[RESOLVED] Term Not Found Errors and Slowness

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Susan Degen

UPDATE (6:00 PM): Learn@UW technicians have removed an additional server that was causing problems, and the “Term Not Found” errors have been resolved. If you are still experiencing any of the errors, please contact D2L Support.

UPDATE (5:00 PM): Users are still reporting “Term Not Found” errors. These reports have been forwarded to Learn@UW, and they are investigating the source.

UPDATE (4:45 PM): Learn@UW Technologists have identified the offending server and removed it. They are investigating the cause of the problem, but the “Term Not Found” errors should be resolved, and D2L should be accessible again.

ORIGINAL MESSAGE: Starting at approximately 4:10 PM, users are reporting slowness and “Term Not Found” errors while logging into and working in D2L. We’ve reported this to Learn@UW, and they are investigating the problem.

We will be updating this news item with any new information as we receive it. Thank you for your patience!

[RESOLVED] Off Campus Users Unable to Login

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Susan Degen

From approximately 10:30 AM to 11:00 AM (CST) this morning, users trying to log in from off campus were experiencing errors. This has been corrected and all users should be able to log in to D2L.

Thank for your patience during this upgrade! If you are experiencing errors while logging in or working in D2L, please contact D2L Support.

REMINDER: Desire2Learn Upgrade 1/11 – 1/12

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Susan Degen

This is a reminder that Desire2Learn is scheduled for an upgrade to version 9.4.1. The upgrade outage will start on Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 at 9:30 PM (CST) and end on Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at 10:30 AM (CST). During this timeframe, D2L will not be available. Please plan your course work accordingly.

2012 Regents Teaching Excellence Awards

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Renee Pfeifer-Luckett

Regent Manydeeds with 2011 Award Recipients (Photo: Alan Magayne-Roshak, UW-Milwaukee)

The UW System Office of Academic Affairs is now accepting nominations for the 2012 Regents Teaching Excellence Awards. Two $5,000 awards are given to faculty and academic staff members at UW System institutions in recognition of outstanding career achievement in teaching. In addition, one $5,000 award is given to an academic department, program or other academic unit which demonstrates exceptional commitment to and effectiveness in teaching.

Past UW-Whitewater recipients of this prestigious award include Lois Smith, John Kozlowicz, and the Department of Languages and Literatures.

Funds from this award are to be used for further program enhancements, such as professional development or teaching-related supplies and expenses. Award winners will be honored at a Board of Regents meeting.

Nominations for the Awards are due February 1, 2012.
2012 Guidelines (pdf)
2012 Nomination Cover Sheet (doc)
Past Recipients

Network Maintenance Outage 1/8

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Susan Degen

There will be scheduled network maintenance occurring between 12:01 AM and 8:00 AM on Sunday, January 8th (CST). While the maintenance is in progress, D2L may become inaccessible, so please plan your coursework accordingly.

Because of the outage and downtime, integration between WINS and D2L will be suspended Sunday and Monday night. Any courses requested or enrollment changes that happen starting on Saturday morning will be in queue for processing on Tuesday. Thank you for your patience in this matter.

[UPDATED] Emergency Patch 12/29

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Susan Degen

UPDATE: The server has been successfully patched as of 8:00 PM (12/29/11), and there should have been minimal impact on accessing or using D2L.

Learn@UW has been notified of a Microsoft security advisory and will be applying a patch to their database systems sometime in the next 24 hours, most likely either later in the evening or early tomorrow morning to minimize the effect on active courses.

While the patch is being applied, there may be some erratic behavior, which should be resolved by refreshing your browser. We will be updating this news item when the patching has been completed. We apologize for the short notice and thank you for your understanding as the situation requires immediate attention.

D2L Starter Course Updated

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Karen Skibba

The D2L Starter Course includes a number of useful templates and other resources that you may copy and modify for use in your own course, and it is now in version 2.1 with new and improved content. In addition, many of the resources and templates now also help courses meet Quality Matters standards for online and blended courses.

Some of the new updates include:

Student resources provide useful information on Turnitin (anti-plagiarism detector), “clickers” (student response devices), D2L assistance, technology help, and university policies.
Time-saving templates present easy to edit electronic D2L rubrics, activities, assignments, topic overviews, discussion starters, and more.
Quizzes help students prepare to use LockDown Browser, to find out “Are You Ready for Online?”, and to learn helpful tips and success strategies.
A mid-course student evaluation survey gauges whether the course is meeting your (and your students’) expectations.
News announcements offer suggested wording to post in online, blended/hybrid, and web-enhanced courses.

Would you like to review these new items or add them to your own course? To access and register for the D2L Starter Course, please login to D2L and use the link “register here” provided in the “D2L Resources and Training Available” news announcement. When the registration form appears, simply click on the “Register” button at the bottom right of the screen, and then click “submit and finish.” Once you are registered, the D2L Starter Course will be listed within your “Instructor tab” in the folder labeled “OTHER – Courses With No Semester.”

Please remember that these resources are used by instructors across campus. Do not edit any of the items found in the original D2L Starter course!

D2L eGrading

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Susan Degen

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 greatly streamlines the grade submission process at the end of the term for those instructors who use the D2L gradebook.

For complete instructions on the steps to getting your grades exported, please see the D2L WINS eGrading page on our Instructional Resources wiki. For more frequently asked questions on the process, please see our eGrading FAQ wiki page.

Desire2Learn Upgrade 1/11 – 1/12

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Susan Degen

Desire2Learn, our learning management system, is scheduled for an upgrade to version 9.4.1. The upgrade outage will start on Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 at 9:30 PM (CST) and end on Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at 10:30 AM (CST).

During this timeframe, D2L will not be available. Please plan your course work accordingly. 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 CST) if there are items due on that day.

Also, during this upgrade, the login process for D2L will also be changing, and this will affect how you log in to D2L. Please see this wiki page for more information: http://geturl.uww.edu/15w

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

We also have a “What’s New” wiki page available that covers these changes in more detail, and you can visit that page here: http://geturl.uww.edu/15x

If you have any questions about the January D2L Upgrade or the new D2L login process, please Contact D2L Support.

New D2L Login Process Coming in January

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Susan Degen

Beginning on January 12, 2012, the Desire2Learn (D2L) login process will change. The new login process includes the use of a unified campus login page using shibboleth “single sign-on” technology, and will allow for future integration with other campus services.

What does this mean for you?

Key changes to the processes and procedures used to log into D2L at UW-Whitewater have been made. There are three login options from which you can choose. It is important for you to select the correct login option, which is dependent on your current D2L account access level. Most users will be using their UW-W NetID and password to access D2L, and that is done through the large, purple button.

If you previously bookmarked or favorited the login page, those links will continue to work. It is important to know that if you do want to bookmark the login page, you must bookmark http://www.uww.edu/desire2learn. Do NOT bookmark the page that appears after clicking the Login button.

Where can I get more information?

To see more information on this login process as well as step-by-step instructions on logging in, please see our wiki page on the D2L Shibboleth Login Process.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact D2L Support.