April 2025 Updates

Brightspace Updates

Quizzes New Evaluation

Brightspace's new Quiz Evaluation Experience, which has been available as an opt-in feature since September 2024, will now be enabled as the default experience starting this month. An opt-out option will remain available until July 2025. The new experience now supports all Brightspace quiz question types.

When opening an evaluation for the first time after the new Quiz Evaluation Experience is enabled, instructors can choose Turn it off to revert to the classic experience or Leave it on to continue using the enhanced experience.

Quiz Feedback Available from Grades

An update to the Grades tool now allows learners to view quiz attempts feedback directly from the Grades page. This update provides a more convenient way for learners to track their quiz performance.

Previously, learners could only view On Attempt feedback in the Quizzes tool on the Quiz List page, depending on the submission review settings. Now, both viewing options are available.

Updates to Annotations Software

You may notice some differences in the Assignments Annotations feature. This month’s update transitions the annotations software from PSPDFKit to Nutrient 1.0.0, addressing key issues such as WCAG/A11y layout fixes, improved cursor behavior, and corrected saving of formatted text. It also resolves crashes on iPad OS versions 16 and below.

Other user interface changes include the removal of tooltips for buttons like Next Page, Previous Page, and Search, and the Search button no longer highlights when selected.

New User Interface for Media Library

The Media Library (opens in new tab) has been redesigned to align with the look and feel of other Brightspace tools. While the functionality of the previous media player has been retained, instructors can now manage media assets more efficiently across courses.

One key improvement is that changes to a media file are automatically reflected in all courses using the file. Additionally, the new Add Assets button replaces the previous Upload and Record buttons, and the Recycle Bin icon has been moved to the top-right corner, displaying a 90-day countdown for file retention before permanent deletion.

Integrated Technologies Updates

YouTube Removes Streaming of Auto-Captions in PlayPosit Bulbs

PlayPosit/WeVideo’s new partnership with YouTube Education removes ads and the YouTube interface in bulbs, but impacts captioning. YouTube auto-captions will no longer stream into PlayPosit bulbs.

This change affects all bulbs relying on YouTube auto-captions. If a YouTube video only has auto-captions, users must manually upload a caption file into PlayPosit. Manually added captions will continue to stream as expected.

The Instructional Technology team recognizes the accessibility impact of losing auto-captions. We are working with the vendor and stakeholders to advocate for a better solution.