Spring 2013 Course Requests Open

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Winterim 2013 and Spring 2013 D2L course requests are now available in the D2L Course Request application.

As a reminder, course requests for a semester become available on the first day of priority registration for students, and course shells for D2L need to be requested for every semester you plan on using D2L.

Also, as per some of our previous announcements, the D2L course request application has been updated to make the process much more streamlined. For more information on these changes, please see our related blog post.

D2L Course Request Enhancements Now Available

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The LTC has overhauled the D2L Course Request Application and the new version is now available!  There are a number of changes and enhancements in the new release:

    • New title format for courses! Courses by default will now be named using the following convention: Introduction to Programming (Spring 2013)
      Instructors can also rename their course in D2L if desired
    • We reduced the number of screens and clicks needed to request a course
    • The application now directly pulls cross listed and combined sections from WINS, to eliminate confusion
    • The site design is optimized for mobile devices, allowing you to request your courses when you’re “on the go”
    • Authentication upgraded to use Single Sign On (Shibboleth).  Remember, to logout of the application you will need to close your web browser.

The application can be accessed from the “Instructors” page on the D2L login page, from the “Quick Tools” listed on the sidebar in D2L, or by the direct link D2L Course Request.

We have also created a short video that will walk you through a WINS timetable course request, and explain some of the new features.

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

D2L Course Request Outage – Upcoming Changes

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The D2L course request application will be unavailable between 6am and 7am on Thursday, November 8th while we deploy the new version of the application.  We will open course requests for the Spring 2013 semester starting Monday, November 12th.

A few of the key changes in the process are:

    • New title format for courses! Courses by default will now be named using the following convention: Introduction to Programming (Spring 2013)
      Instructors can also rename their course in D2L if desired
    • We reduced the number of screens and clicks needed to request a course
    • The application now directly pulls cross listed and combined sections from WINS, to eliminate confusion
    • The site design is optimized for mobile devices, allowing you to request your courses when you’re “on the go”
    • Authentication upgraded to use Single Sign On (Shibboleth)

We are excited about these changes and we hope that this makes your course request process easier.  If you have any questions or concerns regarding this, please contact UW-W D2L Support.

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.

Snackable Series: “Promoting In-Class Interactivity: Part 1”

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The Learning Technology Center (LTC) is pleased to invite faculty and instructional staff to attend the next free session in the Snackable Series “Solving Teaching Challenges One Byte at a Time.” In the “Snackable Series” sessions, a specific learning technology is spotlighted.  The next session will be held November 7 and 8, 2012 and focus on promoting in-class interactivity.

In this series learn how WebEx and social media tools can be used to increase the interaction between the instructor and students in your classes. Using social media tools to promote collaboration, such as Voicethread, wallwisher, and Twitter will be discussed. This session focuses on strategies for leveraging these technologies to personalize your class and increase engagement!

The dates, times, and location for this Snackable are as follows:

Wednesday, November 7, 2012:  Noon – 1 p.m.
Thursday, November 8, 2012:  11 a.m. to Noon
Location: iCIT Training Center, McGraw 112

Register online today for this “Snackable Series” session – seating is limited: http://signup.uww.edu

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.