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Desire2Learn 8.3

General FAQs

return to topThe text on my screen is too small. How can I fix it?

The default font size in the HTML editor in D2L is 8pt font, which is quite small. Unfortunately, the font size can't be changed to default to a larger size that's easier to view. When the HTML document is published, the text does appear a bit larger and may be sufficient for viewing. If you find when viewing documents in D2L that they are not large enough, you can change the default size of the font as it appears when viewing D2L pages.

  1. Access the Course Home page

  2. In the Welcome Box widget, click PREFERENCES

  3. In the Font Settings section, use the Face and Size pull-down menus to change the font type and font size

  4. Click SAVE
    Note: This change will NOT increase the size of the text in the HTML editor. This problem is a known issue and will be fixed by D2L in a future patch or version release.

return to topWho can I contact if I have technical problems?

return to topWhat do I do if a student in my class is not participating?

If you haven't done so already, you should try contacting the student via email or telephone if a number is available. The student might list a number in their D2L profile.

return to topHow do I send emails to my students?

The email tool in D2L only allows users to send emails from D2L -- not receive them. For step-by-step instruction, refer to Sending Email in D2L.

return to topCan I add additional links to the course navigation bar?

There may be additional D2L tools that you would like to add to your course navigation bar. Adding a link is referred to as activating it and removing a link is referred to as deactivating it. Step-by-step instructions can be found in Customizing the Navigation Bars: Activating and Deactivating Links.

 

Creating a Link

You can also create your own links to add to the navigation bar. For example, in a finance course, students might visit the NASDAQ website frequently and the instructor might want to add this link to the course navigation bar. To add a custom link, refer to Creating New Links in Customizing the Navigation Bars

 

return to topHow can I deter my students from cheating in an online course?

The LTS Online Help for D2L includes a document with several tips for Ensuring Academic Honesty in Your Online Course. While this document provides some great tips that are easy to use, it is important to remember that technology isn't the answer to preventing students from cheating; the types of assessments you use has a far greater impact on academic honesty.

Consider asking open-ended questions or assigning papers and projects rather than using multiple-choice exams as your major assessments. Multiple assessments and multiple assessment types also help deter students from cheating. Contact CETL@uwec.edu if you'd like to discuss additional strategies.

return to topHow do I provide feedback to my students?

D2L offers many tools for providing feedback to your students.

News
Consider typing a general message to all of your students in the News area. This strategy is perfect for summing up discussion activities.

Dropbox
You can either give feedback on items submitted to the dropbox by typing in the feedback text box or by uploading a marked copy of the student's original file. You can use the Track Changes and Comments tools in Word to add comments and make changes to student work. You might also want to consider embedding audio clips in dropbox items to provide more personalized feedback for each student while also saving time by speaking and not typing your feedback. Refer to Working with the Dropbox: Giving Feedback for step-by-step instructions.

Grades
You can add feedback to each student individually to the entire class using the Details and Overall Comments section.
Overall Comments text box

You can also leave comments for individual students for individual grade items.
Grade Comments for student

Quizzes
In the Quizzes tool, you can provide general feedback to each student individually on each quiz or you can make specific comments for each question. To save time, you can add feedback to each question in the quiz so students get immediate feedback based on how they answer each question.

Email
Using email for feedback works best when providing private student feedback. If possible, keep your comments in the course so that you have a record of any information shared with the student. If you do email feedback to a student, be sure to keep a record of all comments shared between you and the student.

If you are interested in learning how you can integrate these strategies for sharing feedback into your online course, please contact helpdesk@uwec.edu.

return to topWhat are my responsibilities for setting up and maintaining my course?

While the Online Course Support Team is available to help you with any technology and teaching/learning needs you have regarding your online course, there are certain responsibilities instructors have for setting up and maintaining their online courses. Below is a table specifying who is responsible for what.

Instructor Responsibilities Online Course Support Responsibilities
  • Copy course forward from a previous semester (if applicable)
  • Check that ALL materials copied from the previous course correctly.
  • Check that all links copied correctly and still work in the new version of the course.
  • Convert Word documents to HTML
  • Possess the D2L Core Skills for each tool you plan to use in your D2L course.
    NOTE: Online Course Support Staff will work with you to help you learn any skills you need to use D2L.
  • Provide either a question bank from a textbook publisher or type quiz questions in the specified format for importing.
  • Set up groups and set restrictions
  • Import quiz questions into D2L.
  • Provide technical support for troubleshooting any instructor or student technology problems.
  • Provide technology training for instructors learning how to use D2L.

return to topHow can I use widgets in my online course?

Widgets are the boxes that contain content on your Course Home page. The widgets that appear on your course home page by default are Welcome Box, News, Bookmarks, My UW-Eau Claire Resources, and Role Switch. You can also create your own widgets to customize your course home page. Below are some suggestions for using widgets in your online course:

Refer to the following articles for additional ideas:

return to topI keep losing information I type in D2L. Should I type in Word and then copy/paste to D2L?

Some users report that after spending a lot of time typing information into D2L it disappears. This issue generally occurs for two reasons: the user navigates away from the page before saving or the user's browser freezes and must shut down before the text has been saved.

If you find that you are running into these problems often, then it might be worth while to type your text in Word first and then copy/paste it into D2L.
HINT: Use the Paste from Word option found on the Advanced tab.

In addition, Word also offers a better spell checker than D2L and the default font size is larger than the 8pt default font that appears in D2L.

return to topWhy are my D2L pop-up windows being blocked?

There are a couple of possible causes of pop-up windows being blocked in D2L.

The Pop-Up Blocker may be turned on in your browser

If this is the case, you need to add the D2L site to the list of allowed sites. Visit the your browser's support site to learn how to add our D2L site to the list of allowed sites.

The Yahoo! or Google Toolbar may be installed in your browser

If this is the case, you need to uninstall the toolbar in order for the pop-ups to work in D2L. Visit the Yahoo! web site or the Google web site to learn how to uninstall the toolbar.

To open a pop-up window, even though you blocking pop-ups, press [Ctrl] and then open the pop-up window.

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