From left to right: Elizabeth Simpson (Instructional Design Specialist), Jessica Eddy (Technology Training & Advancement Advocate), Nicole Weber (Director of Learning Technology), Elaina Barr (Media & Training Specialist), Aaron Axelsen (Operations Manager).
The UW-Whitewater Learning Technology Center (LTC) is here and ready to help you! Our team of experts have a wide range of skills to tackle all of your instructional course related needs.
Join us Monday, August 29th from 2PM to 5PM at the annual ICIT Technology Open House to chat about teaching and technology. The event is located in room 275 (Grand Ballroom) in the University Center. We hope to see you there!
Desire2Learn 10.6 Upgrade
On June 9th, 2016, the Desire2Learn 10.6 upgrade was complete. Overall, there were not any major changes to the way D2L operates.
The Turnitin integration has been updated. The new integration moves the configuration to a new tab within the Dropbox edit screen. There are some additional options that are now available directly inside of D2L as well. Peermark is currently not available via the integration, and must be used directly from turnitin.com.
Respondus Lockdown Browser configuration has also been moved to a new link on the quizzes windows. The new integration allows for the use of Respondus Monitor, the Respondus iPad App and now has options to support Jaws and other screen reader technologies for enhanced accessibility.
For a full list of changes, see: What’s new in Desire2Learn 10.6.
Instructor Support Survey
Thank you to all the instructors who completed the LTC Instructor Support Survey this past April. Congratulations to Andrew Dahl (Marketing) and Rachelle Yankelevitz (Psychology) whose names were selected from the drawing to win mini iPads!
Over 100 instructors completed the survey and we could not be more pleased with the information that was provided. We intend to use the information to make data-driven decisions about our support, programming, resources, and emerging technology exploration projects over the next year.
We received so much great data that we are still sifting through it, but we will be sure to share what we learned on the LTC Instructional Resources Blog when the final report is complete. As a sneak peak, instructors identified being most interested in learning more about active learning strategies for technology-enhanced, blended, and online courses. This helped us to focus our themed workshop collaboration with LEARN this fall on Active Learning Strategies!
Weekly Email Updates
Did you know that you can get a weekly email updates about what’s going on in the LTC? Every Monday morning, you’ll get an email that contains a summary of the latest items from our blog. To signup for these updates, just fill out the form below!
Active Learning Workshop Series
The LTC and LEARN Center are pleased to co-sponsor a 3-part workshop series focused on active learning. This series will explore a variety of approaches to active learning, applicable to both face-to-face, hybrid, and online learning environments.
Session 1: Active Learning, an Introduction: September 15th, 11 am – noon, UC 262
Session 2: Incorporating Active Learning Strategies into your Teaching: Evidence-Based Practices, Case Studies, and Stories from the Field: October 19th, 12:30-2 pm
Session 3: The Unique Challenges of Active Learning in an Online/Blended Environment: November 17th, 11 am – noon
For more information, visit: https://wp.me/p2U0PY-foU
Fall 2016 Starter Course
The Learning Technology Center is pleased to share an updated D2L Starter Course for faculty and staff.
The Starter Course is a template, pre-loaded with important campus policies, teaching resources, student support resources, and module outlines. It can be copied into your course and edited to meet your teaching needs. While it was designed for the needs of online instructors, it is useful for any modality.
These student support resources come from the LEAP project of Jodi Galvan and Stephanie Douglas, who implemented these resources in their courses. Their students responded positively, and stated that they helped them to understand if online learning is a good fit for them, reduced fear and anxiety, and gave them time management skills to help them succeed.
For more information, visit: https://wp.me/p2U0PY-fp0
Instructor Spotlight!
Do you want to help us promote a technology for your fellow colleagues? If so, let us know! We are currently putting the final touches on some short videos featuring D2L, Quality Matters, and ePortfolio that we will be releasing soon. In the meantime, check out these videos from Carol Scovotti on using WebEx and Matt Vick on Rubrics!
Educause ELI Initiative
ICIT has purchased a membership to the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI)! Creating a profile and selecting UW-Whitewater as your organization allows access to the “community of higher education institutions and organizations committed to the advancement of learning through the innovative application of technology.” (http://www.educause.edu/eli).
This means access to:
- Over 12 free online webinars yearly that focus on teach and learning with technology (e.g., the next one of interest is likely on October 3 from 12-1pm: Digital Courseware in Higher Education–Developments and Possibilities)
- Seeking Evidence of Impact case studies and other briefs and white papers about emerging trends
- ELI 7 Things You Should Know About…™ series on the latest technologies
- Colleagues at other institutions that share the same interests through the ELI Community Forum
- Discounted registration to other face-to-face and online ELI events
Updates from the System: LERG
Fall 2016 is the beginning of the Learning Environment Requirements Gathering (LERG) process, in preparation for the learning management system RFP.
As many are aware, the current UW System contract for the D2L Brightspace learning management system (LMS) will end on June 30, 2018. Information from the requirements gathering process and the UW System Learning Environment Needs Analysis (LENA) project will be used to create and issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) in late 2016 with the objective of identifying and selecting the appropriate digital learning environment for the UW System institutions by Spring 2017. The Learn@UW Executive Committee will manage and oversee the requirements gathering process.
The UW System intends to gather requirements from various stakeholders this fall. We will update you are we receive additional information.
Films on Demand D2L Integration
If you are not aware, UW-Whitewater has a license for the vast array of film content available in the Films on Demand library. You can now access these Films directly from Desire2Learn!
More information at: https://spaces.uww.edu/x/A4Bk
Exploration: New Technologies
We have been exploring a number of cool technologies and have some new things for you to try out!
- Learning Analytics Tool Chest Pilot. We are participating in the UW System Learning Analytics Tool Chest Exploration Project for the Spring 2017 semester. Learning analytic software allows students, instructors, advisors, and administrators insight into specific avenues that can influence student success in a course. More information to come soon!
- KleerBoard. We recently added a new technology into our media recording studio. The KleerBoard is a clear acylic board that you can use like a white board. Being clear, we can shoot through it with the camera and create some unique videos. More at: https://wp.me/p2U0PY-fnC
- TurningPoint Cloud. We have deployed TurningPoint Cloud to campus. This comes with a number of new features and better D2L integration. More at: https://wp.me/p2U0PY-fnL
Need Desire2Learn Help?
We are here to help you with all your Desire2Learn (D2L) course needs! The best way to request support is by using our online support form which is located at http://d2l.uww.edu/contact
We do our best to respond to all support request within 1 business day of receiving them. We do monitor the box on evenings and weekends for critical issues on a best effort basis.
Don’t forget to request for fall semester courses! Course creation must be completed every semester, and it is a manual process on our end. Courses created by 3pm on business days are typically available the next day. Request for your courses at http://my.uww.edu/d2lrequest
Don’t forget to Visit Us
Are you still with us? If so – great, you made it to the end! Be sure to stop by the LTC throughout the semester to visit. As a reminder, we are located in McGraw Hall, Suite 120 and are around between 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM weekdays. We can also be reached at ltc@uww.edu or 262.472.1004. We’ll always be willing to help, and have plenty of treats on hand for your sweet tooth. Have a great semester!