D2L Brightspace Resources

D2L Brightspace is the learning management system used by each Minnesota State college and university.

The Minnesota State Learning Technologies team provides support and assistance with all aspects of the learning management system, including third party integrations and training on new Brightspace features and tools released by D2L.

Announcements

D2L Brightspace January 2026 (20.26.01) Update

Effective January 15, 2026, Minnesota State D2L Brightspace sites will be updated to the January 2026 release (version 20.26.01). With the January 2026 release, there are new and updated features within D2L Brightspace available to students and instructors. 

Release highlights include:

  • In Announcements: When instructors have in-line images in an announcement, those images are now included in the body of emails (such as announcement notifications or an emailed copy of an announcement).
  • In Brightspace Pulse app: Start, due, and end dates can now be reviewed by students from a course’s Content tab in the Brightspace Pulse app. When clicking the three-dot icon on a content topic, students can review the availability dates.

For a comprehensive list of updates, learn more in the January 2026 D2L Knowledge articles.

Training Opportunities

A variety of training is offered or coordinated by the Minnesota State system office for D2L Brightspace users, including faculty, trainers, admins, and campus support staff.

Training is provided in a variety of venues, including, but not limited to: written documentation, video tutorials, on-demand recorded webinars, and in-person or virtual workshops.

Webinars and Short Courses

Find live webinars and 3-week short courses related to D2L Brightspace on the Network for Educational Development (NED) Events Calendar.

Recorded Webinars and Tutorials

Find recorded NED webinars on the NED Resource Site and video tutorials for D2L Brightspace on the Minnesota State Learning Technologies Channel on Kaltura MediaSpace.

The video tutorials contain playlists that are dedicated for instructors and students, including:

  • Create and Manage Assessments
  • Assess Student Learning with Quizzes
  • Add Learning Materials
  • Communicate Online with Students
  • Getting Started with Assignments, Quizzes, and Discussions

D2L Brightspace Monthly Update Schedule 

Continuous delivery updates for D2L Brightspace are implemented on a monthly basis, typically on the third Thursday of the month. These dates are scheduled by our vendor D2L. Any changes to this schedule (such as delays in receiving the monthly update) will be updated here and communicated to campuses.

Note that on occasion D2L will also deploy hotfixes between monthly updates. Typically, no downtime is required for the monthly software updates. 

*Note: D2L's product versioning number for Brightspace monthly updates. The base number, 20.26, represents the year and .01 represents the month, which will increment with each monthly release.
Product Update Version*
January 15, 2026 20.26.01
February 19, 2026 20.26.02
March 19, 2026 20.26.03
April 16, 2026 20.26.04
May 21, 2026 20.26.05
June 18, 2026 20.26.06
July 16, 2026 20.26.07
August 20, 2026 20.26.08
September 17, 2026 20.26.09
October 15, 2026 20.26.10
November 19, 2026 20.26.11
December 17, 2026 20.26.12

Minnesota State D2L Known Issues

The Minnesota State D2L user community reports D2L Brightspace issues to the Minnesota State Learning Technologies Team.

The list is available on the Known Issues in D2L Brightspace site, visit to view and track known issues.

D2L Brightspace and Software Licenses

A number of software applications can be used to build course materials in D2L Brightspace.

Current software applications that are licensed for Minnesota State schools are:

  • H5P - H5P is a tool for creating interactive online learning content and activities, including slides,
    books, practice questions, drag and drop, hotspot, and branching scenarios.

To learn more, contact the System Director for Educational Technology and Development.

Contact

Please contact the Minnesota State Learning Technologies team by submitting a request at the IT Service Desk website.

For escalation of D2L Brightspace technical questions, please email the Minnesota State Learning Technologies team.