MTSU's IT Conference Austin Peay State University Distance Education Ellen Smyth TOP TEN TIMESAVING TIPS FOR D2L FACULTY Greatly improve efficiency using some nifty Desire2Learn features and supplementary tools. Use these detailed instructions to implement a variety of timesaving tips for D2L.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 2
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Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 4 How do I stack sections of a course? Simply ask your D2L administrator to stack (i.e., map or cross-list) your sections of the course together into one shell before the semester begins. Once combined, all content will be shared except for content you restrict to one section or another. To restrict content for a particular item in a stacked course, 1. Select to edit the item (pencil icon, usually). 2. Click on the Restrictions tab. 3. Select Create and Attach for the first time you create a condition, and a. Choose Section Enrollment as the condition type in the first dropdown menu. b. Choose the proper section in the second dropdown menu. c. Select Create and then Save.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 5 4. Or select Attach Existing if you have already created. a. Check the proper section in the second dropdown menu. b. Select Attach and then Save.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 6 How do I edit all items in Content, Dropbox, Quizzes or Grades? To edit all items in Content, Dropbox, Quizzes, or Grades, 1. Select the checkbox at the top of the list of items next to the double or single pencil icon. 2. Click on the double or single pencil icon. 3. In Content, edit the title or short title, and choose to hide or unhide the entire item or the enumeration for the item.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 7 4. In Dropbox, edit the name, category, and availability. 5. In Quizzes, edit the name, category, active/inactive status, and number of allowed attempts. 6. In Manage Grades, edit the name, short name, maximum points, whether the item is a bonus or not, whether the item can exceed the number of points or not, the grade scheme, and the category. 7. Be sure to click Save.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 8 How do I create HTML items? To create new HTML items, 1. In Content, select to add a topic. 2. Select Create New File. 3. Type in a title. 4. Add content to the HTML editor using the various features of this editor to change font size, style, color, justification, bullets, numbering, and so on as well as inserting images, sound and video clips, links to websites or other areas of the course, equations, symbols, and tables. (For more information, see the HTML Editor user s guide from D2L.) 5. Click Save.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 9 How do I convert documents into HTML items? To convert text documents into HTML, 1. Open the document. 2. In Content in D2L, select to add a topic. 3. Select Create New File. 4. Type in a title. 5. Go to the document, press Ctrl-A and Ctrl-C. 6. Place your cursor in the text area of the HTML editor in D2L. 7. If the document is plain or rich text, simply select paste or Ctrl-V. 8. If the document is MS Word, select the Paste from Word icon on the Advanced tab of the HTML editor, press Ctrl-V and then click Insert. 9. Click Save.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 10 How do I display date availability in the calendar? To display availability in the calendar, 1. Select to edit the content item, dropbox, discussion forum or topic, or quiz by using the pencil icon associated with the item or clicking on the name of the quiz. 2. Click on the Restrictions tab, except in discussion forums and topics where you should simply scroll down to see the availability restrictions. 3. Check the Has Start Date and Has End Date boxes. 4. Set the desired time and date availability. 5. Check Display in Calendar. 6. Select Save.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 11 How do I link items to Grades? To link dropbox items, discussion topics and quizzes to Grades, 1. Select to edit the dropbox, discussion topic, or quiz by using the pencil icon associated with the item or clicking on the name of the quiz. 2. If you are linking a discussion topic, you will also need to click on the Assessment tab. 3. If the grade item already exists in Grades, simply select the appropriate grade item in the dropdown menu.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 12 4. If the grade item doesn't already exist in Grades, a. Click on the "add grade item" link to the right of the dropdown menu. b. Fill in the name, maximum points, date restrictions, Display in Calendar, and other options. c. Click Save. 5. You may need to enter the "Out of" value (discussion topics and discussion folders), set up automatic export (quizzes), or set up other related options. 6. Select Save.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 13 How do I add multiple topics from files on my computer? To add several files to Content from your computer, 1. Place all files into a single folder (e.g., named Topics). 2. Right click on the name of the folder, and select Send To > Compressed Folder, which should create a zip file. 3. Go to Content and then Manage Files in D2L.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 14 4. Click upload. 5. Click on the unzip (vice) icon to the right of the loaded zip file. 6. Click on the name of the unzipped folder (e.g., Topics). 7. Check the checkbox at the top of the list to select all items. 8. Select Create Topics. 9. Choose the parent module, rename topics, or provide short names. Click on the name of the unzipped folder (e.g., Topics). 10. Select Add. How do I add multiple topics from files already in D2L? To add several files to Content from your course files, 1. Go to Content. 2. Select Add Multiple Topics. 3. Select the Parent Module and check all files you wish to add, renaming if you wish. 4. Click Add.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 15 How do I export and then import a calendar? To export a calendar, 1. Go into the old course you are copying from. 2. Click on Calendar. 3. Click Export. 4. Choose CSV (Comma Separated Values) file. (The ical allows exporting to your Outlook calendar.) 5. Select "Events between:" and choose the date ranges for the previous semester. 6. Select all events associated with the course. 7. Click Export. (See the image on the next page.) 8. Click on the blue link to open the CSV file.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 16 To update the CSV file, 1. Remove the set of quote marks, " ", from each of the column headers of the last four columns: Start Date, End Date, Start Time, and End Time. 2. Edit the dates in both the start and end date columns. (Remember to edit the year, as well, if you are going from Fall to Spring.) 3. Save the file using Save As... (Be sure to save as a CSV.) 4. Be sure to select Yes on the warning message, if in Excel.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 17 To import the calendar (CSV) file, 1. Go into the new course you are copying into. 2. Click on Calendar. 3. Click Import. 4. Click Browse, find the CSV file, and click Open. 5. Click Next. 6. Click the dropdown menu for "Set Event Type," select the name of your course, and click Apply. (If you miss this step, all of your events will be marked as personal, meaning students may not have access to view them.) 7. Scroll down and click Import.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 18 How do I email from the Classlist? To email everyone, 1. Go to the Classlist. 2. Press to Email everyone on this tab. 3. Type the subject and message and press Send.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 19 To email select students, 1. Go to the Classlist. 2. Check to boxes to the left of the names of students you wish to email. 3. Click the envelope icon. 4. Type the subject and message in the window that pops up and press Send.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 20 How do I copy a course or part of a course? To copy a course, 1. Go to the course you want to copy into. 2. Click the Edit Course link near the top right. 3. Select Import/Export/Copy Components. (You may have to scroll down to see this option.) 4. Leave the "Copy Components from another Org Unit" selected, and click Next.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 21 5. Select the dropdown menu, and choose the course you want to copy from. 6. Wait for the page to update, and then click Select All Components, if you wish to copy everything, or check only the components you want to copy. And, if you want to copy only parts of components (e.g., a single quiz), then you can choose "Select individual items to copy." 7. Click Next several times, selecting items you wish to copy as you move through the screens. 8. Click Done.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 22 How do I use Firefox web browser? To use Firefox, 1. Go to www.mozilla.com. 2. Click to download the software. 3. Go through the installation process. 4. Then use Firefox, the red fox icon on your desktop, to log in to D2L.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 23 How do I acquire and use Respondus 3.5 to create quizzes and tests? To acquire and use Respondus 3.5, 1. To download a free thirty-day trial of Respondus 3.5, go here: http://www.respondus.com/download/respondus.shtml. (The academic price of a license is $79, which your distance education department may be willing to purchase for you.) 2. Install the software. 3. Refer to the Respondus 3.5 User Guide for Desire2Learn Personality for details on how to import Respondus test banks from your publisher, convert existing plain or rich text files, convert MS Word files, or create your own exams and exam pools - all of which can be loaded into D2L. How do I use WebDrive to instantly update my files? To use WebDrive to WebDAV into your Manage Files, 1. Download a free trial from www.webdrive.com/download, and install the software. (WebDrive costs $59.95, which your distance education department may be willing to cover.) 2. Open WebDrive from the Start Menu and select Try it in the trial version. 3. Select New Site at the bottom. 4. Enter a name for the site. I recommend giving the name of the course, section, semester and year. 5. Select Next and Next.
Top Ten Timesaving Tips for D2L Faculty 24 6. Enter the site URL. To find that site path: a. The first part is http://elearndav.apsu.edu. b. Go into your D2L course to Content and then Manage Files. c. Copy the path to the Manage Files area for your course (e.g., /content/enforced/####-gobbledygook). d. Combine http://elearndav.[your school].edu 1 and /content/enforced/####-gobbledygook: e. Click Next and Next. f. Enter your D2L username and password. g. You may or may not wish to connect now or connect at startup. I selected both. Click Finish! (You will need to click Try It again.) 7. Once connected, you will be able to access these folders for editing and saving anytime by going to My Computer and selecting the particular drive. 8. This will open a folder with all of the files and folders from your course. Open any file (PowerPoint, jpeg, HTML, Word, Excel, etc.) to edit, and simply save the file to have it save straight to D2L, which may take a few seconds. 9. Create a shortcut to this drive on your Desktop for easy access by right-clicking on the drive and selecting Create Shortcut. 1 TTU would be http://elearndav.tntech.edu, Vol State would be http://elearndav.volstate.edu, and RODP would be TTU would be http://elearndav.rodp.org, for examples.