D2L eGrading Process Available for Spring 2015

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The D2L eGrading process is now available for the Spring 2015 semester.  This process allows instructors to transfer final grades from their Desire2Learn Gradebook directly to their WINS Grade Roster.

If you prefer step by step documentation, that can be found at: WINS eGrading Overview.

If you have any questions or concerns with the eGrading process, please contact UW-W Desire2Learn Support.

Snackable Series: Learning Artifacts – April 15/16

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Snackable Bag Spring 2015The innovative use of technology in higher education continues to provide new possibilities for enhancing teaching and learning.  Feel free to bring a lunch, and join us!

As the use of ePortfolios and an emphasis on authentic learning increases, so will the the importance of meaningful student learning artifacts. This workshops will address the basics of what learning artifacts are, assignments where they are particularly meaningful, and ways to showcase them in ePortfolios and capstone projects.

Learning Artifacts Sessions:
Wednesday, April 15, 2015: Noon to 1 p.m.
Location: iCIT Training Center, McGraw 112

Thursday, April 16, 2015: 11 a.m. to Noon
WebEx Link:  https://uww.webex.com/uww/j.php?MTID=m56d610e6bfc674fc36c17503c020789f
Password will be emailed out prior to the workshop.

To register for one or all of these “Snackable Series” sessions, please sign up at: http://signup.uww.edu Seating is limited.

If you have any questions regarding the Snackable Series and its sessions, please contact the UW-W Learning Technology Center.

Desire2Learn Service Update (4/2)

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On Thursday, April 2nd, Desire2Learn deployed Service Pack 17 to our D2L Learning Environment. In this latest update, the following fixes and enhancements were included:

Content

  • Fix: Users will no longer receive an error in the Content tool when there were Quiz topics that had Start Dates in the future and Due Dates attached. Users can typically see these “future” topics, but they are not accessible based on their Start Date.
  • Fix: In the Overview section in Content, users can now scroll to the bottom of long HTML files in all supported browsers.

Email

  • Fix: In the Compose Email window, buttons in the confirmation popup now function properly. The confirmation popup appears when a user tries to send an email with no subject or no body.

HTML Editor

  • Fix: The Equation Editor now loads successfully for on‐premise clients that may have different load balancer settings.

News

  • Fix: Cascading course enrollment news items are not pushed to users. Only explicit course enrollment news items are pushed to users. Minibar alerts now also consistently show for new news items. Previously, users with cascading enrollments might have received a high volume of news items instead of news items only for courses they were explicitly enrolled in.

Quizzing

  • Fix: Ordering questions now successfully show response-level feedback in quiz attempts. Previously, only overall question feedback showed, and the response-specific feedback was never displayed to users.
  • Fix: Users can now move questions in the Question Library back into previously-used sections or the collection root successfully.

User Progress

  • Fix: The Maximum Grade and Minimum Grade columns have been renamed Maximum Final and Minimum Final as they represent the maximum and minimum potential final grades a user could receive within their course.
  • Fix: User Progress now shows the full name of the user instead of “Anonymous User” when auditing a user.
  • Fix: The box plot charts within User Progress can now be disabled for a specific course by disabling the new Display box plots of the class grade distribution for graded items setting in User Progress Settings > Progress Report Information Settings area.
  • Fix: The Grades Summary: Grades Received data in User Progress now respects the date filtering which can be applied and shows grades received for the last 7 days, 30 days, or all time.

Widgets

  • Fix: Using Internet Explorer 9 no longer causes JavaScript errors when expanding or collapsing widgets with rounded corners. The closing/opening animation is no longer shown for those users.
  • Fix: The change made in Service Pack 14 to the My Courses widget’s Last Accessed list where users with cascading roles and/or users who have a large number of courses were sorted alphabetically has been reverted. Courses now are listed in order of when they were last visited.

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

Register Today! LTDC Virtual Showcase

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LTDC-Showcase-2015-1024x768The UW System Learning Technology Development Council (UWS LTDC) is pleased to announce our virtual showcase to be held on April 9-10, 2015 from 8:45 am – 4:45 pm.

Visit the conference website and register today!

Inspiring keynote presentations by Curtis Bonk of Indiana University, and Sarah Horton, the Director of Accessible User Experience for The Paciello Group will kick off each day of the showcase. Faculty and staff from UW System campuses will share their innovative uses, best practices, how-to’s and much more on a variety of learning technologies that span classroom, blended and online topics.

ebrary Database Trial

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Media LabThe Andersen Library at UW-Whitewater is conducting a trial of the ebrary Academic Complete ebook database through April 1, 2015.

ebrary is a subscription package of 100,000 ebooks that allows users to read and/or download titles to mobile or desktop devices.  This electronic format allows students in online or blended classes instant access to texts, anywhere they have an internet connection.

To explore this database, visit:  eBrary Academic Complete

Please share your feedback on this database by emailing:  eBrary Feedback

To learn more about Andersen Library’s database trials, visit:  New Database Trials

Call for Proposals: Accessibility Grant

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Media LabThe UW Learning Technology Development Council is pleased to announce grant funding for learning technology projects related to universal design and accessibility for persons with disabilities.

This funding can be used for small projects at UW-Whitewater, or with partnering campuses in the UW-System. Possible projects include addressing the accessibility of course materials, showcasing campus best practices, or creating and incorporating guidelines and policies around accessibility issues in higher education.  Proposals are due May 1, 2015.

For further details, refer to UW-LTDC Accessibility Project Application and Guidelines

For more information, contact Elizabeth Simpson at the LTC

Annual D2L Course Cleanup Process

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In order to maintain optimal storage capacity and ensure the ongoing smooth operation of D2L, a purge of older courses from the system is conducted annually by the UW System Utility.

We’ve begun to prepare for this year’s D2L Course Cleanup process that will take place on Friday, May 1st, 2015. On May 1st, 2015, courses from Fall 2011 through Summer 2012 will be purged from the D2L system. Instructors with one or more D2L courses slated to be purged were contacted via email on Monday, March 9th.

The D2L Course Cleanup resources site is available with more information on the Cleanup process and instructions on how to export course materials and student data.

If you have any questions or concerns about the D2L Course Cleanup process or need assistance, please contact UW-W D2L Support.

Snackable Series: Promoting Interaction in D2L

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Snackable Bag Spring 2015The innovative use of technology in higher education continues to provide new possibilities for enhancing teaching and learning. The Learning Technology Center (LTC) Spring 2015 “Snackable Series” showcases three current approaches to leveraging technology to promote learning online. Feel free to bring a lunch, and join us!

Promoting Interaction in D2L: March 18 & 19, 2015
It has been shown that the more often your students to log in to D2L, the more likely they are to succeed. This workshop will address ways to draw in your students, to make your D2L course a more engaging and vibrant learning experience. It will address mechanical aspects like layout and types of activities, and also social aspects like the formation of learning activities.

Promoting Interaction in D2L Sessions:
Wednesday, March 18, 2015: Noon to 1 p.m.
Location: iCIT Training Center, McGraw 112

Thursday, March 19, 2015: 11 a.m. to Noon
WebEx Link: https://uww.webex.com/uww/j.php?MTID=m5cbb932c14b364b953986c5f2be6916a
Password will be emailed out prior to the workshop.

To register for this “Snackable Series” session, please sign up at: http://signup.uww.edu Seating is limited.

If you have any questions regarding the Snackable Series and its sessions, please contact the UW-W Learning Technology Center.