Category Archives: Documentation & Tutorials

Documentation, tutorials, and any help sources

Respondus 4.0

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Respondus is a convenient tool for professors to create and manage exams that can be printed to paper or published directly to Desire2Learn. Whether you are familiar with online testing or relatively new to it, Respondus will save you hours on each project! With Respondus you can:

  • Create exams and assessments offline using a Windows computer.
  • Insert mathematical and scientific symbols using the Respondus Equation Editor.
  • Import and Export question from Desire2Learn.
  • Respondus Testbank Network offers thousands of publisher testbanks that instructors can use for free.

For more information on how to install Respondus to your computer, please visit the Respondus wiki instructional page.

If you any have question or concerns please contact the Learning Technology Center (LTC) for more information via email OR visit us at McGraw Hall Suite 120.

ePortfolio Tutorial Videos – Now Available!

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The Learning Technology Center (LTC) has created a new video tutorial series for Desire2Learn ePortfolio to help guide students through the basics of the ePortfolio tools.

ePortfolio is a user-centered application for students to store, organize, reflect on, and share items that represent what they have learned. Students can present a professional webpage of their personal learning journey by including documents, graphics, video files, audio files, and presentations that they have created during their collegiate career. This user friendly program will allow students to share their work, achievements, knowledge, and reflections to advisers, potential employers, and their peers.  The videos are available below and can be found on our YouTube channel.

If you have any additional questions regarding this, please contact UW-W Desire2Learn Support.

Google Docs

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Google Docs (Drive) is a web-based office suite and data storage service offered by Google, which allows users to create and edit documents online, while collaborating in real-time with others, from any computer with internet access.

Faculty and students have the ability to upload and create Documents, Spreadsheets, Forms, Drawings, and Presentations online without having to install any software. Google Docs serves as a collaborative tool for editing in real time, allowing documents to be shared, opened, and edited by multiple users at the same time.  Additionally, the application can notify users when a comment or discussion is made or replied to, facilitating collaboration and supplying a revision history, allowing users to see what changes were made.

Google Drive is primarily intended as a convenient online location where students and faculty can store files, completely eliminating or reducing the need to rely on portable USB drives.  This functionality extends beyond simple file storage: files stored on Google Drive can easily be shared with on- and off-campus colleagues or coworkers, eliminating the need for sending bulky e-mail attachments.  Now you can simply include a link to the file stored on Google Docs, and recipient will always have access to the most recent information.

The tutorial is available at: Google: Docs and Sites, or sign up for training at http://signup.uww.edu.

If you have any additional questions regarding Google Docs, please contact the UW-W TSC Helpdesk.

Scheduling WebEx Meetings for Students

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As many of you know, UW-Whitewater has WebEx setup for all faculty and staff.  We have been getting a number of requests for student use of WebEx in conjunction with various classroom activities.  Students cannot directly schedule meetings in the WebEx system.  However, instructors can schedule the meetings for the students in a way that the instructor will not need to be present to start up the meeting.

The document below will walk through the steps of how to use the “Advanced Scheduler” to schedule a meeting where students can join, and present to their groups without the need for the instructor to be present.

It is important to remember that students should be using the VoIP audio option only. The option to connect to audio over the phone should not be used. If the phone option is used by students, any costs incurred will be billed back to the department.

The tutorial is available at: WebEx: Scheduling Meetings for Students

If you have any additional questions regarding this, please contact the Learning Technology Center.

D2L Known Issues List

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On the Instructional Technology wiki, a page is available that lists known issues with the current version of D2L. These are issues, bugs, or errors that Desire2Learn is aware of and have plans to correct in future Service Packs and updates. This Known Issues list wiki page is available here.

As Service Packs and updates are applied to D2L, we will update this wiki page with information on what the Service Pack has fixed.

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:

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

Uploading Documents to D2L ePortfolio

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There are a wide variety of software programs available on campus computers, as well as distributed freely on the Internet.  Each of these programs typically saves their files into a proprietary format which will only work with the program in which it was created.  While D2L ePortfolio (eP) allows nearly any type of file to be used in a eP presentation, oftentimes a eP user may not have the software necessary to view all the various file formats.  One way to solve the problem of file viewing is to convert files that will be used in and eP presentation to a more universal file format, such as a PDF document or image file.

Believe it or not, there are many people that do not have access to Microsoft Office products.  Fortunately, Microsoft Office (versions 2007 and later) provides a way for users to save Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents directly to PDF format.  For more information on how to accomplish this task, please see: http://geturl.uww.edu/1de. (Note:  All campus computers currently have Microsoft Office 2010 (Windows) and Microsoft Office 2011 (Mac) available for users.)

If you are using a Mac, you may notice that when you create a file, sometimes it is missing the filename extension.  For example, you may have a file named “project1” that is a PDF file.  That file may work fine on your Mac, however if a person running Windows trys to open it they will receive an error.  To solve this problem, you need to rename the file to be “project1.pdf”.  This will ensure that both Mac and Windows users will be able to view the file.

Paid software programs, such as Adobe Acrobat Pro, are also available.  Adobe Acrobat Pro allows you to print directly to PDF, and convert most other file formats to PDF.  Adobe Acrobat Pro is available to all students in the General Access Labs, and also in some college specific labs.  Instructors can also use this software in the Learning Technology Center.

If you have any questions regarding the conversion of files for use in your ePortfolio presentation, please contact D2L Support.

D2L 9.4 How to Post and Subscribe to a Discussion Topic

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Subscribing to a course discussion topic allows you to receive an email notification when a fellow student or an instructor has posted a message in that topic. You can customize your subscriptions by choosing how frequently you would like the notification to be sent to your email as well as a specify a time of day to receive it.

In this short video, Erica will show you step by step how to post a message in a D2L discussion and how to subscribe to a discussion topic.

For more information, please see the D2L User’s Guide section on discussions. If you have any further questions, please contact UW-W D2L Support.

New Digital Assessment Tool: GradeMark

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A new online tool called “GradeMark” is now available to UW-Whitewater instructors!  GradeMark allows instructors to more easily and quickly provide “digital” (rather than handwritten) feedback and grades on student papers and assignments. GradeMark is a digital assessment tool that is part of the Turnitin suite. Both OriginalityCheck for plagiarism detection and GradeMark tools are integrated in the dropbox of Desire2Learn (D2L).

Using GradeMark, instructors may electronically edit, provide customized comments, and grade papers utilizing time-saving drag-and-drop tools, including:

  1. QuickMarks: Standard editing marks and comments for composition format, punctuation, and usage.
  2. General Comments:  Instructor personal comments that can be linked to any word, paragraph, or point in the document. Comments may be stored and used again.
  3. Comments Lists: View all QuickMarks and comments for the document in one location.

Watch this video to learn more:

For detailed instructions, please visit the GradeMark wiki.  Attend the LTC workshop on the Turninin Suite (register at http://signup.uww.edu) or schedule a personal consultation with a member of the Learning Technology Center.