Author: eschudel

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.

eLearning Interurban Workshops for Fall

We are starting to plan our fall training, and have some Interurban workshops up and ready to register for!  Lansdowne workshop listings will be posted in August once everyone is back and raring to go for Fall!

Check out descriptions below, and register at our Survey Monkey form.

D2L Overview

Date & Time: Tuesday, August 27 from 10-11:30am; Thursday, August 29 from 10-11:30am
Location: LACC 251J, Interurban Campus
Description: This workshop will provide instructors with an overview of the essential teaching tools available in our learning management system, D2L (also known as Brightspace). Whether you are supplementing your face-to-face classes, transition from using a basic course website or simply want to learn more about to enhance your current teaching practice using D2L, this workshop has a little something for everyone. Come explore the possibilities!

Course Tune-up

Date & Time: Wednesday, August 28 from 10-11:30am
Location: LACC 251J, Interurban Campus
Description: This workshop will focus on setting up your course for Day 1. We’ll cover copying course components and customizing your homepage, widgets and navigation bar. We’ll all show you how to manage release dates associated with your content, discussions, assignments, grades, news and quizzes – from one central location in D2L.

Setting up Your Gradebook

Date & Time: Friday, September 13 from 10-11:30am
Location: LACC 251J, Interurban Campus
Description: This hands on workshop will focus on setting up your Gradebook from start to finish. Please bring your course outline (or a breakdown of your assessment items) if you wish to build your own Gradebook during the workshop.

Managing Groups in D2L

Date & Time: Friday, September 20 from 10-11:30am
Location: LACC 251J, Interurban Campus
Description: This workshop will provide an overview of how to create and manage groups in D2L. A demonstration of how to create private group discussions and group assignment folders will be provided.

Building Quizzes in D2L

Date & Time: Friday, September 27 from 10-11:30am
Location: LACC 251J, Interurban Campus
Description: This workshop will explore ways to create, customize and grade quizzes. We’ll also tackle creating Question Pools and how to organize your questions in the Question Library.

Managing Assignments

Date & Time: Friday, October 4 from 10-11:30am
Location: LACC 251J, Interurban Campus
Description: The Assignment tool in D2L enables students to submit assignments while streamlining the grading process for instructors. This workshop provides hands-on practice creating, managing and grading assignments.

Getting Started with Kaltura (Streaming Media Service)

Date & Time: Friday, October 11 from 10-11:30am
Location: LACC 251J, Interurban Campus
Description: Kaltura is Camosun College’s streaming media service that integrates into D2L. This means faculty and students now have a place to create, edit, and house their course-related videos. Kaltura also integrates with D2L.Come find out more about what Kaltura is, what it can do, and how you can use it for your courses. Bring a laptop to the session if you have one.

Connecting with Your Students in Real-time

Date & Time: Friday, October 25 from 10-11:30am
Location: LACC 251J, Interurban Campus
Description: Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is Camosun’s web conferencing tool. Whether you teach face-to-face, blended, or online, this tool can help you increase instructor-student and student-to-student engagement. Come find out more about how you can connect with learners synchronously. This session requires you bring a laptop to participate.

Managing Final Grades in D2L

Date & Time: Friday, December 13, 10-11:30
Location: LACC 251J, Interurban Campus
Description: It’s grading time again! This workshop is designed to provide a quick refresher on how to input and manage grades in D2L. An overview of how to apply grade schemes and release calculated and adjusted final grades will also be provided.

Deleting Everything in a D2L Course Site – Updated

This tutorial will cover the steps involved when you wish to delete everything (content and activities) in your D2L course in order to “start from scratch”. Note that you cannot “delete all” in one step – you will need to delete the content/activities in each tool used in the course separately.

We recommend that you do not delete everything in course site that has student data in it (i.e., a course site for a past offering). It is better to do this in a DEV or MASTER course site only.

If the course you are deleting from also has custom homepages or navigation bars, or incorporates tools beyond the list below (for example the Glossary or Survey tools), you will need to delete content contained in those tools as well. If you are unsure of how to delete content from homepages, navigation bars or other tools not included in this tutorial, contact desupport@camosun.ca or an instructional designer for assistance.

Deleting Content and Files in File Manager

  1. Go to the Content tool in your course.
  2. Click on the down arrow next to Table of Contents (at the top of the page), and select Delete All Modules.Select Delete all Modules
  3. To delete all Modules and Topics in the Content tool, as well as all the linked files (stored in Manage Files) AND linked activities (in other D2L tools), select the second option in the pop-up box.Select the second option and click Delete
  4. Now, click on Related Tools and select Manage Files.Under Related Tools, select Manage Files
  5. Click on the select box at the top of the File Manager table to select everything in the table. Then click on the trash can, and click Yes in the Confirmation pop-up window.Select all in Manage Files and click the trash can to delete

Deleting Quizzes

  1. Go to the Quizzes tool in your course.
  2. Click on the select box at the top of the quizzes table to select all quizzes in your list. Click on the More Actions drop-down menu, and select Delete.Select all quizzes, under More Actions select Delete
  3. In the Confirmation pop-up box, click Delete.In the pop-up box select Delete
  4. Next, click on Question Library.Click Question Library
  5. Click on the select box at the top of the Question Library table to select everything in the list. Click on the trash can/Delete.Select all in the Question Library, then click Delete
  6. In the Confirmation pop-up box, click Delete.Click Delete

Deleting Assignment Activities

  1. Go to the Assignments tool in your course.
  2. Click on the select box at the top of the Assignments table to select all Assignments in your list. Click on the More Actions drop-down menu, and select Delete.Select all Assignments, under More Actions, select Delete
  3. In the Confirmation pop-up box, click Delete.Click Delete

Deleting Gradebook Items

  1. Go to the Grades tool in your course.
  2. Click on the More Actions drop-down menu, and select Delete.

    Under More Actions, select Delete

  3. Click on the select box at the top of the Delete Grade Items and Categories table to select everything in the list and click Delete. NOTE: If grade items are attached to other activities in your D2L course site (eg, a dropbox or quiz), you will need to delete those activities BEFORE you can delete their grade items.

    Select all grade items, and click Delete

  4. In the Confirmation pop-up box, click Delete.

    In the pop-up box, click Delete

Deleting Discussion Forums and Topics

  1. Go to the Discussions tool in your course.
  2. Click on the More Actions drop-down menu, and select Delete.

    Under More Actions, select Delete

  3. Click on the select box at the top of the Delete Forums and Topics table to select everything in the list and click Delete.

    Select all the forums and topics, and click Delete

  4. NOTE: You will NOT be asked to confirm the deletion of Discussion Forums and Topics. BUT you will be able to restore them later if you have deleted them in error.

Deleting News Items

  1. Go to your Course Homepage.
  2. Click News (to go to the News tool).

    Click News to go to the News tool

  3. Click on the select box at the top of the News listing to select everything in the list and click Delete.

    Select all your News items, and click Delete

  4. In the Confirmation pop-up box, click Yes.

    In the pop-up box, click Yes

Things to Remember

Note that even if you delete Discussion Forums and Topics, you can restore them at any time (they are never really gone). This is the same for Dropbox activities, Grade items, and News items.

This content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.Icons by the Noun Project.

 

 

 

Deleting Everything in a D2L Course Site – Updated

This tutorial will cover the steps involved when you wish to delete everything (content and activities) in your D2L course in order to “start from scratch”. Note that you cannot “delete all” in one step – you will need to delete the content/activities in each tool used in the course separately.

We recommend that you do not delete everything in course site that has student data in it (i.e., a course site for a past offering). It is better to do this in a DEV or MASTER course site only.

If the course you are deleting from also has custom homepages or navigation bars, or incorporates tools beyond the list below (for example the Glossary or Survey tools), you will need to delete content contained in those tools as well. If you are unsure of how to delete content from homepages, navigation bars or other tools not included in this tutorial, contact desupport@camosun.ca or an instructional designer for assistance.

Deleting Content and Files in File Manager

  1. Go to the Content tool in your course.
  2. Click on the down arrow next to Table of Contents (at the top of the page), and select Delete All Modules.Select Delete all Modules
  3. To delete all Modules and Topics in the Content tool, as well as all the linked files (stored in Manage Files) AND linked activities (in other D2L tools), select the second option in the pop-up box.Select the second option and click Delete
  4. Now, click on Related Tools and select Manage Files.Under Related Tools, select Manage Files
  5. Click on the select box at the top of the File Manager table to select everything in the table. Then click on the trash can, and click Yes in the Confirmation pop-up window.Select all in Manage Files and click the trash can to delete

Deleting Quizzes

  1. Go to the Quizzes tool in your course.
  2. Click on the select box at the top of the quizzes table to select all quizzes in your list. Click on the More Actions drop-down menu, and select Delete.Select all quizzes, under More Actions select Delete
  3. In the Confirmation pop-up box, click Delete.In the pop-up box select Delete
  4. Next, click on Question Library.Click Question Library
  5. Click on the select box at the top of the Question Library table to select everything in the list. Click on the trash can/Delete.Select all in the Question Library, then click Delete
  6. In the Confirmation pop-up box, click Delete.Click Delete

Deleting Assignment Activities

  1. Go to the Assignments tool in your course.
  2. Click on the select box at the top of the Assignments table to select all Assignments in your list. Click on the More Actions drop-down menu, and select Delete.Select all Assignments, under More Actions, select Delete
  3. In the Confirmation pop-up box, click Delete.Click Delete

Deleting Gradebook Items

  1. Go to the Grades tool in your course.
  2. Click on the More Actions drop-down menu, and select Delete.

    Under More Actions, select Delete

  3. Click on the select box at the top of the Delete Grade Items and Categories table to select everything in the list and click Delete. NOTE: If grade items are attached to other activities in your D2L course site (eg, a dropbox or quiz), you will need to delete those activities BEFORE you can delete their grade items.

    Select all grade items, and click Delete

  4. In the Confirmation pop-up box, click Delete.

    In the pop-up box, click Delete

Deleting Discussion Forums and Topics

  1. Go to the Discussions tool in your course.
  2. Click on the More Actions drop-down menu, and select Delete.

    Under More Actions, select Delete

  3. Click on the select box at the top of the Delete Forums and Topics table to select everything in the list and click Delete.

    Select all the forums and topics, and click Delete

  4. NOTE: You will NOT be asked to confirm the deletion of Discussion Forums and Topics. BUT you will be able to restore them later if you have deleted them in error.

Deleting News Items

  1. Go to your Course Homepage.
  2. Click News (to go to the News tool).

    Click News to go to the News tool

  3. Click on the select box at the top of the News listing to select everything in the list and click Delete.

    Select all your News items, and click Delete

  4. In the Confirmation pop-up box, click Yes.

    In the pop-up box, click Yes

Things to Remember

Note that even if you delete Discussion Forums and Topics, you can restore them at any time (they are never really gone). This is the same for Dropbox activities, Grade items, and News items.

This content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.Icons by the Noun Project.

 

 

 

Media tagging advice and best practices: A Kaltura tutorial

The goal of this post (written by Alexandra Flynn, one of our Camosun librarians) is to encourage thoughtful collaboration regarding Kaltura media tagging. This will lead to the creation of a tagging system that makes sense to your department and for the users most likely to be accessing your media content on Kaltura.

Definitions

For the purposes of this post:

  • Private content means media that is limited to student use in D2L, for internal college or department use only, and requires a login to view; Public content is general promotional or information sharing/ instruction that does not require a Kaltura login.
  • Tags: are alternate search terms or keywords that you create which help people discover or retrieve your videos and help you and your colleagues organize them [1].
  • Taxonomy: “A hierarchical classification scheme made up of categories and subcategories of information plus a controlled vocabulary of terms, usually used to describe a specific area of knowledge [2].”
  • Folksonomy: “The mental model, or classification system, of a taxonomy of content or concepts in the minds of content consumers. Includes vocabulary, organization, relationships, and interactions [2].”

General advice

Imagine only be able to search for TV shows by episode number, or using a music app that organized all songs by release date rather than musician or band name! Such frustration should be avoided; having a logical tagging system helps!

  1. Avoid repetition; do not re-use information that you entered as part of the upload process.  Example: no need to have a ‘CHEM’ or ‘COOK’ as a tag because the Kaltura Upload interface requires you to add a Course Code.
  2. Avoid tags that are too generic like “Assignment 1” – or “Unit 1”
  3. Do use specific terms that provide immediate clarity: ”Thermodynamics”
  4. Do meet with your department/program group to decide which tags to use or to choose a guiding theme or taxonomy your group will follow 

Possible strategies to guide tag creation

Recommendation 1: Pair the category tag (in bold) with course or assignment specific tag

Examples:

  • Keyword tags pulled from assignments, for exampleEssay-Research | Essay-argumentative | Essay-persuasive
  • Learning outcomes/objectives, for exampleatomic mass factual, meat cutting procedure, etc [3]
  • Cognitive process (create, evaluate), for example analyse author bias [3]
  • Media content/purpose, for example demonstration, promotional, problem-solve etc.
  • Audience for example prospective students, Camosun employees, Community Partners

Recommendation 2: Add additional information as per the Upload interface (see image)

  • Department/Program
  • Course name and number
  • Term and Year

Your media content can then still be easily discoverable without the use of tags.

Fields for organization

Recommendation 3: Additional considerations

  • For private / Instructional content, your department/program group may decide you do not need tags.
  • For public or promotional material, you may intentionally use tags that overlap with other departments, programs, or student events.
  • Do you want a hierarchy of granularity or specificity? Three levels of required information (highlighted in image) may mean you decide to limit tags to three levels. [4]
  • Do you want students to be able to add tags? Social-tagging/folksonomies are often ambiguous, unrelated to content or create unwanted overlap with other media [1].

Sample Tagging Practice

The image below shows the tags that were added to a short video of the games and puzzles in the Interurban library (the tags include promotions, interurban, marketing, board games, library, puzzles, and stress busting.)

In the image, the Marketing tag is marked with a red X because it is too vague; it could indicate a Marketing Course, or the college Marketing Department, or part of an event. That tag should be removed. Additionally, Promotions could be changed to Library marketing and Interurban could be replaced with Interurban Library, etc.

Tag examples

Best Practices for you & your department/program group

  1. Have a meeting or create a shared document to decide what tagging strategies you will use.
  2. Create a list of agreed-upon tags and distribute to all Kaltura users in your department.
  3. Make sure this information is shared with new Kaltura users and eLearning (the Kaltura administrators).
  4. Create tag guidelines for students who will be uploading media that they have created.
  5. Anticipate how terminology in your disciple overlaps with other disciplines and use language that is more precise. Example “CREST Scan” instead of “Environmental scan” to tag a Business course video.

References

[1] J. Ignacio Vazquez, J, Abaitua, and D. LĂłpez de Ipiña. Feb. 2006. [Online]. “The Ubiquitous Web as a model to lead our environments to their full potential” W3. Available: https://www.w3.org/2006/02/Deusto_Position_Paper_v1.0.pdf [Accessed: Mar. 26, 2019]

[2] “Taxonomy – the secret ingredient of great content – and how it is linked to business strategy” The Verditer. Jan. 16, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.theverditer.com/blog/2019/1/15/taxonomy- the-secret-ingredient-of-great-content-and-how-it-is-linked-to-business-strategy   [Accessed: Mar. 25, 2019]

[3] “Ensuring Technological Plurality through effective Learning Design” SlideShare. Jan. 26, 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.slideshare.net/Simon_Atkinson/ensuring-technological-plurality-through-effective-learning-design [Accessed: Mar. 25, 2019]

[4] “Digital Commons Three-Tiered List of Academic Disciplines” bepress. Jan. 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.bepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Digital-Commons-Disciplines-taxonomy-2017-01.pdf [Accessed: Mar. 25, 2019]