Author Archives: Susan Degen

New Clicker (SRS) Receivers

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In preparation for the upcoming upgrade to TurningPoint 5 during the Summer 2014 semester, the Learning Technology Center has received replacement kits from Turning Technologies that include an updated receiver and a clicker keypad.

Instructors and staff who have been using the TurningPoint Student Response System (SRS) in past years will need to exchange their current hardware (receivers, clicker keypads, etc.) for the new kits. The updated hardware in the kit is compatible with the current versions of TurningPoint and TurningPoint Anywhere that we are using on campus, so there shouldn’t be any issues after switching.

For reference, here is a comparison of the old clicker receiver versus the new receiver:

Old vs New ReceiverPlease drop by the Learning Technology Center (McGraw, room 120) to swap out your old clicker hardware for a new kit as soon as possible. We have plenty of kits for the current user group and for several new users if there is interest. Any questions or concerns can be directed to the Learning Technology Center via email.

What’s New in D2L Version 10.1

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Desire2Learn is scheduled for an upgrade to version 10.1. The upgrade outage will start on January 8th, 2014 at 9:30 PM and end on January 9th, 2014 at 10:30 AM (all times CT).

During this upgrade, D2L will NOT be available. This outage and upgrade will greatly affect Winterim courses, so please plan your course work accordingly. It is also suggested that you end any dropboxes, quizzes, or other deadlines a half hour before the outage’s start time (i.e., 9:00 PM CT) if there are items due on that day.

We have a “What’s New” video for instructors that highlights some of the changes that are coming with the upgrade.

Since the Content tool interface has undergone a significant change, we also have a overview video for instructors that covers the changes and how to accomplish most common Content tool tasks.

A “What’s New” wiki page is also available that covers version 10.1 tool changes in more detail, and you can visit that page here: http://geturl.uww.edu/1od

If you have any questions about the D2L upgrade or the updated Content tool, please Contact UW-W D2L Support.

D2L eGrading Process Now Open

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The D2L eGrading process allows instructors to transfer final grades from their D2L Gradebook to their WINS Grade Roster in a few simple steps. This process is currently open and available for instructors to transfer their semester grades from D2L to WINS.

For more information on how to use this process, please see the following Instructional Resources wiki pages:

We also have a video available to guide you through the first two steps:

If you need additional assistance with your Gradebook or if you have eGrading questions, please contact UW-W D2L Support.

Desire2Learn Upgrade to Version 10.1

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Desire2Learn logoWe’ve received a notice from Learn@UW, and they have confirmed the dates for the upcoming version 10.1 D2L upgrade. The upgrade is scheduled from January 8th, 2014 at 9:30 PM to January 9th, 2014 at 10:30 AM (all times CT). During this upgrade, D2L will NOT be available.

This outage and upgrade will greatly affect Winterim courses, so please plan your course work accordingly. It is also suggested that you end any dropboxes, quizzes, or other deadlines a half hour before the outage’s start time (i.e., 9:00 PM CT) if there are items due on that day.

The major change with this upgrade will be to the Content tool and its interface. We will be posting “What’s New” documents and videos with more details once we get closer to the upgrade window. If you have questions or concerns, please contact UW-W D2L Support.

Reported Issue with D2L Frames and Chrome Browser

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Google_Chrome_icon_(2011)Learn@UW has reported an issue in D2L with the latest version of the Chrome browser (version 30). Any frame inside an IFRAME that gets dynamically resized may not render correctly causing frame sizes to be too small to work with effectively.

Affected areas in D2L include Discussions and the Question Library. This issue should be corrected in Chrome version 32. Until then, the current workaround is as follows:

On screens where there is a visible frame divider, move the divider to restore a normal view. Where there is no visible frame divider, grab the side of the entire browser window and make the window narrower until the content comes into view. You may then resize the window as desired.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact UW-W D2L Support.

Desire2Learn Service Update (11/21)

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Desire2Learn logoThis morning, Thursday, November 21st, Desire2Learn Inc. deployed Service Pack 15 and Service Pack 16 to our D2L learning environment.

In addition to the fixed issues listed below, this update includes a hotfix for the intermittent issues we’ve been having with accessing Quizzes. Users should no longer receive Internal Errors when trying to access the Quizzes tool in a D2L course.

ePortfolio: eP items submitted to Dropbox now display correctly when reviewed in Dropbox for org units that have names containing an ampersand “&” character.

Discussions: When a Discussion post contains a quicklink and a notification email is sent for that post, the quicklink now correctly navigates to the linked item.

Quizzes:

  • Export to CSV now correctly exports unanswered questions.
  • Students now have a drop-down list for ordering questions instead of manually entering entries into a text box.

Web Framework and HTML Editor:

  • Embedded Flash content now displays correctly in Chrome and Safari even when the right-click options menu is disabled.
  • Users can now enter HTML5 elements into the HTML Editor.
  • YouTube videos embedded through Insert Stuff now use a secure protocol to allow them to work regardless of web server security.
  • You can now also insert YouTube videos through Insert Stuff using a secure protocol, which allows them to work whether the web server is secure or not.
  • Users can now refresh a quiz page in any supported browser without causing main action buttons to disappear.
  • iPad users are now able to submit quizzes if dialogs are set to open as pop-ups.

If you have any questions or concerns about the service pack updates, please contact UW-W D2L Support.