What’s New with D2L Brightspace?

Restore Deleted Quizzes 

Users with permission to create and edit quizzes can now restore deleted quizzes. On the Manage Quizzes page, click the More Actions button at the top of the page and select Restore from the drop-down menu. This will display a list of all quizzes that have been deleted with the option to restore them. 

Restoring a quiz returns it to the Manage Quizzes list of active quizzes in the course and includes all previous settings, students’ quiz attempts, and grades/feedback. However, if the quiz was associated with an item in the Gradebook, that link will remain broken. To re-establish the link to the Gradebook, refer to our support site on how to associate a quiz with a Grade Item. 

Undo/Redo Assignment Annotations 

Undo and Redo functions have been added to the annotations toolbar for evaluating assignment submissions. These function much the same as the undo/redo feature in word processors like MS Word. Use these functions to retract or restore an annotation, a format change to an annotation (e.g., size or colour), or even to undelete an annotation. 

For more information on annotating assignments, refer to our support site on Providing Assignment Feedback. 

Assignment Submissions: Sorting Default Updated 

When accessing the View Submissions list for an assignment, the sorting default has been changed to display all students registered in the course, regardless of whether they have made a submission.  

If you would like to filter the list to display only those who have made a submission or those who have not: 

1. Click on Show Search Options next to the search field. 
2. Select one of the options in the Submissions drop-down menu.
3. Click the magnifying glass icon in the search field above to apply the new filter.

HTML Editor: Insert Code Snippets 

The option to insert snippets of source code has been added to the HTML Editor. This feature can be found in every  instance of the HTML Editor throughout Brightspace with the exception of quiz questions. The option to insert snippets is available to students as well wherever they have access to the HTML Editor. So, for example, you can ask students to create code snippets as part of a Text Submission assignment. 

For more information on this feature, see our support page on How to insert code snippets. 

Did You Know? 

You can still provide a grade and feedback through the Assignments tool even if the student has not made a submission. Simply locate the student on the View Submissions page and click the Evaluate link next to their name. This will bring you to an evaluation page for that student where you can fill out a rubric, assign a grade, and/or provide written feedback in exactly the same way that you would for a student with a submission. If the student submitted their work in some other way (e.g., via email),  attach the document as a Feedback File to keep everything related to the assessment in one place. 

This month’s Brightspace update mainly refines background processes that keep our LMS running efficiently. Since there are no new features or significant changes to functionality, instead we’d like to ask…

Did You Know?

The Checklist tool is another method of structuring course units and assigned activities. Use Checklists to plot roadmaps of lessons and assessments for students, enumerate elements for exam review and preparation, and more!

Use the Checklist tool to create lists of items with titles and descriptions that students can then check off to track their own progress. The description areas use the Brightspace HTML Editor. So, in addition to providing summaries and inserting images, it is possible to insert Quicklinks to existing course content, activities and assessments, and course files.

For more information, see our support site on creating Checklists.

Once a Checklist is ready, add it to a Content Module using the Existing Activities menu or create a link to it in any text field using the Insert Quicklink menu. And you can view students’ Checklist progression via the Class Progress tool, as well as create Release Conditions associated with the entire list or specific items!

Preferred Pronouns Displayed in Classlist

Communicating with students in Brightspace is even easier! If a user has specified their preferred pronouns in their Account Settings, they will now be displayed in the Classlist beside their name. It is also possible to see students’ preferred pronouns in the Discussions tool by hovering your cursor over their user icon in posts.

See our support sites for adding pronouns in Brightspace and emailing students through the Classlist for more information.

Rubric Descriptions Preview

When attaching a rubric to an assignment or discussion topic, now any description you added to a rubric will appear in the selection menu to help better differentiate it.

The description field can be found in the collapsible Options section at the bottom of the rubric creation page. This description is purely for your reference and is not visible to students.

See our support site on creating rubrics for more information.

New Quiz Creation Experience

D2L has been developing a new quiz interface to make the Quiz creation experience consistent with our current Assignment creation experience. All settings and options will be located on one page to eliminate the need to navigate various tabs and pages to build quizzes:

An early version has been released for review. Depending on D2L’s progress, this New Quiz Creation Experience may be implemented in our Brightspace instance by 2023.

For a more thorough overview of the updated quiz interface, see D2L’s article: Welcome to the New Quiz Creation Experience.

Did You Know?

You can customize the message that appears to students in the banner of your course homepage. Use this to adjust the title of the course from the system’s default, or even to help your students stay on track by letting them know which week or unit you are on.

You can even personalize this text by using Replace Strings to extract information particular to each student. For example, including the string {firstname} in your message will insert the student’s first name.

Visit our support site for more information on customizing your course homepage.

This month’s Brightspace update is primarily aesthetic (e.g., improved visual accessibility with sharper and darker fonts). Since there are no new features or significant changes to functionality, this month we bring you a more elaborate “Did you know?”

Did you know?

You can evaluate Assignments using a customized grading scheme that assigns point values. Let’s say, for instance, that you have a Complete (100%) / Partially Complete (50%) / Incomplete (0%) assignment activity and would like to grade it using symbols instead of assigning point values.
Setting up this type of grading workflow can be accomplished by following three processes: first, create a grade scheme, then create a grade item, and finally, link your assignment to the select box grade item.

For a complete set of instructions and screen shots, download the following help guide: Creating-customized-grade-schemes-using-symbols_May2022

Intelligent Agents Scheduling Options

• More options added to scheduling settings: One-time run and Hourly Frequency options have been added to the scheduling settings in the Agents creation menu. Additionally, users can now set the time of day that an automated Agent should run.

Note: Pre-existing Agents will automatically apply the system default (12am GMT). To edit an Agent, click on the down arrow next to an agent in the Intelligent Agents tool, then select Edit.]

• Visual improvements to the the Create/Edit menu: The layout of the Agents’ Create/Edit menu has also become more streamlined. The various groups of settings are now under collapsible headings, with the Scheduling settings positioned at the top of the list.

To learn more about this tool, see our support site on Setting up Intelligent Agents.

Groups Creation and Management

• Group creation can run in the background: When groups are being created, it is no longer necessary to wait for process to finish before navigating to other areas of your course page. An internal alert notification will appear when processing has completed.
• The Group Category heading now appears on its own above the groups table: By using the menu beside the Group Category, you can access options such as Add Group, Enroll Users, or Delete. Modifications to the groups within the category can still be accessed through the groups table.

To learn more about this tool, see our support site on Creating Groups and Group Lockers.

Did you know?

You can create direct links to Self-Enrollment Groups to make it easier for your students to sign up for activities. Use this feature to create a sign-up sheet for student presentations, project proposals, or even scheduling Office Hours!

When you are in a text editor field, such as a Module description or an Announcement:

• Click the Insert Quicklink icon in the Editor toolbar.
• Select Self-Enrollment Groups from the Course Materials menu.
• Click on the name of the Self-Enrollment Group you want to link. A hyperlink to the self-enrollment group will be inserted into the Editor. When a student clicks on the link you have created, they will be taken directly to the enrolment options for that group.

Note: If an End Date has been set, students will not have access to that self-enrollment group after the date/time passes.

To see the group self-enrollment options, visit the Creating Groups and Group Locker support page: Enrollment Type Options