www.it-ebooks.info Desire2Learn for Higher Education Cookbook Gain expert knowledge of the tools within the Desire2Learn Learning Environment, maximize your productivity, and create online learning experiences with these easy-to-follow recipes Brandon Ballentine BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI www.it-ebooks.info Desire2Learn for Higher Education Cookbook Copyright © 2012 Packt Publishing All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information First published: November, 2012 Production Reference: 1161112 Published by Packt Publishing Ltd Livery Place 35 Livery Street Birmingham B3 2PB, UK ISBN 978-1-84969-344-8 www.packtpub.com Cover Image by Duraid Fatouhi (duraidfatouhi@yahoo.com) www.it-ebooks.info Credits Author Project Coordinator Brandon Ballentine Vishal Bodwani Reviewers Proofreaders Susan Smith Nash Aaron Nash Chris Scharlach Maria Gould Elinor Perry Smith Acquisition Editor Joanna Finchen Indexer Tejal Daruwale Lead Technical Editor Arun Nadar Production Coordinator Conidon Miranda Technical Editor Lubna Shaikh Cover Work Conidon Miranda Copy Editor Alfida Paiva www.it-ebooks.info About the Author Brandon Ballentine is an Instructional Technologist in East Tennessee He is a D2L system administrator and provides faculty training on D2L and other educational tools Brandon also teaches workshops on iOS Application Development and Mobile Web Design Prior to working in the educational technology field, Brandon developed and managed interactive technologies for a financial institution Brandon has a Master's degree in English from East Tennessee State University In his free time, he enjoys travelling and photography To learn more about Brandon and his latest projects, visit www.brandonballentine.com I would like to thank my wife Lia for her patience and support during the writing of this book www.it-ebooks.info About the Reviewer Susan Smith Nash is the author of several books on e-learning, including Moodle 1.9 Teaching Techniques Nash has reviewed several Packt Publishing books, including the JavaScript Cookbook and Moodle Security Nash has developed and administered online learning programs since the 1990s, and is the publisher of an edublog, E-Learning Queen Having obtained her Ph.D from the University of Oklahoma, Susan lives in Norman, Oklahoma, where she enjoys tennis, running, writing experimental fiction, and reading texts on the philosophy of technology www.it-ebooks.info www.PacktPub.com Support files, eBooks, discount offers and more You might want to visit www.PacktPub.com for support files and downloads related to your book Did you know that Packt offers eBook versions of every book published, with PDF and ePub files available? You can upgrade to the eBook version at www.PacktPub.com and as a print book customer, you are entitled to a discount on the eBook copy Get in touch with us at service@packtpub.com for more details At www.PacktPub.com, you can also read a collection of free technical articles, sign up for a range of free newsletters and receive exclusive discounts and offers on Packt books and eBooks http://PacktLib.PacktPub.com Do you need instant solutions to your IT questions? PacktLib is Packt's online digital book library Here, you can access, read and search across Packt's entire library of books. Why Subscribe? ff Fully searchable across every book published by Packt ff Copy and paste, print and bookmark content ff On demand and accessible via web browser Free Access for Packt account holders If you have an account with Packt at www.PacktPub.com, you can use this to access PacktLib today and view nine entirely free books Simply use your login credentials for immediate access www.it-ebooks.info Table of Contents Preface 1 Chapter 1: Getting Your Course Ready for a New Semester Introduction 5 Copying course materials from a previous semester Importing a publisher's course cartridge 10 Changing many due dates from one screen 14 Double-checking everything from the student view 17 Configuring your web browser 18 Chapter 2: Personalizing Your Course 23 Chapter 3: Getting Materials into Your Course 39 Introduction 23 Using your profile to add personality 24 Customizing navbar links 26 Creating navigation groups 29 Customizing your homepage with background images 32 Using system variables to create customized content 37 Introduction 39 Outlining a new course using Course Builder 40 Reorganizing an existing course with Course Builder 45 Getting the existing Microsoft Word documents into your course 49 Working with PowerPoint presentations 53 Updating course files without deleting the original topics 56 Uploading folders to batch create course content 59 Adding content from the Learning Object Repository 62 Using Google Docs to allow multiple download formats 64 www.it-ebooks.info Table of Contents Chapter 4: Working with Multimedia 69 Chapter 5: Diving into HTML Code 93 Introduction 69 Finding Creative Commons licensed images 70 Embedding web videos 73 Working with YouTube playlists 77 Recording how-to videos with Jing 79 Recording and editing videos with YouTube 84 Creating audio files with Audacity 87 Introduction 93 Displaying external web content with frames 94 Using CSS to style content 97 Using Desire2Learn's accessible templates 104 Creating mobile-friendly content 109 Chapter 6: Managing Assessments 113 Chapter 7: Collaboration and Participation 139 Introduction 113 Streamlining the quiz creation process using quiz templates 114 Copying quiz questions to the question library 116 Giving students extra time on assessments 119 Deleting a student's quiz attempt 123 Using question feedback to help students learn 125 Using submission views and release conditions to create a learning experience 128 Submitting a quiz on behalf of a student 131 Minimizing cheating by randomizing questions and options 132 Correcting quiz questions 135 Introduction 139 Creating project/study groups 140 Posting content for specific groups 145 Creating a technical question forum 147 Setting up a review session with Google Hangouts 150 Facilitating collaborative note taking with Google Docs 153 Monitoring specific discussion topics using notifications 156 Monitoring participation 159 Setting up Intelligent Agents 161 Using the BCC field to keep the e-mail private 164 ii www.it-ebooks.info Table of Contents Chapter 8: Working with the Grades Tool 167 Index 187 Introduction 167 Dropping the lowest item in a gradebook category 168 Displaying an on-going total or mid-term report 170 Hiding grade items from students 171 Setting up your grades view to minimize scrolling 173 Creating a new letter grade scheme 175 Calculating and releasing final grades 178 Previewing grades from a student's perspective 181 Viewing grades for students who have withdrawn from a course 183 Exporting a backup copy of your grades 184 iii www.it-ebooks.info Chapter After verifying the settings in the Manage Grades tab, it's time to calculate and release the final grades to the students Begin by clicking on the Recalculate All option to make sure that all of the final calculated scores are up-to-date Then, transfer the calculated scores to the adjusted column using the Transfer All option Notice that both the points earned and total possible points fields in the Final Adjusted Grade column are editable You can increase the number of points in the numerator text field to account for any extra credit a student may have earned (that's not already been entered into the grade book) Finally, we clicked on the Release All option to make the final grades visible to the students The checkboxes in the Release Final Adjusted Grade column indicates that the grade has been released to the students: See also ff The Creating a new letter grade scheme and Exporting a backup copy of your grades recipes Previewing grades from a student's perspective The Learning Environment's grade book is extremely customizable We can alter the look and feel of both, the student and instructor views of the tool, by adjusting settings in several areas Since the tool is so easily customizable, your view of the tools will often be very different from the view your students see In this recipe, we'll learn how to view the tool from the student perspective, which can be especially helpful when questions about grades arise Although you can examine some aspects of the student view using the Role Switch widget, we'll be using the Preview button in the Enter Grades area because it allows us to view not only the user interface but also the student's scores 181 www.it-ebooks.info Working with the Grades Tool Getting ready You will need access to a course with at least one enrolled student in order to complete this recipe How to it In the following steps, we will learn how to use the Preview button in the Grades tool Access your course and navigate to the Grades tool Click on the name of a student in the Grades list This will display all grades for a particular student in your course Click on the Preview link in the user context menu at the top of the page Make sure everything looks the way you expect Then, click on the Close button when finished How it works The steps in this recipe are very straightforward After navigating to the Enter Grades area, we clicked on the name of a student whose grades we want to view The Preview button in the context menu allows us to see the grade book for a specific student See also ff The Hiding grade items from students recipe 182 www.it-ebooks.info Chapter Viewing grades for students who have withdrawn from a course When students withdraw or are un-enrolled from a Desire2Learn Learning Suite course, all of their work and grades are typically hidden from the instructor view However, this information is still stored within the database in case you need to access it again in the future In this recipe, we'll learn how to view the grades and progress of a student who is no longer enrolled in your course This information can be useful for grade appeals or when students transfer to another section of the same course Getting ready In order to complete this recipe, you'll need the instructor access to a course that at least one student who has dropped How to it The following steps explain how to use reports in the Grades tool to track the progress of students who are no longer enrolled in the course Access your course and navigate to the Classlist tool Click on the Enrollment Statistics button at the top of the page Beneath the summary table of enrollments, you'll find a Withdrawals heading with a table containing the names of each student that has withdrawn from the course Locate the name of the student, activate the context menu, and select the View grades option You'll see a detailed list of all of the selected student's grades When finished, go ahead and click on the Cancel button to return to the Enrollment Statistics area 183 www.it-ebooks.info Working with the Grades Tool How it works While it might seem logical to visit the grade book to locate this information, you'll need to visit the Classlist tool instead Once there, use the Report button to navigate to a list of current enrollments and withdrawals Clicking on the View grades option for a student in the Withdrawals section displays that student's scores Exporting a backup copy of your grades Although the Desire2Learn Learning Suite uses safeguards to protect against data loss, it's always a good idea to backup important information such as student grades In this recipe, we will learn how to export the contents of your online grade book to a downloadable CSV file In addition to serving as a backup, you can also access and modify the information in this file using any standard spreadsheet authoring program, such as Microsoft Excel, Apple's Numbers app, and Open Office Getting ready You'll need a course with a complete grade book and at least one student in order to complete this recipe How to it In the following steps, we will customize and export a backup copy of your online grade book Access your course and navigate to the Grades tool If you aren't taken to the Enter Grades area automatically, go ahead and click on the Enter Grades link at the top of the page Click on the Export button at the top of the page 184 www.it-ebooks.info Chapter Let's make sure we have all of the information we need in our grades export Make sure that both options are checked in the Grade Values section and select the First Name and Last Name options under the User Details section: In the Choose Grades to Export section, select the checkboxes next to each item you want to include in the backup file You can select everything using the checkbox in the table header Click on the Export to CSV button Once available, click on the link to download the file Click on the Close button to dismiss the pop-up window Once the CSV file has been downloaded to your computer, you can open it using Microsoft Excel, Apple's Numbers, Open Office, or just about any spreadsheet application How it works By default, the system's export file only includes Org Defined ID of a student In order to make the file easier to use later on, we also selected the options to include the students' first and last names This will make the file much more readable if you ever need to access it We also selected the checkboxes next to each grade item that we want to include in the export before clicking on the Export to CSV button Once your file is processed, you can download it to your computer by clicking on the name of the file 185 www.it-ebooks.info www.it-ebooks.info Index Symbols C doc file 49 docx file 49 tag 72 tag 72 tag 94 tag 72, 109 swf media file 84 Calculated grade item type 170 Camtasia Studio 80 Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) about 93, 97 moving, into external stylesheet 102-104 used, for styling content 97-101 CCMixter URL 91 cheating minimizing, in quiz 133-135 circles 153 Classlist tool 24, 144, 159 collaborative note taking facilitating, with Google Docs 154-156 comments leaving, for students 127 configuring web browser 19-22 content adding, to course from Learning Object Repository (LOR) 62, 63 posting, for specific groups 145-147 styling, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) used 97-101 Content area 39 Content tool 59, 102 Copy Components function copy function 40 Copy Structure function 43 course homepage, customizing with background images 32-36 A accessible templates URL, for downloading 105 using 104-109 Advanced Image Search feature 70 Allow Reset option 124 Assessment tool 119 Audacity about 87 audio files, creating with 88-91 audio files creating, with Audacity 88-91 B background images homepage, customizing with 32-36 backup copy exporting, for grades 184, 185 BCC field used, for keeping e-mail private 164, 165 browser plugin 150 www.it-ebooks.info Microsoft Word documents, getting into 49-52 navbar links, customizing 26-29 navigation groups, creating 29-32 outlining, Course Builder tool used 41-43 profile picture, used for adding personality 24, 25 reorganizing, with Course Builder tool used 45-48 system variables, used for creating customized content 37, 38 Course Builder tool about 40 used, for outlining course 41-43 used, for reorganizing course 45-48 course cartridge importing, of publishers 10-13 course files updating, without deleting original topics 56-58 course, getting ready for new semester about course materials, copying from previous semester 6-9 double-checking, from student view 17 due dates, changing for dropbox folder 14, 15 publisher’s course cartridge, importing 10-13 web browser, configuring 19-22 course materials copying, from previous semester 6-9 course navbar Groups link, adding to 145 Creative Commons licensed images, searching 70-73 URL 73 customized content creating, system variables used 37, 38 CutePDF Writer about 52 URL 52 used, for creating PDF handouts 56 D Desire2Learn (D2L) about accessible templates, using 104-109 mobile-friendly content, creating 109-112 Desire2Learn Learning Environment Desire2Learn Learning Suite course multimedia 70 Discussions tool 24, 159 discussion thread 157 discussion topics monitoring, notifications used 156-158 div tag 109 double-checking from student view 17 dropbox folders 52 due dates changing, for dropbox folder 14, 15 E Email Selected Users functionality 164 Enter Grades page 173 Export Components function external stylesheet Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), moving into 102-104 external web content displaying, with frames 94-97 F Facebook 24 federated resources searching 63 final grades calculating 178-181 releasing 178-181 Flash plugin 84 Flickr 73 folders uploading, to batch create course content 59-61 frames external web content, displaying with 94-97 YouTube video, displaying with 94-97 G GarageBand 91 GIMP 32 Google + 153 188 www.it-ebooks.info Google Docs about 40, 64, 153 PowerPoint presentation, uploading to 64-67 used, for facilitating collaborative note taking 154-156 Google Hangouts about 150 used, for setting up review sessions 150-153 Google + Safety center URL 153 gradebook category lowest grades, dropping from 168, 169 grade items hiding, from students 171-173 grades backup copy, exporting for 184, 185 previewing, from student perspective 181, 182 viewing, for un-enrolled students 183, 184 grade schemes 175 Grades tool 17, 167 grades view setting up, for minimizing scrolling 173, 174 group discussion forums 143 Group Dropbox folders 144 Group e-mail 144 groups content, posting for 145-147 Groups link adding, to course navbar 145 Groups tool 140 H homepage customizing, with background images 32-36 Homework quiz 115 how-to videos recording, with Jing 80-83 HTML editor 93 Hulu 74 I image-sharing site 73 imgLeft class 109 imgRight class 109 Import Components function Insert Stuff dialog about 73, 74 permissions, for accessing YouTube search tool 74-76 Instructor Introduction video 84 Intelligent Agents about 161 setting up 161-163 J Jing about 79 how-to videos, recording with 80-83 L LAME MP3 encoder 88 large course files copying, considerations 10 learning experience creating, release conditions used 128-130 creating, submission views used 128-130 Learning Management Systems (LMSs) Learning Object Repository (LOR) about 40, 62 content, adding to course from 62, 63 letter grade scheme creating 175-177 licensed images searching, for Creative Commons 71-73 LinkedIn 24 lowest grades dropping, from gradebook category 168, 169 M Mac operating system PDF handouts, creating on 55 Manage Dates tool 14-16 megapixel 26 Microsoft Word documents getting, into course 49-52 mid-term report displaying 170 Mixed Content 20 189 www.it-ebooks.info about 77 creating, YouTube playlist editor used 77-79 PowerPoint presentations about 53 converting, to PDF 53, 54 uploading, to Google Docs 64-67 working with 54 previous semester course materials, copying from 6-9 Pro account 84 profile picture used, for adding personality 24, 25 publishers about 10 course cartridge, importing 10-13 mobile-friendly content creating 109-112 N navbar links customizing 26-29 navigation groups about 29 creating 29-32 news items 52 notification feature about 156 used, for monitoring discussion topics 156-158 notification preferences 157 Q O objects browsing 45 creating 43, 44 on-going total report displaying 170 online video editor 84 options randomizing, in quiz 133-135 Ordinary Blue template 105 P PDF about 40, 52 creating 52 PowerPoint presentation, converting to 53, 54 PDF handouts creating, CutePDF Writer used 56 creating, on Mac operating system 55 permissions for accessing, YouTube search tool in Insert Stuff dialog 74-76 personality adding, profile picture used 24, 25 Photoshop 32 PicMonkey 25 placeholders 43 playlists question feedback used, for helping students 125, 126 question library about 116 questions, importing from 118, 119 quiz questions, copying to 116-118 questions correcting, of quiz 135-138 importing, from question library 118, 119 randomizing, in quiz 133-135 quiz options, randomizing 133-135 questions, randomizing 133-135 submitting, on behalf of student 131, 132 quiz attempt deleting, manually 123, 124 quiz creation process streamlining, quiz templates used 114-116 quiz questions copying, to question library 116-118 correcting 135-138 quiz templates used, for streamlining quiz creation process 114-116 Quizzes tool 17, 114 R Release Conditions about 140 190 www.it-ebooks.info announcements, posting for specific groups 145-147 used, for creating learning experience 128-130 replace strings 163 Respondus LockDown Browser correcting 132 Responsive Web Design 93 Restrictions tab 119 review session setting up, with Google Hangouts 150-153 Role Switch widget 17, 181 S Screencast.com 70 Skype 150 Snagit 79 student participation monitoring, View Progress tool used 159-161 student perspective grades, previewing from 181, 182 students comments, leaving for 127 extra time period, providing for assessment 120-122 grade items, hiding from 171-173 helping, question feedback used 125, 126 study groups creating 140-142 submission views used, for creating learning experience 128-130 System Check tool 18 system variables used, for creating customized content 37, 38 T TEACH Act 70 technical question forum creating 147-149 TechSmith 79 text message (SMS) 156 Track User Progress tool 161 Trusted Sites 20 Twitter 24 U un-enrolled students grades, viewing for 183, 184 user progress tracking 159-161 V Video Questions editor 87 videos about 69 editing, with YouTube 84-86 recording, with YouTube 84-86 View Progress tool about 159 used, for monitoring student participation 159-161 Vimeo 70, 74 W web browser configuring 19-22 webcam recorder 84 web videos embedding 73 what you see is what you get See WYSIWYG editor WYSIWYG editor 75, 93, 109 Y YouTube about 69, 73, 86, 153 URL 77 videos, editing 84-86 videos, recording 84-86 YouTube playlist editor used, for creating playlists 77-79 YouTube video displaying, frames used 94-97 Z Zamzar about 52 URL 52 191 www.it-ebooks.info www.it-ebooks.info Thank you for buying Desire2Learn for Higher Education Cookbook About Packt Publishing Packt, pronounced 'packed', published its first book "Mastering phpMyAdmin for Effective MySQL Management" in April 2004 and subsequently continued to specialize in publishing highly focused books on specific technologies and solutions Our books and publications share the experiences of your fellow IT professionals in adapting and customizing today's systems, applications, and frameworks Our solution based books give you the knowledge and power to customize the software and technologies you're using to get the job done Packt books are more specific and less general than the IT books you have seen in the past Our unique business model allows us to bring you more focused information, giving you more of what you need to know, and less of what you don't Packt is a modern, yet unique publishing company, which focuses on producing quality, cutting-edge books for communities of developers, administrators, and newbies alike For more information, please visit our website: www.packtpub.com Writing for Packt We welcome all inquiries from people who are interested in authoring Book proposals should be sent to 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pages Create your own ePortfolio and communities of interest within an educational or professional organization A step-by-step approach that takes you through examples with ample screenshots and clear explanations Create, customize, and maintain an impressive personal digital portfolio of web pages and mini websites (collections) with a simple point-and-click interface Create and manage online learning communities and social networks through groups, shared file areas, and forums Please check www.PacktPub.com for information on our titles www.it-ebooks.info Moodle Course Conversion: Beginner's Guide ISBN: 978-1-847195-24-1 Paperback: 316 pages Get your existing teaching material online quickly and easily No need to start from scratch! This book shows you the quickest way to start using Moodle and e-learning, by bringing your existing lesson materials into Moodle Move your existing course notes, worksheets, and resources into Moodle quickly then improve your course, taking advantage of multimedia and collaboration Moving marking online – no more backbreaking boxes of assignments to lug to and from school or college Moodle for Teaching 7-14 Year Olds Beginner's Guide ISBN: 978-1-849518-32-1 Paperback: 258 pages Effective e-learning for younger students, using Moodle as your classroom assistant Ideal for teachers new to Moodle: easy to follow and abundantly illustrated with screenshots of the solutions you'll build Go paperless! Put your lessons online and grade them anywhere, anytime Engage and motivate your students with games, quizzes, movies, blogs and podcasts the whole class can participate in Please check www.PacktPub.com for information on our titles www.it-ebooks.info .. .Desire2Learn for Higher Education Cookbook Gain expert knowledge of the tools within the Desire2Learn Learning Environment, maximize your productivity,... www.it-ebooks.info Desire2Learn for Higher Education Cookbook Copyright © 2012 Packt Publishing All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form... everything from getting your course ready for students to calculating final grades Desire2Learn for Higher Education Cookbook offers recipes that will help you set up, customize, and conduct your