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. This support page summarizes the monthly changes and new features.
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 2022 Wave Schedule to see when Carleton’s next update will be.
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. A companion page for Fix Notifications might also be useful to review to stay informed of Brightspace changes.
May 2023 Update
D2L has launched a new Brightspace Community site. The Brightspace Community is a web space where Brightspace users can find resources, training materials, upcoming events, instructions, and ideas for using Brightspace. Connect with D2L by submitting your feedback on the platform and ideas for improvements. Read how others are using Brightspace on the community forums and vote on new features you’d like to see in the Product Idea Exchange (PIE).
Visit the Brightspace Community to see the new site and explore all it has to offer!
- April 2023 Update
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Quiz Exit Dialogs
Users who are attempting to exit an in-progress Quiz attempt will now receive a contextual warning in the form of a pop-up dialog box. The pop-up dialog-box will change dependent on quiz settings, and provide users with important information regarding their ability to return to the Quiz.
NOTE: The contextual dialog box will only appear if the user clicks the Close icon at the top right of the screen. Attempting to close the browser window does not display the dialog box. |

- March 2023 Update
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Rubrics with Carleton Logo
Rubrics that are printed or downloaded as a PDF in Brightspace now prominently feature a Carleton University logo to indicate more explicitly the originating institution.

Preferred Language Settings Update
You can now easily access preferred language settings in Brightspace via the personal menu (your name). Previously, this setting was located under “Account Settings”. By default, your preferred language is set to English (United States).

- February 2023 Update
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Copy “One-Time Run” Intelligent Agent Schedules
Instructors can now copy, export, and import “One-Time Run” intelligent agents and their scheduled dates. Previously, the run date was removed when agents with a “One-Time Run” scheduling frequency were copied to another course. The run date now copies over automatically, allowing for a time-saving and streamlined workflow.
For more information about Intelligent Agents, see Setting Up Intelligent Agents.

Track Rubric Edits with Enhanced Visual Cues
You can easily track your changes while editing locked rubrics with new visual cues. When an instructor edits a rubric that has already been used for grading, the changes are now highlighted and indicated with the word “Edited”. This makes it easier to view where edits have been made and if there are any unsaved changes. Once the changes are saved, the edit indications are no longer visible.
For more information about editing locked rubrics, see Editing Rubrics.

- January 2023 Update
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“View Section” in Groups Removed for Students
Students are no longer able to view their Section(s) in the Groups tool. This prevents them from being able to see the names of other students enrolled in their Section and to email them. Students can still see and email other members of Groups they are enrolled in.
Preview Equations in Editor
You can now preview mathematical and statistical equations directly within the Brightspace Editor. This allows you to view how the formatting will appear to students without having to select the “preview” function or publish the text first. Please note that this feature is not yet available in the Quizzes tool.
To insert an equation into the editor, click the Equations icon in the toolbar and select any of the following options from the drop-down menu: MathML, LaTex, Graphical, or Chemistry.
For more information on inserting equations into the Brightspace editor, see Using the Brightspace Editor.
New “Replies Only” Release Condition for Discussions
Instructors can now select “Replies Only” as a condition detail when creating a “posts authored in topic” release condition for a discussion. When this option is selected, you can specify the number of replies a student is required to post within a certain Discussion Topic in order to fulfill the condition to unlock the content or activity.
For instructions on how to create a release condition, see Creating Release Conditions.
Manually Saving Rubric Changes
When grading using a rubric, you will now be prompted to Save or Discard your changes to the rubric if you attempt to navigate away from the evaluation page without saving your progress. Selecting Discard will erase any changes made to the rubric during that session and return it to the state when the evaluation was last saved as a draft or published.
For more information on using rubrics for assessment, see Creating Rubrics.
D2L Release Notes
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