokes a previously awarded badge or certificate, they must provide a reason.



Figure 11: Classlist awards page, showing the listing of awards given to Learners in the course

Learners can see a list of the awards they have received and the available awards. Administrators can also set permissions to allow Learners to share their achievements to Mozilla BackPack or the Learner's user profile. This sharing permission is disabled by default to protect the privacy of Learners. Administrators can configure the sharing option in the Config Variable Browser and the Roles and Permissions tools.



Figure 12: The My Awards page lets learners view the badges and certificates that they have achieved, or are available if they meet the eligibility requirements.


Organization Wide Look and Feel

Workflow Tool Change




Moderate change to Instructors, who now have a tool to reward learners for participation and accomplishment within courses and academic programs.

Moderate change to Administrators, who have configuration variables to turn on or off for an organization or individual courses or programs.

Slight change to Learners, who can review badges and certificates they have been awarded, and review the pool of available awards they can earn.

There are a significant number of permissions in the Roles and Permissions tool that apply to the My Awards tool. There is a separate, redundant set of permissions for Badges and Certificates. In the Configuration Variable Browser, there is a new section called Awards. Awards are turned on at the Org level. Courses and programs inherit the setting from the org; however Instructors or Administrators can disable the Awards tool for individual courses or programs.

Some of the information included in Certificates is gathered from existing student and organization information and automatically populated in the certificate fields. You may need to adjust the size of the text box or the size or font of the text to create a visually pleasing certificate. It is recommended that you perform some test publishing before you grant your first certificate.

If sharing permissions are granted by an Administrator, Learners can share their accomplishments with friends and peers by sharing the awards to their user profile or Mozilla BackPack.

News - Recover deleted News items | UpdatedUsers can now restore deleted news items inside Brightspace by D2L without needing to engage D2L Support. The addition of this functionality saves time for instructors when news items accidentally get deleted by administrators or other instructors. It also saves administrators time because they no longer need to engage D2L Support to request that a news item be restored from the database.

This feature implements PIE items D1870 and D1928.



Figure 13: The Restore option from the More Actions button on the News page

Figure 14: The Restore News page showing a News item that was accidentally deleted



Global Change Tool Change

Workflow


Slight impact to instructors and administrators who can now restore deleted News items inside the News tool without having to engage D2L Support.

On the News page, a deleted news item can be restored directly from the More Actions button by selecting Restore. This takes the user to the Restore News page where previously deleted news items can be selected and then restored by clicking Restore.

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User Progress - Better metrics for time viewing topics | UpdatedIn the Summary and Content Progress pages, User Progress contains statistics on the amount of time a learner spends in a content topic. The update to this feature corrects the inaccuracies that can occur when a user session times out or loses connectivity. As a result, the statistics for the amount of time a user spends in a content topic are accurate to the default frequency of 10 minutes. The time spent statistics for other scenarios (such as viewing a content topic and then browsing to the next topic or to another tool) continue to capture the exact duration.

This solution also improves how User Progress tracks time spent in a content topic when the user switches between browser tabs.

The following variables are affected:

d2l.Tools.Content.TimeTracking.HeartBeatInterval enables you to set the heartbeat interval, in minutes. This variable is set to 10 minutes by default.

d2l.Tools.Content.TimeTracking.UseHeartbeat turns on or off the heartbeat logic of the feature. This variable is set to off by default.

d2l.Tools.Content.TimeTracking.OrphanedRowAge defines the age of the rows that are considered orphaned and candidates for cleanup. This variable is set to 24 hours by default.

Configuration Variable Workflow




Slight impact to administrator workflow.

This solution replaces the content time tracking logic and minimizes client disruption by using existing Brightspace by D2L tables. It also decreases disruption to other tools that use the Content time tracking logic, such as Content, User Progress, D2L Insights, and any other affected customizations.

This solution introduces an optional database heartbeat solution. The heartbeat logic increases the number of writes to the database in order to fill the gaps when a session expires or loses connectivity. The heartbeat logic is disabled by default, and when enabled the default frequency is 10 minutes.



D2L Learning Environment 10.5.3Awards - Icon and template libraries management | UpdatedAdministrators can now add to or delete from the award icon library and the certificate templates library. This enables administrators to manage the default values the organization makes available to their users of the Awards tool.


Figure 15: Upload New Icon and Delete Icon options on the Award Icon Library page



Figure 16: Upload New Template and Delete Certificate options on the Certificate Templates page

Organization Wide Role Permissions

Tool Change




Slight impact to administrators who can now manage which default icons and templates are available to Awards tool users in their organization.

The following permissions are necessary for administrators to manage defaults in the libraries:

Awards – Can Manage Default Icon Library

Awards – Can Manage Default Certificate Templates

The options to upload and delete award icons and certificate templates are found in the Awards tool, on the Award Icon Library page and the Certificate Templates page, respectively.

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Copy Course Components - Improved copy content settings | UpdatedThe Content Display Settings copy the settings controlled by org unit configuration, including Content Arrangement and Navigation display options, and completion status tracking. You can access these settings from the Content > Settings popup window. Previously, if you selected Content display settings from the Copy Selected Components workflow, these items were not properly copied. This update ensures that the Content Settings are all copied as expected when you use the Copy Course Components and Bulk Course Copy options.



The middle part of this dialog (Content Authoring) contains settings that are not included in a course copy.

Figure 17: Bulk Course Configuration - Content Display Settings



Tool Change

Users Only Workflow


Minimal Change to clients. The result of these changes is that the feature now works as expected.

In previous versions of D2L Learning Environment, this screen of the Bulk Course Configuration feature did not function as expected. You can select the following options:

Display your content by content type, or unsorted in the module view.

Choose to display the navigation buttons and content browser in the Content viewer.

Indicate whether you want the completion of course copy jobs to be manually or automatically selected during job creation, or whether completion tracking is not required.

When you select any of these settings, the source course's settings are copied over to the destination course, and the destination course no longer inherits the organization level settings.

For new courses, any changes to organization level content settings cascade to the new course. Courses with their own settings do not inherit these settings.

QuickLinks - QuickLinks tool no longer inserts http:// by default | UpdatedThe URL field in the Quicklinks tool no longer has http:// automatically inserted to assist users in forming URLs with correct syntax. The field is now blank before you enter a URL.

Users Only Workflow




Very minor impact to users. Users who add Quicklinks must now type http:// to ensure the URL has proper syntax.

n/a Ensure that you enter the correct protocol at the beginning of your URL links.

User Progress - Identify when learners access their courses | NewIn the User Progress tool, instructors can now easily identify when learners access their courses. From the new Course Access indicator, instructors can view detailed course access information such as when a learner last accessed the course and the total number of days they accessed the course.

Figure 18: The Course Access indicator in the User Progress tool



Configuration Variable

Look and Feel System Requirement Change



This feature represents a major change to system requirements.

To capture and aggregate course access events for the User Progress, this feature requires the Brightspace Data Platform and Brightspace Insights.

If you do not have your events stored in the Brightspace Data Platform and have not purchased Brightspace Insights, this feature is unavailable.

If you do not currently have the Brightspace Data Platform and Brightspace Insights, contact your D2L Account Manager.

This feature represents a moderate change to the workflow and look and feel of the User Progress tool.

From the User Progress tool, instructors access the new Course Access indicator for a specific course.

When Course Access is enabled, the Login History indicator no longer contains a Last Accessed Course field.

From the User Progress Settings, a Course Access check box is available for including course access data in the User Progress report.

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User Progress - Identify if learners download content at the topic, module, or table of contents level | NewIn the User Progress tool, instructors can now identify if learners download content at the topic, module, or table of contents level. Instructors can view download metrics from the Summary and Content indicators for a specific course. When combined with other content access metrics, this provides instructors with a more detailed picture of learner engagement.



Figure 19: Content Progress showing a download from Table of Contents (all course files), a Module download (Week 2), and individual Topic downloads

Look and Feel System Requirement Change





This feature represents a major change to system requirements.

To capture and aggregate content download events for the User Progress, this feature requires the Brightspace Data Platform and Brightspace Insights.

If you do not have your events stored in the Brightspace Data Platform and have not purchased Brightspace Insights, this feature is unavailable.

If you do not currently have the Brightspace Data Platform and Brightspace Insights, contact your D2L Account Manager.

This feature represents a moderate change to the workflow and look and feel of the User Progress tool.

From the User Progress tool, instructors can view the following information for a specific course:

The Summary indicator displays visited content topics and download states.

The Content indicator displays showing a download from Table of Contents (all course files), a Module download (such as Week 2), and individual Topic downloads.

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D2L Learning Environment 10.5.4Course Import - Long file paths no longer cause issues on import | UpdatedIn some cases, Blackboard type course packages contained a course path that was too long to be correctly managed by D2L Learning Environment. The base operating system of native Blackboard courseware is Linux, which allows a longer file path structure, and had previously caused import errors on Blackboard packages.

This solution is functional with both self-hosted and hosted learning environment solutions.

Integration Tool Change


No user impact Support for long paths has been added so that Blackboard course packages no longer cause import errors. There have been improvements to messaging and logging for the Blackboard load process.

This solution is an improvement to many Blackboard packages with long paths; however, some packages might still encounter an error if the course path is too long.

Users can now import Blackboard course packages as standard import code paths, rather than special case imports code paths.



Game-Based Learning service | NewIncorporating game-based mechanics, visual design, and thinking into a course can help organizations improve learner engagement, retention, and achievement. D2L Professional Services provides a comprehensive array of Game-Based Learning (GBL) services, including game design, development, and integration for your courses in D2L Learning Environment.

Figure 20: A Game-Based Learning solution in D2L Learning Environment

The current service offering includes (but is not limited to):

a content publishing component

a gamification framework for instructors to use when creating courses



The content publishing component is a drag and drop form-based system that allows instructors to create a custom look-and-feel to their game-based content, as well as create 6 unique activities. No coding is required and you can apply a GBL module to as many courses in D2L Learning Environment as you want.

Figure 21: Creating a branching scenario activity in The Branching Scenario Wizard

The gamification framework is focused on scores, achievements, and unlocks. Learners attempt various activities on a single map in an effort to unlock all of the available content. The system currently targets formative assessment and challenges learners to demonstrate their knowledge, rather than perform a summative assessment. Each published map has an associated grade item, with a learner goal of achieving 100% on the grade item. Instructors can track learner progress through the map via the grade item. Instructors can also include rewards as learners progress, and learners can track progress against their peers, introducing an element of competition.



Figure 22: Adding activities to the Map Maker tool

In the spirit of gaming, learners can personalize their learning experience by creating their own unique character using an avatar.

Figure 23: Editing a learner's avatar



Organization Wide Look and Feel

Tool Change Role Permissions

Workflow


n/a The GBL service is currently only available in markets where US English is the primary language used to store and display data.

The GBL is available to all three segments (Higher Education, K-12 and Corporate) where courses are delivered by D2L Learning Environment 10.4 or higher.

To implement a GBL solution for your organization, contact your D2L Account Manager.

Large impact to workflow and user interface for administrators, instructors, and learners.

For administrators, a new Admin tool provides the ability to create, modify, deactivate, and delete users.

For instructors, a new Admin tool provides the ability to design a GBL module for publishing into a course. The tool includes drag-and-drop functionality and wizards to create activity types and maps.

Learners create an avatar and participate in a GBL course from D2L Learning Environment. The D2L Learning Environment home page displays player profiles, achievements, and avatars.

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Large impact to role permissions for administrators and instructors.

In D2L Learning Environment, there is a new webapp role (under Security in

D2L creates the webapp role during deployment of the GBL service.




the Roles and Permissions tool). This role is created by D2L and is used by the GBL system to retrieve data from the course; administrators do not log in with or use this role. The following org-only permissions are turned on by default:

See Roles and Permissions

Manage Roles

Manage Role Permissions

Manage Password Policy

Important: The webapp role and its default permissions should not be modified. Doing so may alter the GBL experience.

Within the Admin tool, there are two roles:

The Administrator role has full privileges within the Admin tool, and is able to create users, and view all maps/activities created by all Administrators and Instructors.

The Instructor role is limited to viewing their own maps/activities and cannot create users.

GBL authenticates users using LTI links to D2L Learning Environment. Separate authentication credentials are not required.

A user with the Administrator role is responsible for creating additional Administrator and Instructor roles in the Admin tool.

To allow authentication, D2L must enable the LTI integration with GBL.




n/a To offer improved security, monitoring, and scalability, GBL solutions for D2L hosted clients reside in D2L Data Centers. GBL is a multi-tenancy service.

On-premise clients can choose to host the GBL solution themselves or have the Admin tool use WebDAV to publish assets into their D2L Learning Environment automatically. An on-premise setup should be similar to the D2L Data Center setup; however, it will be single tenancy only.

To host the GBL solution in an on-premise configuration, contact D2L Deployment Services.

n/a For the embedded content feature, which allows publishing Learning Objects into a game map, D2L Learning Repository is required.

If D2L Learning Repository is present, you can embed LOR objects when creating an Embedded Content activity in the Admin tool.



D2L Learning Environment 10.5.5Awards - Improvements to award sorting, sharing, and tool access | NewSeveral additions and improvements have been made to the Awards tool including:

A new link to Awards in Edit Course on the navbar

If enabled by administrators, learners can now send awards to their D2L ePortfolio

A new configuration variable called d2l.Tools.Awards.ePortfolioIntegrationEnabled


Figure 24: Awards tool available in Edit Course under Assessment category

Configuration Variable Look and Feel





Slight impact to instructors due to workflow changes when using the Awards tool.

Instructors can now access the Awards tool in Edit Course under the Assessment category.

Awards are included with course export and import packages.

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Slight impact to administrators who must provide permissions and turn on a configuration variable for learners to send awards to D2L ePortfolio.

Administrators must ensure that users have the See D2L ePortfolio and Create files permissions in D2L ePortfolio in order to see the Send to D2L ePortfolio button.

The d2l.Tools.Awards.ePortfolioIntegrationEnabled configuration variable lets learners send their awards to D2L ePortfolio as an award artifact. After a learner sends an award, the badge in the Awards tool indicates that the award has been sent to D2L ePortfolio.

If D2L ePortfolio is turned off but d2l.Tools.Awards.ePortfolioIntegrationEnabled is turned on, the sending option does not appear.

In Admin Tools > Config ariable Browser, set the d2l.Tools.Awards.ePortfolioIntegrationEnabled config variable to on.

Slight impact to learners who may be able to send awards to D2L ePortfolio.

If learners send awards to D2L ePortfolio, a record of the action is visible on the My Awards page.

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Course import compatibility - Import IMS CP 1.1.4 packages | UpdatedUsers can now import course packages with the IMS Content Packaging (CP) version 1.1.4 specification. This allows users to reuse a wider variety of existing course packages instead of recreating courses manually.

Global Change Tool Change




Slight impact to administrators and instructors who can now import course packages with the IMS CP 1.1.4 specification.

Users can import course packages marked as IMS CP 1.1.4 using Course Import and Bulk Course Create.

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Customization Configuration UI – Improvements to search, filter, and edit | UpdatedThere are improvements to the Customization Configuration UI. Now, when a user clicks back or an option in the breadcrumb trail after completing a search or using a filter, this search or filter is remembered. Also, there is now an option to copy the default value into the Org or Org Unit value for configurations that accept a list of values (for example, Data Export Report fields or the Visual Course List color palette configurations). This allows users to more easily complete minor edits.



Slight impact to administrators who use the Customization Configuration UI with the addition of improved functionality.

Users require the permission Manage Custom Configurations found in the Roles and Permissions section of Admin Tools in D2L Learning Environment.

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Data Export - Usability Improvements | UpdatedThere have been several improvements to the Data Export functionality, including updates to report configurations for Custom Data Export reports, and updates to system logging information to provide more detailed error information.

Two user interface configurations now provide drop-down lists to better accept specific values.



The Frequency configuration determines how often the report is generated. The Org Value field accepts Hourly, Daily, Weekly, and Monthly values from the drop-down list.

Figure 25: Custom Data Export report settings showing the frequency with which the report is generated

The File Separation Type configuration indicates how you want to separate data on the report into files. The Org Value field accepts ByOrgUnit or None values from the drop-down list.



Figure 26: The Custom Data Export report can separte data into files by org unit, or not separate the data

There are also changes to the system logs to include the XML file and report that contains each error.

Users Only Look and Feel




Slight impact to users who run reports. Users can now select Frequency and File Separation Type from a drop-down list instead of a text field.

Previously, these configurations were free text entry; however now the lists are limited to the accepted values for the fields.

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Slight impact to users who review system logs for errors in Data Export reports

Users who have Access System Log permissions enabled now see more robust information, including the XML file and report that contains the error.

When a user provides an incorrect OrgUnitId for a Data Export report, the API call no longer fails. Instead, the error message in the system log indicates “Orgunitid {name} that was provided in the XML request file for {ReportName} does not exist”.

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Data Export - New filter and field added to All Grades Data Export | UpdatedThe All Grades Data Export has a new optional report filter called DaysBack that specifies the number of previous days to include when harvesting data for a result set. The DaysBack filter helps administrators who create XML request files for the All Grades Data Export to reduce large amounts of data, by specifying the number of previous days to query. The DaysBack parameter accepts a positive integer, and when set, only grades that were modified within that number of days back are exported.

The All Grades Data Export also features a new, boolean data field called Excluded From Final Grade Calculation that appears in the CSV output file. It contains the value of the Excluded from Final Grade Calculation check box which indicates whether or not a Grade Item contributes to the Final Grades Calculation. To see this field in their output CSV file, administrators can add ExcludedFromFinalGrade to the field's configuration on the Standard All Grades Data Export in Customization Configuration UI.






These features represent a slight impact to workflow for administrators, due to the new filter and field in the Data Export UI.

The features are automatically available for all users of the All Grades Data Export. They are set to OFF by default.

All Grades Data Export is only available for purchase upon request. Contact your D2L Account Manager for more information.

Configuration of customization common data exports for on-premise clients must be completed by your D2L implementation consultant.

DocBuilder – Implement Warm-Up Task for Semester Start | UpdatedImprovements now automate the manual work required to create document views prior to Semester Start. Now, a new recurring task is in place. Admins can enable and set the values for a new configuration variable to make this an automated activity. This allows admins to focus on other tasks while ensuring that document views render in a timely manner.


On-Premise Workflow




Slight impact to administrators who must enable and enter values for a new configuration variable for the task to complete automatically.

The d2l.Tools.DocumentViewers.Task.WarmUpOrgUnits configuration variable must be enabled. This can be found in the Tools>DocumentViewer section of the Config Variable Browser in Admin Tools in D2L Learning Environment.

This variable enables documents to be cached for the children of specified parent OrgUnits (for example, a Department or Semester). OrgUnits are specified as a comma separated list of OrgUnitIDs.

This feature requires setting configuration variables that are only visible to D2L Support. To set these configuration variables, contact D2L Support.

Enable the d2l.Tools.DocumentViewers.Task.WarmUpOrgUnits configuration variable.

Enter a comma separated list of OrgUnitIDs for which you want to create document views.

Language Management - Export and Import small custom language packs | UpdatedIt is now possible to import small language packs using the Language Management interface. As a result, language pack can contain only the terms that are different from the default parent language pack. For example, a custom language pack can now contain only the terms that are different from the default language pack. The language pack zip file contains only the updates, rather than the full set of both default and custom language terms. There is also a difference in how custom and default terms are regarded in the system. All imported values in the user interface now become custom values. Clients can continue to manage their translations and receive updates from the parent D2L language pack. Imported terms appear in the user interface as the custom value for the language terms affected. Imported terms replace any previously existing custom values. If there was no previous custom value, the terms are added as new custom values. The default value column in the user interface contains the parent language default value. This affects imports going forward; no existing custom languages will be modified.

The small language packs that are facilitated by the improvements to the Language Management feature provides a convenient way to import only changed terms to your D2L Learning Environment, and also move edited lang terms between test and production environments.

Language Management tool has improved the ability to search for custom values. When you use the Language Management tool to search for a term within a language, the search options are All Terms, Terms without custom values, and a new option, Terms with custom values. This new option lets you search for terms that have translations. The search functions as before, but the new Terms with custom values option filters the results to only terms that have custom values.




Figure 27: Language Terms - A new CustomValues option lets you filter results to only show terms with custom values

The Export Custom Values button at the top of the page exports all custom values for the selected language.



Figure 28: Language Management - Export Custom Values button exports all custom values

The Language Management tool has also been updated to so that the export action can filter the search results grid and only export items that you have specifically selected.

Figure 29: Language Management - Select specific language terms from the search results to export



The Language Management tool is now aligned to other tools to have the standard Save, Save and Close, and Cancel buttons on the bottom of Edit pages. Further, when you click Save in the Language Management tool, you stay on the edit page.




On-Premise Workflow


Slight disruption to users who are exporting or importing language packs. The process has changed to enable users to export or import only custom terms.

In order to use Language Management tool, you must have the Manage Languages permission.

Language packs contain an XML file for each language package, regardless of whether or not any translations are contained therein. Inside the definition for each XML package, you must define each collection, regardless of whether the collection contains any custom terms.

It is possible for the zip file for new language packs can contain only updated (custom) terms within each XML file.

Custom terms in the import packages no longer become new default values; rather they retain custom value designation. As a result, you can differentiate between custom overrides and values that were part of the original language pack.

Small language packs that contain only the custom language terms can help mitigate the disruptive impact of importing and exporting language packs.

In the Language Management tool, select the specific terms you want to export, or click Export Custom Values.



OrgUnitId - {OrgUnitId} Replace String supported for homepage with external URL | UpdatedIn Brightspace, you can create a homepage based on a widget or tool, and you are now able to create a homepage that resolves to an External URL. If you configure a homepage URL as follows: https://www.bing.com/search?q={OrgUnitId}, the replace string is populated with the users current OrgUnitId when the homepage is accessed. An implementation example of this feature is using the URL as a custom navbar link.

Configuration Variable


Slight impact to Administrators or Instructors who can now use the {OrgUnitId} replace string to resolve to the users' current orgunitid.

Enable the feature in Tools Management using D2L.PlatformTools.Homepage.Domain.IHomepageExternalUrlReplaceStringsFeature

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D2L Learning Environment 10.5.6Awards tool improvements | UpdatedSeveral features of Awards have changed to improve usability.

The My Awards link no longer exists in on the navbar. The Awards link remains, and users with links to My Awards automatically redirect to the new awards management page. The migration removes the existing My Awards navbar items. If the Awards navbar item does not already exist, the migration also adds the Awards navbar item.

Figure 30: Navbar showing the Awards link

On the Classlist page, Instructors have additional sorting options. Instructors can sort award leaders according to:

Award Leaders descending (default)

Award Leaders ascending

Last Name A-Z

Last Name Z-A

First Name A-Z

First Name Z-A

On the My Awards and View Available Awards pages, instructors can search for awards by OrgUnitName and learners can search by course name. Users are no longer required to navigate to the course to view the awards associated with that course by default.

When creating a new award, the Availability fields now appear in a more logical order. The check box to allow others to use the award appears before the check box to restrict use of the award. The check box for restricting how the award can be shared is unavailable until the user selects the check box to share the award.

Learners can now see their awards when viewing their own profile page and card. Previously, users could only see awards belonging to other people on their respective profiles.

Changes to the Award Certificate template:



Award Certificate templates have an increased size limitation. Certificate templates can be as large as 10 MB, and icons used in the certificate templates can be as large as 2 MB.

Award Certificate PDFs now follow a more human-readable naming convention. Certificate awards follow the following convention: {AwardName}_{OrgUnitName}_{LastName}.PDF.

The Award Certificate uses the {FullName} replace string instead of the {FirstName} and {LastName} replace strings to provide a more aesthetically pleasing result on the final printed certificate.

The current template was updated to utilize the new {FullName} replace string in order to make centering of the text more accurate on the certificate.

A second default template was added with alternative styling and information shown on the certificate


Integration Role Permissions

Organization Wide Tool Change

Workflow




Slight impact to learners who are accustomed to clicking My Awards. These users now click Awards on the nav bar.

Access to the new Awards navbar item depends on the user having access to at least one of the pages in the Awards tool. The following list describes the permission combinations required for the user to see the Awards tool on the specific page:

To see Awards on the Classlist page, the user must have See Own Badges or See Own Certificates, and Issue Badges, Issue Certificates, Revoke Badges, Revoke Certificates permissions.

To see Awards on the Course Awards page, the user must have See Own Badges or See Own Certificates, and Associate Badges to OrgUnits, Associate Certificates to OrgUnits, Manage Own Badges or Manage Badges permissions.

To see Awards on the My Awards page, the user must have See Own Badges or See Own Certificates, and Earn Badges, or Earn Certificates permissions.

To see the Icon Library, the user must have Manage Icon Library permissions.

To see the Certificate Template Library, the user must have Manage Certificate Templates permissions.

Note also that the word Can no longer appears in the permission names for Awards to adhere to naming guidelines and best practices.

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Brightspace platform - Supported browser changes | UpdatedAs of this release, Brightspace platform support has changed:

Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 9 (IE9) is no longer supported

IE10 and IE11 are now in maintenance mode



Microsoft® Edge web browser is now supported

Previous versions of Safari (including Safari 6, 7, and 8) are now in maintenance mode

The latest version of Safari® is now supported

For a complete list of supported browsers, refer to Brightspace Platform Requirements.

Global Change System Requirement Change


Slight impact to learners, instructors, and administrators currently using IE9 and older with the Brightspace platform.

As an unsupported browser, using IE9 with the Brightspace platform may produce unexpected results or some tools may not function.

If you are using IE9 with the Brightspace platform, you should consider switching to a supported browser for an optimal experience.

Copy Course Components - Copy Course History page | NewA View Copy Course History page that displays historical events for all course copying across the platform is now available in the Admin Tools menu under Course Related. This page allows administrators to filter through a data grid to view course copying events by specific days and points of failure.

This page also enables classic logging, and the ability to download the information from the data grid via a download button. A new configuration variable, D2L.Tools.BulkCourseCopy.IsLegacyLogsEnabled that is set by D2L Support, allows the output of the legacy logging format to the output folder for CCB. There is also a newly introduced API to access event logs: /d2l/api/le/unstable/ccb/logs.



Figure 31: View Course Copy History provides options to filter results

Configuration Variable Organization Wide

Workflow Role Permissions

Tool Change


Moderate impact to user interface and workflow with the introduction of a new page that enables administrators to view course copying events in one place.

Import/Export/Copy Components > View Copy Course Components Logs is a new organization-level permission to control whether a role can access the View Copy Course History page:

This feature is automatically available. Administrators must enable the new permission to allow users access to the page.




D2L.Tools.BulkCourseCopy.IsLegacyLogsEnabled is a new configuration variable available for D2L Support. This variable enables Bulk Course Copy to export a results file into the output directory in the legacy Bulk Course Copy format.

The valence route /d2l/api/le/unstable/ccb/logs is currently classed as unstable, so users may receive inconsistencies while using it.

Discussions - Score rubrics when assessing discussion posts | NewInstructors can now score associated rubrics at the same time as they are scoring the learner’s topic posts. When the feature is on, instructors can access rubrics in the Topic Score Details modal. The links to rubrics will no longer appear on the Assess Topic screen by default; rather, instructors have the option of displaying or hiding the rubric links at the top of the main grid to reveal the rubrics. Rubrics associated with a discussions topic now appear on the Topic Score Details modal. The Topic Score Details screen is available in several locations:

Discussions > Discussions List > Assess Topic > Topic Score

Discussions > Reading View of a topic > Assess Student

Grades > Grade Item for a topic > Submission icon

Grades > Grade Category for a topic > Submission icon

Grades > User Edit for a student > Submission icon

The top section of the Topic Score Details screen was redesigned to remove empty space, and student name, participation statistics, calculation method, and Topic Score are fixed while the rest of the window scrolls. The rubric appears above the discussion thread, and the instructor can scroll down to view the thread content.

This feature partially implements PIE item D1578. The remainder of the functionality is expected in a future release.



Figure 32: Image of a rubric that appears for an instructor to mark a discussion post.


Workflow




Moderate impact to users due to changes in the look and feel of the Access Topic screen, and the new workflow of scoring rubrics on the Topic Score Details screen.

There are two configuration variables affected by this feature:

d2l.Tools.System.Features.GradingExperience - If this variable is set to Assess with embedded rubrics in Discussions, rubrics appear and the new header banner appears with the new design on the Topic Score Details screen, and the button for hiding or showing rubrics appears on the Assess Topic screen. If the variable is set to No Enhancements, rubrics do not appear in the Topic Score Details screen, the Topic Score Details screen appears with the older design, and the button for hiding or showing rubrics does not appear on the Assess Topic screen.

d2l.Tools.Discuss.User.DisplayRubricLinksInAssessTopic - By default, this configuration variable is turned off. If this variable is turned on, the Assess Topics screen displays rubrics that are linked with the topic. Users can change this setting by changing the toggle in the display of rubric links on the Assess Topic page.

n/a

Quizzes - User Information Privacy permission required to view IP addresses | UpdatedTo ensure greater privacy and security for users, the Quizzes tool and the Surveys tool Event Log pages now check for the User Information Privacy permission, See IP Addresses, when a user views student information. Only users with the permission enabled at the org level can view the IP address of the student for each event in the Event Log. Previously, the IP addresses of students were visible to all users who could access the Event Log pages.

If users have the existing permission See IP Addresses permission, then there will be no change. If they have appropriate Manage Quizzes and Manage Surveys permissions but do NOT have this IP permission, then they will lose the ability to see IP addresses in the Quiz and Survey event log areas. Administrators may need to enable this permission for users that should retain this functionality.




Role Permissions Tool Change


Slight impact to user interface for instructor-level users who may no longer see student IP addresses in the Event Log for quizzes and surveys.

Moderate change to workflow for administrators who must enable the See IP Addresses permission for users if they are required to view student IP addresses in event logs for quizzes and surveys.

All users who currently have the See IP Addresses permission will retain the ability to view student IP addresses in quizzes and survey event logs.

Administrators must enable the See IP Addresses permission for users currently without this permission who wish to retain the ability to view IP addresses in event logs.

Review permissions for instructor-level users and enable or disable the See IP Addresses permission as required.

Release conditions - NOT operator support | NewNew release condition types that support the NOT operator have been added to D2L Learning Environment to support or identify users who have not completed course items. The following 10 release conditions are available:

Incomplete checklist - Has not completed checklist: <name>

Incomplete checklist item - Has not completed checklist item: <name>

Competency not achieved - Has not achieved competency: <name>

Learning objective not achieved - Has not achieved learning objective: <name>

Content topic not visited - Has not visited content topic: <name>

No discussion posts authored in topic - {No threads added to discussion topic: <forum>/<topic>, No threads or replies added to discussion topic: <forum>/<thread>}



No submission to dropbox - Has not submitted to dropbox folder: <name>

No grade score - Not graded on grade item: <name>

No completed quiz attempt - Has not completed an attempt on the quiz <name>

No completed survey attempt - Has not completed an attempt on the survey <name>

The new release conditions can be used anywhere release conditions are supported in D2L Learning Environment, including Intelligent Agents. The new options provide additional choices for course setup and user tracking.

This feature implements PIE item D126 and D2184.

Organization Wide Global Change

Tool Change


This feature represents a moderate impact to workflow for all users.

Additional options are available to administrators, instructors, and course designers when setting up courses that use release conditions, although the workflow in each tool remains the same.

Learners may experience slight workflow changes.

Existing permissions that enable the use of release conditions remain for the new release condition types. Users require the same permissions to enable and access release conditions across the platform.

n/a

The new release conditions are ON by default.



D2L Learning Environment 10.5.7Awards tool improvements | UpdatedSeveral features of the Awards tool have changed to improve usability:

Learners can now see their awards and shared awards when viewing their profile page and card in a simplified view. All awards are displayed as images and learners can click on an image to view more details.

Instructors can now add release conditions in the Brightspace platform in order to release other objects like content or another award.

Award Expiry and Award Earned Notification email templates are now available.



Floating controls have been added on all Awards pages. Now, scrolling within the Awards pages does not hide these controls.




Slight impact to learners due to the way they view their awards.

To see the Awards header and a list of available awards in the Create a Release Condition > Condition Type drop-down (in that OrgUnit), the user must have the Can See permissions set.

n/a

Slight impact to instructors due to changes in the way they manage awards.

Instructors can only select awards associated with the OrgUnit. Associated awards are found in the Condition Details section in the new Award drop-down menu.

Discussions - Support for holistic rubrics | UpdatedRubrics that appear within the Discussions tool Topic Score Details modal have been updated with an improved look and feel for holistic rubrics, to improve user experience and provide a more modern web appearance.



This feature builds on the feature released in 10.5.6 that introduced rubric-scoring as part of assessing topic posts.

Figure 33: Rubrics have an improved look and feel in Discussions assessments

Look and Feel Tool Change

Users Only


Slight impact to instructors who will notice new look and feel of the rubrics.

These changes are automatically available for all users of topic-linked rubrics within Discussions and have d2l.Tools.System.Features.GradingExperience set to Assess with embedded rubrics in Discussions.

n/a

Quizzes - Export quiz event log of all quiz attempts| NewPreviously, instructors were able to view the event log of individual attempts to look for patterns or cheating.



Now, the Export Event Logs button on the Grade Quiz page enables instructors to export the quiz event log of all quiz attempts made by learners of a quiz to a Comma Separated Value (CSV) file for offline analysis. The IP address of all users' actions is included in the event log.


Tool Change Users Only

Workflow


Slight impact to instructor due to changes in the user interface and workflow.

The Export Event Logs button appears on the Grade Quiz page to instructors that have the existing Manage Quizzes permission.

The IP Address column in the exported data only appears if instructors have the See IP Addresses permission.

Other user info privacy rules apply, that is, user names may appear as Anonymous User if you do not have permission to see first and last names.

n/a

Widgets - Improvements to the My Org Units widget | UpdatedA search bar has been added to the My Org Units custom widget to enable users to quickly find the org unit they are looking for from long lists. The search bar searches by Org Unit Name and Org Unit Code and supports partial matching of entered search terms.

In addition, the My Org Units widget now displays multiple org unit types. Previously the widget configuration required administrators to select only one type of org unit to display in the widget. To enable users to distinguish between multiple org units in one list, the Org Unit Type now appears along with the Org Unit Name.

The My Org Units widget now features traditional paging for long lists of items, in place of the previous "Load More" button. This change allows the widget to maintain a consistent size while accommodating long lists of org units.



Figure 34: The My Org Units widget features a new Search bar and paging function


Role Permissions Workflow




Slight impact for all users due to the improved graphical interface of the widget.

Slight impact to workflow for all users due to new Search function.

Slight impact to administrators due to minor changes in widget configuration. Administrators no longer have to configure one org unit per My Org Units widget.

Slight impact to administrators due to minor permission fix. Users now require the permissions to manage the widget at every org level in which it is used.

Previously, users with the permission Manage My Org Units tool at the org level only were able to manage the widget at lower org levels due to an issue with the permissions. The permission now works as intended. Users must have permission to manage the widget at each level in order to make changes to those levels.

My Org Units widget is a custom widget standardly available as part of the Brightspace Platform. The new features are automatically available. Administrators must enable the My Org Units widget for use.

If you cannot see My Org Units listed in Organization Tools, contact D2L to enable the feature.



Microservices - Activity Sequence Service | NewThe Activity Sequence Service acts as a proxy or mediator to learning paths within Brightspace platform.

This service will support different kinds of learning paths (dynamic, adaptive) in the future.

Global Change


No impact to users. This microservice is centrally deployed to Amazon Web Services.

Data is only transmitted between this service and an instance of Brightspace platform if a request is made for that instance, and the instance's D2L Valence API is publicly accessible.

This service depends on Authentication Service and Landlord Service.

n/a



D2L Learning Environment 10.6.0Awards - Usability Improvements | UpdatedChanges have been made to Awards to improve usability:

Internet Explorer 9 is no longer supported to share awards to a learner's D2L ePortfolio.

Awards have been added to existing release conditions. Existing award release conditions can now be reused anywhere in the org unit that supports adding release conditions.



Slight disruption to administrators and instructors who can now use awards release conditions in any program or tool in the org unit that supports adding release conditions

Tools that support release conditions now include Awards as an additional release condition option.

When a user clicks Add Existing Release Condition, awards conditions appear as options.

Slight disruption to learners who are no longer able to use Internet Explorer 9 browsers to share earned awards to D2L ePortfolio

N/A N/A

Import/Export/Copy Components - Support for import/export of External Learning Tool (LTI) Links | UpdatedInstructors can now export a course in D2L Learning Environment containing LTI links using the Bulk Course Export tool. The exported course package now contains all the necessary information in it to recreate the LTI links upon course import.






Slight impact to instructors who will notice that LTI links can now be exported and recreated on course import.

Only LTI links that reside in the course are exported. LTI links that are shared with the course are not exported.

Change to an element in the Bulk Course Export configuration file:

<exportexternallinks> - The option to export course External Learning Tool Links. The default setting is now False.

Change to an element in the Bulk Course Create configuration file:

<importexternallinks> - The option to import course External Learning Tool links. The default setting is now False.

n/a

User Progress - Course Access progress indicator | NewA Course Access progress indicator is now included in the User Progress tool, indicating the days on which a course was accessed. The progress indicator is available from the Course Access Progress Indicator page and the Course Access overview page within the Summary. Download States for content modules, course files, and for all content are available within Content Progress.

Previously, these features required the purchase of Brightspace Insights, but they are now available within the core Brightspace platform.



Learners and instructors can review a summary view of the Course Access for a learner.

Figure 35: Course Access Summary indicating when a user last logged in and accessed the course.

The Course Access progress indicator provides a more granular login history:

Figure 36: The Course Access indicator in the User Progress tool

Administrators can include the Course Access progress indicator in the User Progress report:



Figure 37: Specific progress indicators that are selected by Administrators appear in the User Progress tool.


Integration System Requirement Change




Slight impact to system requirements for administrators due to the dependency on the Brightspace Data Platform.

This feature requires the Brightspace Data Platform, which stores course access events.

By default, the Course Access feature in the User Progress tool is enabled by D2L.

If you do not currently have the Brightspace Data Platform, contact your D2L Account Manager.

Slight impact to administrators who can set the type of progress indicators that appear in the User Progress report.

n/a Enable the Course Access checkbox to include it as a progress indicator in a User Progress report.

Minor impact to instructors and learners who can review a learner's progress.

n/a n/a

D2L Student Success System 10.5.1D2L Student Success System - Copy model configuration from past courses | NewWhen you set up a new course as part of D2L Student Success System, you can now copy the model configuration from an existing course to save time versus having to create the model configuration again.



The new Copy Model Config button on the Configure Predictive Model page





Large change to workflow.

Affects process of copying courses at the start of a new semester.

Copying the model configuration includes the grade ranges, date ranges, domain selections, and the historical courses.

The feature is available using the Copy Model Configuration button on the Configure Predictive Model page.

You can then select the course you want to copy from.

n/a

The original course setup method is also still available.

n/a n/a



D2L Student Success System 10.5.2D2L Student Success System – Email dialog updates | UpdatedThe Compose New Message email dialog for D2L Student Success System has been updated to make sending emails simpler and more intuitive.

Figure 38: Updated Compose New Message email dialog





Slight impact to instructors and administrators who email learners using the D2L Student Success System email dialog.

Updates include:

Relocated Address Book button

Send button moved to top of dialog window

Drag and drop functionality plus other new options for attaching files

n/a

D2L Student Success System 10.5.4D2L Student Success System - Students at Risk widget | NewThis release of the D2L Student Success System introduces the following features:

a new Students at Risk widget

improvements to the student dashboard

To enhance monitoring of learner success, instructors can add a new Students at Risk widget to a course homepage in D2L Learning Environment. Once a week, D2L Student Success System updates the widget to display up to 5 students that the system determines are "at risk." The sub-title of the widget changes to reflect the predicted grades for the week.

By default, learner names display as Anonymous in the widget. This allows instructors to protect learner names in settings shared with other learners, for example, in a classroom or during a web cast. To view learner information, the instructor points to the widget or moves the input focus (for accessibility) to the anonymous name. Additionally, clicking the Show names link toggles the photos and names of all learners listed in the widget.

Clicking a learner's name loads the dashboard page for that learner, displaying more detailed information about that learner's predicted outcome.



Clicking View all predicted grades loads the standard D2L Student Success System page, displaying all learners in the course and the success index.

Figure 39: Students at Risk widget

To provide more information about a learner's success, more quantitative and qualitative details have been added to each student dashboard:

An easy to understand text-based display of the success index.



Indications (qualitative statements about the elements that are negatively affecting a student's predicted success). Up to four indications can be listed: social learning, content views, course access, and assessments (one for each domain of the predictive model).

Figure 40: New details in the Student dashboard


Workflow


The new Students at Risk widget represents a large impact to the look and feel and workflow of the D2L Student Success System.

The Students at Risk widget is added to the course home page like any other widget. By default, the widget does not appear in course home pages.

The content in the widget is updated once a week (Sunday night).

Instructors must add the Students at Risk widget to their course home page.




The information added to the student dashboard represents a large impact to the look and feel and workflow of the D2L Student Success System.

After D2L Student Success System is configured and running, each student dashboard automatically updates to display the new information.

n/a



D2L Student Success System 10.6.0D2L Student Success System - Copy Model Configuration integration with Copy Course Components | NewAdministrators can now set up new course offerings and add course components from past courses, that is, D2L Student Success System (S3) model configurations. This feature aids in reducing the time and effort required during course rollover periods.

This feature is available to all S3 customers.

Global Change Integration

Organization Wide Tool Change

Workflow


Slight impact to administrators due to changes in the workflow.

Administrators performing copy course components work should also have the ability to create S3 models.

n/a

Slight impact to role permissions for administrators due to a role permission that must be set.

The role permission Student Success System > Manage Courses and Predictive Models must be granted at one or more of the following levels:

Organization - allows users to access the S3 administration page to build and adjust models for all courses.

Course Offering (NEW) - allows users to copy specific S3 configurations via copy course components.

After ensuring that S3 is enabled, grant the Manage Courses and Predictive Models permission at the appropriate levels to users.



Integrations 10.5.0Brightspace® App Finder - Ability to discover partner apps for Brightspace by D2L | NewBrightspace App Finder is a new, integrated app catalog that enables Brightspace by D2L users to easily discover partner solutions. Users can find apps by keyword search, or by browsing app categories or viewing all apps by segment (for example, K-12, Higher Ed, or Enterprise). Brightspace App Finder replaces Solution Showcase, which has been removed from D2L Learning Environment.

Users can also browse to Brightspace App Finder (https://appfinder.brightspace.com/) without launching D2L Learning Environment.



Brightspace App Finder home page

Integration Workflow


Severe change. New graphical interface for users, and new steps for administrators providing links to the new tool from D2L Learning Environment.

Brightspace App Finder is integrated with D2L Learning Environment as a Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) external learning tool. To enable LTI functionality at the organization (administrative) level, administrators must define LTI permissions, map IMS roles and org units to their organization's roles and org units, and set default org level tool consumer information. Administrators need appropriate External Learning Tools permissions to complete these tasks.

To allow users to launch Brightspace App Finder from D2L Learning Environment, administrators must complete the steps to enable LTI functionality, create an external learning tool link to Brightspace App Finder, create a Quicklink to embed the external learning tool link in a custom widget, and add the widget to the organization's org unit homepage.

Respondus LockDown Browser® - Special Access Override | UpdatedThis update significantly improves the instructor’s experience when granting users special access to a quiz secured by Respondus LockDown Browser. Instructors can now exempt individual users from requiring Respondus LockDown Browser when taking a quiz instead of having to exempt all users in order to accommodate one user’s needs.




New option to exempt users on Add Special Access to Quiz page

User with special access shown on Edit Quiz page




Users Only Workflow


Slight impact to instructors granting special access to exempt users from requiring Respondus LockDown Browser when taking a quiz.

In order to see this option, Respondus must be enabled for the course offering the quiz resides in. Instructors can provide this type of special access to users in the same way they can provide other types of special access for quizzes. The settings can be found on the Edit Quiz page, in the Restrictions tab for a given quiz. Instructors must still provide special access to users for each quiz, that is, the special access settings are not automatically applied to all quizzes.

n/a

Turnitin® - LTI-based Integration | UpdatedA new LTI-based integration for Turnitin is available to replace the legacy API. Settings for enabling and setting up Turnitin, including OriginalityCheck and GradeMark, are now available in a separate tab when instructors create or edit a dropbox folder. The new LTI integration allows instructors and learners to more easily access Turnitin from the Brightspace platform. Note the following:

New configuration variables have been added to support the LTI integration.

The OriginalityCheck options that were found in the Properties tab in the legacy API have been renamed and moved to the new Turnitin tab in the LTI integration.

The advanced OriginalityCheck options that were found at the bottom of the Properties tab in the legacy API can now be found by clicking the More Options in Turnitin button on the new Turnitin tab. The button opens the Turnitin Assignment window where instructors can set more advanced Turnitin-specific options.

Instructors can no longer enable Turnitin from the Groups tool, which was possible in the legacy API.

If learners in the same group submit similar or identical versions of the same assignment to a group submission folder, Turnitin will consider those assignments to be plagiarized.

A learner is not able to access another group member’s Originality Report in Turnitin, even though the Originality Score displays.



On the Folder Submissions page, in the Files tab, it is no longer possible to search and sort on the Turnitin Similarity® column, as it was in the legacy API.

Dropbox data purge has been updated with the new LTI integration.

New Turnitin tab in the Dropbox tool in D2L Learning Environment

Configuration for IMS role mapping for new LTI-based integration

Global Change Role Permissions




Workflow


Large impact to administrators who need to update to the new LTI integration, configure it, and map users to their IMS roles in order for them to use the new integration.

Administrators need to update the overall Turnitin integration to LTI, but the new integration only applies to new dropbox folders that have Turnitin enabled. Existing dropbox folders continue using the legacy API.

New configuration variables:

d2l.3rdParty.LTI.AccountId

d2l.3rdParty.LTI.SharedKey

d2l.3rdParty.LTI.URL

d2l.3rdParty.SubmissionCallbackTimeout

In the Admin Tools widget, under IMS Configuration, administrators need to map specific roles for users.

To update to the new Turnitin LTI-based integration, contact your Turnitin representative.




Large impact to workflow for instructors for LTI integration. New tab in Dropbox tool for working with Turnitin integration. Settings are no longer part of the Properties tab.

Instructors can find the new Turnitin tab on the New Folder and Edit Folder pages within the Dropbox tool.

Instructors can only enable Turnitin in the Dropbox tool, and not through other tools like Content, Course Builder, or Groups.

Existing dropbox folders with Turnitin enabled continue using the legacy API. All copied, imported or exported dropbox folders don't have the former Turnitin options applied so instructors need to re-enable Turnitin and reset the options. When Turnitin is re-enabled, the LTI integration is automatically applied. All new dropbox folders use the LTI integration.

To ensure that that group submissions can still be checked using Turnitin, instructors can configure Turnitin to not check against submissions from other learners, but only to check against external sources.

n/a



Integrations 10.5.1Respondus Dashboard Integration Enhancement | UpdatedAdministrators no longer need to create the Respondus LockDown Browser® widget, and Instructors can access all the browser settings from a single location in the Quiz Management interface.

In past, Administrators were required to create the Respondus Lockdown Browser widget or edit browser configuration settings to enable or disable the requirement to use the LockDown Browser for taking an exam or viewing results. Now, there is one location in the Respondus dashboard, which removes the ambiguity over where to enable or disable the requirement. Instructors with Edit Quiz Properties or View Quiz Setup permissions can access Respondus Dashboard from Manage Quizzes if Respondus LockDown Browser is enabled for a course.

Configuration Variable Organization Wide



Slight change to workflow as the browser settings are available in a single location.

Adds a new configuration variable.

A new configuration variable must be set to access the browser settings in the Quiz Management interface.

d2l.3rdParty.Respondus.DashboardLTILinkID identifies the ID of the Respondus Lockdown Browser Dashboard LTI link that launches from Manage Quizzes.

The LinkID is found in the URI when managing the LTI link.

For more information about how to set up and activate this dashboard enhancement, contact Respondus.

Respondus LockDown Browser® - Improved quiz workflow | UpdatedThis optional update significantly streamlines the user’s experience in taking a quiz secured by Respondus LockDown Browser. When an assessment is configured to require Respondus LockDown Browser, the browser will launch in a new window. If the Respondus LockDown Browser is not already installed, the user is prompted to install it before starting their quiz.



Configuration Variable Workflow



Slight impact to administrators because of the addition of a new configuration variable.

New configuration variable:

d2l.3rdParty.Respondus.SecretKeyIndex stores the secret key index required to encrypt messages that are sent to the Respondus LockDown Browser.

A new version of Respondus LockDown Browser is required to take advantage of this improved experience.

Administrators must contact Respondus to get the new version and the appropriate value to set the configuration variable. The integration continues to behave as it did before until administrators are ready to enable the feature.

Slight workflow impact to learners who will experience fewer steps to access a quiz in Respondus LockDown Browser.

When a user attempts to begin a quiz that requires Respondus LockDown Browser, the system attempts to launch the user directly into the new window. If that attempt is unsuccessful, the user is given the opportunity to download and install the solution. After the installation is complete, they can re-attempt to launch the quiz.

The integration continues to behave as it did before until administrators are ready to enable the feature.

Slight impact for administrators who must ensure the Respondus Dashboard is installed for auto-launch to work (if they have not already done so in the past).

The current workflow for Respondus LockDown Browser does not require this dashboard, however it is an optional component used by some organizations. The introduction of auto-launch makes it required.

Administrators may need to work with Respondus Support to get the instructions for configuring the Respondus Dashboard.



Moderate impact for instructors who will now have access to Respondus Dashboard (if they have not already done so in the past).

The current workflow for Respondus LockDown Browser does not require this dashboard; however, it is an optional component used by some organizations. The introduction of auto-launch makes it required.

Instructions may need to be prepared for instructors leveraging the new Respondus Dashboard Features.

Turnitin® - LTI Integration Enhancements | UpdatedFor clients who have updated to the Turnitin LTI-based integration, D2L has added the following enhancements to improve the Turnitin experience for users:

When you copy courses with Turnitin-enabled dropbox folders, Turnitin settings now also copy.

Better default settings for group and individual dropbox folders.

You no longer need to adjust end dates to allow learners to submit late assignments.

It is easier for you to allow learners to view Originality Reports when they click on their Originality Score due to syncing between options in the Turnitin tab in the Dropbox tool and options in Turnitin itself.

Default settings for options in Turnitin



Option in Turnitin tab that syncs with option in Turnitin


Users Only Workflow




Slight impact to instructors who should be aware of the new default settings and behaviors for the Turnitin LTI integration.

Turnitin settings that are copied with courses are accessible on the Turnitin website, but not from inside the Brightspace platform.

In Turnitin, the Allow late submissions? option defaults to Yes for group and individual dropbox folders. In addition, the Student paper repository option is disabled by default for group dropboxes only.

You no longer need to change end dates to allow learners to submit late assignments since the Allow late submissions? option defaults to Yes for all dropbox folders.

In the Turnitin tab for individual dropbox folders, selecting Allow learners to see Turnitin similarity scores in their dropbox folder automatically enables the setting in Turnitin called Allow students to view Originality Reports, so that when learners click on their Originality Score in the dropbox folder they can view their Originality Report.

n/a



Integrations 10.5.2Banner Grades - Date Setting for failing grades | UpdatedUsers who need to meet a federal requirement to record the last date of attendance for students with a failing final grade can enter a Last Date of Attendance value when exporting grades to the Student Information System (SIS). This feature is now enabled by a D2L site administrator. Previously, clients had to contact a D2L Account Manager to have D2L Support enable this feature.

Configuration Variable Integration


Moderate impact to configuration variables. D2L site administrators now set the configuration variables related to enabling and configuring this feature.

The following configuration variables are now controlled by D2L site administrators:

d2l.Tools.Grades.ExportHandlerPage

d2l.Tools.Grades.ExportToSIS.LAExportHandlerPage

d2l.Tools.Grades.ExportToSIS.LAMidtermRequired

d2l.Tools.Grades.ExportToSIS.LATriggerGrades

d2l.Tools.Grades.ExportToSIS.LATriggerPercentage

Note: Only d2l.Tools.Grades.ExportHandlerPage and d2l.Tools.Grades.ExportToSIS.LAExportHandlerPage are required to enable this feature. The remaining configuration variables are optional.

If this feature is not enabled, your D2L site administrator sets the related configuration variables. For more information, refer to the Banner Grade Administrator Guide.



Brightspace Story Builder - Create visual story boards | NewBrightspace Story Builder is an effective new tool instructors and content creators can use to spark learner engagement. Using characters and dialog, instructors can create illustrated stories and scenarios to communicate key learning concepts. They can import the stories directly into a course as content.

Brightspace Story Builder is easy to use. It uses drag and drop functionality, and requires no coding. Instructors can introduce the tool into a course at any time, creating an alternative method of instruction. Brightspace Story Builder can quickly improve the experience of learners in online courses.

Figure 41: An example of a scenario in Brightspace Story Builder

Integration Look and Feel





This is a new, optional tool. There is a large impact to user interface, workflow, and instructional design as instructors must learn to use the new tool and modify their delivery of content.

Instructors create scenarios in Brightspace Story Builder. Scenarios are stored as content within a course in D2L Learning Environment, as well as in the file manager.

Brightspace Story Builder is currently only available in English.

Available in 10.3+.

For more information about how to acquire Brightspace Story Builder, contact your D2L Account Manager.

Google Apps - ReadOnly Google Directory API route| NewAdministrators can now choose a ReadOnly Google Directory API route (https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.user.readonly) for the Service Account to use while accessing Google Domain Data. This API route provides more restricted access to the Service Account than the existing API route.

Using the ReadOnly API route disables the Create New User, Suspend Accounts, and Restore Accounts functionality currently available on the Google Apps Administration page in D2L Learning Environment.



In addition to allowing the new API route, a new Google API Option appears on the Google Apps Administration Settings page to enable read-only access to Google Directory API. Once the setting is enabled, the Google Apps Administration Manage Users page removes the Create New User, Suspend Accounts, and Restore Accounts options.

Figure 42: The new Google API Options checkbox appears on the Google Apps Administration Settings page

Figure 43: The Google Apps Administration Manage Users page when Read-only access is enabled





Minor impact to administrators due to slight workflow change when setting up the Google Directory API route.

Administrators can give their service account the ReadOnly API route via the Google Domain Admin Console:

1. Browse to https://admin.google.com and log in with your Google Admin account.

2. From the Admin console, click Security.

3. Click Advanced Options.

4. Click Manage API Client Access.

5. In Client Name, enter your Service Account URL and https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.user.readonly along with any other routes you want to use into Scopes.

6. Click Authorize.

Once the ReadOnly API route is set up in the Google Domain Admin Console, you must enable the Read-only access to Google Directory API checkbox on the Google Apps Administration Settings page to limit the options on the Manage Users page in D2L Learning Environment:

1. From the Admin Tools menu, under Organization Related, click Google Apps Administration.

2. Click Settings.

3. In the Google API Options area, select the Read-only access to Google Directory API check box.

4. Click Save.

Microsoft Office 365 - Simplified log in for users | NewAdministrators can now allow learners to connect to the Microsoft Office 365 integration without having to enter their email address an additional time. A new, optional configuration variable allows users to bypass the login screen the first time they launch the widget.


Organization Wide Workflow




Slight impact for administrators who can set an optional new configuration variable.


D2l.Tools.Office365.ClientDomain bypasses the login screen during initial sign in. Clients use their client domain from their IdP for the configuration variable.

This feature only works for customers that have a single domain in use; it will not work for clients using a Microsoft multitenant solution. Also the feature only works when all learners’ email addresses are on the same domain (e.g. @yourcollege.com).

Administrators can add the new configuration variable.

Slight change to workflow as users will not have to enter their email address.

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Integrations 10.5.3Brightspace® App Finder - Usability Enhancements | NewEnhancements have been made to Brightspace App Finder to improve usability. General enhancements are as follows:



The homepage now features case studies showcasing how apps meet the needs of organizations like yours.

A “New” sash now appears on all apps that are new to the Brightspace App Finder catalog for two weeks after they are added.

On each application’s page, three new fields have been added called Accessibility compliance, Language availability, and Privacy compliance.

The following features apply to Brightspace App Finder if it has been integrated into an organization’s instance of D2L Learning Environment:

Administrators can now set the default view to the My Apps page, if the appropriate LTI parameters are configured.

Administrators can now add customized notes to an application's page that only administrators and instructors from your organization can view.

Application providers can now upload persona-based help documents to Brightspace App Finder that users of that persona, for example, administrators or instructors, can view.

Integration Look and Feel

Tool Change


Slight impact to users due to minor changes to the user interface and added functionality to the integrated Brightspace App Finder.

To set the default view to the My Apps page, while you are creating an external learning tool link to Brightspace App Finder, create a custom parameter that is named default-view and set the value to my-apps=1.

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ReadSpeaker docReader - Turn on tool directly | UpdatedIn the past, administrators had to engage D2L Support to see the ReadSpeaker docReader integration in Organization Tools so that they could turn it on and configure it for their organization. Now, ReadSpeaker docReader is visible in



Organization Tools to all clients with a ReadSpeaker account so administrators can turn it on and configure it more directly, without first having to engage D2L Support.



Slight impact to administrators who can now turn on the ReadSpeaker docReader integration themselves.

ReadSpeaker docReader is included in Admin Tools > Organization Tools, and is set to off by default. The associated configuration variables are found in the Config Variable Browser tool.

To turn on ReadSpeaker docReader, click the corresponding toggle in Organization Tools. Set the docReader configuration variables in the Config Variable Browser tool using account information from ReadSpeaker.

Integrations 10.5.4Microsoft Office 365 Integration - Proxy server support for API requests | NewThe Microsoft Office 365 Integration now supports proxy servers. This allows clients that use proxy servers to take advantage of the Office 365 Integration.





The new proxy server support represents a slight change to the setup of the Microsoft Office 365 Integration.

To configure a proxy server, set the d2l.System.Infrastructure.ProxyAddress configuration variable to the URL to your proxy server. For example, http://myproxy:8080/ or https://myproxy:8080/

If you want API requests to use a proxy server, set the configuration variable.

Integrations 10.5.5Dropbox - Turnitin® exemption for individual users | NewThis update significantly improves the instructor’s experience when managing Turnitin preferences for dropbox folders. Instructors can now exempt individual users from having their assignment checked by Turnitin when it is submitted to a dropbox folder. Previously, instructors had to exempt all users from Turnitin in order to accommodate one user’s needs.



Figure 44: Manage Preference for Turnitin® option

Figure 45: Manage Preference for Turnitin® page





Workflow On-Premise


Slight impact to instructors who can now exempt individual users from having their assignments checked by Turnitin.

To use this feature, Turnitin must be enabled for the Dropbox tool by the administrator. When instructors exempt users from Turnitin, it applies to all dropbox folders in a given course. That is, if a user is exempted from Turnitin, none of their submitted assignments for that course are checked by Turnitin.

On the Dropbox Folders page, from the More Actions context menu, select Manage Preference for Turnitin®. The Manage Preference for Turnitin® page displays where instructors can select individual users to be exempt from Turnitin using the toggles.

Slight impact to learners because of the various indicators in the Dropbox tool if they are exempt from Turnitin.

On the Dropbox Folders page, the Turnitin OriginalityCheck enabled icon does not display beside a folder link if a learner is exempt. On the Submission History page, in the Turnitin® Similarity column, Exempted displays instead of a score.

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Slight impact to administrators due to the addition of a new configuration variable.


d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.AllowExemption – Determines whether or not instructors can exempt specific learners from Turnitin at an org unit level (e.g. course offering). If this option is on, Manage Preference for Turnitin® will appear on the Dropbox Folders page under More Actions.

In Admin Tools > Config Varaiable Browser, set d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.AllowExemption to on.




Slight impact to on-premise clients because they must allow access to the Brightspace content delivery network (CDN) to use this feature.

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Integrations 10.5.6Brightspace Banner Adapter - Multi-org Banner integrations | UpdatedBrightspace Banner Adapter can now be implemented for instances of D2L Learning Environment with a multi-org structure.

Integration Organization Wide

Workflow


Slight impact to administrators involved with setting up Brightspace Banner Adapter with D2L Learning Environment.

This change only affects new courses and course templates created through Brightspace Banner Adapter, and not existing courses that are already integrated with Brightspace Banner Adapter.

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About D2LA global leader in EdTech, D2L is the creator of Brightspace, the world’s first integrated learning platform.

The company partners with thought-leading organizations to improve learning through data-driven technology that helps deliver a personalized experience to every learner, regardless of geography or ability. D2L’s open and extensible platform is used by more than 1,100 clients and almost 15 million individual learners in higher education, K–12, healthcare, government, and the enterprise sector—including Fortune 1000 companies.

The company has operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Brazil, and Singapore. www.brightspace.com (http://www.brightspace.com) | www.D2L.com (http://www.d2l.com)

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The D2L family of companies includes D2L Corporation, D2L Ltd, D2L Australia Pty Ltd, D2L Europe Ltd, D2L Asia Pte Ltd, and D2L Brasil Soluções de Tecnologia para Educação Ltda.

Brightspace, D2L, and other marks ("D2L marks") are trademarks of D2L Corporation, registered in the U.S. and other countries. Please visit d2l.com/trademarks for a list of other D2L marks.

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Documents

Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes · Web viewAll locations of the Topic Score Details screen in the Discussions tool now have a consistent presentation across all