Let’s Enhance Your Teaching and Your Students’ Learning, Part II
This is a great time to reflect and revise previous courses as you prepare for the upcoming fall
semester. As part of this revision process, you may want to consider enhancing your teaching
and students’ learning by adding D2L tools appropriate for your courses.
As mentioned in Part 1 in our June Newsletter, an effective learning environment requires three
levels of interaction: Student-Content, Student-Instructor, and Student-Student (Moore, 1989).
Faculty who only focus on Student-Content Interaction drastically restrict the student’s ability to
effectively learn the material. Consequently, how can we incorporate all three kinds of
interactions to provide the optimal learning environment for student learning? Should we simply
use all technologies? No.
We need to think about the needs of the students within each course, and how technology can
help enhance your teaching and each student’s learning. That is why there should be
pedagogical reasoning for every technological tool you use in your course. Let us discover what
will be useful for your students in your courses.
How might you use some of the D2L features in your course(s)?
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What D2L features would be appropriate to use or helpful to use in your course(s)?
How could some of the D2L features meet certain needs within your course(s)?
Describe how you plan to use and/or connect one or more D2L features in your
upcoming course(s).
D2L Features: Uses and Benefits:
The News Feature:
What are some different uses for/benefits of the “News” feature?
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Update students about course-related items (especially during “Bad Weather” situations
or schedule changes)
Post reminders of important dates (due dates, posted feedback, or discussion board
closure)
Provide a hyperlink directly to the D2L feature/material you want the students to visit
Encourage students through challenging portions of a project/semester
Could the “News” feature be useful in your course(s)? How might you use this feature?
There are many other ways which you can use this feature. Be creative, and think about how you
can use the “News” feature in your course(s). What needs could the “News” feature meet?
One helpful aspect of D2L is that students can now receive notifications via email or text when
the instructor opens a new discussion, sets up a new dropbox, or posts a new message in “News.”
An instructional video is provided in the right column that you can make available to your
students, so they may set up their notifications.
The Classlist Feature:
What are some different uses for/benefits of the “Classlist” feature?
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Instructors can communicate with students:
o The instructor may send a mass email to students to direct them on how to
initially access the online course and materials.
o The instructor may send mass, group, or single emails to deliver important
messages.
o Instructors may also create profiles to enhance the sense of community.
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Students can communicate with each other:
o If a student has missed a class, he/she can contact his/her classmates for notes or
other course-related information.
o If a student is in a group, he/she can communicate with his/her group members
via email through the classlist.
o Students may also create profiles to enhance the sense of community.
Could the “Classlist” feature be useful in your course(s)? How might you use this feature?
There are many other ways which you can use this feature. Be creative, and think about how you
can use the “Classlist” feature in your course(s). What needs could the “Classlist” feature meet?
The Quizzes Feature:
What are some different uses for/benefits of the “Quizzes” feature?
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Compose a quiz for assessment, self-assessment, or diagnostic purposes
Construct different types of questions (multiple choice, T/F, short answer, fill in the
black, etc.) in quizzes
Create timed quizzes
Allow for single or multiple attempts
Provide automatic feedback
Secure the quiz/test through the Respondus Lockdown browser and other features such as
the randomizing questions feature
Save in-class time for teaching and activities instead of using in-class time for
tests/quizzes
Could the “Quizzes” feature be useful in your course(s)? How might you use this feature?
There are many other ways which you can use this feature. Be creative, and think about how you
can use the “Quizzes” feature in your course(s). What needs could the “Quizzes” feature meet?
In regards to security, OSU has purchased the Respondus Lockdown browser, which “locks
down the testing environment, [… and students] are unable to print, copy, go to another URL, or
access other applications” during the duration of the quiz/test (Respondus, 2011, p. 1). Note:
This is a browser the students must download, which they can easily do through D2L. Of course,
for ultimate security, you may use a proctored lab on campus for online quizzes/exams.
The Dropbox Feature:
What are some different uses for/benefits of the “Dropbox” feature?
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Allow for electronic submitting – no need to carry papers etc./or be responsible for hard
copies
Create a restricted time period for an “open” dropbox, then it will close – so the dropbox
will not accept late submissions, or if you choose so, the submissions can be accepted
after the close date and flagged as late
Secure the materials in the dropboxes
Provide feedback and automatic grade export
Check the originality report through Turnitin.com’s integration with D2L (this feature
will help detect plagiarism)
Could the “Dropbox” feature be useful in your course(s)? How might you use this feature?
There are many other ways which you can use this feature. Be creative, and think about how you
can use the “Dropbox” feature in your course(s). What needs could the “Dropbox” feature meet?
Recently, we integrated turnitin.com, a plagiarism system, with D2L. If you check the box seen
below, you, the instructor will receive an originality report. Moreover, if you want to use this
plagiarism detection tool as a learning tool for your students, you may allow them access to the
originality report too. Now, you can also grade via turnitin.com’s integration with D2L.
The Grades Feature:
What are some different uses for/benefits of the “Grades” feature?
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Use as an organizational feature, outlining all assignments and values (at the beginning
of the semester)
Record grades
Compute/Update grades on a regular basis
Allow students access to track their grades
Leave feedback in grades
Save class time by not returning hard copies of assignments
Could the “Grades” feature be useful in your course(s)? How might you use this feature?
There are many other ways by which you can use this feature. Be creative, and think about how
you can use the “Grades” feature in your course(s). What needs could the “Grades” feature
meet?
In regards to leaving feedback, there are multiple ways you may leave feedback for your
students. First, you may simply enter a grade, or you may fill out a pre-made rubric, upload
feedback, or leave general feedback for a student in the comment box. In general, students
typically appreciate feedback because they better understand your expectations for the
assignment, so they better understand the assigned grade.
*Please refer to the right column for instructional video resources on how to use these features.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the FacultyD2L team at 744-1000 or email
us at facultyd2l@okstate.edu.
Bib.
Ko, Susan, & Rossen, S. (2010). Teaching online: A practical guide (3rd ed.) New York, NY: Routledge
Moore, M.G. (1989). Three types of interaction. American Journal of Distance Education, 3(2), 1-6.
Respondus, Inc. (2011). Respondus: assessment tools for learning systems. Retrieved from http://www.respondus.com/products/lockdown.shtml.