August 2026 Updates

Final Calculated Grade is now the default grading option and is automatically released in Brightspace course sites. This allows students to see their current cumulative grade throughout the semester. Instructors should verify that Final Calculated Grade is selected and released in each course site, particularly when copying from a previous site that used Final Adjusted Grade.

Verify Final Calculated Grade Settings

Waitlisted Students No Longer Have Brightspace Access

Beginning this semester, waitlisted students will not be added to Brightspace courses or have access to course content. Once a student moves off the waitlist, they will be added to the Brightspace course through the standard enrollment process.

No action is required in Brightspace. However, instructors may want to clarify this change in beginning-of-semester communications, as students may be familiar with the previous process.

To check whether your course currently has waitlisted students, review your course information in UAccess. Questions? Contact the Registrar.

New Attendance and Survey Widgets Available

Attendance and Surveys may be missing from the Standard Navbar, but they haven’t gone far. While the navbar can no longer be edited to include custom links, you can still give students easy access by adding the newly available Attendance Register or Surveys custom widget to your course homepage.

Both are available in the list of widgets when editing your homepage.

FERPA and Unmapped Sections Widgets

Two Brightspace widgets can now help instructors spot items that may need attention.

The FERPA widget notifies Primary Instructors when a member of their teaching team, including a TA or Grader, has not completed FERPA training. Those team members will also see instructions and a link to the training in EDGE Learning. Once everyone has completed the training, the widget disappears.

Screenshot of the FERPA widget for Primary Instructors displaying all members of their teaching team who are not FERPA trained.

Screenshot of the FERPA widget informing individual members of the teaching team of the FERPA training requirement for their role.

If you’re listed as the Primary Instructor for a course section that has not been requested as its own Brightspace course site or added to an existing site, the Unmapped Sections widget will appear in the lower-right corner of your course homepage.

Visible only to instructors, the widget identifies sections that still need to be connected to a Brightspace site.

Screenshot of the Unmapped Sections widget listing course sections not connected to a Brightspace course site and directing the instructor to select Map to open the Course Site Request tool.

Question Library Imports Just Got Easier

Have questions in an existing quiz, survey, or self-assessment that you’d like to reuse? Add them to the Question Library with Import > Browse Existing Questions.

Question Library with the Import menu expanded and Browse Existing Questions highlighted.

Brightspace has refreshed the Source and Filter dropdowns, and both now include search fields. You can find the right collection and question type more quickly, then import the questions you need.

Browse Existing Questions window with the Source and Question Type filters highlighted. The Source dropdown is open, showing the new search field.

Opt-Out Option for Zoom Recordings in Panopto

Did you know that the Panopto and Zoom integration automatically copies all Zoom cloud recordings to Panopto, allowing them to remain available beyond Zoom’s 130-day retention period. Users are opted in by default, so no action is needed if you want your recordings to continue copying to Panopto.

If you don’t want your Zoom recordings copied to Panopto, you can now opt out.

Learn about the Panopto and Zoom Integration

Turn Images into Interactive Learning Experiences with Thinglink

In case you missed it, Thinglink is now available in all Brightspace courses! ThingLink allows instructors to create interactive images, virtual tours, 360° experiences, and other immersive learning activities by embedding multimedia content directly into visual environments.

Whether building a virtual field trip, an interactive diagram, or a scenario-based learning activity, the new ThingLink help pages can help you get started.