DSU LogoExtended Programs Newsletter
December 2012

EP News | Trends in E-Learning | Emerging Technologies | Best Practices

From the Director of Extended Programs

DSU Community,

Welcome to the winter edition of the Extended Programs News Letter. This twice-yearly publication is intended to keep you up-to-date with the activities in our office as well as with the latest in e-learning, emerging technologies and best practices in the e-learning arena.

Registrations for spring and summer online classes are coming in daily and we are already seeing some filled classes. Please encourage all new and current students to register as early as possible to assure that they are enrolled in the class they need.

Extended Programs has had a very busy fall semester and we look forward to an equally busy spring.  Please take a look at our web site Extended Programs to see all of the ways that we can be of assistance to you and your students.

For those of you teaching online classes we encourage you to direct your students to our Distance Student Orientation site. It provides valuable information to new and continuing students. Also, we welcome you to view our new online tutoring services for all students Online Tutors and our proctoring services for faculty who require exam proctors for online students Proctoring Services. We also encourage you to use the faculty resources available. Each semester all online instructors are given “Guest Observer” Access to the following courses in D2L: “CET 600: Online Course Design in D2L” and “Designing and Developing Blended/Hybrid Course courses in D2L.” Our goal is to provide the best service possible to students and faculty.

I hope you enjoy the information provided by this newsletter and welcome your comments and insights.

Peg O’Brien, Director
 

Quality Assurance Course Review as of Fall 2012
  • We conducted a Quality Assurance Course Review training for new online instructors. The goal of this training was to help instructors develop their online courses to meet the Quality Assurance standards in D2L.
  • 24 faculty members participated in peer-reviewing eight online courses that received summer grants.
  • 27 online faculty are invited to have self assess their online courses, to help themselves become familiar with the Quality standards.

Desire2Learn Learning Suite 10 Features Guide

D2L released suite 10 that contains significant user interface changes for a more engaging and intuitive experience for all users. The most impactful UI changes include:

  • A new top minibar that provides persistent access to courses, alerts and personal settings
  • Redesigned homepage tool with more modern branding and layout options
  • Redesigned navigation tool that allows links to be grouped in menus for a focused and streamlined navigation experience
  • Stylistic updates across all tools for a more modern look and feel
  • Interaction design changes in major tools to help focus users’ attention, reduce errors, and simplify page designs
There are also new features and functions in some of our most popular tools including Dropbox, Competencies, Discussions, Rubrics, and Grades.

The SDBOR D2L system is scheduled to be upgraded to LE 10 in the summer of 2013.

View the PDF document from Desire2Learn
 
Released in December, 2012
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