(This list is not all-inclusive. It only shows those changes that will impact faculty the most. The date the updates will take place changes from month to month. You can expect the following updates to be in place by the end of the month.)
Assignment Grader – Evaluate On Paper and Observed in person submission types
iOS and Android versions of the Assignment Grader application now support On paper, and Observed in person submission types. Instructors can evaluate all of their assignments using the application; including those that do not require a file or text submission.
Assignments – Improvements to Assignments List view
When accessing Assignments, the list view now displays updated information. Previously instructors would see information on the assignment name, Total Submissions, Unread Submissions, Flagged Submissions, and Due Date. Now instructors see information on the assignment name, the number of learners who have completed the assignment, the number of learners who have been evaluated, the number of learners who have had feedback published, and the Due Date. This allows instructors to quickly determine what assignments they need to evaluate, how far along they are with their evaluations, and if they have published the evaluations.
Learners also have an updated view of the assignments list, and are now able to see the assignment name, the Completion Status (Not Submitted, Submitted, Completed), their Score, The Evaluation Status (Not yet evaluated, Feedback: unread, Feedback: read), and the Due Date. This change to the list view allows learners to easily locate unfinished assignments, as well as access their scores and view instructor feedback on their work.
Document Conversion Service – Enabled by default
The Document Conversion Service is now the only document conversion option for all clients; it can no longer be disabled. Previously, the Document Conversion Service was enabled by default; however, clients could choose the Document Conversion Service or legacy Document Builder Service.
When documents are uploaded to Content or Assignments, the Document Conversion Service converts documents to PDFs, which display inline in the tool or product. This improves the document viewing experience for users.
Groups – Create new submission types
The new On paper and Observed in person submission types available in Assignments can now be created from the Groups tool.
HTML Editor – Descriptive error message for quicklinks to unavailable activities
A specific error message now appears to users who click a quicklink to an activity that is outside the availability dates (not yet available or no longer available). The error message appears for the following unavailable activity types:
- Announcements items
- Calendar events
- Chat sessions (if the user is not part of a group chat)
- External learning tools links
- Groups (with expired self enrollment option)
This feature builds on a previous feature from October that added a specific error message for some course activities. With this feature, the specific error message, “Unavailable Quicklink. The <activity type> is not available” appears for many additional course activities.
Intelligent Agents – Export agent run history to CSV
Intelligent Agent run history, previously only visible in Brightspace Learning Environment, can now be exported to a CSV file. The export can include all agents or a specific agent. It can also include runs made during a specified date range. This feature allows instructors to better track learners that are triggering Intelligent Agents.
Rubrics – Improved rubric creation experience
To improve on the new rubric creation experience, rubric creation has been changed to a single-page workflow. Clicking New in the Rubrics tool immediately brings the user to the rubric authoring page. As well, the two previous Rubric Tool options Properties and Levels and Criteria are now condensed into a single Edit option.
