Brightspace Platform 10.7.7

Release Notes

1

© 2017 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.

Contents

Features

Brightspace Learning Environment

Activity Feed - General availability of scheduled posts - AWS Enabled | Updated

Assignments - Rubric Visibility | Updated

Brightspace for Parents - User Is Parent Permission | New

Capture - Capture 8.6 and earlier are no longer supported | Removed

Data Hub - Improvements to Brightspace Data Sets - AWSEnabled | Updated

Grades - Expansion of grade exemptions work| Updated

Groups and Sections - Improvements | Updated

Lessons - General availability - AWS Enabled | New

Lessons - Browse for HTML Templates when creating documents | New

Lessons – Compatible with exemptions | New

Lessons - Add content from 3rd party Content-Item Message tool providers | New

Lessons - Learners can download materials | New

Fixed Issues

Assignments

PRB0056125

Brightspace Developer Platform

PRB0055896

Calendar

PRB0052564

Groups and Sections

PRB0056118

Import/Export/Copy Components

PRB0055494

PRB0055508

Integrations

PRB0055398

Intelligent Agents

PRB0055781

PRB0053470

Lessons

PRB0055975

Learning Object Repository

PRB0044576

Quizzes

PRB0056308

User Management

PRB0056116

Known Issues

Assignment Grader

PRB0055956

Assignments

PRB0053402

Brightspace for Parents

PRB0056110

Content

PRB0056088

PRB0052721

PRB0055998

Course Management

PRB0056060

PRB0054980

Groups

PRB0055995

Lessons

PRB0055004

Navigation and Themes

PRB0054855

Quizzes

PRB0053510

PRB0053430

Surveys

PRB0053291

Widgets

PRB0055997

PRB0055688

About D2L

1

© 2017 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.

Features

Brightspace Learning Environment

Activity Feed - General availability of scheduled posts - AWS Enabled | Updated

Scheduled posts allow instructors to create a post in advance, and set it to appear on the Activity Feed at a future date and time. This allows instructors to create posts at convenient times to better manage and control their feed.

Figure: Select Post Later to schedule to post to appear at a future date and time

Figure: Set the date and time and click Schedule Post

Impact of Change / Technical Details / Next Steps
Slight impact to instructors due to additional options available when creating activity feed posts. / Availability: This feature is available to all clients in the US, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and Singapore.
To enable: N/A
Microservices dependencies: This service depends on the Authentication service, Landlord service, and the Reflex service.
Microservices location(s): Authentication and Landlord are services in the following Amazon Web Services™ (AWS) location: U.S. East (N. Virginia).
The Reflex service is available to clients in the US, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and Singapore.
Client regions are determined by D2L and routed accordingly.
A planned post can take up to two minutes to appear in the feed from the scheduled time.
Planned assignments are hidden from users and automatically become visible once they appear in the feed. / N/A

Assignments - Rubric Visibility | Updated

In the Assignments tool, rubrics are now positioned at the beginning of the assessment portion for an assignment. Previously, rubrics appeared below the Learning Objectives as part of a large list of rubric links. Now, additional links have been removed and the rubrics are displayed, followed by the assignment’s learning objectives.

Figure: The assignment rubric is visible above the assignment learning objectives.

Figure: Rubric links are condensed down to one single link.

Impact of Change / Technical Details / Next Steps
Slight impact to users due to the new placement of assignment rubrics. / Availability: This feature is available to all clients.
To enable: Assign rubrics to competencies and learning objectives to see the update.
Microservices Dependencies: N/A
Microservices Location(s): N/A / N/A

Brightspace for Parents - User Is Parent Permission | New

This feature introduces the new User Is Parent permission, which must be enabled on the Parent role to grant Parents / Legal Guardians access to Brightspace for Parents.

Impact of Change / Technical Details / Next Steps
Slight impact to Brightspace for Parents users with the Parent role due to the new User Is Parent permission. / Availability: This permission is available to all Brightspace for Parents users with the Parent role.
To enable: Administrators must enable the User Is Parent permission for the Parent role.
Microservices dependencies: N/A
Microservices locations: N/A
This permission does not impact the creation of parent-child relationships using SISintegrations.
With the introduction of this role permission, if Brightspace for Parents users do not have a child associated with their account, then a message is displayed stating that there are no learners associated with their account. / Contact your Administrator to enable the User Is Parent permission for the Parent role.

Capture - Capture 8.6 and earlier are no longer supported | Removed

The infrastructure supporting Capture 8.6 and earlier is now deprecated. Communications about this change to support began with the initial deprecation notice in March 2017. Removal of infrastructure support is the final step in completing the deprecation process.

Impact of Change / Technical Details / Next Steps
Moderate impact to users who have not upgraded to a supported version of Capture. / N/A / If your instance of Capture has not yet been upgraded, please contact your D2LCustomer Success Manager.

Data Hub - Improvements to Brightspace Data Sets - AWSEnabled | Updated

To address gaps in how data is generated for certain fields in Brightspace Data Sets, this release includes improvements to the following Brightspace Data Sets and the supporting documentation:

  • Awards Issued:
  • Full and differential CSVs now include an IssuedId column (BIGINT).
  • Primary key is now the singleton IssuedId (previously, a composite of AwardId, OrgUnitId, UserId).
  • Attendance Details:
  • Full and differential CSVs now include an AttendanceSessionId column (BIGINT).
  • Primary key is now a composite of AttendanceSessionId and UserId.
  • Chat Session Log:
  • Full and differential CSVs now include a MessageId column (BIGINT).
  • Primary key is now the singleton MessageId.
  • Competency Activity Results:
  • Full and differential CSVs now include a RubricId column (nullable BIGINT), which represents the rubric id attached to the competency activity (used for evaluation).
  • Competency Structure
  • Full and differential CSV now include an EntryTime column (INT).
  • Primary key is now a composite of BaseObjectId, ObjectId, ParentObjectId, and EntryTime.
  • Course Awards:
  • Full and differential CSV now include an AssociationId column (BIGINT).
  • Primary key is now the singleton AssociationId.
  • Discussion Posts
  • Full and differential CSV now include a ScoreOutOf column (nullable Float), which represents the topic score used to evaluate the thread.
    Note: Score can exceed ScoreOutOf.
  • Discussion Topic User Scores
  • Full and differential CSVs now include a ScoreOutOf column (nullable Float), which represents the topic score used to evaluate the thread.
    Note: Score can exceed ScoreOutOf (depending on Scoring Method).
  • Full and differential CSVs now include the ScoreCalculationMethod column (Nullable String).
    Strings are predefined, with the following possible values:
  • Average - Calculates the score from the average score of each post in the topic made by a user.
  • Max - Calculates the score based on the maximum score of any one post in the topic for a user.
  • Min - Calculates the score based on the minimum score of any one post in the topic for a user.
  • Mode Max - Given the number of posts, selects the score that is repeated the most. If there is a tie, it takes the highest score.
  • Mode Min - Given the number of posts, selects the score that is repeated the most. If there is a tie, it takes the lowest score.
  • Sum - Calculates the score from the sum of scores on each post in a topic for a user.
  • Blank value (null) - The score is not calculated based on the scores of each post (Manual updates).
  • Full and differential CSVs now include an IncludeNonScoredValues column (Boolean [True|False]).
    True posts that have not been scored are scored as 0. Otherwise, posts without a score are not included in the score aggregate (defined in the ScoreCalculationType).
  • Grade Schemes:
  • Full and differential CSVs now include a GradeSchemeRangeId column (BIGINT).
  • Primary key is now a composite of GradeSchemeId and GradeSchemeRangeId.
  • Rubric Assessment Criteria:
  • Full and differential CSVs now includes a CriterionId column (BIGINT).
  • Primary key is now a composite of AssessmentId, RubricId, and CriterionId.
  • User Logins:
  • Full and differential CSVs now includes a LoginAttemptId column (BIGINT).
  • Primary key is now the singleton LoginAttemptId.

Impact of Change / Technical Details / Next Steps
Slight impact to administrators due to database table changes and updates to documentation. / Availability of full data sets: Brightspace Core clients in the following regions:
  • North America
  • EMEA
  • APAC
Availability of differential data sets: AWS-hosted Brightspace Insights and Brightspace Core clients in the following regions:
  • North America
  • EMEA
  • APAC
To enable: N/A
Microservices dependencies: Authentication Service and Landlord Service.
Microservices location(s): Authentication and Landlord are services in the following Amazon Web Services™ (AWS) location: U.S. East (N. Virginia)
For more information, refer to the updated Brightspace Analytics - Administrator Guide and Data Hub - Administrator Guide when they are released. / N/A

Grades - Expansion of grade exemptions work| Updated

This feature is an expansion of grade exemptions work that impacts the Content tool, the Calendar tool, the Course Schedule, and the Updates widget.

Figure:Grade exemptions work - Content tool

Figure:Grade exemptions work - Message displayed when a learner clicks on an exempted topic

Figure: Exempting users from a topic - new Manage Exemptions page

Impact of Change / Technical Details / Next Steps
Slight impact to instructors who can now exempt / unexempt learners from content topics.
Instructors can also see a list of learners in the new Manage Exemptions page. / Availability: This feature is available to all clients.
To enable: The existing d2l.Tools.System.Features.IsExemptionsEnabled configuration variable must be turned on and the instructor role must have the Has Access to the Classlist permission(under the Classlist tool) and the Manage User Exemptions permission (under the Users tool) to see the new Manage Exemptions page.
Microservices dependencies: N/A
Microservices locations: N/A / N/A
Slight impact to learners who can see the exemption flag on topics in the Content tool >Table of Contents. When a learner clicks on a topic they are exempt from, a new message displays stating that the learner is exempt from the topic and that the activity can be viewed but does not need to be completed.
The updated count of required topics in the Table of Contents now excludes the exempted grade items. / Availability: This feature is available to all clients.
To enable: N/A
Microservices dependencies: N/A
Microservices locations: N/A
Exempted activities are not due, therefore, not overdue and do not appear in the Overdue items list in Course Schedule.
Exempted items are also not displayed in the learner's Calendar.
Exempted quizzes are not required to be submitted and are excluded from the count of unattempted quizzes that appears in the Updates widget. / N/A

Groups and Sections - Improvements | Updated

Previously, section enrollments were incorrectly determined based on the can be auto-enrolled in to groups or access all groups role properties in some areas.

This feature includes improvements to section enrollments that are now consistently determined by the can be auto-enrolled in to sections or access all sections role properties.

Impact of Change / Technical Details / Next Steps
Slight impact to users due to the improvements made to Groups and Sections. / Availability: These improvements are available to all users.
To enable: N/A
Microservices dependencies: N/A
Microservices locations: N/A / Ensure that your Administrator verifies that the role properties for your organization's roles are set correctly for section enrollment behavior.

Lessons - General availability - AWS Enabled | New

Lessons is now available to clients in all regions. Lessons is a new way for instructors and learners to experience the Content tool in Brightspace Learning Environment. It offers a simplified experience for organizing content, aligning to learning standards, managing the availability of course materials, and automatically scheduling content units as a pacing guideline. With Lessons, instructors can import from the Achievement Standards Network, and map content items to those standards. Instructors can also add their own materials from external sources, such as Google Drive, to supplement existing resources. To promote classroom engagement, the Lessons experience works with the Activity Feed, allowing instructors to easily post content materials to a course homepage.

Impact of Change / Technical Details / Next Steps
Moderate impact to administrators due to required configuration variables, tool changes, and permissions to make this feature available. / Availability: This feature is now available to clients in all regions.
To Enable: To make Lessons available in Brightspace Learning Environment, the d2l.Tools.Content.IsLessonsEnabled, d2l.Tools.Content.UseLessonsExperience, and d2l.System.Services.DocumentConversion.IsEnabled configuration variables must be turned on.
The Learning Outcomes tool must be turned on, and the Manage Outcomes permission is required to import standards from the Achievement Standards Network and to copy standard requirements between courses.
Microservices Dependencies: The Lessons Experience depends on the Document Conversion Service, the Activity Feed Service, and the Learning Outcomes Registry Service (LOReS). These services depend on the Authentication Service.
Microservices Locations: The Document Conversion Service is available in the following Amazon Web Services™ (AWS) locations: U.S. East (N. Virginia), Canada Central (Montreal), Asia Pacific (Sydney).
The Activity Feed Service is available in the following Amazon Web Services™ (AWS) locations: U.S. East (N. Virginia), Canada Central (Montreal), EU (Ireland), Asia Pacific (Sydney, Singapore).
LOReS is available in the following Amazon Web Services™ (AWS) locations: U.S. East (N. Virginia), Canada Central (Montreal), EU (Ireland), Asia Pacific (Sydney, Singapore).
The Authentication Service is available in the following Amazon Web Services™ (AWS) locations: U.S. East (N. Virginia). / 1. In the Config Variable Browser, set the Organization Value for d2l.Tools.Content.IsLesonsEnabled to on.
2. Turn on d2l.Tools.Content.UseLessonsExperience for all courses to use the Lessons experience. To enable Lessons for individual courses, set override values in the in the d2l.Tools.Content.UseLessonsExperienceconfiguration variable for the desired courses.
3. Turn on d2l.System.Services.DocumentConversion.IsEnabled to activate Document Conversion Service for your organization.
4. From the Admin Tools menu, select Organization Tools and turn on Learning Outcomes.
5. Grant the Manage Outcomes permission for the Learning Outcomes tool to roles responsible for importing standards and copying standards between courses.
For additional information, visit the Lessons topics for instructors and Lessons topics for administrators on the D2L documentation site.

Lessons - Browse for HTML Templates when creating documents | New

When creating new documents in Lessons, instructors can browse for HTML templates to bring a more consistent feel to their course content. HTML Templates can be selected from Course Offering Files or Shared Files.

Impact of Change / Technical Details / Next Steps
Slight impact to instructors due to additional options available when creating documents in Lessons. / Availability: This feature is available to clients in all regions.
To enable: N/A
Microservices dependencies: N/A
Microservices location(s): N/A
If you attempt to navigate away from an HTML file that is not saved, a warning displays to prevent work from being lost. / N/A

Lessons – Compatible with exemptions | New

Exemptions placed on content topics are visible in courses using Lessons. When learners access materials in Lessons that they are exempt from, an exempt message displays. Learners can still access activities they are exempt from but they are not required to complete them.

Impact of Change / Technical Details / Next Steps
Slight impact to administrators due to configuration variables related to the use of exemptions. / Availability: This feature is available to all clients.
To enable: The existing d2l.Tools.System.Features.IsExemptionsEnabled configuration variable must be turned on.
Microservices dependencies: N/A
Microservices location(s): N/A / N/A
Slight impact to instructors and learners due to exemptions being available in Lessons. / Availability: This feature is available to all clients.
To enable: N/A
Microservices dependencies: N/A
Microservices locations: N/A / N/A

Lessons - Add content from 3rd party Content-Item Message tool providers | New

Existing Content-Item Message tool providers appear among the Add Materials tiles in Lessons to allow more options when creating course content.

Impact of Change / Technical Details / Next Steps
Slight impact to instructors due to additional options available when adding materials in Lessons. / Availability: This feature is available to clients in all regions.
To enable: N/A
Microservices dependencies: N/A
Microservices location(s): N/A / N/A

Lessons - Learners can download materials | New

Learners can download materials from Lessons if the required permissions are granted to their role. Learner roles with permission to Download Content Topics see a download icon when accessing individual materials in Lessons. Learner roles with permission to Compile and Download Content see a download icon when browsing units, lessons, and folders. This allows them to download multiple files simultaneously.

Figure: Learners with permission to Download Content Topics see a download icon when viewing individual materials in Lessons