Category Archives: For Students

Tips for Working in D2L During Performance Issues

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As of 1:00 pm on 9/6/12, the Learn@UW Utility is actively engaged with D2L and Microsoft experts for a solution to our D2L performance problems. All UW System campuses are experiencing slow D2L system performance.  As we wait for a resolution to the D2L issues, we have the following recommendations for you:

  • Try to work during low usage periods, including early morning (i.e., before 9 a.m.) and in the late evening or at night (i.e., after 8 p.m.). Avoid the 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. time period whenever possible as this seems to be the highest peak of usage time.
  • Draft your discussion messages in Word and copy/paste to D2L when you want to post. This strategy will save you from losing a message you draft in D2L in the event that D2L times out when you are submitting.
  • Print Content items for the current week so you can still reference course materials if/when D2L is down.
  • Ask your professor if it is acceptable to send assignments via email if you are unable to access the Dropbox. You can find your professor’s email address in the UW-W Directory (http://wp.uww.edu). Make a note of the instructor’s email address (and phone number if provided) in case you are unable to login and need to send a message.
  • Save each answer when taking a quiz. This strategy will prevent you from losing your quiz answers, in the event that D2L times out at the moment you submit your quiz.
  • Don’t wait until the last minute! Plan ahead and give yourself extra time to meet deadlines. Do not submit a quiz or upload a file to the Dropbox right before a deadline in the event that the system times out or takes longer than anticipated to process your request.
  • View the Dropbox submission history to verify that your Dropbox submission was successful. In the Dropbox area, click the “View History” button.
  • Check the D2L login page for news. Any information or updates we receive about outages or problems with D2L will be posted on the D2L login page.

We will continue to share any updates regarding the performance issues with you as we receive them from Learn@UW in Madison. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience at this time.

If you have questions, please email 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.

Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator Video Tutorials Available

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In addition to all of the already available resources, three new pages have recently been added to the UWW Instructional Wiki. These new pages each provide numerous video tutorials with a focus on one of the following three Adobe programs: Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator.

Adobe Photoshop is a very powerful program that allows users to touch up, tweak, and alter photographs in a nearly limitless number of ways. Photoshop can be useful to create professional looking photographs for class projects where top quality is a must. On the wiki page you will find useful videos that can teach you the basics of the program to build a solid foundation for further learning and understanding. Tutorials present include information on most of the tools available in the program, color correction, extracting parts of an image, color/contrast curves, and in-depth looks at specific often-used tools.

Where Photoshop is aimed at image manipulation, Adobe Illustrator focuses on creating images from scratch. Using numerous tools, users can create vectored pictures and logos for use in graphic design, displays, or anywhere else custom-created media can be used. Video tutorials on this page include a basic overview of the program, tips for using the program to draw from scratch, tips on using vectors, and detailed explanation of some of the more common creative tools the program has to offer.

The last in the trio of new tutorial pages is centered on Adobe InDesign, which allows for the creation of page layouts for use in physical or digital magazines, pamphlets, brochures, and more. The program grants the user complete control over text layout, font styles, image placement, and, for digital creations, embedded audio and video.  On the Wiki page you can find a basic overview of InDesign, instructions on how to work with images inside the program, and how to export your project as a finalized PDF file.

View the tutorials available at:

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.

Improved D2L Calendar Tool

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D2L now offers an improved Calendar tool to manage tasks for courses. You can view course events such as project due dates, homework assignments, and virtual office hours.

When looking at your calendar tool, just click on the events posted in your calendar to find out more information that your instructor has provided for you. The management tool lets you organize your calendar by customizing how the content appears.

You can change the color scheme of individual courses, toggle calendars to display the courses you want to focus on, and view individual course schedule. Color coded courses make it easier and clearer for you to know which assignments, quizzes, discussion or events are for each class.

Kaitlyn, from the Learning Technology Center, will demonstrate how to use and customize your calendar in this short video clip.

For additional information, please see the Calendar section of the Student D2L User’s Guide. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact UW-W D2L Support.

New D2L Documentation for Students

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Desire2Learn has provided new documentation specifically for student (or “Learner”) audiences. We’ve edited this documentation to better reflect our instance of D2L, and it is now available for our students.

The documentation covers all the basic tools available in D2L courses, including Quizzes, Dropbox, Discussions, and more, and also covers basic tasks within these tools.

Please visit the Student D2L Documentation site to take a look!

New for Clickers: ReponseWare

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ResponseWare is a web-based polling application from Turning Technologies that lets participants use the devices they use most, such as their mobile devices and computers. Participants using smartphones, laptops, and other Internet-connected devices can respond in real-time to interactive polling questions.

This application can be used as a replacement for a clicker keypad, and a ResponseWare license can be purchased directly from Turning Technologies via their “Student Store” website. Students who opt to use the ResponseWare enjoy the benefits of cost savings and are not required to keep track of and maintain a separate clicker keypad device.

Both ResponseWare and clicker keypads can be used in the classroom simultaneously, thereby allowing instructors to accommodate students with and without a personal mobile device.  To use both ResponseWare and clicker keypads, instructors simply enable use of ResponseWare within the Turning Point software that is already used.

For more information on ResponseWare, please see either the ResponseWare for Instructors wiki page or the ResponseWare for Students wiki page. For more information on clickers and TurningPoint, please see the Clicker Resources page.