GETTING STARTED WITH D2L

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1 GETTING STARTED WITH D2L Quick Start Guide v ecampus This guide provides tips for users new to using the D2L Learning Environment. It discusses how to navigate the main areas and how to change your personal preferences and settings. INTERFACE OVERVIEW The following topics cover the basic interface and some common tools you will come across within the system. We suggest you take some time to review these topics to familiarize yourself with Desire2Learn. Logging In and Out My Home My Courses Accessing Your Course General Page Layout Viewing your Progress INTRODUCTORY TASKS Once you log in for the first time we recommend that you complete the following tasks to further familiarize yourself in Desire2Learn: Change your Password Change your Address Create your Personal Profile Set your Preferences LOGGING IN & OUT LOGGING IN D2L Login URL: Follow the link to navigate to the D2L Login Page Note: Login URL should NOT have the "www" at the start of the URL like many other websites. Finding Your D2L Username: 7 days prior to the start of the course, your Desire2Learn username can be found by logging into your mysjsu account, clicking on Self Service > Campus Personal Information > Names, and locating your Desire2Learn name (look for Name Type called D2L) from the list. Username: Usernames will generally be in the form of firstname.lastname, but may have an appended number if there is more than one person with that name at SJSU. The mysjsu look-up will be helpful for persons using middle names, hyphens, apostrophes, etc. Password: Your initial D2L password is your 9-digit SJSU ID number. After your initial log in, change your password to one that is meaningful and memorable to you. 1

2 Forgot Password? If you have forgotten your password, click the Forgot Password? link in the login box. This opens a new window where you can arrange to have a copy of your password sent to your preferred address as listed from your MySJSU account: MySJSU > Self Service > Campus Personal Information > Address. Note: Do not forget to check your spam filter for SJSU s. Run a System Check If it is your first time logging in to the D2L Learning Environment, run a system check to ensure that your computer meets the minimum system requirements. On the D2L Login page, click Click here to run a System Check before you login. Also be sure that your browser pop-up blocker is disabled for D2L. Note: If you fail a component of the system check, you will receive a pop-up error message explaining why you failed and what actions to take to meet the requirements. A system check ensures that you have the appropriate: Course required plug-ins, including JavaScript Web browser version Web browser settings Display settings LOGGING OUT The Logout link is located on the upper right corner of the nav-bar. Selecting Logout takes you to the D2L Login page and ends your current D2L session. System Time-Outs If you are inactive for an extended period of time, the system may log you out of D2L. The time-out period is determined by your site s configuration. Make sure you save your data regularly. 2

3 MY HOME My Home is your starting point after you have logged into Desire2Learn. From here, you can set up your profile, edit your preferences and access your courses. You can also read news items posted by SJSU system administrators and can access your My Courses list. My Home in D2L MY COURSES ACCESSING YOUR COURSE Your courses are listed in the My Courses widget in My Home. You can only access your courses after midnight on the first scheduled date of class. Click the name of the course to access it. Each course will have its own unique navigation bar that provides links to the tools and resources available inside your course. Note: If you have different roles in different courses, your courses are listed in separate tabs. So courses you TA for are listed separate from courses in which you are only a student. To get back to My Home, click the My Home link located on the upper left of the D2L nav-bar. 3

4 COURSE HOME Course Home is the first page you visit when you click on a course link. It contains the tools and different widgets for displaying information, including course specific content, as designated by the instructor. My Courses Homepage GENERAL PAGE LAYOUT NAVIGATION AREAS The primary navigation tool for a course is the nav-bar; by default the nav-bar is located at the top left and right corner of the screen and displays the links to the tools available in your course. Within each course the instructor can modify and change the placement of the nav-bar links. Navigation Bar Example: Nav-bar layout Other tools you may see on the course navigation bar: Course Nav-bar layout 4

5 ACTION ICONS D2L makes extensive use of icons to initiate tasks and actions. To find out what an icon does, hover your mouse over it; an explanation pop-up will appear above the icon. Help Icons and Instruction Widgets Help icons and on-screen instructions appear throughout Desire2Learn to provide you with ready information about the specific page and tool that you are using. Many fields have Help icons next to them that explain what the fields are used for. If you have difficulty understanding the purpose of a field, check to see if there is a Help icon next to it. To get general help on the purpose of a page or tool, read the contents of the Instructions widget found on the left side of the page. Show/Hide In many places, advanced options are collapsed by default to help you focus on essential features and settings. You can display advanced options by clicking the Show Options button. If you save the page, D2L remembers which options you displayed and shows them next time. You can hide options again by clicking the Hide Options button. VIEWING YOUR PROGRESS Use this feature to view your progress in your current courses, including which activities, competencies and modules you have completed in each course. My Settings widget User Progress view View Your Progress 1. From My Home, click the View my Progress link in the Welcome widget. 2. The View User Progress page displays your progress. 3. Click the Details icon next to a section for additional progress information. 5

6 CHANGING YOUR PASSWORD It is recommended that you change your password the first time you log in to D2L. 1. On My Home, click the Change Password link in the My Settings widget. 2. Type your current D2L password in the Old Password field. 3. Type your new password in the New Password field. 4. Confirm your new password in the Confirm New Password field. 5. Click the Save button. CHANGING YOUR ADDRESS You may occasionally receive important login and enrollment information via , so it is essential that you update your preferred address if it has changed since registration. 1. From My Home, click the Address link in the My Settings widget. 2. Type your D2L password in the System Password field. 3. Type your new address in the New field. 4. Click the Update button. Updating Your Settings After updating your address, adjust your settings to reflect the change. This ensures that all replies to s you send from your D2L account go directly to your updated address. Do One of the Following: Select from the navigation bar and click Settings. Select Preferences from the My Settings widget, click the tab, and enter your updated address into the Reply to Address field. CREATE YOUR PERSONAL PROFILE Create and edit your personal profile through the My Profile tool. Filling out your profile is optional, but this feature is a great way to get to know other users in your course. Your profile information may be available through the course Classlist. Your profile picture may be shown next to your discussion posts and name in the Classlist. Complete Your Profile 1. From My Home, click the Profile link in the My Settings widget. 2. Fill in the text fields. 3. To upload a picture, click the Change Picture button, locate and select the desired image, click upload. 4. When you are finished, click Save. Note: You can also edit your profile from the Classlist. To do so, just click the Edit My Profile icon beside your name on the list. 6

7 SET YOUR PREFERENCES The Preferences tool enables you to customize the layout and presentation options for your view in Desire2Learn. Access the Preference Tool 1. From My Home, click the Preferences link in the My Settings widget. 2. Use the tabs across the top of the page to view and edit different presentation options. Preferences setting Note: Some preferences might not be available depending on how your course is set up in D2L. GENERAL PREFERENCES Preferences on this tab are not related to a specific tool. Online Status: Changes your online status so that you appear offline even when you are logged into the system. APPEARANCE & ACCESSIBILITY Font Face: Sets which font face (Verdana, Times, etc.) you want to use for standard text in the system. Font Size: Sets how large you want standard text in the interface to be. Show secondary window as: Enables secondary windows as pop-ups instead of dialog boxes. This setting helps screen readers and other assistive technologies separate the content of the secondary window from the main window. Math Display: Sets whether equations display in a Java applet or as inline MathML. Inline MathML is compatible with reading software, screen magnification, and screen reader technology. The Java applet maintains a consistent display between browsers and environments. 7

8 LANGUAGE & REGION Preferred Language: Sets which language to use for standard text in the system. Your options correspond to language options that are available at your institution. Administrative staff and course designers can override your preferences for specific pages and courses. First Day of the Week: Sets which day appears first in the week in your calendar. Time Zone: Sets all dates that include times to correspond with the time zone you specify in Desire2Learn. DISCUSSIONS From the Discussions tab, adjust the appearance of the Discussions tool to suit your reading style and screen resolution. Settings you may want to customize include: Show the discussion topics list: Sets whether you want to see a list of topics in a left panel when reading messages. Show the preview pane: If you are not showing message text on the main page, this option enables you to specify whether to see the full message in a preview pane at the bottom of the page, or to see the full message in a secondary window. Message List Style: Specifies whether to show the text for discussion messages in the main page, or just the titles. Reply Settings: Sets whether you want to include original messages with your replies. From the tab, customize and display options to suit your preferences. Settings you may want to customize include: Track activity for messages sent to internal addresses: Tracks the status of sent messages (either read or unread), and when messages are replied to and/or forwarded. The View Recipient Activity link appears on messages in the Sent Mail folder. Include original message in replies: Sets whether to include original messages with your replies. Send a copy of each outgoing message to [specified address]: Sends a copy of all the s you send to a specified address. Save a copy of each outgoing message to the Sent Mail folder: Saves a copy of your sent messages to a folder for convenient record keeping. Reply to Address: Enables you to specify what address you want messages sent from the system to appear from. Signature: Creates an signature to include at the bottom of your messages. Show the Message Preview pane: Enables you to browse s by displaying them in a preview pane at the bottom of your message list. 8

9 Show the Folder List pane: Sets whether you see a list of folders in a left panel when reading messages. Mark messages as read when viewed in the Message Preview pane: Using the preview pane to read your messages will mark them as read. Forward incoming messages to an alternate account: Enter an address into this field to have sent to your Desire2Learn address redirected to this address. Specify how you want to handle the message within the tool after it forwards to your address. NEED HELP? Contact the University Help Desk for technical support issues you encounter, including: password reset, browser problems, and other issues encountered in Desire2Learn courses. Phone: (408) Submit a help ticket using the University D2L Help Desk Ticket For more information please visit the ecampus student website at: 9