Below are the archived announcements from 2021 that were posted in the D2L Announcements widget by LSC-Online. The newest information is at the top. Please visit the Announcements page for the most up-to-date information.
LSC-Online also provides other outlets of helpful information, including an email newsletter, a video newsletter, and an event calendar.
December D2L Update
Posted in D2L on Dec 17, 2021 9:00 AM
The December update for D2L is scheduled for Thursday, December 23rd.
Important information regarding the update:
Alerts
- Alerts in the minibar now will persist for 90 days | To clarify: 90 days of alerts won't be available until 90 days after deployment.
Assignments
- The new create/edit experience will become the default view. The legacy view will no longer be available.
Discussions
- Consistent evaluation experience will become the default view. The legacy view will no longer be available. See the Grade a Discussion article.
- Availability and locking date settings will change on December 20, 2021.
Quizzes
- Many interface labels and dialog boxes now use more descriptive language to offer more intuitive and consistent terminology to instructors and learners when using Quizzes. For example, Automatic Grade is now Automatically Publish Evaluation. Previously, many interface labels and dialogs used short terms that did not provide clear meaning for some users.
System Maintenance - VTAC Forms
Posted in D2L on Dec 17, 2021 8:00 AM
Please be advised that starting tonight, December 17, at 8:00 pm, VTAC forms (such as Merge Rosters or Reconcile Your Rosters) will be unavailable.
VTAC help articles will still be available, and this process will not affect any work done in D2L or Third-party Integrations.
Turnitin Scheduled Maintenance
Posted in D2L on Dec 17, 2021 7:00 AM
Turnitin will be conducting necessary maintenance starting Friday, Jan 7 at 6:00 PM, through Saturday, Jan. 8 at 2:00 AM.
During this time, services will be unavailable. Papers should not be submitted to Turnitin or Turnitin-enabled assignment folders in D2L during this time.
RESOLVED: New Respondus Monitor Issue
Posted in D2L on Dec 8, 2021 11:48 AM (Edited)
The issue reported earlier has been resolved and all Respondus services are working normally again.
If you experience any difficulty, click the Tech Help button in Respondus Lockdown Browser for prompt assistance.
Original Message:
Respondus has received reports of users encountering errors when they attempt to start a proctoring session since 9:55 am.
RESOLVED: Respondus Monitor Issue
Posted in D2L on Dec 7, 2021 1:50 PM (Edited)
The issues have been resolved and all Respondus services are working normally again. If you experience any difficulty, click the Tech Help button in Respondus Lockdown Browser for prompt assistance.
Original Message:
Respondus has reported a service outage caused by the Amazon Web Services outage since 9:45 am that has affected Respondus Monitor (webcam and Lockdown Browser).
LockDown Browser exams delivered on Chromebook and iPad devices are affected by the outage (Windows and macOS are fine).
RESOLVED: D2L Course Widget Outage
Posted in D2L on Dec 7, 2021 10:19 AM (Edited)
The Courses Widget and other tools within D2L are now available. D2L is working normally.
Original Message:
The Courses Widget within D2L is currently unavailable. D2L is working to resolve this issue and we will update this announcement once the widget is operating correctly.
Please use the Grid icon in the D2L Minibar to access your courses until this issue is resolved.
Opt-In: New Assignment Create/Edit Experience
Posted in D2L on Nov 29, 2021 12:01 AM
You can Opt-In to try the new assignment experience! This feature improves assignment creation and editing, allowing instructors to better evaluate options.
This new experience involves a new page layout, with options being displayed in an expandable format. Assignment creation workflows have not changed.
This feature will become permanent in December 2021.
Video Preview Expired
November D2L Update
Posted on Nov 26, 2021 12:01 AM
The November update for D2L is scheduled for Friday, November 26th.
Important information regarding the update:
Content
- When viewing a PDF in the document viewer, the menu is now at the top.
- The number of email addresses that can be added to the To and CC fields in a single email has been increased to 200.
Consistent Evaluation Experience Opt-In: Discussions
Posted in D2L on Nov 3, 2021 12:01 AM
You can Opt-In to try the new evaluation experience! This feature improves the assessment of a topic or an individual learner, allowing instructors to better review and evaluate discussion contributions.
This new experience involves a new page layout, with evaluation tools and the post being evaluated displaying side-by-side. Assessment workflows have not changed.
This feature will become permanent in December 2021.
Preview Video Expired
Knowmia Retirement: Summer 2022
Posted in D2L on Nov 1, 2021 12:01 AM
As was previously announced, TechSmith has decided to retire their Knowmia video product. Like many of you, we are saddened by this decision, since we have grown to love the product.
October D2L Update
Posted in D2L on Oct 26, 2021 3:00 PM
The October update for D2L is scheduled for Friday, October 29th.
Important information regarding the update:
Content
- When viewing a PDF in the document viewer, a Print button appears.
Course Import
- Faculty can view the history of import attempts within a course.
D2L Text Editor
- The images' drag/drop and copy/paste functionality are available in many areas.
Maintenance on myLoneStar
Posted in D2L on Oct 1, 2021 2:04 PM
Please be advised that starting Saturday, October 2, 3:00 pm through Sunday, Oct. 3 at 8:00 pm, myLoneStar will be unavailable.
You can still access your email by accessing your Microsoft 365 account at https://portal.office.com .
You can still use D2L by using the Brightspace by D2L Alternate Login Page.
RESOLVED: Turnitin Service Degradation
Posted in D2L on Sep 30, 2021 11:00 AM (Edited)
Turnitin has resolved the earlier issue causing the service degradation.
Original Message: Turnitin has reported an issue with similarity reports. Faculty are not able to add Turnitin to assignments, and students are getting error messages when they try to submit an assignment to Turnitin. Turnitin is working to resolve the issue and we are monitoring the situation. LSC-Online will provide an update when this issue is resolved.
September D2L Update
Posted in D2L on Sep 21, 2021 12:01 AM
The September update for D2L is scheduled for Friday, September 24th.
Important information regarding the update:
Import and Export Content
When instructors export D2L course packages, you can export release conditions and any associations. As a result, you no longer need to re-create these release conditions when you import the course package.
Rubrics
- Instructors can copy and delete criteria groups from rubrics.
- The score for a rubric will be displayed on the rubric tile even when the rubric is collapsed.
- The HTML editor for the rubrics has been updated to the new HTML editor.
Scheduled Archiving
Posted in D2L on Sep 15, 2021 12:01 AM
Starting Thursday, September 30th, we will be archiving D2L courses, sandboxes, and community groups that are at least one year past their end dates. This archive will include courses from Spring 2020 and before.
Archived courses will no longer show in your My Courses list in D2L; however, they will continue to be available in your course copy menu for one additional semester.
If you need to regain access to an archived course, please go to VTAC Support and select the Archived Course Restore form under Course Design to request that your access be restored.
Video Newsletter - Fall 2021
Posted in D2L on Aug 25, 2021 9:30 AM
The Online Update is a video newsletter produced every major semester by Lone Star College-Online.
Here are the topics in the Fall 2021 Episode:
- New Assignment Evaluation Experience
- Updated Editor Toolbar
- Course Wide Accommodations
- Quick Eval Widget
- VTAC Knowledge Base
- VLAC for Students
August D2L Update
Posted in D2L on Aug 24, 2021 12:01 AM
The August update for D2L is scheduled for Friday, August 27th.
Important information regarding the update:
Assignments
- There is a change in the Evaluation tool for Assignments. The new tool allows inline rubric scoring, gives the professor the ability to see all of a student's submissions in the evaluation screen, and is more intuitive to use.
D2L Text Editor
- The new D2L editor is available throughout the D2L environment. The editor offers more options and is more intuitive to use.
Brightspace Pulse
- All grades for a course are now visible in a new Grades tab.
Fall 2021 Semester Start
Posted in D2L on Aug 23, 2021 5:00 AM
Welcome to the Fall 2021 Semester!
To get started in your D2L course, please explore the following resources:
D2L Semester Start Checklist: This checklist will assist you in making a smooth start in your D2L courses and includes topics like copying content and merging course sections. You can find it at the following link: D2L Semester Start Instructor Checklist.
Visit the VTAC Knowledge Base: This site contains guides to help you work with your new D2L course. You can learn more at the following link: Using the VTAC Knowledge Base.
D2L resources for students can be found at this link: Virtual Learning Assistance Center
RESOLVED: D2L Webex Integration Outage
Posted in D2L on Jul 23, 2021 10:19 AM (Edited)
The Webex Integration within D2L is now available. Faculty and students should be able to access meetings through the integration without incident.
Original Message: The Webex Integration within D2L is currently unavailable. LSC-Online is working to resolve this issue, and will update this announcement once the integration is operating correctly. Please use LoneStar.Webex.com to host and attend upcoming meetings until this issue is resolved.
July D2L Update
Posted in D2L on Jul 20, 2021 12:01 AM
The July update for D2L is scheduled for Friday, July 23rd.
Important information regarding the update:
Quizzes
- The introduction field is no longer available; if there was text in the introduction field, it has been moved to the Description field.
- The report setup will no longer be located on a tab when editing the quiz. Instead, the context menu for the quiz on the Quizzes screen will now have Setup Reports and View Reports.
- The "Grace Period" for a quiz can now be set to zero.
- For quizzes that contain questions that need to be manually scored (such as Written Response questions) AND that have the "Allow attempt to be set as graded immediately upon completion" option disabled, a new Pending Evaluation status appears beside the quiz attempt on the Grade Quiz page.
VTAC Forms Unavailable on July 20th
Posted in D2L on Jul 7, 2021 9:00 AM
Please be advised that starting Tuesday, July 20, at 10:00 pm through Wednesday, July 21, at 12:00 am, the VTAC Support Page and VTAC forms (such as Merge Rosters or Reconcile Your Rosters) will be unavailable due to maintenance.
VTAC help articles will still be available, and this process will not affect any work done in D2L or Third-party Integrations.
June D2L Update
Posted in D2L on Jun 22, 2021 12:01 AM
The June update for D2L is scheduled for Friday, June 25th.
Important information regarding the update:
Attendance Registers - Instructors will now be able to restore mistakenly deleted attendance registers and associated session data.
Sent Email - When a user sends an email, a copy will automatically be saved in the Sent Mail folder.
Rubrics - Instructors will now be able to reorder criterion groups.
Quiz Questions - Scientific and mathematical equations are rendered seamlessly without the need to use the LaTeX equation option in the Equation Editor.
Work To Do Widget - Students will see a summary of assigned learning activities from all their courses that are overdue or have an upcoming due date.
Summer 2021 Semester Start
Posted in D2L on Jun 1, 2021 12:49 PM
Welcome to the Summer 2021 Semester! To get started in your D2L course, please explore the following resources:
D2L Semester Start Checklist: This checklist will assist you in making a smooth start in your D2L courses and includes topics like copying content and merging course sections. You can find it at the following link: D2L Semester Start Instructor Checklist.
Visit the VTAC Knowledge Base: This site contains guides to help you work with your new D2L course. You can find it at the following link: VTAC Knowledge Base.
D2L resources for students can be found at this link: Virtual Learning Assistance Center
VTAC Forms Unavailable This Weekend
Posted in D2L on May 28, 2021 10:00 AM
Please be advised that starting this evening, Friday, May 28, through Monday, May 31, at 9:00pm, the VTAC forms (such as Merge Rosters or Reconcile Your Rosters) may be intermittently unavailable.
During this time, LSC-Online will be running a process to ensure iStar and D2L records are the same. If you encounter an error using a form during this time, you may try again after some time has passed.
This process will not affect any work done in D2L.
Scheduled Archiving
Posted in D2L on May 26, 2021 12:00 PM
Starting: Wednesday, June 9, 2021
For: Courses one year past their end dates
Starting Wednesday, June 9th, we will be archiving D2L courses, sandboxes, and community groups that are at least one year past their end dates. This archive will include courses from Spring 2020 and before.
Archived courses will no longer show in your My Courses list in D2L; however, they will continue to be available in your course copy menu for one additional semester.
If you need to regain access to an archived course, please go to VTAC Support and select the Archived Course Restore form under Course Design to request that your access be restored.
May D2L Update
Posted in D2L on May 25, 2021 8:00 AM
The May update for D2L is scheduled for Friday, May 28th.
Important information regarding the update:
Rubrics Improvements - Instructors will be able to copy an individual rubric criterion. They will also be able to print rubrics or export to PDF.
Assignments - Instructors will be able to annotate .txt file-based assignments.
Quick Eval Widget - A Quick Eval widget will appear in the right-hand column of the D2L home page and course home pages. This widget displays a list of up to six activities with submissions to evaluate.
VTAC and VLAC Service Degradation - RESOLVED
Posted in D2L on May 20, 2021 1:46 PM (Edited)
The issue was identified and fixed. VTAC and VLAC have returned to normal operation.
Original Message: The VTAC and VLAC knowledgebases are currently experiencing a degradation in service. Articles are loading very slowly or are not loading at all. We are aware of the issue and do not currently have an estimated time for resolution.
SmarterProctor Scheduled Maintenance
Posted in D2L on May 19, 2021 1:45 PM
Please be advised that tomorrow, Thursday, May 20, from 12:00 AM through 1:30 AM, the SmarterProctor site will be unavailable.
Students should not attempt a quiz using the SmarterProctoring service during this time.
Quizzes that do not use SmarterProctoring will not be affected.
Knowmia - Service Interruptions - RESOLVED
Posted in D2L on Apr 20, 2021 1:55 PM (Edited)
Original Message: Knowmia has recently reported an outage with a 3rd-party provider, resulting in various Knowmia functionality errors. This includes library management, media creation, video processing, and media playback. They are working on a resolution and will update us when they have more information or when the service functionality has returned.
You should see a banner on your Knowmia site, which reflects the current state.
April D2L Update
Posted in D2L on Apr 20, 2021 9:00 AM
The April update for D2L is scheduled for Thursday, April 22nd.
Important information regarding the update:
HTML Editor - The default HTML editor is being updated. The new editor will have refreshed formatting options, more font and symbol options, and improved accessibility functions.
Accommodations Improvements - Instructors will be able to update quiz accommodations from the classlist and to search and filter the classlist based on which students have accommodations.
External URLs - When an external URL is entered as a content topic, it will be set to open as an external resource by default.
Request for Feedback
Posted in D2L on Apr 19, 2021 12:01 AM
The Lone Star College Libraries are asking for your feedback! Please take this brief survey about the library to help us evaluate our services.
Pearson Service Degradation - RESOLVED
Posted in D2L on Mar 29, 2021 3:09 PM (Edited)
Update from Pearson: Technical teams have addressed the issue that was impacting XL-based courses. We apologize for the issue and thank you for your patience.
Original Message: Pearson has made us aware of a technical issue that is impacting Pearson MyLabs. Faculty and students may not be able to access Pearson MyLab Tools at this time. We will keep you updated as the situation progresses.
March D2L Update
Posted in D2L on Mar 25, 2021 3:48 PM
The March update for D2L is scheduled for Thursday, March 25th.
Important information regarding the update:
Assignments - When copying an assignment within a course, instructors are now automatically directed to the Edit Assignment screen of the newly copied assignment.
Browsers - Since Microsoft has discontinued support for the Edge Legacy browser, this will no longer be a supported browser for D2L. A warning banner will display for anyone accessing D2L with the Edge Legacy browser.
Quizzes - When copying a quiz within a course, instructors are now automatically directed to the Edit Quiz screen of the newly copied quiz.
Textbook Information
Posted in D2L on Mar 8, 2021 11:42 AM
Find spring textbook info at LoneStar.edu/Bookstore.
VTAC Scheduled Maintenance
Posted in D2L and VTAC on Mar 5, 2021 12:00 AM
Please be advised that beginning Monday, March 8, 2021, at 3 PM through Monday, March 8, 2021, at 5 PM, the VTAC site will be unavailable. This includes all forms in VTAC Support.
The following support options will continue to be available:
- OTS can be contacted using the OTS Service Desk Chat or by calling 866-614-5014.
- D2L can be contacted using the "Chat with Support" tab in the lower right corner of their knowledge base, by calling 877-325-7778, or by opening a D2L Support ticket.
- LSC-Online support is available by appointment with a campus representative (instructional designer) or a VTAC agent (technologist). You can also contact VTAC by email.
Thank you.
Scheduled Archiving
Posted in D2L on Feb 26, 2021 8:05 AM
Starting: Thursday, March 11, 2021
For: Courses one year past their end dates
Starting Thursday, March 11th, we will be archiving D2L courses, sandboxes, and community groups that are at least one year past their end dates. This archive will include courses from Fall 2019 and before.
Archived courses will no longer show in your My Courses list in D2L; however, they will continue to be available in your course copy menu for one additional semester.
If you need to regain access to an archived course, please go to VTAC Support and select the Archived Course Restore form under Course Design to request that your access be restored.
February D2L Update
Posted in D2L on Feb 25, 2021 11:54 AM
The February update for D2L is scheduled for Thursday, February 25th.
Important information regarding the update:
Quiz Accommodations - Instructors can now grant certain quiz accommodations through the Classlist that will apply to each quiz for the student. Accommodation options include more time to complete quizzes and the ability to bypass right-click restrictions. Accommodations set in the Classlist can still be overridden through Special Access settings on any quiz.
Unable to Login to D2L - RESOLVED
Posted in D2L on Jan 29, 2021 5:32 AM (Edited)
Students and employees should now be able to access all impacted services without incident.
Original Message: Currently, we are not able to login to D2L from my.lonestar.edu. Please use d2l.lonestar.edu and login via the 'alternate login' link. As soon as the issue is resolved, we will update this post.
January D2L Update
Posted in D2L on Jan 26, 2021 2:01 PM (Edited)
The January update for D2L is scheduled for Friday, January 29th.
Important information regarding the update:
Brightspace Learning Environment – Supported browsers. Brightspace Learning Environment's browser version check now displays warnings for older browsers.
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 Brightspace Learning Environment.
Video Newsletter - Spring 2021
Posted in D2L on Jan 13, 2021 8:33 AM
The Online Update is a video newsletter produced every major semester by Lone Star College-Online.
Here are the topics in the Spring 2021 Episode:
- The Copy Only Role
- Retake Incorrect Questions Only
- Quiz Question Attachments
- Gradebook Exemptions
- VTAC Knowledge Base
- VLAC for Students
Knowmia Support Update
Posted in D2L on Jan 6, 2021 8:39 AM
TechSmith Knowmia is removing Capture recording support for Windows 7 and 8.
Important information:
Windows 7 & Windows 8 Capture support is ending in May
Support for video recording on Windows 7 and Windows 8 (including Windows 8.1) will end on 5/31/2021.
In the next week or two, users running Capture on these operating systems will begin to see an in-app message, alerting them of the need to update to Windows 10 as soon as possible.