Some users may have experienced an unscheduled service interruption between approximately 9:15 and 10:02 PM tonight (4/22/12). Users would have been unable to login to the service during this time frame.
Learn@UW has identified and corrected the issue, and users should now be able to log in. Thank you for your patience!
In order to maintain optimal storage capacity and ensure the ongoing smooth operation of D2L, the LTC conducts an annual purge of older courses from the system. We have begun to prepare for this year’s D2L course purge that will take place on June 15th, 2012. On June 15th, 2012, courses from Fall 2007 through Summer 2008 will be purged from the D2L system.
If you do not need to retain information from these courses, simply do nothing. The courses will automatically be removed; no action is needed on your part.
If you need to retain information from these courses, please read on for more information.
Thank you in advance for your attention and cooperation in the D2L cleanup process!
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to clean up D2L courses?
The cleanup of older D2L courses refers to the complete removal and deletion of that course with no way of restoring it. The D2L courses slated for purge will be permanently deleted. All files and student records will be deleted.
How do I know which of my courses are scheduled for cleanup after June 15th, 2012?
First, login to D2L and look at your courses in the “My Courses” widget. Courses are identified by semester and year. In the upcoming purge, courses from Fall 2007 through Summer 2008 will be removed if no action is taken.
Please note that courses under the “ONGOING” or “OTHER” designation are NOT slated for cleanup. If you have courses under those designations, they will NOT be removed.
Why are we limiting the course cleanup process to only older D2L courses?
Recent courses (those after Summer 2008) are not included in the purge because, 1) students need sufficient time to finish incompletes and challenge grades, and 2) instructors need sufficient time to reoffer their course. Retaining recent courses is consistent with the guidelines and policies of the UW Records Officers Council.
What if I reoffer my course on a regular basis?
In most cases, when a course is reoffered by the same instructor, the instructor copies some or all of the content, files, gradebook and discussion structure from a previous course offering into a new offering. Once that copy process is complete, the earlier version of the course offering can be deleted without affecting the new course offering.
If a course periodicity spans several years, steps must be taken to ensure the original course offering is not deleted too soon. If this is the case with one or more of your courses, please contact D2L Support.
I need to retain my gradebook so I can review student performance several years after the course ends.
The D2L gradebook can be exported to a CSV file that can be opened with Excel and other applications. How do I export my gradebook to CSV?
When downloading or saving a gradebook or student submission, it is important to maintain the privacy of those records. They should be saved on password protected campus network storage rather than on local hard drives.
Questions about how long grade books and student records may be retained should be forwarded to the UW-W Records Officer.
What about my content files, quizzes, etc. in my old courses?
Content, course files and quizzes can be copied into a newer offering of the same course. This is very common, especially when the same instructor teaches both offerings. Also, course files can be easily downloaded to be uploaded back into a course later. How do I download my course files?
Why not just leave old courses on D2L?
A course cleanup policy was established in 2009 by the UW System, and the process is imperative to ensure the ongoing smooth operation of D2L. The main reason for deleting old courses is to manage and contain the growth of D2L storage and operating costs as well as to lessen negative impact on performance and user experience as use of D2L continues to grow.
Can I archive my old courses? (Can I save a complete copy of my course?)
Instructors can export their content files, gradebook, and student files from a dropbox folder and retain them locally. How do I download data and student submissions from various areas of my course? (Goes to How-To’s page of Cleanup site)
What if I do nothing?
Your courses will be permanently deleted after June 15th, 2012. In most cases, you will not need these courses and do not need to take any action.
Who can I talk to if I need help?
Your UW-Whitewater D2L support staff members are familiar with the course cleanup process and are prepared to answer your questions and provide assistance as needed. Contact D2L support if you need assistance with any of this process or your circumstances are unique and are not addressed here.
Complete information on the cleanup process can be obtained from the D2L Cleanup Resources web site (http://www.uwsa.edu/d2l/cleanup), or by contacting D2L support.
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:
Tomorrow, April 6th, 2012, DoIT Streaming Media Services in Madison will be upgrading services. This will result in a short outage of streaming video playback within Desire2Learn from approximately 10am – 10:30am CDT.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please contact D2L support if you have any questions or concerns.
The Learning Technology Center is pleased to announce the fourth annual summer faculty development opportunity on how to “Navigate Content and Teach Online and Blended Courses.” If you need to design a new or refresh an older online or blended course, consider participating in this unique opportunity to collaborate with other UW-Whitewater instructors and explore proven course design strategies and best practices.
This unique summer workshop demonstrates teaching best practices using a variety of teaching methods and technology tools presented in an experiential learning model format. The structure of this course not only allows you to explore new teaching and course design methods, but it also enables you to participate in activities that provide you with experience in being an online “student.” During the course, you will learn about a variety of technologies and teaching techniques to support online instruction as well as gain a better understanding of the Quality Matters Program.
The workshop consists of an online component conducted via Desire2Learn (D2L), face-to-face meetings, and webinars. The online portion starts May 21 and ends July 31. There are also five, “in-person” face-to-face sessions scheduled for May 31, June 25-26, and July 30-31 as well as three webinars scheduled for June 4, June 18, and July 16. For more details, to register, and to listen to what last year’s participants learned from participating, visit the Online/Blended Workshop Blog.
This workshop is sponsored by the by the UW-Whitewater College of Letters and Sciences, the LEARN Center, and the Learning Technology Center.
If you have questions or would like more information, please contact the Learning Technology Center (LTC) at ltc@uww.edu or call 262-472-1004.
The Learning Technology Center (LTC) is pleased to invite faculty and instructional staff to attend the next free session in the Snackable Series “Technology – One Byte at a Time.” In the “Snackable Series” sessions, a specific learning technology is spotlighted. The next sessions will be held April 18 and 19, 2012 and focus on the use of the Distance Education Room.
UW-Whitewater faculty and staff have access to a number of distance education technologies that enable them to reach students who are not on campus, share resources/courses with other UW institutions, and participate in statewide meetings without leaving campus. The Distance Education room is equipped with video conferencing technology and is located in room L1230a in the Andersen Library Building.
The speakers featured for this Snackable, Michael “Shelly” Allen, from UW-Whitewater, and Terry Wirkus, UW-La Crosse’s Distance Education Manager, will be sharing their experiences and best practices using distance education.
The dates, times, and location for this Snackable are as follows:
Wednesday, April 18, 2012: 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursday, April 19, 2012: 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Location: Anderson Library Building, Room L1230a (Building Entrance 6, end of the long hallway)
Register online today for this “Snackable Series” session – seating is limited: http://signup.uww.edu
The 9th Annual Sloan Consortium Blended Learning Conference, “Perfecting the Blend,” will be held on April 23-24, 2012 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. You can attend in-person or virtually.
Blended learning is more than a combination of online and face-to-face instruction. It is, fundamentally, a rethinking of how we teach, how our students learn, and how we can harness a myriad possibilities to taking advantage of the best of face-to-face and online instruction.
For additional details on the conference, please visit: http://sloanconsortium.org/blended
The May 16-18, 2012 digital storytelling workshop has been cancelled due to conflicts with other events. This workshop will be offered again in the future. New dates will announced in the coming months.
Digital Storytelling, also referred to as a “Digital Media Narrative,” has gained momentum and visibility as a modern expression of the ancient art of storytelling. The process of digitally integrating images, music, narrative, and voice “makes meaning” through the development of characters, situations, experiences, and insights with deep dimensions and vivid colors. This form of expression has also gained credibility as an avenue to achieve course learning outcomes.
Jim Winship, Professional Storyteller and Professor of Social Work, and the UW-Whitewater Learning Technology Center will be facilitating this workshop series. Participants will create a digital narrative or story to share with the UW-Whitewater community or to improve learning outcomes in their courses. The goal of this workshop is to create a compelling digital work that is two to three minutes in length. By the end of the workshop, each participant will have written a story, recorded the voice narration of the story, supplemented it with background sounds, and enhanced through the use of visual images. Participants can also use the techniques learned to help students develop digital stories for their course.
Here are some insights on digital storytelling from past workshop participants:
“I got intellectually re-energized, more aware of the ‘heart’ at the center of education, more passionate about telling my stories.”- Marjorie Rhine, Associate Professor, Languages and Literature
“The camaraderie of the participants was very moving and so were the emotional content of the stories shared.”- Max White, Associate Professor, Art
“I am changed as a result of the power, wisdom, and generosity of spirit shared by Jim Winship. He shared himself, and as a result, each participant was encouraged to share themselves as well.” – David Reinhart, Lecturer, Philosophy and Religious Studies
For more information and video examples of digital stories created by UW-Whitewater faculty, please see the Faculty Best Practices: Digital Storytelling wiki page.
This workshop will be held May 16th through 18th, 2012. To apply for the workshop, please complete this brief survey by April 13th, 2012. About ten applicants will be selected by April 19th, 2012 to participate.
This workshop is sponsored by the by the UW-Whitewater College of Letters and Sciences, the Division of Student Affairs, the LEARN Center, and the Learning Technology Center.
If you have questions or would like more information, please contact the Learning Technology Center (LTC) at ltc@uww.edu or call 262-472-1004.
Learn@UW needs to apply an emergency patch to their servers and will need to perform maintenance from approximately 6:00 to 6:30 AM (CDT) tomorrow morning, Wednesday, March 14th.
During this time frame, D2L will be unavailable and you will not be able to log into D2L. Please plan your course work accordingly, and thank you for your patience.
Desire2Learn has identified the cause of the Turnitin issue that has been affecting some Turnitin-enabled Dropboxes. (See our previous blog post on this issue here.)
Although a permanent fix for this issue will not be released until a later date, Dropbox folders that are experiencing this issue can be corrected, and Desire2Learn has been reprocessing the submissions for those Dropboxes that were reported.
If you reported to UW-W D2L Support about your Turnitin Dropbox having this issue, you will be contacted separately about your affected Dropboxes. If you are experiencing this issue, please contact UW-W D2L Support so that we can work to have it corrected.
Thank you for your patience while this issue was being investigated!