Communication Made Easy!

In D2L there are so many different ways to communicate with students and classmates. One great feature is the ability to easily record audio attachments. As long as you have a microphone you can record audio within the Discussion, News, and Dropbox (Assignments) tools. Use audio to greet your students, clarify instructions, provide feedback, and enhance discussions. Students can add audio attachments to discussion posts. There is a one minute recording limit and the recorded audio is as file attachments in .wav format.

Remember, you will often want to provide a written transcript of your audio comments for accessibility.

The more things change, the more they stay the same!

Desire2Learn Learning Suite v.10 has many enhanced features that will provide a highly customizable learning environment for our students. However, there are several tools within D2L that function very similarly to what you are used to in Blackboard/WebCT – they just have different names. 

The “Dropbox” tool in D2L may remind you of “Assignments” in WebCT. The Dropbox tool allows students to electronically submit individual and group assignments for a course. The Dropbox tool allows you to see assignment submission times, view submissions with the document viewer on the Leave Feedback page, download assignments to your computer, associate dropbox folders to rubrics, and return submissions with grades and feedback. 

Watch a short demo on Dropbox here: http://www.desire2learn.com/resources/video/view/?v=11 

The “News” tool in D2L is similar to “Announcements” in WebCT.  Use “News” to quickly and effectively communicate updates and new information to your students. Students can even opt to receive News and other notifications as text messages on their mobile phones. 

Learn more about D2L communication features here: http://www.desire2learn.com/products/learning-environment/features/collaborate-communicate/ 

This PDF document makes some additional associations between WebCT and D2L tools.

Which will you use in your course?

Learn More About Desire2Learn Learning Suite 10!

Are you interested in learning more about Desire2Learn? Are you wondering what D2L looks like, how its interface is structured, and what key features it offers?  Because many students and faculty have not seen the newest D2L version, we wanted to share its new and improved features with you.

Desire2Learn Learning Suite 10 features an assignment grade tool which can be used on, or offline, a course “quick access” menu, which contains a new bookmarking feature, and updated user interface.  There are many more new tools, and improvements that you can find on Desire2Learns Suite 10 Introduction page. This website provides multiple opportunities for you to learn more about D2L; you can review a photo gallery of the new D2L interface, sign up for a D2L Webinar, or watch the Learning Suite 10 video to learn more about National Louis University's new online course platform. If you would like to learn more about Desire2Learn Learning Suite 10 or register for a webinar, please visit http://www.desire2learn.com/products/learning-suite/10/

Looking Beyond Blackboard CE8

The version of Blackboard that we currently use, CE8 (formerly WebCT), will no longer be supported by Blackboard as of January 2013. This presents both a problem and an opportunity for National-Louis University. The problem is of course that we are faced with moving to another system – an experience that is still quite fresh in our minds having completed the move from WebCT 4 just over two years ago. But the opportunities this necessary change presents go far beyond having a new tool with improved features and capabilities. This is an opportunity to reflect on the way we currently use our learning management system (LMS), to examine the tools we have chosen to support online learning, and to improve on that in the future.

The next iteration of Blackboard, called “Learn”, is quite different from CE8. It’s not an upgrade for us; it’s a move to an entirely different system that will have some similarity to CE8. Keeping our existing courses will involve “migrating” them, and getting faculty and students familiar with the new system will involve extensive planning and training. In light of this, I asked the faculty and administration at NLU this question:

“Do we want to continue our relationship with Blackboard, Inc and move to Blackboard Learn? Or, do we want to explore other LMS options along with Blackboard Learn?”

We chose to explore our options.

Under the guidance of the Senate Academic Technology Committee, I have convened a group of faculty and administration with representation across colleges and the library. This “LMS Task Force” is taking on the work of examining our current satisfaction with Blackboard and looking to the future to determine what LMS will present us with the best combination of tools, features, and support to ensure the success of NLU’s online and blended courses.

Hoping to make a recomendation in early 2011, we have set an aggressive timeline that involves focus groups and individual interviews, surveys, LMS test-drives, cost-analysis, and conversations with other SunGard institutions. We plan to draw ideas from our own pool of innovative faculty who have been leading the online vision at NLU, to research the direction of tools that support online learning through esteemed organizations such as EDUCAUSE and Sloan-C, and to use our significant resources available through SunGard Higher Education to recommend a solution that will support the efforts of administration and faculty at NLU and contribute to an improved student experience.

For more information and updates on the project, visit http://www.nl.edu/lmstaskforce.