D2L Brightspace is a cloud-based, learning management system. One of the many excellent features of Brightspace is that it updates near the start of each month with new features and improvements. Updates occur automatically with no system downtime.

The monthly update process is called Continuous Delivery.  Regular software updates allow for new features, settings, and configurations to be applied to Brightspace without any system outage.

Updates help ensure that any needed security patches are applied and new features are available to the campus. Carleton is on the Wave 3 update schedule. Visit the D2L 2024 Wave Schedule to see when Carleton’s next update will be.  Significant changes to Carleton’s instance of Brightspace are also announced monthly via the TLS Newsletter. Subscribe to receive monthly updates.

NOTE: In addition to the Continuous Release notes, D2L Brightspace provides a Known Issues List to share problems found in the learning management system. Known issues are problems that have been identified by Brightspace users and confirmed by D2L product staff. In many cases, these issues are the basis of future product developments.

Brightspace Updates from Summer 2025

Quizzes – Print Your Quiz: You can now easily print an offline version of your quiz, including all Brightspace question types, shuffling, randomization, question pools, multiple versions, and an Answer Key. Access this option from the Manage Quizzes page by selecting Print from the quiz dropdown.
The Print option selected next to a quiz name on the Manage Quizzes page.

Quizzes – Full HTML Editor for Feedback: You now have access to the full HTML editor when providing question-level feedback in quizzes.

Quizzes – Reopen submitted attempts: You can now reopen a learner’s most recent quiz attempt, allowing them to resume where they left off. You can return attempts to an unsubmitted state and adjust time limits if needed which are ideal for cases like accidental submissions or timeouts.

Quizzes – Rubrics statistics for written responses: Rubric statistics are now available for written response questions, including both Overall and Criteria Statistics across all first attempts.

Assignments – Flexible Submission Options: Instructors can now create assignments that accept file uploads, text entries, or both, giving students more flexibility in how they submit their work.

Bulk Feedback for Assignments and Discussions: Instructors can now provide shared feedback to multiple learners at once, streamlining the grading process. Note: Bulk feedback will overwrite any previously provided feedback.
Submissions page showing Add Feedback to All and Add Feedback options for bulk feedback.

Rubrics – Clear selection option: A new Clear Selections option allows you to quickly reset rubric scoring, making assessment reviews more efficient.
The confirmation dialog states Clear all rubric selections? Feedback you've entered will not be affected.

Groups – Increased Enrollment Limit: The Groups tool now supports up to 3,000 users per group within a category, a major increase from the previous limit of 200 users.

Groups – Change to processing via a background job: Group enrollments are now processed in the background. You may notice a short delay, but you’ll be notified via the bell icon once it’s complete.

Groups – Bulk enroll/unenroll via CSV: Instructors can now bulk enroll or unenroll learners in existing groups using a CSV file.
The Import option appears as a button on the Manage Groups page and also appears in the Category drop-down menu

Visual Table of Contents – Improved Completion Reporting: Module tiles now reflect true completion status rather than just topic visits, providing more accurate progress tracking.

Analytics Transition: D2L Performance Plus tools have been retired and replaced with Power BI. Instructors needing advanced analytics beyond Brightspace Core Analytics can submit a request via our Learning Analytics form.

Enhancement to the Product Idea Exchange (PIE): D2L has significantly enhanced the PIE experience, introducing a new workflow that offers users clearer visibility into the status of their submitted feature requests. The updates have focused on providing greater transparency by moving ideas from general status categories to specific development stages, helping users better understand the journey of their suggestions. (PIE) items implemented in our monthly releases. You can learn more about the PIE process here or see the most recently implemented ideas in this thread.

D2L Release Notes

All changes to D2L Brightspace are documented and explained in the Brightspace Community site and indicated month by month: All Release Notes

Note that the Brightspace Community site includes every product and tool available within D2L’s product options. Carleton’s instance of Brightspace may not include all products indicated on the Community site. If you have specific questions about Carleton’s Brightspace instance, please connect with the Digital Learning team via the TLS Jira portal: tlssupport.carleton.ca.

Share: Twitter, Facebook
Short URL: https://carleton.ca/brightspace/?p=499