CourseLink’s minimum for supported browser versions increases every January and July. The July update increases the minimum supported browser versions to: Chrome 124+, Edge 124+, Safari 17+, and Firefox 124+. The minimum legacy browsers are now: Chrome 81, Edge 81, Safari 14, and Firefox 75. The following browsers are no longer supported: Chrome 66, Edge 18, Safari 11, and Firefox 66. For an optimal experience that offers better performance, accessibility, and security, we recommend that all users access CourseLink with the latest version of their supported browser. For more information, refer to Browser support.
Email – Emails queued as background task when sent to large numbers of recipients
With this release, emails that have 100 or more recipients are queued for sending as background tasks, allowing users to continue working while the email is being sent. A Sending label is displayed when viewing the email in their Sent Items folder to indicate that the email has been queued; this label disappears once the email is sent. If any issues occur while sending the email, an alert message appears in Message alerts with the details.
Emails sent to fewer than 100 recipients are sent immediately and any errors appear in the Compose New Message window.
Previously, emails with large numbers of recipients were not run as background tasks and could cause page timeouts. This feature does not impact the maximum number of recipients of an email, which remains at 200 (including CC) and at 3000 for BCC.
This release also includes header labels for the columns within the Email tool.
Figure: Users can see if their email is Sending as a background task and view details about the email under the appropriate headers.
SMS Notifications – End of Life
As of this release, SMS Notifications are permanently removed from CourseLink. Short Message Service (SMS) Notifications allowed users to subscribe to select notifications to be forwarded to their mobile phone number. Stored phone numbers are deleted following this release and are no longer needed to send notifications.
Email-based notifications remain, and users can still receive email notifications if they subscribe. Alternatively, users can use the Brightspace Pulse app to receive the same mobile push notifications that were available with SMS Notifications.
The Automatic Zero feature allows a score of zero (0) to be automatically applied to unsubmitted learner activities after the due date passes. Applying the Automatic Zero feature eliminates the need for instructors to manually set missing submissions to zero. Additionally, learners receive a more accurate view of their grade calculations for individual activities and for the overall course.
Supported submissions include file and text-based assignments, quizzes, and some integrated tools. All activities must have grade associations.
Instructors can select between system-added and manually-entered zero scores. Automatic Zero applies to both individual and group assignments and respects any exemptions and release conditions set for an activity. Automatic Zero is triggered within one minute of the due date and is based on local time zones for both instructors and learners. The feature follows the same rules as existing due dates.
Figure: For instructors, the Automatic Zero for Missing Submissions checkbox appears in the Grade Calculations area of Grade Settings.
Mastery View – Horizontal scrolling experience consistent with Grade book
In Mastery View, when it was necessary to horizontally navigate to view multiple outcomes aligned to course activities, a scroll bar appeared at the bottom of the page. With this update, the horizontal scroll bar is replaced with left and right arrows at the top of the Mastery View table. The arrow navigation ensures the Mastery View experience is more consistent with the scrolling navigation experience in Grade book.
Figure: Use the directional arrows at the upper left and upper right corner of the table to navigate to off-screen outcomes.
Contact
If you have any questions about the updates, please contact CourseLink Support at:
This release introduces in-product feedback into CourseLink as a new way to allow users to provide their feedback. Instructors and learners may receive a small survey prompt in CourseLink. The in-product feedback asks users for ratings on one to two questions; these questions ask about users’ experience with CourseLink (D2L Brightspace) as a whole, their experience meeting goals in CourseLink, or their experience in a particular workflow.
Figure: Users can provide feedback by rating your experience with tools and processes in CourseLink.
Social media share buttons – End of Life
As of this release, social media share buttons appearing in public Blogs and ePortfolio presentations that are externally visible are now removed for all users.
SMS (Short Message Service) notifications will no longer be supported or available starting in the July 2024 release. This change is in response to the deprecation of this service by mobile providers. Users can receive mobile push notifications in Brightspace Pulse, and can subscribe to email notifications in place of SMS notifications. For more information, refer to Intent to EOL SMS Notifications.
Instructors Only
Dropbox – Annotations update from Version 2023.4.0 to 2024.3.0
This release updates the Dropbox Annotations tool from PSPDFKit Version 2023.4.0 to Version 2024.3.0 This update fixes several defects; in addition, the icons used in the following areas have received minor updates:
Main toolbar
Line tools
Ink tools
Page Layout tools
Sidebar tools
Drawing sub-toolbar
Highlighter sub-toolbar
Text Highlighter sub-toolbar
Eraser sub-toolbar
Note sub-toolbar
Textbox sub-toolbar
Line and Arrow sub-toolbar
Rectangle sub-toolbar
Figure: Example – this feature updates the appearance of the icons for the line tools (left) to the new style (right).
Editor – Updated storage location for feedback attachments in Dropbox, Discussions, and Quizzes
With this release, when instructors access Dropbox, Discussions, or Quizzes, and use the Insert Stuff file picker to attach feedback, those files are now stored in the Feedback Files location. This location is designated for the learner feedback area.
Learners can review their feedback files from the Grades page, just like files attached from Feedback Files.
Previously, when an instructor attached feedback files through the Insert Stuff file picker, the files were stored in Manage Files.
Manage Dates – Bulk edit and offset dates for recurring Intelligent Agents
With this release, users can edit and offset multiple intelligent agents that have already been set up with a recurring schedule (for example, daily or weekly). In addition to editing an intelligent agent in the Intelligent Agents tool, users can now use Bulk Edit Dates to add or remove a new start date or end date, or use Bulk Offset Dates to offset the start date or end date from the Manage Dates tool.
Figure: Users can offset the Due Date, Start Date, and End Date either forward or backward.
Previously, intelligent agents had to be manually edited or offset in the Intelligent Agents tool.
As of this release, intelligent agents with a one-time run schedule do not appear in Manage Dates and must be updated in the Intelligent Agents tool. Editing intelligent agents with a one-time run schedule in Manage Dates is under consideration for a future enhancement.
CourseLink Data Retention and Disposition Policy
For years, CourseLink has served as the University’s learning management system (LMS). The platform supports course delivery by allowing instructors to share course content and manage assessments. To maintain the performance of the system and a high-quality user experience, the CourseLink Retention and Disposition Policy has been released to manage the retention and disposition periods of data in CourseLink, including course information, content, activity logs, and users. This policy will help to ensure that an overaccumulation of course data will not inhibit CourseLink’s functional capabilities. This policy aligns with the University Record Retention and Disposition Policy, Data Storage Guidelines, and the assessment retention and disposal policy.
CourseLink Retention Period
All data, including courses, users, activity logs, and content will be retained for a period of 7 years. This time period was determined in consultation with the University Secretariat and Institutional Research & Planning (IRP).
Purge Schedule
The first purge process will begin on July 15, 2024. After the first, each subsequent purge will occur each year on the first Monday in May and result in the complete deletion of course data. This includes all course components including content, discussions, dropbox folders, quizzes, and grades.
Please note, only course sites with a defined close date will be purged. Resource courses, development sites, and training sites will be maintained until the owner indicates that it can be purged.
Purge Date
Courses Purged
July 15, 2024
All courses from W17 and older
May 5, 2025
S17, F17, and W18 courses
May 4, 2026
S18, F18, and W19 courses
… and so on
…
Questions and Answers
Why do we only keep data for 7 years?
To meet contractual storage agreements with the vendor and to reduce performance issues, the data cannot be kept indefinitely. Additionally, the University must securely purge sensitive data on a regular basis. Seven years provides a good balance between accessing historical data and course content and purging older sensitive data.
Will there be an archive of old courses after they are purged? Is a data purge different than a data archive?
There will be no archive of purged data. When a course’s data is purged, the data is no longer in CourseLink. The course, and all content and activities, are completely deleted from the system and cannot be restored.
What if my department needs information from CourseLink for a grade dispute or letter of recommendation?
Grade disputes are typically filed within one year of the end date of the course. Courses, and all course data, will be retained for a period of 7 years and can be accessed during that time.
How can I backup my course components so they don’t get purged?
You have two options for backing up your course components. For course content, you can download each desired content item directly from the Content tool in the course, or by using the Manage Files tool. For course components including content and assessment structure, you can use the Import/Export/Copy Components tool to save a copy of the course. The export can be imported back into the LMS at a later date. When downloading or exporting course components, please abide by University privacy policies regarding student identifying data (e.g., assessments, grades).
Contact
If you have any questions about the updates, please contact CourseLink Support at:
Grades – Feedback files are now available in Grades for Dropbox, Quizzes, and Discussions
This feature allows instructors to ensure that learners can easily review feedback from the Grades tool.
Instructor feedback added in Dropbox, Quizzes, and Discussions is now visible to learners under Grades.
Figure: Learners can review feedback from the Grades page.
Instructors Only
CourseLink Editor – Equation editors
The Graphical and Chemistry Equation editors used within Editor are updated from WIRIS version 4.13 to version 7.23.1.
Awards – Certificate ID for an issued award
To improve security when issuing certificates, instructors can now use a new replacement string field when creating their certificate templates to add an automatically-generated numeric ID. This ID uniquely identifies the issued award, which can be verified using a new API call.
The feature introduces a new replacement string {CertificateID} that instructors can add to their PDF templates. A unique ID is generated and populated into the replacement string {CertificateID} on an ongoing basis when released.
The unique generated ID is 12 numeric characters long and is stored in the CourseLink database as CertificateID, along with other data for the issued award.
Note: The {CertificateID} replacement string follows existing rules of other current replacement strings and is marked read-only.
A certificate ID validation tool is available in the OpenEd Toolbox under the Miscellaneous menu.
Grades Mastery View – Improved Publish All and Retract All workflows
To improve user experience within the Grades tool’s Mastery View, this feature addresses user feedback regarding the Publish All and Retract All actions.
Previously, a time delay could occur between initiating Publish All or Retract All actions and the visible update of the action’s status in the Mastery View table. This delay sometimes made it unclear whether the action was successfully applied.
To provide immediate feedback that a publishing or retracting event is in progress, the Mastery View page now displays as pending or updating immediately after a user clicks Publish All or Retract All. Updates can take several minutes to complete. Users can navigate away from the Mastery View page while updates are ongoing to perform other tasks. Upon returning to Mastery View, the page clearly displays the status for the Publish All or Retract All actions.
Figure: After clicking Publish All, the screen updates and the Publishing in progress pop-up displays until the publishing action is completed.
Learning Outcomes – Learning Outcomes evaluation for group assignments
This feature adds learning outcomes assessment into the evaluation interface of group assignments. Instructors can now assess learning outcomes aligned directly to group assignments or through rubric alignments. Instructors can also apply a learning outcome score while evaluating a group assignment. All members of an assessed group receive the same learning outcomes score, ensuring consistency and fairness in the evaluation process.
Previously, learning outcomes could be aligned directly or through rubric criteria to group assignments but were not assessable within the evaluation interface. This limitation made it impossible to capture outcomes assessment data for group assignments. Now, instructors can easily assess learning outcomes in group assignments, and organizations can gain additional data on learner achievement.
Manage Files – Receive notification when zipping and unzipping files
As of this release, whenever users add (zip) or extract (unzip) one or more files to a ZIP archive in Manage Files, a new dialog confirms that files are being zipped or unzipped in the background. Once the process is complete, a notification appears in Update alerts (the bell icon).
Previously, adding files to a ZIP archive was not a background process and thus there was no notification after zipping. In addition, the notification for unzipping files appeared in the Subscription alerts area.
Figure: A notification dialog appears when zipping or unzipping files. Click Close to resume work.
Dropbox – Advanced assessment including Co-Marking, Delegation, and Multi-Evaluator
Single Shared Evaluations and Ready for Review
Often, evaluators and publishers may not be the same person. This feature ensures that users using Co-marking and Delegation assignments have a way to communicate with publishers when their evaluation is ready for review. The feature reduces communication errors during evaluation. When an evaluator has completed their evaluation, they can set the evaluation to Ready for Review, which will signal to the publisher that the evaluation is ready and can move on to the next phase.
To use single shared evaluations and ready for review
Navigate to the Assignments tool.
Create an assignment with a Single shared evaluation, ensuring that publishers and evaluators are not the same person.
Click Save and Close.
Figure: Instructors must select Single shared evaluation in the Dropbox tool.
Add evaluators to Assignments or edit existing evaluators
When creating a new assignment or editing an existing assignment, in the Evaluation & Feedback accordion of the Dropbox tool, the number of evaluators who can give feedback in the course is displayed.
If an instructor clicks Edit Evaluators, an Evaluators dialog displays all evaluators with the Give Feedback role permission in the course. When you click on Edit Evaluators, the advanced assessment workflows begin.
You can add evaluators to the assignment by selecting evaluators in the Evaluators list dialog.
If you do not make any selections and click cancel, the advanced assessment workflows will not be available, and you can continue creating the assignment, and it will be a non-advanced assessment assignment. All evaluators who have the Give Feedback permission will have access to this activity.
If you click Save on this page, you can trigger the advanced assessment workflows.
Figure: Assign evaluators in the Evaluators dialog.
Selecting the Manage Evaluators option opens the Evaluators dialog to allow you to make changes to the evaluators for this assignment.
After the evaluators are assigned, there are now four new capabilities in the Evaluation & Feedback accordion:
Evaluators
Publishers
Matching learners to evaluators
Multiple Evaluator Mode
Figure: After assigning evaluators, the Evaluators, Publishers, Matching learners to evaluators, and Multiple Evaluator Mode sections appear in the Evaluation & Feedback accordion.
Note: When enrollment changes are made for evaluators in a course, it could take up to two minutes for this enrollment change to be processed and reflected in the Edit Evaluators list and in the Evaluators section.
Assign publishers
While creating or editing an assignment with assigned evaluators, you can assign publishers based on the options listed below.
All evaluators can publish any evaluations
Evaluators can only publish their evaluation: This means that only the evaluator assigned to evaluate a specific learner submission can publish the evaluation. You can review the Advanced Evaluation dialog to learn which evaluator gets to publish which learner submission.
Manually select publishers: This means you can select one or more users from a list of users who have the Give Feedback permission, which allows them to be the publisher. A list of users with the Give Feedback permission appears, and then a selection can be made to decide who publishes the evaluation to the learner.
Depending on the option selected, a Publish button will appear on the evaluation screen for users who meet the criteria of that option.
Allocate evaluators to learners (Manage Matching)
Click the Manage Matching link to open the evaluator mapping dialog table. Options are available in the drop-down list to determine how the learners should be matched to the evaluators. The system can randomly match each learner with up to three evaluators. However, it is also possible to customize the evaluator and learner mapping to choose more specifically who evaluates who using the learner-evaluator mapping table and selecting or un-selecting the matching check boxes.
Figure: Choose a learner to evaluator mapping scenario in the Allocation Options drop-down menu.
Two options are available for evaluation modes that allow you to assign evaluators quickly:
One shared evaluation: All evaluators contribute to the same shared evaluation of the learner’s submission. This is often referred to as co-marking.
Multiple separate evaluation: Each evaluator completes their own individual evaluation separately. Those independent evaluations must be aggregated by the publisher before being released to the learner. This is often referred to as an independent multi-marker.
Suppose a new user enrolls in the course after mapping the learner-evaluator. In that case, the system will allocate the new user automatically based on the allocation options for the assignment.
Evaluator mapping can also be assigned by groups and/or sections using the Groups/Sections drop-down menu. In this menu, the desired group or section can be selected to display those learners. Then those learners can be mapped to an evaluator.
Synchronize multi-evaluator grades between Grade Book and Dropbox
When a group of instructors use delegation or co-marking to evaluate an assignment, entered grades synchronize with grade book. Also, when an instructor enters a grade for an assignment in grade book, the entered grade synchronizes assignment grades.
Inputs into grade book populate into the Aggregated tab for Assignment Evaluation when a user chooses to sync from the grade book.
Other features include the following:
Any Aggregated tab that has a draft saved and published will be overridden by the Grade book inputs when the Grade book sync is started.
Any evaluation not marked as ready to aggregate is switched to ready to aggregate when the grade book sync has been started.
Any evaluation already marked as ready to aggregate will stay unchanged when the grade book sync is started.
Respondus Monitor – Sensitivity levels
The flagging system in Respondus Monitor now supports three sensitivity levels: Strict, Standard, and Relaxed. The default setting is Standard, and it produces results like before. The Strict sensitivity setting detects when portions of the face have moved outside of the video frame, or when both eyes of the test taker aren’t visible. When this occurs, a Partial Missing flag will appear in the proctoring results.
Figure:
With the Relaxed setting, what you’ll notice most is that it reduces the sensitivity of Missing flags. If the face or eyes are partially missing from the webcam video but Respondus Monitor can still detect the student is there, the Missing flag is less likely to trigger.
Which of the three settings should an instructor choose? It depends on the testing scenario. The relaxed setting might be preferred with open-book exams since students often turn away from the webcam to look at notes or books. Strict sensitivity might be appropriate for tests where students aren’t using outside resources like books, calculators, or scratch paper.
One of the best aspects of the new sensitivity setting is that an instructor can select it after students have completed their exams. This is possible because the setting appears on the proctoring results page. When the sensitivity level is changed, the Review Priority scores and the rankings of the proctoring sessions are immediately updated for the instructor.
Discussions – View attached file feedback for discussion evaluations
Instructors’ attached files now appear in the Attached Files section for each learner’s discussion evaluation. Learners can view attached file feedback when viewing their evaluated discussion topic.
Instructors can view all attached files by clicking on the learner’s name and selecting Discussions. Learners can view all attached files by clicking on Discussions in Class Progress. Instructors and learners can view all attached discussion evaluation files in the Class Progress tool.
Additionally, the Discussions tool’s evaluation process is now consistent with the Dropbox and Quizzes tools’ evaluation processes.
Figure: Learners can view their feedback for a discussion topic in the Attached Files section of their evaluation.
Instructors Only
Quizzes – Additional functions
Additional functions are now available in Quizzes and Question Library for arithmetic quiz question types. The following functions can be used for arithmetic quiz question types:
ASIN
ACOS
ABS
Log2
SINH
COSH
Reminder: McGraw Hill Connect – Widget and LTI 1.1 integrations
Please note that the McGraw Hill integration widget and all MH LTI 1.1 integrations will be removed after April 29, 2024.
Instructors should work with McGraw Hill to migrate content to the McGraw Hill Connect LTI 1.3 integration in the Content tool.
Testing Services [RegisterBlast] – Removal and update
Please note that the Guelph-Humber Testing Services (RegisterBlast) link will be removed and replaced with an updated LTI 1.3 version as of May 1, 2024. The new RegisterBlast link can be found in Content > Existing Activities > External Learning Tools.
Please reach out to Testing Services for instructions on restricting the module or content item to specific students.
Figure: The RegisterBlast integration link found under the Existing Activities menu in Content.
Contact
If you have any questions about the updates, please contact CourseLink Support at:
With this release, the Twitter field in the User Profile tool now reflects the current name of X. This also updates the example shown on the page.
CourseLink Editor – Consistent link creation with the ability to choose link format
As of this release, inserting a link into CourseLink Editor opens the Add Link dialog which allows users to determine if their links open in a new window (set as the default) or in the current window. The text box in the Add Link dialog also allows users to add text to their link. This provides users with a consistent workflow and control over how links respond in their content.
Figure: You can access the new Add Link dialog using the context menu, or with keyboard shortcuts.
Additionally, the dialog includes a new Insert Quicklink option, allowing users to easily insert a quicklink. When using Insert Stuff > Insert Link or Insert Quicklink > Link, the same Link, Text, and Open In options are displayed ensuring consistent link creation.
Finally, this feature updates the icons shown in Insert Quicklink to ensure all icons use the new style.
Figure: The Insert Quicklink menu with the updated icon style.
Instructors Only
Quizzes – Improved experience for generating quiz reports
This release introduces a better experience for instructors when running and exporting quiz reports with large amounts of data. To avoid time-out failures and screen freezing, the following report types now run asynchronously:
Attempt Details
Question Statistics
Question Details
User Statistics
User Attempts
When reports are ready for downloading, CourseLink generates a notification that instructors can access from the bell icon in the navbar.
Figure: Quiz reports are generated asynchronously. Instructors are notified when they are ready for download via the bell notification icon in the navbar.
McGraw Hill Connect – Widget and LTI 1.1 integrations
Please note that the McGraw Hill integration widget and all MH LTI 1.1 integrations will be removed after April 29, 2024.
Instructors should work with McGraw Hill to migrate content to the McGraw Hill Connect LTI 1.3 integration in the Content tool.
OpenEd Toolbox – PDF Splitter
This new custom tool found in the OpenEd Toolbox enables users to split a provided PDF file into multiple smaller PDFs, ensuring that each resulting PDF contains a target specified number of pages.
The PDF Splitter tool can be used by instructors when uploading scanned PDF files into Gradescope or by an SFC when uploading scanned paper questionnaires (SFQs) as a PDF into ABBYY.
Figure: The new custom PDF Splitter tool found under Miscellaneous in the OpenEd Toolbox.
Contact
If you have any questions about the updates, please contact CourseLink Support at:
