Desire2Learn Tips

Have you heard?

noreply@blogger.com (BizLearn TAMUK) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 19:02:00 +0000

Version 10.0 New Feature Tasks Widget

noreply@blogger.com (BizLearn TAMUK) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 19:00:00 +0000

In Version 10.0, when using the Calendar tool in BizLearn users are able to add "tasks" and these same tasks are now populated in the Tasks widget that appears on the My Home or Course Home page. Try it out for yourself by clicking the Calendar link and adding a task.

Desire2Learn Announces New Cengage Integration Partnership

noreply@blogger.com (BizLearn TAMUK) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 18:57:00 +0000

Desire2Learn, Inc., a provider of teaching and learning platforms, and Cengage Learning, a provider of teaching, learning, and research solutions, announced the availability of enhanced interoperability of Cengage Learning’s digital content and solutions within the Desire2Learn platform.

http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/Digest/DesireLearn-Announces-New-Integration-Partnerships-83901.asp

D2L + YouTube Videos

noreply@blogger.com (BizLearn TAMUK) — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 14:40:00 +0000

Source: https://kb.wisc.edu/luw/page.php?id=19073

Content topics that are Quicklinks to YouTube videos no longer play within the D2L content window. This includes existing topics, copied topics, or newly created topics.

On June 30, 2011, YouTube enabled x-frame options on all of their pages. They have set this option to use 'sameorigin' which prevents YouTube's pages from being displayed in a frame/iframe that is not from the same origin.

YouTube videos will play from Quicklinks that are set to open in a new window, or if you create the topics as new HTML docs and use the "Insert Stuff" button in the HTML editor to insert the code to be embedded for the video (available on YouTube.com).

If your course contains quicklinks to YouTube videos that won't play, you have two options:

Edit the Quicklinks to open the videos in a new window. To do so, go to the 'Properties' tabbed page of the topic and check the box by "Preview/view the content topic in a new window or tab".
If you want the videos to be viewed within the D2L Content frame, create the topics as new HTML documents and use the "Insert Stuff" button in the HTML editor to insert the embed code for the video (available on YouTube.com). If you choose the "YouTube" option, you will create a link in the HTML document that will open the YouTube video in a new window.
Under recent versions of the D2L Learning Environment, if you chose the "YouTube" option, you created a link in the HTML document that opened the YouTube video in a new window.
Under the current version of the D2L Learning Environment, using "Insert Stuff" and the "YouTube" option embeds the video directly in the HTML page. Older links can be remade to have the video display within the page.

How do I create a file in the "Locker" tool?

noreply@blogger.com (BizLearn TAMUK) — Sun, 20 May 2012 15:13:00 +0000

Click the Locker tool link.
Click New File.
Type a File Name.
In the Folder field, click the Choose Destination button to change or add the folder destination.
Type a Description, if you want.
In the Edit Contents field, add the content you want to go in the file.
Click Create.

How do I activate (or deactivate) my course?

noreply@blogger.com (Not Available) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 19:15:00 +0000

By default, each course is set automatically to inactive status. One week before the class start date, faculty members will activate their course by

First, click Content on your course navbar.
Next, click Manage Files.
Lastly, click Course Offering Information.

Optimal Grades tool settings for large courses

noreply@blogger.com (BizLearn TAMUK) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:53:00 +0000

Optimal Grades tool settings for large courses

If your grade book contains a lot of users or grade items you might find that it loads slowly. Consider the following tips to improve performance.

Set the number of users to display per page to a low value.
Sort the User List by user instead of grades.
View the User List by group or section if possible.
Do not show decimal places in the grade book.
Do not repeat user details or grade item details in the grade book.
Do not repeat the calculated final grade or the adjusted final grade at the start of the grade book.
Do not select the Automatically keep final grade updated option.
Only display one user detail (i.e. Email, Username, First Name, Last Name) in the grade book.
Only display one grade detail (i.e. Points grade, Weighted grade, Grade scheme symbol, Grade scheme color) in the grade book.
Only display grade items and categories that you want to edit in Spreadsheet View in the grade book.
Do not create unnecessary grade items or categories.
Do not create unnecessary Calculated or Formula grade items.
Avoid making changes to grade schemes, the grading system, or the final grade calculation type once grades are assigned to users.
Only import users and grade items when data has changed.

Hiding Student Grades

noreply@blogger.com (BizLearn TAMUK) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:42:00 +0000

The following directions are for when you want to enter student grades periodically without letting the first group of students see their grades before other students (ex. entering speech or test grades while other students have yet to give the speech/take the test).

To hide grade items/grades from students:

(1) Click on "Manage Grades"

(2) Click on the grade item you want to hide

(3) Click on the "Restrictions" tab

(4) Click “Hide this grade item”

Note: This will hide the entire grade item, not just the grade.

Frequently Asked Questions

noreply@blogger.com (BizLearn TAMUK) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:19:00 +0000

View the large and growing FAQ! Take a look!

TIP: Hiding a module or topic in Content

noreply@blogger.com (BizLearn TAMUK) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 12:48:00 +0000

Content: Hiding a module or topic

From the D2L Course Home page, click on [Content] on the main navigation bar.
Identify the Module or Topic you wish to hide. Click on the yellow “pencil” icon located to the right of the title.
Click on the [Restrictions] tab.
Click to check the box beside “Hide this topic.”
Click on [Save].

Note: If you hide a Module, everything beneath that module (topics and sub‐modules) will also be hidden.

TIP: Student View of "Content"

noreply@blogger.com (BizLearn TAMUK) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 12:44:00 +0000

Student view of course content:

From the Course Home page, click on [Content] in the main navigation bar
Click on [View Content] under “Content Areas” on the left

Note: “View Content” is what the students see when they click on the [Content] link in their main navigation bar.

Quizzes: Can't Live With Them, Can't Live Without Them

noreply@blogger.com (BizLearn TAMUK) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 15:06:00 +0000

Quizzes: Can't Live With Them, Can't Live Without Them
Author: Rick Nigol, Co-founder and Senior Consultant, eLearn Campus

Confession #1: I'm not a big fan of quizzes as a method of assessing student learning. Quizzes tend to measure lower level learning objectives focused on knowledge recall. Higher level learning objectives focused on applying knowledge, synthesis of knowledge, and evaluation of ideas are better measured via things like project work, essays, case studies, etc.

Confession #2: In just about every eLearning project on which we work – whether in higher education, the corporate world, or the non-profit sector – online, automated quizzes are deployed. On the corporate or non-profit side, automated quizzes may be the only form of learner assessment. In higher education, they are usually a significant part of the learner assessment mix, especially for large-enrolment courses. Why the contradiction? Because when you have hundreds of learners and limited resources for assessing and providing feedback to them, automated quizzes offer undeniable efficiencies. Hey, I live in the real world, and I understand these pressures.

So what can we do to make quizzes as effective as possible? Here are some tips to remember next time you are constructing a quiz.

Make the Questions Relevant and Focused
An easy trap to fall into is to create quiz questions that merely focus on the trivial. For example, I have seen questions in workplace health and safety courses that ask learners what date a particular piece of labor protection legislation was passed. This is a useless piece of trivia. It does not really assess whether the learner has a grasp of key concepts related to workplace health and safety and what needs to be in place to ensure compliance with relevant laws. To move away from trivia questions, use the course learning objectives as the starting point when constructing quizzes. (Note: if memorizing dates of legislation is one of the learning objectives, then there are bigger problems afoot.)

Ask Deeper Questions
Most quizzes tend to depend on "what" questions, asking learners to demonstrate that they have a basic understanding of facts. Try mixing in some "how" and "why" questions as well, which can measure some higher level learning objectives focused on applying new knowledge. Following up on the example above, these three types of questions may look something like this.

"What" Question: What is the XYZ clause of the Health and Safety Act?
"How" Question: How is the XYZ clause of the Health and Safety Act relevant in the case of a worker's refusal to work in an unsafe environment?
"Why" Question: According to XYZ clause of the Health and Safety Act, why would a worker be justified in refusing to work?

There is always a place for "what" questions, but "how" and "why" questions allow you to dig deeper into the learner's comprehension of course material.

Make Quizzes Difficult, but not "Tricky"
Easy questions with obvious answers don't really measure a learner's competence. Any incorrect answers provided as options should sound plausible. Correct answers should be unambiguous. Try to avoid overly complex questions that do not lend themselves to straightforward choices, and definitely do not pose any "trick" questions (e.g., using double negatives) to try to catch learners out. Such questions only serve to sow confusion and shift the focus to the learner trying to figure out your logic, versus focusing on the question at hand.

Provide Useful Feedback to Learners After the Fact
Quiz feedback that says "correct" or "incorrect," without explaining why is not very helpful to learners. After all, someone may have gotten the right answer merely by guessing. And what good is it for a learner to know they answered a question incorrectly, if they do not learn why it was incorrect? Useful feedback and/or debriefs after quizzes make these exercises more than checkpoints for learner assessment. These exercises then become learning opportunities in themselves.

If you take a little time to ensure that the quizzes you construct are challenging, and are focused on key learning objectives, you can achieve the best of both worlds. You can automate part of your student assessment process while still engaging your learners fairly deeply and helping them realize key learning objectives.

Rick is a Co-founder and Senior Consultant at eLearn Campus, a full-service eLearning consulting company. eLearn Campus offers a range of eLearning solutions for clients in higher education, the corporate sector, government, non-profits, and associations.

rick@eLearnCampus.com www.eLearnCampus.com

Please Note: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Desire2Learn Incorporated

Source: http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue22/articles/?id=2

Printing Pages from Course eTextbook

noreply@blogger.com (Not Available) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 08:48:00 +0000

You may print up to 10 pages of your eTextbook at any one time. There is a limit to how many pages you may print overall: 150% of the total number of pages in the book. You will be alerted if you reach this limit.

If you are working offline, you can not print. To print you will need to go online and print from your online eTextbook.

To print, do the following:

Click on the Print button on the CourseSmart Reader toolbar. A Print window will appear.
Enter the page you would like to start with (the page you are on will appear by default, but you can change this).
Indicate how many pages (up to 10) that you want to print.
Click Print.You will see a new web browser window (or tab) with the selected pages formatted for printing. (You may have to disable your pop-up blocker to see this.)
Use your browser's Print command to print the pages.

Browser Requirements for eTextbooks

noreply@blogger.com (Not Available) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 20:42:00 +0000

CourseSmart eTextbooks can be read on the following browsers:

Online

IE 7.0 or higher (Windows)
Firefox 3.5 or higher (Windows/Mac)
Safari 3.0 (Mac)
Chrome

Offline

Firefox 3.6 or higher (Windows/Mac)

Tip: Create a Holistic Rubric in D2L

noreply@blogger.com (BizLearn TAMUK) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 01:13:00 +0000

Holistic rubrics allow you to assess participants' overall achievement on an activity or item based on a single criteria using predefined achievement levels.

Holistic rubrics may use a percentages or text only scoring method. Percentage holistic rubrics have a percentage range associated with each achievement level, which allows users' quiz and grade item activities to automatically be assigned an achievement level based on their quiz score or grade. Other activities may also be evaluated with percentage holistic rubrics, you just have to manually enter users' achievement levels.

Click Rubrics on your course navbar.
Click New Rubric in the top tool menu of the Rubric List page.
Enter a Rubric Name and Description.
Select Holistic in the rubric Type drop-down.
Select how many achievement levels you want the rubric to have in the Initial # of Levels field.
Select either Percentages or Text Only for the scoring method.
Select whether you want the rubric to be associated with Competencies.
Click Save.

TIP: Withdrawn Students

noreply@blogger.com (BizLearn TAMUK) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:09:00 +0000

You may have noticed that if your students withdrew from the class they are not showing in the classlist anymore. Also, their dropbox and quiz submissions are all gone. You cannot find them in Grades either. However, the messages they posted to Discussions stay there. I did not realize this until I was trying to enter zero in Grades for the students who did not submit their assignments and could not find their names in Grades. I went to check Banner and found that both of them have W as their final grades. Apparently, they withdrew from the class.

In Blackboard, you can get withdrawn students’ grades in Gradebook if you change the setting to show grades of unenrolled students. In D2L, although withdrawn students are removed from Grades, you can still retrieve withdrawn students’ grades and the comments you left for the assignments.

Go to Classlist, click on the Report icon, and you will see a list of withdrawals. Click on the yellow ruler with a green check mark icon to open the grades for the student.

Thanks to PPCC Desire2Learn for the tip information.

Tip: Quiz Question Importer Tool

noreply@blogger.com (BizLearn TAMUK) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 18:55:00 +0000

Our colleague at UW-Madison, Rich Path, has developed a tool to import quiz questions into D2L.

Here's a link to the downloadable program and documentation:

https://academictech.doit.wisc.edu/help/learnuw-quiz-importer

Thank you, Rich!

Tip: Insert YouTube Videos

noreply@blogger.com (BizLearn TAMUK) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 18:23:00 +0000

YouTube has made some changes to how their videos act within certain frames, so the Quicklink feature in D2L for these types of videos does not work consistently in any browser. So, to use YouTube videos in your BizLearn (D2L) course, you will need to use use the Insert Stuff feature:

Click on [Content].
Go to [Manage Content].
Select [Add New Topic] to the desired module.
Choose [Create New File]; you'll have to fill out some of the usual information here, but you'll see an HTML editor here instead of a place to upload your files.
Click on [Insert Stuff]
Choose [Insert a URL]. Paste the URL of the YouTube video into the empty line.
Click [Next].
Click [Insert].
Click [Save]

Tip: Manage Files

noreply@blogger.com (BizLearn TAMUK) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 18:07:00 +0000

The Manage Files tool is THE file cabinet for your course.

You can use this tool to organize and upload files associated with your course offering. We recommend that you organize your files into folders, creating a folder for each module of content.

Use caution when moving files and folders if they are referenced in the Content area. Moving a file that is currently in use as a topic might result in a broken link.

Access Manage Files by

clicking the Edit Course link on your course navbar, then click the Manage Files.
clicking Manage Files in the Course Administration widget on your course homepage.

Can I save a copy of my course before it’s removed from Desire2Learn?

noreply@blogger.com (BizLearn TAMUK) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 18:17:00 +0000

Yes, faculty who wish to save a “back-up” of their course content may use the Export/Import utility to save a compressed file (.zip) to their local computer or disk for storage. This file will contain a copy of the course as of the day of the export.

Note: The exported file will contain NO student data or grade book items (tests,assignments, etc.).

To save a record of the grades, they may be exported to a comma separated value (.csv) file via the “Grades” link in the Navigation bar that can be viewed using Microsoft Excel. While the official course grade resides in the Registrar’s office, exporting the grades maybe an effective tool for meeting requirements of state and federal legislation as it relatesto the keeping of student records.

TIP: Teach More Efficiently with D2L Hyperlinking

noreply@blogger.com (Not Available) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:07:00 +0000

Which tools or features in D2L allow you to teach more efﬁciently?
Source: James Moore of DePaul University - jmoore@depaul.edu

"Hyperlinking - Within D2L there’s the ability to link from element to element. I could link to any object in the course, instead of having to provide explicit instructions for students to follow. By this I mean linking to elements within the course – such as surveys, discussion board, previously mentioned materials, drop box, etc.

With Blackboard I could create basic course links, but not from inside a paragraph of text, or from an image. In D2L I am able to hyperlink in context – linking directly to the element “X”, not to the general area."

NEW Features Coming to BizLearn (D2L)

noreply@blogger.com (Not Available) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:04:00 +0000

Coming to BizLearn (D2L) on July 18, 2011:

Audio Recording in Tools

Users can now easily record and attach audio files in Dropbox, Discussions and News. When a user clicks the Record Audio button, a Flash (ActionScript) component collects audio data from users’ microphone and generates .wav files which are stored with the associated tool. Users can pause the recording, clear it and restart it.

Course Activity as Intelligent Agents Trigger

You can now use the Last Course Access date as a trigger for Intelligent Agents to send users email after a certain length of time passes. For example, using Intelligent Agents to send email messages to users such as “I noticed you haven’t accessed Accounting 101 in 2 weeks. Is everything okay?” is now possible. Previously, access-based Intelligent Agent notifications were only possible based on a user logging in to the system or not.

Use Dropbox Rubric points and feedback in Grades

The process of transferring a rubric score and feedback for a dropbox submission to the gradebook is now more streamlined. From the Leave Feedback page, instructors can now review submissions, complete the associated rubric, and scale/transfer the rubric score and feedback to the fields on the Leave Feedback page used for updating the gradebook, allowing the rubric score and feedback to be easily used within the Grades tool.

Desire2Learn Mobile Web now with Discussions

Users can now access the Discussions tool in from their mobile devices using Desire2Learn Mobile Web. They can navigate forum and topics, read messages, compose new messages, reply, subscribe to notifications, rate messages, search message posts, and flag messages. In addition, if users access the links in a discussion email notification from a mobile device, they are taken to the mobile version of the page for reviewing the message, topic, or forum.

and more!

TIP: Save Time – Create a D2L Quiz Template

noreply@blogger.com (Not Available) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Quizzes in BizLearn (D2L) have many settings. Chances are, you select many of the same settings repeatedly for each quiz you create i.e. “time limit”, “grace period”, “submissions”, “# of attempts”, etc. Instead of making these choices every time you create a new quiz, create a quiz template which has these settings, but has no questions.

Start by creating a new quiz. Type template in the “name” field and save your quiz. Make all of the selections that will be the same in your other quizzes, and save the quiz again. Do not set an availability or add any questions.

When you are ready to create a quiz with questions, instead of selecting “New quiz”, select “Copy Quiz.” Select the template quiz you created from the “Quiz to Copy” drop-down menu. Type in the New Quiz Name. Place a check mark in the “Edit Quiz after Copy Completes” box, and click the “Save” button.

All of the changes you made for your template will then be selected and applied to your new quiz. Next, add your questions, set any applicable availability, and save your quiz.

Instructor Tip: You can copy your Quiz Template from one course to another.

TIP: Personalize Your BizLearn (D2L) Content

noreply@blogger.com (Not Available) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:48:00 +0000

By inserting {firstname} into any HTML spot in your course (news post, content, release conditions, feedback, etc), D2L automatically places your students’ first name into your message. Doing this adds an element of personalization to your class. This also works if you’d like a student’s last name or username inserted — {lastname} or {username}.

Remember to include the brace symbol ‘{‘ and ‘}’ at the beginning and end of each variable.

(click to view)

Tip Source: http://blog.lsc.edu/onlinepeerreview/

Desire2Learn User Quote

noreply@blogger.com (Not Available) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:51:00 +0000

"One of the things I like is Desire2Learn’s focus on pedagogy and accessibility. That's a big deal, and a lot of companies focus strictly on just the bells and whistles and the technology, where as Desire2Learn uses the technology to do what it's designed for, which is to teach, and that’s one of the things I really love."

Jennifer Leimer | Director of eLearning
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community Colleges

Desire2Learn Tips

Have you heard?

*Version 10.0 New Feature* Tasks Widget

Desire2Learn Announces New Cengage Integration Partnership

D2L + YouTube Videos

How do I create a file in the "Locker" tool?

How do I activate (or deactivate) my course?

Optimal Grades tool settings for large courses

Optimal Grades tool settings for large courses

Hiding Student Grades

Frequently Asked Questions

TIP: Hiding a module or topic in Content

TIP: Student View of "Content"

Quizzes: Can't Live With Them, Can't Live Without Them

Printing Pages from Course eTextbook

Browser Requirements for eTextbooks

Tip: Create a Holistic Rubric in D2L

TIP: Withdrawn Students

Tip: Quiz Question Importer Tool

Tip: Insert YouTube Videos

Tip: Manage Files

Can I save a copy of my course before it’s removed from Desire2Learn?

TIP: Teach More Efficiently with D2L Hyperlinking

*NEW* Features Coming to BizLearn (D2L)

TIP: Save Time – Create a D2L Quiz Template

TIP: Personalize Your BizLearn (D2L) Content

Desire2Learn User Quote

Version 10.0 New Feature Tasks Widget

NEW Features Coming to BizLearn (D2L)