Academic Technology Updates for January 2025

The January update increases the minimum supported browser versions to:

• Chrome 129
• Edge 129
• Safari 18
• Firefox 130

The minimum legacy browsers are now:

• Chrome 94
• Edge 94
• Safari 15
• Firefox 92

The following browsers are no longer supported:

• Chrome 67
• Edge 80
• Safari 12
• Firefox 67

D2L has also added support for Firefox ESR, versions 115 and above.

The Automatic Zero feature allows a score of zero (0) to be automatically applied to unsubmitted student activities after the due date passes. Applying the Automatic Zero feature eliminates the need for instructors to manually set missing submissions to zero. Additionally, students receive a more accurate view of their grade calculations for individual activities and the overall course.

Supported submissions include file and text-based assignments, quizzes, and LTI tool activities (integrations). 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 students. The feature follows the same rules as existing due dates.

Note: There are no changes to Grades data sets, as methods for identifying system-entered grades already exist.

The individual scores and feedback from Assignment and Discussion grade items are now synchronized with the grade book using the Update button regardless of whether a change was made. The Update button in Assignments and Discussions evaluations is always available to update, even when no changes were made. This feature also enables instructors to verify that the information between the grade book and the Assignment or Discussion tool is properly synchronized.

Previously, in MyCourses, when an instructor evaluated an assignment, discussion, or quiz using a rubric and saved it as a draft, then added feedback directly in the grade book and saved, the feedback did not sync back to the evaluation page when the instructor clicked Update.

This feature updates the instructor workflow of evaluating a rubric and providing feedback to students. Now, instructors can quickly assess all ungraded Rubric criteria and then go back through to add feedback where necessary. To provide a more streamlined experience for instructors using analytical-type rubrics for assessments in the Consistent Evaluation experience for assignments, discussions, and written response quiz questions, the instructor can automatically set ungraded levels to a minimum or maximum value.

Note: This functionality does not appear as an option in the following scenarios:
If there is only one level in the rubric, the rubric is holistic type. It is only available for analytical-type rubrics

From a drop-down beside the rubric name in each assessment pop-out, or a context menu in Consistent Evaluation, there are two options:

• Set Ungraded to [top rubric level name]: where all ungraded levels within this rubric are set to the maximum value using the top level of the rubric.
• Set Ungraded to [lowest rubric level name]: where all ungraded levels within this rubric are set to the minimum value using the bottom level of the rubric.

When an instructor selects an option, a confirmation dialog appears to advise of the bulk action and provides an option to undo the update.

Previously, instructors were required to click individual criteria, which, for large rubrics was a time-consuming task involving many clicks to set the rubric score to 100%.