D2L FAQ's
1. Logging in, getting help, passwords
2. Courses and students
3. Content
4. Quizzes
5. eMail
6. Gradebook
7. Respondus
8. iPad and mobile/smartphone
9. General D2L questions
10 Broken Links
11. Testing and Quizzes
Logging in
How do I log in to D2L?
1. First, get your D2L username and password
2. Go to the GHC web site, click SCORE
3. Click the GHC ID Lookup link.
4. Your D2L username and initial password are given.
5. Go to: http://highlands.view.usg.edu
6. To change your initial password go to the "My Settings" widget and clicking the Change Password link.
How do GHC staff or admininstrators get access to D2L?
Most users (students and instructors) are enrolled in the D2L database via exp[orts from Banner.
Staff and administrators who are not in a course in Banner (as a student or instructor) must be added to D2L manually.
Contact sgrist if you need to be added manually so you have a D2L username/password.
Why can't I or my students see courses in the "My Courses" widget?
It takes 24-36 hours for a course to appear in D2L after students have registered, or an instructor has been added in to a course in Banner. See also FAQ below.
I don't see any courses in the My Courses widget. Why?
If you have only a few courses, you’ll see them grouped by semester. If you have more than 25 you see a search box.
1. .Click on Search leaving the text box empty.
2. A list of all your courses will be provided.
3. Click a course. That course will then appear in the My Courses widget next time.
Once you have enterd a course, it gets added to the listing of the last 10 courses you accessed.
I don't see any migrated courses from Vista in D2L, what should I do?
All Fall 20112 Vista courses migrated, but in some cases you must be manually enrolled in these migrated courses in D2L.
Send sgrist the course CRNs to be added as instructor in D2L.
Getting HELP
How can I quickly learn to use D2L?
See "Getting Started with D2L for Students" at the GHC web site for a short tutorial.
Is 24/7 D2L help available online?
Yes. Online support is available 24/7 for students and faculty.
Is in-person D2L help available for faculty?
Yes. Contact the GHC Instructional Technologist and Instructional Designer for 1-on-1 assistance.
D2L Passwords
I requested a password reset but I don't get an email confirming it, why?
Allow 20 minutes or longer at peak times.
If you changed your email in Banner, the email will go there rather than to your GHC email (same for students).
Look for the email called "Donotreply."
I have entered my username and password several times and now I am locked out. What should I do?
If you have attempted unsuccessfully to login six times you will time out. Try again in about five minutes.
Courses and Students
Why does the D2L classlist show students who've dropped or been dropped from a course in Banner?
How can I unenroll a student from a Course Offering in D2L?
1. Go to the Course Offering.
2. Click "Classlist."
3. Place check in box next to student to unenroll.
4. Click the "Unenroll" icon (above the classlist: it shows a human image with a red minus sign -see screenshot).
This only unenrolls a student from the course offering you are looking at.
How can I add another instructor to a Course Offering in which I have an instructor role?
With the role as instructor, you can add instructors yourself. Follow these steps:
Select Add Participants on the top tool menu of the Classlist page.
To enroll an existing user
1. Click on Add Participants link on the classlist page. Then select Add existing users.
2. In the Set all roles to drop-down list, select the role that you want the users you are enrolling to have, and click Set all roles.
3. Select the Enrollment email check box if you want to send users an email informing them of their enrollment.
4. Search for the users you want to add.
5. Select the check box beside the users you want to enroll.
6. Select a Role if you want it to be different from the role set for all users
7. Click Enroll Selected Users.
8. Click Done.
How do I base a "Course Offering" on a migrated course or a course I have taught before?
To copy content to a course from a course in a prior semester, you must be the instructor in both COs.
1. Go to the course offering into which you want to import or copy a prior course.
2. Cick Edit Course --> Import, Export, Copy Components --> Copy Components From Another Org Unit -->
3. Choose the class that you want to copy from in the drop down menu -->
4. Then either choose that you want to copy everything or just individual components.
See also the "Copy Course Content" tutorial
Why can't I take a test as "Demo Student"?
If you role-switch to the Demo student role, you cannot take a test (the "Start Quiz" link dowsn't appear).
1. Contact sgrist for the user information for a "dummy" student who you can add to the CO, who will be able to see and take a test.
2. Add the "dummy" student to your classlist,
2. Log out as yourself.
3. Log back in as the fdummy student you added in step 1.
4. Go to the test and cick "Start Test).
5. Remember to delete the dummy student from your Class list.
How can I see if a course offering is active?
Banner-derived Course Offerings can be accessed by students on the first day of the semester .
However, you can set dates for courses not derived from Banner (i.e. courses you request the D2L admins to set up for you manually) .
1. Go to the course as instructor.
2. Click "Edit Course."
3. Click "Course Offering Information."
4. Look to see if "Active" box is CHECKED
5. You can set Course Start dates and Course End Dates by selecting dates in the boxes.
Can I access D2L with a Mobile Browser?
- See global and course-specific news item
- View course and course content
- View course events
- Participate in course discussions
- Check grades
- Create bookmarks to quickly access content later
Are there any iPad apps for D2L?
- You can use the Desire2Learn Assignment Grader App from your iPad to grade student assignments.
Assignment Grader full version ($9.99) and Assignment Grader Lite (free) are only available for iPad at this time. Requires iOs 4.0 or later. To get the App go to iTunes and download it to your iPad.
For instructions on using the App
- Desire-2-Learn Binder App
Desire2Learn Binder is a smart and engaging application that allows students to wirelessly import course documents and other resources from the Desire2Learn Learning Environment directly onto their tablet device. From there, Binder provides students with a host of clever tools that allow them to read, annotate, manage and organize these course resources anywhere, anytime. It’s a portable personalized and truly immersive way for students to interact with course content.
Download the free D2L Binder App
Content
What kind of file types can I upload to D2L?
PDF documents look blurry in D2L, what can I do?
If you are basing a current semester course offering on a migrated course, and the pdf was in the migrated course, large pdfs are compressed in the migration process.
Reload the original pdf to the D2L course.
PDF files are scalable, which means they will appear smaller than normal if the browser window is not maximized, but you can zoom in as much as you want. Students in D2L courses should be sure to open these files in a new window when they're viewing them in Content.
When will Turnitin be set up in D2L?
Turnitin-in-D2L will be set up by the GHC D2L Administrators in the Summer, 2013.
Implementation was delayed to enable Vista-to-D2L spring transition to be completed.
What's the best way to put Powerpoint slideshows in D2L?
There are several independent applications that have been developed to put PowerPoint on the web in a user-friendly manner. One of the better ones isthe free iSpring. Download iSpring.
iSpring takes a PowerPoint presentation and converts it to web-friendly multimedia. It includes audio so it is a good choice for presentations that include narration. It compresses presentations fairly well for multiple bandwidths and retains reasonable quality. You can adjust the size of the output window so it's easier to play in a small window.
Quizzes
How do I set up a Quiz and Randomize Items?
See Create Quiz and Randomize Answers guide.
I'm confused about Quiz settings in D2L, is there a simple guide?
Yes see this page: Quiz Settings in D2L Can Be Confusing.
How can I set up a quiz so students can see their performance?
Download and look at this step-by-step guide.
While taking a quiz, a student lost internet connection, how can I reset her attempt without giving an additional attempt?
1) Go to: Quizzes/select the grade quiz icon (ruler with green check mark to the right of the quiz in question)
2) Select attempts
3) Do an empty search for attempts in progress
4) Send it to the trashcan
How can I reset a Quiz Attempt?
See How to Reset Quiz Attempt handout.
How do I set Quiz availbility and Duration?
See this one-page explanation at: Setting Quiz Availability and Duration
How can I email just the students in a Course Offering?
See EMail Students from the Classlist Tool.
Why can't I get D2L email forwarded to another email account?
The D2L Gradebook
Can I enter grades in the Gradebook like I do in Excel?
Yes. In Spreadsheet view, you can use the same enter/tab method to enter individual grades. There is no longer a need to put all your grades in an Excel spreadsheet and import the file.
Can I import grades I entered in Excel?
Yes. Be sure to save your Excel grades file as a CSV file, then import the file ito the Gradebook in D2L. But first, be sure to look at both of the following!
1. Read this article about Importing Grades in Excel.
Can I copy the Gradebook with my settings from one CO to another?
Yes. No students or scores are copied. Just use the Copy/Import/Export process and select only Gradebook (or "everything" if that's what you want). calculated columns are not imported.
Is there a straightforward, step-by-step guide to setting up the Gradebook?
Yes. The Gradebook (pdf) handout guides you through the steps to setting up your gradebook in D2L.
Where can I get detailed information about using the D2L Gradebook Tool?
There is an online as well as a "Printer-Friendly version.
I posted Grades in Gradebook but they arent showing up. Why?
How can I hide a Gradebook column?
Can I use Respondus with D2L?
Yes. You can create and release assessments (i.e. tests) dirctly in D2L, but consider using Respondus, which makes the process more user-friendly..
GHC has a site license for Respondus (Windows only) , which you can download from the Software downloads page in the GHC site. There are a number of useful resources for learning to use Respondus
You can find the new password on our internal Respondus Download page: http://www.highlands.edu/site/intranet-respondus
How to update Respondus (Ppt file April 2011)
- The Respondus site provides Quick Start and comprehensive User Guides (be sure to choose the Vista "personality" user Guide.
- Respondus How-to at Southern Polytechnic State University. Includes "Using Respondus" overview and a "Cheat Sheet for Creating Exams."
- Respondus How-to's at the University of North Carolina. Included pdfs on importing, formatting, and uploading questions into Vista.
- When you have downloaded and installed Respondus, you can use the built-in HELP menu.
I am trying to use Respondus to publish my online final exams to D2L but I am having problems connecting to the server.
This sometimes happens. To fix it, go to the publish wizard, select “add a new server”.
Press Next and in the next window select No, manual set up
Go to the GHC login page and copy and paste the URL into box 2 of the next window.
Select the extract button (box 3), then fill in box 4.
Then, select OK.
Exit Respondus.
Then, come back in and open your document and publish it using the new credentials.
Note that it may take a few minutes for the Respondus to D2L connection to make.
iPad and smart phone
Why can't I read documents and HTML pages using mobile with D2L?
This requires a setting change that affects all GHC D2L users. The D2L Admin Team will work on testing the solution to this issue before implementing it on the D2L server used for courses. Thanks for your patience!
Updated: January 28, 2013).
NOTE: There are some known bugs associated to reading HTML content on Mobile web but widely speaking users should make sure that they are using supported Mobile OS/browser version and not switching to Desktop view when using Mobile device to avoid some known issues:
iOS 3 (Safari) Supported
iOS 4 (Safari) Supported
Android 1.5 Supported
Android 2.1 Supported
Blackberry 6 Supported
Is there a way to integrate Turnitin.com with our version of D2L?
Yes, Turnitin can be linked to the Dropbox tool.
GHC D2L Admin team will set this up when it has been tested on the D2L test instance.Thanks for your patience.Is there a way for us to allow students to embed user-created videos in discussion posts?
Technically, yes, you can go to Compose in Discussions, click the "Insert Stuff" icon and insert a video, BUT this results in using the D2L server as a video server. Admins have been asked NOT to recommend this approach
Let me see how others are managing this...
General Questions
How can i stop my computer beeping at me when I am logged in to D2L?
1. Login to D2L
Access the Preferences tool
From My Home, click the Preferences link in the My Settings widget.
Use the tabs across the top of the page to view and edit different presentation options:
> General Preferences
Preferences on this tab are not related to a specific tool.
> Online Status: Changes your online status so that you appear offline even when you are logged into the system.
2. You can also change your Pager Preferences to "NO SOUND."
In some versions of D2L, there is a button on the tool bar that links to a "clickable" checklist, allowing students to itemize and click through tasks as they complete them. Any chance our version does this?
Yes, a Checklist tool is available. You can add it to a CO navbar, but to do so, you would need to set up a new navbar for that course -and include the Checklist tool.
Where can I get Step-by-Step instructions for backing up course sections from Vista?
Instructions in how to back up my students' course work in Vista.
What are all those icons un D2L?
Graphic D2L Icon Guide (pdf)
I keep getting "Broken Links" listed, what does this mean what should I do?
Sometimes links to files or other areas in D2L that have been created in the Content Area get broken. Instead of a connection to a file or an intended action, selecting the Content Area link generates an error or, sometimes, nothing at all. Some common reasons a broken link can occur include: when a linked file has been renamed, removed, moved to different location in the course file structure or when a quicklink targets a resource that has been renamed or doesn't exist in the course offering anymore.
Read this online How-to at Montana State University at Bozeman:
How to Fix a Broken Link in the Content Area.
TESTING and QUIZZES
Is there a list of FAQ's about taking quizzes in D2L that answer student's questions?
Yes. See the PDF document entitled "Quizzes in Desire-2-Learn -Student FAQ's and Reminders."
What are Some of the Issues related to Quiz Time Limit Enforcement?
See this document that answers some questions regarding time limits set in quizzes and their enforcement.
A student did not submit a quiz, can an instructor view the attempt and force submission?
When a student takes an online quiz but fails to submit it before the quiz time expires, the D2L system shows no submission or grade. The student's quiz becomes an "attempt in progress."
Instructors can search for "attempt in progress" quiz results and then submit the attempt for a user. Follow these guidelines for managing this issue.
Why did D2L log my student out during a quiz, and they lost all their answers?
D2L has an idle timeout of 60 minutes. D2L will automatically log out a person who has been inactive for 60 minutes. The inactivity is determined by the server. We have found that, when taking a quiz, the server does not recognize selecting radio buttons beside answers or typing in an editor in a fill-in-the-blank or essay quiz as activity.
The server will recognize selecting the Save button by each question or the Save All Responses button at the bottom of a page in the quiz. We recommend that students select theSave button after answering each question or the Save All Responses button after answersing a series of questions, so the server is aware of activity for that quiz. The Quiz Info box on the left side of the page will display to students which questions in the quiz have been saved. To help students understand that they are about to be timed out, a series of warning messages will be displayed.
When the student has been inactive for 50 minutes, the message below will be displayed.
In this case, selecting the OK button will allow the student to remain logged in. If this message is ignored and the OK button is not selected within 10 minutes, then the session will expire, and the student will receive the 60 minute warning message, which is displayed below.
They will need to click the OK button and either:
- Open a new browser tab/window and log back in before proceeding
- Copy and paste any unsaved work into another application (such as Notepad) before proceeding