What’s New in D2L Version 10.3

Desire2Learn is scheduled for an upgrade to version 10.3. The upgrade outage will start at 9:30 PM on Wednesday, June 4th, 2014 and end at 10:30 AM on Thursday, June 5th, 2014 (all times CT).

During this upgrade, D2L will NOT be available. This outage and upgrade will greatly affect Summer 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.

In addition, Learn@UW has scheduled server maintenance on Saturday, June 14th from 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM. Desire2Learn will not be accessible during this window.

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

A “What’s New” wiki page is also available that covers version 10.3 tool changes in more detail, and you can visit that page here: https://geturl.uww.edu/1sk

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

D2L eGrading Process Now Open for Spring 2014

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.

Final Post

Well Guys,

This is it. This is the end. The end of the semester that is. Do you know what that means? NO MORE BLOGS! 🙁   While I know all of you are probably already cried out from last week’s post, and you can probably no longer see the screen from the tears you are shedding. You must all pull yourselves together and emotionally prepare yourselves for this last post.

This is because it is the spring semester closing post! It has vital information for wrapping up your spring semester.

First of all, you should make note of Andersen Library’s Extended Hours from 7am to 2am  from Sunday May 11th to Thursday May 15th.

Second, if you haven’t already, you should get your summer schedule on lock. Are you taking summer classes? Do you have an internship? A part-time job? What are  you doing with your life?

Third, start packing for your moving day if you have one. I know I do and I also know what a pain it is to pack the day of moving.

Fourth is to prepare for your password switch-over in D2L. Starting thinking up your new password and memorizing it.

desire2learn-logo_0Last, prepare for the D2L upgrade! This is the most important change youll have to deal with.  There are all sorts of new and amazing things happening with our favorite browser!

For example, anyone who uses the Binder tool will be please to know that you can now more easily send things to Binder. You can even send your class’ whole content page if you want. So start making those EduDentity accounts cuz you are going to want them!

Another change is to the Dropbox section. There is a new look that is not only more appealing but twice as user friendly. There is a similar appearance change to Discussions and now there will be a picture displayed of the last person who made a post, making it easier than even to discuss with your classmates.

Remember your ePortfolios? I know I do. Well the last big change I want to point out is going to be to your ePortfolio. The layout will be different as well as how you use it. You can subscribe and ignore people just as easily as our favorite social networking sites! But in a more educational setting, of course.

That is all I have for you guys, both for today and for this year.

I hope you all have an easy finals week as well as an amazing summer!

Thank you for your time!

Elaina

Now Introducing: Lynda.com!

UW-Whitewater recently gained access to Lynda.com. Lynda.com is an extensive and valuable knowledge base of video tutorials for different kinds of technology and software. Topics covered include (but are certainly not limited to) 3D and Animation, Audio and Music, CAD, Design, Photography, Video, Web, and other specific software programs. All UW-W students, faculty, and staff have access to Lynda.com.

lynda_com screenshot

To access Lynda.com, go to http://go.uww.edu/lynda, and log in with your UW-W Net-ID and password.

Once you are logged in, you can browse the Lynda.com library or search for a topic. You can either individually watch one video tutorial at a time on a specific subject or you can watch an entire class. You can view which courses are recommended for you, create playlists of your favorite videos, or view your course history. Lynda.com is a wonderful resource that you can utilize for learning a new technology or brushing up on some rusty skills!

The Cure to Final Fever

Hey Guys,

With just a couple of school weeks left in the semester, that makes this one of my last blogs (Cue tears and wails of disappointment)!

Because of that, I thought that it would be an appropriate time to give you some tips and reminders about D2L so you don’t have to panic and be sick with final fever. So sit back, relax, and grab your pen and paper to jot down these game changing, secrets to success.

  • Save after every question while taking a quiz. You would think I wouldn’t have to put this one at the top of the list…

Save-icon

  • If something happens during a timed quiz in D2L, you can always close out and go back in. Just remember that the timer’s still counting down!
  • When submitting a project with a lot of different files to Dropbox, put them all in a zipped folder.

zipped-folder-image

  • There is a 300 MB file size limit on Dropbox submissions.
  • If something is giving you trouble, trying switching browsers! We recommend using Safari or Firefox.
  • Be cool, stay in school; sometimes when it comes down to grading and the difference between an A- and a B, attendance matters!
  • Don’t procrastinate, and if you do then do it well and don’t call try calling the helpdesk at midnight, the night of your Dropbox due date.

procrastinate

  • Remember to turn in all of your A/V Checkouts equipment, it’s just cheaper for you that way.
  • Remember when your final time slot is; self explanatory.
  • Use Google Drive and you wont have to worry about forgetting your flash drive.

drive1

  • Professors don’t want you to fail, they’re just doing their jobs; but if you have spent more time on Facebook than in that class, then you probably deserve it.

That’s all I have for now! Remember these things and instead of final fever, you’ll be feeling fantastic, finally!

Thanks for your time,

Elaina

Media Lab/General Access Labs

Hey guys,

We’ve only got three weeks left can you believe it? The time has seemed to fly by!  I remember my first post to your guys!

Ah memories.

This is about the time of the year when people really start to get stressed. Classes are starting to wind down and students are basically on a mad sprint to the finish. With all of this panic and confusion, it’s easy to forget the essentials like, what the school offers to help you in this time of need.

Media LabA popular example of forgotten luxuries is the General Access Labs! The general access labs, located in the basement of Andersen, or Andersen 1008. They offer free black and white printing, for all of those pesky end of year assignments. They have a mix of computers with all different types of programs and software to help you with your classroom assignments.

If you need help with this software or if you would like to print something in color or get it things laminated, the General Access Labs also contain the Media Lab.

This is where you can print in color and get things laminated, this also includes poster printing for anyone who wants to make their presentations as professional as can be. The Media Lab also offers A/V Checkouts where you can check out, projectors, screens, tablets, headphones, microphones and all sorts of other different audio and visual recording equipment.

Mic DramaTo check out this equipment go to av-checkouts.uww.edu and fill out the online request form, but make sure you get a faculty member’s permission. You can pick your equipment up in the Media Lab.

The general access labs also have both partner pods and Collab rooms for all of your group work needs.

So you see there is really no excuse to complain when you have all of these things here to help you with anything you need!

Their hours of operation are as follows:

Andersen 1008 Lab/Media Lab(A/V Checkout):

Monday-Thursday: 8am-Midnight

Friday: 8am-6pm

Saturday: 9am-5pm

Sunday: 1pm-Midnight

McGraw 19 Lab

Monday-Wednesday: 8am-Midnight

Thursday & Friday: 8am-6pm

Saturday & Sunday: Closed

That’s all I have for now, I hope this helps you find what you need.

Thanks for your time,

Elaina

Desire2Learn Service Update (4/24)

On Thursday, April 24th, Desire2Learn Inc. deployed Service Pack 16 to our D2L Learning Environment. This will be the last service pack that is applied to our D2L instance before the upgrade to version 10.3 in June.

In this latest service pack, several performance improvements were made to tools across the Learning Environment, including navigation, Quizzes, and Content. The following fixes were also included:

Dropbox: The Dropbox folder event log now correctly records the creation and deletion of Dropbox folders performed via the Content tool.

Document Viewer: PDF documents containing math equations with negative signs are now converted and displayed in Content or Dropbox correctly.

Calendar: If Content contains a topic that is linked to course objects that are not yet available (e.g., an “Inactive” quiz, a hidden Discussion forum, etc.), but have due dates set through Content, users no longer encounter an error when attempting to access the Content or Calendar tool.

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

Browser Blunders

Hey guys!

Recently we have been getting a lot of messages concerning the inability to upload documents to D2L from Google Chrome.  This is because of compatibility issues between an older version of Google Chrome and the most recent version of D2L. Specifically, the Pop-up windows were having trouble opening properly.

Google_Chrome_icon_(2011)However, I am here to tell you to panic no more!

The issue has finally been fixed and by updating your google chrome to the most recent version, you should be able to upload documents to your heart’s content.

If for whatever reason you are unable to update your browser in this way, you would have to choose a different browser in which to upload your documents. I would recommend Firefox as a second choice as it is billed as the most compatible with D2L.  Safari can be third if you are a Mac user, and Internet Explorer sits in last place. That is very reliable, if not fast, last place.

fire foxIf you use these browsers instead of Google Chrome anyways, then you probably both don’t know what I am talking about and have no concerns about uploading your documents at this time.

Whatever browser you use, I hope that you do not have to hurl yourself into a panic when your document doesn’t upload right away. Just calmly open another browser and upload your document and as soon as you are done; download the newest version of Google Chrome.

If you’re interested, there’s a list of supported browsers available on the D2L Platform Requirements page.

That’s all for now,

Thanks for your time!

Elaina

Social Media in the Classroom

In this presentation, Dr. Eileen Schroeder from the College of Education and Professional Studies shares how social media and other web 2.0 tools can be an effective way to engage and connect with students.

Dr. Schroeder explores how a variety to web 2.0 tools and techniques can enhance learning. One common use is to help learners discuss and share thoughts. Another ability of a variety of web 2.0 tools is to help students and instructors gather, sift, and evaluate information.  In this presentation, Dr. Schroeder also discusses how these tools can be used to encourage problem solving, how they can serve as a platform for assignments, and how they can help students to curate their personal information.

These tools can encourage a new kind of socially constructed learning which focuses on collaboration and knowledge building. Over the last few years, the educational community has experienced many changes in the knowledge and skills expected of students and the characteristics of learners. Simultaneously new information technologies like cell phones and web 2.0 tools have become widespread. Dr. Schroeder explains that in light of these changes, different methods for teaching and learning are needed, and web 2.0 tools can help meet these needs.