Create a Blackboard Collaborate Ultra Session in D2L

This tutorial will cover the steps involved when you wish to create and configure a new Session in your Blackboard Collaborate Ultra room that you’ve set up access for in your D2L course. For further information, please contact desupport@camosun.ca for assistance.

Steps

  1. Go to the location in your course site where you have linked to your Blackboard Collaborate Ultra room (for example, in the Content tool). For information on how to set up this link, see the tutorial Create a Blackboard Collaborate Ultra Room in D2L.
  2. Click on your Blackboard Collaborate Ultra link to open your Blackboard Collaborate Ultra room.
  3. Click Create Session.Click Create Session
  4. Give the Session a Name (for example, Week 1 Blackboard Collaborate Ultra Session).

    Add a Name

  5. Under Event Details, add Start and End dates for the Session. Select No end if you want an open session with no end, or Repeat session if you want to have a session repeat at selected intervals (for example, Daily, Weekly, Monthly). Select an Early Entry time so participants can come in early and configure their audio and video. You can also select No early entry, but we advise allowing participants a bit of time to ensure technical issues are dealt with before the session starts.

    Add Event Details

  6. Under Session Settings, select a Default Attendee Role (you can choose Participant, Presenter, or Moderator. See the tutorials Understanding Blackboard Collaborate Ultra Session Roles for more information about the three roles). Select Recording options and Moderator permissions if needed.

    Begin to select your Session Settings

  7. Scroll down to select options for Participants can, select Enable session telephony (recommended), and select Private Chat options (to prevent completely private chatting between students). Click Save.

    Complete the Session Settings and click Save

  8. You will be able to click on the session to edit the settings, but you and your students will NOT be able to enter the session until the start day/time.

    Session link

Things to Remember

For information on how to manage and facilitate a Blackboard Collaborate Ultra session, see the relevant tutorials.

How to use Kaltura with your students: Part 1 – Assignments

This post will show you how your students can submit videos (or audio files) that have been uploaded to Kaltura, as assignments using the Assignments tool.

If you have the My Media link to Kaltura added to your course Navbar, students can access their own personal media space and upload or create a video or audio file. If the video/audio is stored in Kaltura, then it is easy for students to embed them as assignment submissions. Here’s how:

First, you need to set up your Assignment folder as a Text submission assignment – see the tutorial Submission Options in Assignments for further information.

Once your students have added their assignment media to Kaltura (see the tutorial Uploading Media to My Media in D2L for information you can give to your students), they would

  1. Go to the Assignments tool in your course.
  2. Click on the title of the assignment they wish to submit to.

    Click the assignment you want to submit to

  3. Click the Insert Stuff icon at the top, left of the Text Submission box.

    Click Insert Stuff

  4. Click Add from My Media.

    Click Add from My Media

  5. In the Add from My Media box, click Embed next to the media (video or audio) you want to embed into the Text Submission box.

    Click Embed

  6. Check the preview to make sure it’s the right video, then click Insert.

    Click Insert

  7. The video/audio will be embedded in the Text Submission box. Click Submit to submit your assignment.

    Click Submit

  8. Click Done.

    Click Done

Once your students have submitted their video/audio assignments, you can go to the Assignments tool and view/listen to them right in the Assignments Submissions area. Add your feedback into the Feedback box, or attach your own media piece as feedback to your students.

If you have any questions about this, or want to talk to someone in eLearning about this, email desupport@camosun.ca.

Making Your Print Materials Accessible for All Learners Brochure (and Website)

Those of you who were at our annual Walls Optional conference last spring will remember the launch of a new brochure, designed by our own Sue Doner, called Making Your Print Materials Accessible for All Learners. Well, this brochure is now available electronically at the Download Brochure page on the website, also created by Sue, Practical Applications of Universal Design of Learning (UDL).

In Sue’s own words:

“This website, Practical Applications of Universal Design of Learning (UDL), is one of the outcomes of a 2018/2019 project for UDL-based resources @ Camosun College and was made possible by funding from the Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills & Training.

The background research into and outcomes of the 2018/2019 project are intended to help build capacity & awareness at the college for UDL  and other accessibility and inclusive design guidelines.

The focus on Accessible Print Materials is  the first-phase of this website.”

I encourage you to take a look at the brochure as you start thinking about your next term of teaching (and perhaps even for your fall courses). Sue Doner and her instructional designer colleagues s in eLearning are available to provide support for you or answer questions about how to redesign your print materials for accessibility, as well as to show you how you can use some of the new tools in D2L to help make this a bit easier for you.

You can contact eLearning support at desupport@camosun.ca to book an appointment with an instructional designer at either campus, or contact Sue directly at doners@camosun.ca

Don’t forget we have eLearning drop-ins and consults

Happy new term from eLearning at Camosun!

We wanted to remind you that if you need any help setting up your D2L course sites, or have any questions now or during the term about D2L or how to use (or why you might want to use) any of its tools, we are here for you!

Our eLearning (D2L and other tools) Support team is available from 8:30-4:30, Monday-Friday by phone (250-370-3488) or by email (desupport@camosun.ca) or even by in-person in the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) offices in the Lansdowne Library. And they are available for your students to, so be sure to direct them to eLearning Support if they have technical issues with D2L (like logging in!)

We also have 5 instructional designers who are available to help you by appointment at both campuses, or during our eLearning drop-ins at Interurban. These drop-ins, in our CETL offices in the Liz Ashton Campus Centre, room 251J, are:

August

  • Tuesday, August 27, from 2:00pm-3:00pm
  • Wednesday, August 28, from 1:00pm-2:00pm
  • Thursday, August 29, from 2:00pm-3:00pm
  • Friday, August 30, from 11:30am-12:30pm

September

  • Tuesdays, September 3, 10, 17, 24, from 11:00-12:00pm
  • Thursdays, September 5, 12, 19, 26, from 11:00-12:00pm
  • Fridays, September 6, 13, 20, 27, from 11:30am-12:30pm

October 4 to December 13

  • Fridays, from 11:30am-12:30pm

If you would like to contact an instructional designer to schedule a consult regarding a specific question you are having around using D2L, or for information on how to use a specific D2L tool, or with any questions you may have about using other educational technologies to support your teaching (or even if you have a pedagogical challenge and are wondering what educational technology might help you with your challenge), contact eLearning support (desupport@camosun.ca) and we can set you up!

You can also find out more about who is available to help you with your eLearning needs by visiting the Contact Us section of the main CETL website (http://camosun.ca/about/teaching-learning/contact-us.html) and email an instructional designer directly.

We look forward to hearing from you – and good luck with your term!

Create a Blackboard Collaborate Ultra Room in D2L

This tutorial is designed for faculty who have previous experience using the Content tool in D2L, and who have had some experience with Blackboard Collaborate Ultra (BBCU) (e.g., attended an information session or a hands-on session), and will cover the steps involved when you wish to set up a link to a BBCU room in D2L through the HTML editor (for example, in News item or a Content page) or a Topic link in the Content tool. For further information, please contact desupport@camosun.ca for assistance.

Steps for Linking to a BBCU Room in a Content Page (HTML editor)

  1. Go the Content tool in your D2L course.
  2. Click on the title of the Module you want to add the BBCU room to, or create a New Module.
  3. Click Add New and select Create a File.

    Click Add New and select Create a File

  4. Add a Title, then add contextual and/or instructional text into the HTML editor box. Highlight the words you want to link the BBCU room to, and click the Quicklink icon.

    Highlight text and click Quicklink

  5. Select External Learning Tools (you may need to scroll down in the list).

    Select External Learning Tools

  6. Select Blackboard Ultra.

    Select Blackboard Collaborate Ultra

  7. The link to the Blackboard Collaborate Ultra room has now been created. Click Publish. When you click on the link in the page you just created, and your BBCU room (named for the D2L course) will appear.

    Click Publish

Steps for Adding BBCU Room as a Content Topic (HTML editor)

  1. Go the Content tool in your D2L course.
  2. Click on the title of the Module you want to add the BBCU room to, or create a New Module.
  3. Click Add Existing Activities and select External Learning Tools.

    Click Add Existing Activities and select External Learning Tools

  4. Select Blackboard Ultra.

    Select Blackboard Collaborate Ultra

  5. The link to the Blackboard Collaborate Ultra room has now been created, and when you click the Blackboard Ultra link, your BBCU room (named for your D2L course) will appear.

Next week I will show you how to create scheduled sessions within your Blackboard Collaborate Ultra room.

ETUG Fall Workshops – save the dates

For today’s post, a quick reblog.

The Educational Technology User Group Fall workshop will be in two parts this year: Friday, October 18th face to face in Vancouver at SFU Harbourside, and virtually on Friday, November 1st! Mark the dates now – more information and registration will be coming up soon.

Find out more at the ETUG website:

https://etug.ca/2019/06/20/save-the-dates-etug-fall-workshops-2019/

Want to know more about ETUG and how you can get more involved?  Contact Emily Schudel, Chair of the Stewardship Committee for ETUG, at schudele@camosun.ca

Ethical Dimensions of Educational Technology: Part 2 – Some important ethical issues to keep in mind

It’s been awhile since the first post about this workshop, and now it’s time for the second revolving around some important ethical issues that came up during the face to face session. So, for today’s post, I am going to introduce and briefly discuss six big ethical issues we decided need to be considered when integrating educational technology into teaching and learning. This will not be an exhaustive (or exhausting) discussion of these issues – rather, I will introduce each one (in no particular order) and point you to more resources both here at the college, and outside.

Privacy

When you use an online tool, do you and your students have to set up accounts? Do you need to provide the tool with your name and/or email address? What happens to this information (and any material you work with in the tool) and who owns it? Privacy is about keeping your personal information or intellectual property safe. While Camosun has a Privacy Policy (http://camosun.ca/about/policies/operations/o-6-information-management/o-6.1.pdf), it does not directly address the use of cloud-based tools to support teaching and learning. For that, we need to turn to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act in BC (http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/96165_00).

In a nutshell, if you are asking students to provide personal information to a third-party for any purpose (for an activity, assessment, content access, etc.), you need to inform them of FIPPA, give them the option to opt-out, and be prepared to give them an alternate way of accessing the material if they choose to opt out.

Accessibility

Can your students access your course material? Can they see or hear it? Do they have access to the right equipment or software to engage with it? Do they have access to support and training for the tools you are using? Accessibility/inclusivity involves incorporating a variety of instructional formats, assessment strategies, etc. to support any number of issues, including visual, auditory, learning, mental health issues, and access to technology.

Consider how to make your courses accessible by designing your course materials ahead of time rather than waiting for someone to ask for an alternate format later (which is accommodation). When adopting a tool, review any accessibility features it promotes. If you can’t find any information, send them an email. An instructional designer in eLearning can help you assess the tool you are wanting to use.

To find out more about WCAG (Web content Accessibility Guidelines), see https://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag.

Want to go further? Learn more about Universal Design for Learning (UDL) https://sites.camosun.ca/fair/diversity/universal-design-for-learning-udl/ UDL Guidelines: http://udlguidelines.cast.org/

Also, see Camosun’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion policy (http://camosun.ca/about/policies/governance/g-2-organizational-goals-and-accountability/g-2.1.pdf) for information on how the implementation of UDL principles supports college priorities.

Learning Analytics

Do you like to know what your students are doing in your online course site, for example, how often they logon, how long they spend reading materials, how engaged they are in course activities, their overall progress through the course? These are learning analytics, and while they can be useful for knowing who is doing what with your online tools, and for ensuring that your students are completing the tasks you have given them, using them comes with ethical concerns.

We need to consider transparency and consent, as well as how we interpret and act on analytics. (https://elearningindustry.com/7-ethical-concerns-with-learning-analytics some of the considerations)

Online classroom ethics

Like the face to face classroom, the online classroom should also be a place where students feel safe interacting with their instructor and fellow students. Some things to keep in mind:

  • If you are adding others to the course (for example, another faculty member, or an assistant of some kind), let your students know who they are, and why they are there.
  • Discuss Netiquette with the whole group, or have students draft class or group/team codes of conduct for engagement in the online classroom.
  • Address any concerns or questions students may have about anonymity.
  • If you are using student or class progress tools in D2L, let students know you are tracking them.

Some college policies which support conduct in our teaching and learning environments include

Indigenization

I am in no way qualified to discuss indigenization, but I can point you towards those at Camosun who are!

According to our Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning website:

“Indigenization is the process by which Indigenous ways of knowing, being, doing and relating are incorporated into educational, organizational, cultural and social structures of the institution. The goal is to create a more inclusive environment through the presentation of a different world view, and to enhance and enrich the educational and cultural experience of the educational community. This does not mean the institution is Indigenous-centred, but it does mean that consideration of Indigenous issues comes “naturally”.”

And you can find out more about Indigenization initiatives, and who to contact for support, at http://camosun.ca/about/teaching-learning/initiatives/indigenization.html and http://camosun.ca/about/indigenization/

Digital identity

Closely connected to privacy, a person’s digital identity is their footprint online. Every time you sign up for a tool using your personal information, this information is saved and sometimes passed on to others, with or without your knowledge or permission. It is not enough for us to say that “all students use Facebook” so they know how to protect themselves because even if students are using cloud-based social media tools already, it is still our responsibility as instructors and as an institution to inform them of how to protect themselves from cyber-bullying, identity theft, etc.

Ask yourself “What do my students know about their digital identity?”, then ask yourself what do you know about your own digital identity.

In addition to one’s personal digital identity, consider how you and your students can protect your intellectual property. When using a cloud-based tool to host course or research materials, as yourself Who owns it? Who is using it, and how are they using it? Check the privacy settings, the copyright/ownership information, and don’t’ be afraid to send an email to the company to find out more. These are things you need to know before asking or suggesting students to use these tools

To learn more about digital identity, and for tools to help you and your students navigate this complex issue, go to UBC’s Digital Tattoo site (https://digitaltattoo.ubc.ca/)

Of course, there are many other ethical issues to keep in mind when adopting educational technology, including:

  • Social Justice, human rights, and equality with regards to the non-neutral nature of (educational) technology (for example, silencing, constraints, access, power structures, openness (or not), etc.)
  • Digital literacy and fake news
  • Emotional wellbeing (digital detox) and online addiction

If you ever want to talk more about the ethical issues raised here, or any others that come to mind, our instructional designers in eLearning would love to talk to you! Contact desupport@camosun.ca to arrange for a consult.

In the next post (the third of four) about this workshop, I will talk about some of the outcomes from the discussions and things participants wanted to do or learn more about!

Things for Faculty to Know about eLearning and D2L at Camosun

And as promised, here is some information for new faculty – and reminders for faculty who may have forgotten all things D2L over the summer!

Preamble – Who is eLearning?

eLearning is a unit within the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, with offices at Lansdowne and Interurban. We support the use of Desire2Learn (D2L) and other educational technologies available at Camosun College (Camtasia, WordPress, Blackboard Collaborate). Our DE Support team can help you and your students when you have technical issues or questions about D2L or our other technologies. Our instructional designers work with faculty to design and develop online learning opportunities, set up their D2L courses, explore options for using other online tools to support their teaching, and discuss considerations for integrating those tools into their course design.

Want to know more? Let us know – our contact phone numbers and emails are on page 2!

1.     What is D2L?

  • Desire2Learn (D2L) is Camosun College’s learning management D2L enables faculty who are teaching face-to-face, blended, or completely online to deliver content, manage online activities and group collaboration, as well as provide online assessment options for students.
  • Your D2L site can only be accessed by students registered in your course, eLearning staff, and other Camosun employees you request access.
  • To get started with D2L, please request a consultation with an eLearning instructional You also check the current workshop schedule for the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) (http://camosun.ca/about/teaching-learning/events/index.html) for upcoming D2L learning opportunities.

2.     How are D2L course sites set up?

  • Your course must be flagged for D2L when the course is set up for registration in To ensure that it has been flagged, check with the person in your area who sets up courses in Colleague for registration (often the Chair).
  • Approximately 30 days before the course start date, you will have access to your blank D2L course shell (as long as you are listed in Colleague as the instructor of the course).
  • 7 days before the course starts, you will see the names of registered students appear in your D2L course site Students are added to and dropped from this list as they are registered in, or unenrolled from, the course through Colleague. Waitlisted and late registering students gain access to their D2L courses the day after they are registered.
  • Students will have access to the D2L course sites they are registered in on the start date of the course (as it appears in Colleague). Students will then have access to the D2L course site for 20 days after the end date of the course (as it appears in Colleague).
  • You, as the instructor of the course, will have indefinite access to your D2L course sites unless you arrange with DESupport to have them removed from your list of courses in D2L. This process requires an email from you to DESupport (Desupport@camosun.ca) clarifying which courses you wish to have.

3.     If I teach multiple sections in a term but only want one D2L course site (and thus one D2L gradebook) for all my students, what do I need to do?

  • BEFORE your students are added to your D2L course site (which happens 7 days before the start date of your course), contact DESupport and let them know which sections need to be merged into one course.

4.     What is a DEV (Development) course site, and how do I request one?

  • A D2L DEV course site is a course site that students cannot It is a place where you can build and revise your course site before your live course shells become available to you.
  • A DEV site must be associated with a course you are teaching (for example, if you teach Math 100, you can request a Math 100 DEV site).
  • To request a DEV site for one of your courses, email To learn more about DEV sites and how they can be used, talk to an eLearning instructional designer.

5.     How do I get access to someone else’s course site?

  • You will need to ask that person to contact DESupport and request/give permission for you to be added to their course

6.     Where do I go to get help with D2L?

  • You can ask for help from DE Support (desupport@camosun.ca) or book a one-on-one consult with an eLearning instructional designer (see contact information below).
  • You can come to an eLearning drop-in session or
  • You can also access our D2L On-Demand Training It will see it in your My Courses Widget (when you click on Student) in D2L. If you don’t see it in your course listing, contact DESupport to give you access.

7.     How do I log into D2L?

8.     How do I find my courses in D2L?

  • Once you have logged into D2L, you can find a list of all the courses you have access to in the My Courses widget on the main Camosun D2L page, or in the Select a course… menu on the right-hand side of the navigation bar.
  • You can pin courses in the My Courses widget or in the Select a course… menu so that, for example, the courses you are teaching right now always appear at the top of the listings. You can access instructions for this in the On-Demand Training course site, or through

9.     How do I copy course material from one course to another?

  • Use the Import/Export/Copy Components tool in your D2L course site (under Edit Course).  You can access instructions for this in the On-Demand Training course site, or through DESupport.

eLearning is: 

 

Contact Information

Role

Primary Campus

Wendy McElroy mcelroy@camosun.ca | ext. 3488 D2L Administrator Lansdowne
Bob Preston prestonb@camosun.ca | ext. 3937 Web Analyst + DESupport Lansdowne
Monique Brewer brewerm@camosun.ca | ext. 4990 Instructional Designer Interurban/Lansdowne
Meghan Campbell campbellm@camosun.ca | ext. 4994 Instructional Designer Interurban
Sue Doner doners@camosun.ca | ext. 3939 Instructional Designer Lansdowne
Emily Schudel schudele@camosun.ca | ext. 3529 Instructional Designer Lansdowne
Jennifer Stein stein@camosun.ca | ext. 4993 Instructional Designer Interurban

Logging into D2L – A Student Tutorial – see document

As we gear up for the new school year, I wanted to remind you of some important information related to D2L, both for faculty and students.

This first post is for new students logging into D2L for the first time. And the next post, to follow this one shortly, will be for new faculty, and faculty who have enjoyed their summers so much that all things D2L have drifted away!

  1. Open an Internet browser and go to the Camosun College website (http://camosun.ca). We recommend you use Chrome as your Internet browser if possible. Then click D2L in the top, right-hand corner of the site.

    Camosun Homepage
    Click D2L

  2. Type in your Camosun ID number (your C#) and the Password you use with your C# to log into college computers. Then click Log in.

    Log in to D2L

    NOTE
    : IF you do not have a password for your C# yet, or if you have forgotten your password, you will have to go to http://password.camosun.ca, login, and click Forgot Password. If you are unable to reset your password, contact helpdesk@camosun.ca for assistance

  3. Once you have logged into D2L, you will see the courses you have access to listed in the My Courses box on the homepage. Click on the title of the course you wish to access to go to it. Note that you will NOT be able to access your D2L course site until the start date of the course.

    D2L homepage

  4. Once you go into your course site, you may wonder where you will find you course content. This will vary from course to course, depending on your instructors. Some places to look include:

    The News tool on the course homepage:

    The News Tool
    The Content tool

    The Content tool

If you are still unsure where to find your course materials, talk to your instructor!

Finally, if you have technical issues with D2L during the term, contact desupport@camosun.ca for assistance.