January 2021

Assignments – The new assignment creation experience

These updates are if you are using the new assignment creation experience only. To engage the new assignment creation experience, when you go to create a new assignment, note that there is a pull-down shade in the top right corner. Click it to toggle which experience you are using.

Previously, in the new assignment creation experience, the time for an assignment Start Date defaulted to 11:59pm. Now, the default time for an assignment Start Date is set to 12:00am. Due Date and End Date remain unchanged with default times set to 11:59pm.

The learning outcomes hierarchy tree now appears in Assignments. You can collapse it to facilitate finding and using specific outcomes in any assessment activity or rubric where outcomes can be aligned. In addition, users can now search the outcomes list to find the best outcome to align with assignment activities in their courses and programs.

Assignments – Multiple rubric support in consistent evaluation experience

This feature is a continuation of changes made in December 2020.

If an assignment includes multiple rubrics, they are all visible to instructors using the Consistent evaluation experience. Instructors are also able to choose the default scoring rubric. Previously, the consistent evaluation experience would only display one rubric on the assignment evaluation screen.

Learning Environment – Supported browsers

Avenue to Learns’s browser version check now displays warnings for browsers earlier than the following versions:

• Google® Chrome™ 85 (released Aug 2020)
• Apple® Safari® 13 (released in September 2019)
• Mobile Apple Safari 12 (released in October 2018)
• Mozilla® Firefox® 80 (released August 2020)
• Chromium-based Microsoft® Edge 85 (released August 2020)
• All versions of Microsoft Edge Legacy (in preparation for Microsoft’s end-of-support in March 2021)

You can access Avenue with older versions of our supported browsers; however, D2L, the people who make Avenue to Learn, does not test against older versions. This means you may encounter unexpected user interface behavior and appearance or broken and unsupported functionality. In most cases, D2L does not fix software defects experienced in unsupported browser versions. For an optimal experience that offers better performance, accessibility, and security, D2L strongly recommends that all users access Avenue to Learn with a supported browser.

Content – File and widget sandboxing to enhance content security

To enhance the security of Content files and Widgets that execute scripts to create extra-rich HTML experiences (such as objects that can execute JavaScript), there is now a sandboxing feature that creates a secure iFrame around the HTML file. This will allow an HTML file to execute scripts (such as JavaScript) within the iFrame only but will prevent them from executing outside the iframe (against the domain). This enables some flexibility in creating rich content, but reassurance for the security- conscious that end user information remains secure in all situations, such as when learners in specific courses have a special role with permission to create content topics.

Course Export – Export file upload attribute for written response questions

Written Response quiz questions that allow for file upload can now be imported and exported from Avenue to Learn. With the ability to import and export these questions users can share them with users from other instances of Brightspace. 

Quizzes – Multi-select questions workflow

As part of the ongoing initiative to improve the quiz creation experience for instructors, this release streamlines the interface for creating multi-select questions, making the workflow simpler and more intuitive.

When instructors initially launch the Question Editor to create a multi-select question, the interface displays the two main components of a multi-select question: the question and potential answers. Selecting a field displays a pop-up toolbar for formatting the text and adding images, links, and graphical equations. As each field is completed, the preview pane displays how the question and answers appear to learners. 

Next, instructors can choose to click Options to add the following optional information to the multi-select question: Add Feedback, Add Hint, Add Short Description, and Add Enumeration.

Instructors can then choose to randomize the order of answers, assign points, and determine how points are assigned to blanks.

For determining how points are assigned to blanks, a new grading type is available in the classic and new multi-select question experience: Correct Answers, Limited Selections. For this grading type, points are evenly distributed across correct answers only. The number of selections allowed is limited to the number of correct answers. Learners earn partial points for each correct answer selected. 

SCORM – Configuration variable for New SCORM solution

For SCORM objects with a success status of unknown, a zero will be submitted to the grade item.