Announcements posted in D2L courses are an effective way to communicate with your students. Students will receive the announcement in their D2L course, in their Alerts (bell next to their profile name) and if they have downloaded the D2L Pulse mobile app, they will receive a text-like message.
Posting an Announcement
Enter your D2L course
Scroll down to the Announcement Widget
In the drop down arrow, select New Announcement
Complete the Headline and Content
Select a Start Date, add a file (optional) and select Publish
Your Announcement will now appear in your D2L course shell
Note: Announcements can also be found in a D2L course under More, Course Admin
Under Communication, select Announcements
Creating an Announcement through the Course Admin, allows instructors the extra feature of Pinning the Announcement to always appear at the top
D2L is a cloud-based learning management system that updates each month with new features and improvements. This page summarizes these monthly improvements to keep instructors up-to-date and provide information to improve course content.
November, 2023
Announcements
D2L implemented the ability to copy announcements to other courses.
September, 2023
Synchronous Quiz
Instructors can facilitate quizzes where learners take their attempts simultaneously, which is convenient for in-class sessions.
When setting up the D2L Quiz, under Timing and Display, select Time Limits, then Synchronous.
Students will take their quizzes in-class, either in a computer lab or using their laptops. When students begin taking the quiz, they will all receive a pop up message telling them when the quiz will begin.
Virtual Assistant Introduced
A contextual help tool is now integrated into D2L. Students and instructors can ask help questions anywhere in D2L.
August, 2023
Announcements
When an instructor creates an announcement in their D2L course, that they want to stay at the top of their announcement list, there is now an option to “in it to the top”.
July, 2023
Quizzes
Students:
Students can elect to Hide the Timer when taking a quiz. This may reduce anxiety during quiz taking.
Warning are displayed at certain times to support awareness of time left.
1 minute remaining on quiz.
5 minutes remaining on quiz (only on quizzes with 10 minutes or longer time limit)
Half of the elapsed time (only on quizzes with 20 minutes or longer quiz time limit)
Submission View has been changed to Quiz Results Page. After students submits a quiz, they will see the Quiz Results Page.
The Quiz Results page shows learners the status of their quiz and their score.
Students can now see information about the quiz, while they are taking the quiz.
Quiz Information option on the quiz page to view instructions and other information. This does not leave the quiz.
April, 2023
Discussions
Discussions have been improved to look similar to Assignments and Quizzes.
Example of New Discussion Look and Feel
Quizzes
Previously, when a student accidentally exited a quiz, there was not a dialog or warning.
Students are now shown a context-based confirmation dialog message.
Students now see one of the following:
The Exit Quiz confirmation dialog for quizzes with no time limit, no end date, or a time limit that expires before the end date.The Exit Quiz confirmation dialog for quizzes with a time limit and no end date.The Exit Quiz confirmation dialog for quizzes with an end date, no time limit, or an end date that will arrive before the time limit expires.The Exit Quiz confirmation dialog for quizzes that have an end date in the past.
February, 2023
Quizzes
Instructors can now add quiz availability dates to the Calendar tool in the Availability Dates & Conditions menu in the new quiz creation experience.
Instructors can select the Add availability dates to Calendar checkbox when creating a quiz to add quiz availability dates to their Calendar.
Previously, only the Due Date was automatically added to the D2L Calendar.
Instructor have more options now on how many questions are presented to students; all questions displayed together, 1 question per page, 5 questions per page, 10 questions per page, or add page break after each section of questions.
January, 2023
Equation Editor
The Equation Editor has been improved with better rendering features.
When creating assignments, discussions and quiz questions, within any textbox, instructors can insert equations.
Example of inserting an equation into D2LExample of inserting an equation into D2L
December, 2022
Assignments
Under Available Dates and Restrictions, Instructors can choose what students see of the assignment before submission using the visible with access restriction feature. See it in Action
November, 2022
Media Library Update
The new Media Library (assess is wheel icon next to profile name in D2L) now has a record video/audio option.
Videos uploaded to the Media Library or video/audio recorded by instructors can be used in multiple courses.
An example would be a welcome video recorded by an instructor and easily placed in various courses.
October, 2022
Pulse Mobile App
To help improve the flexibility of push notification, users will be able to choose which push notifications they receive. Previously, it was not possible to limit or control push notifications.
ReadSpeaker Text to Speech Technology
This option is now available in Discussions.
September, 2022
Assignments
Instructors who teach multiple courses can now copy assignments to other courses. To copy assignments, select the down arrow next to the assignment name and select “Copy to Other Courses”.
Quizzes
“No Time Limit” is now a quiz timing option and has become the default time setting (previously default was 120 minutes). If a time limit is desired, instructors must manually select the desired time.
When evaluating student assignments using D2L’s annotation feature, instructor can now use the new undo/redo button. Previously, the only way to remove the annotation was to use the eraser tool.
Media Library Updates
Early updates shown below provide information on the new streaming Media Library.
Under Insert Stuff, the Media Library is now an option. This allows instructors to upload video in multiple places in D2L.
Quizzes
Instructors now have the ability to restore a quiz they may have deleted in error.
Under Quizzes > More Actions > There is now a restore option.
May, 2022
Video/Audio and the New Media Library
Under the advanced editing option on any video uploaded to D2L, there is now an optimize for streaming button.
Pulse Mobile App
Brightspace Pulse users can now use @mention push notifications. Originally, @mentions came through the LMS but were only visible if the user opened Pulse and viewed their Subscriptions tab under Notifications. Now, the new functionality sends a push notification to the user when they are @mentioned.
Updates and subscriptions in the Pulse App are now aligned to show the same items as the Alert Bell in D2L.
April, 2022
Intelligent Agents
The Create Agent page has a new modernized user interface.
Subject line of intelligent agent emails now supports 128 characters.
March, 2022
Announcements
Course announcements now have a copy feature.
New Media Library
A streaming media library is now available for D2L courses. New videos posted to a D2L course will be placed in this streaming media library. Videos previous uploaded to D2L will not be automatically transferred to this new media library, so instructors will have to manually transfer.
Workflow improvements for Media
When creating new video and audio, instructors no longer must wait for the uploaded media file to process. While the media file remains unavailable during processing, instructors can navigate away to work on other tasks. When processing is complete, instructor will be notified.
February, 2022
Content – Print and Download Buttons
The Print and Download buttons are now better positioned when viewing content within a module.
Print and Download
January, 2022
Video/Audio and New Media Library
What improved?
Table of Contents: Instructors can apply meaningful segments to larger videos.
Audio Generated Closed Caption: Instructors can select language, with the ability to edit.
Video Editing: Minor video editing is available – Seek, Mark and Cut.
How to implement?
Within a module in your course, select Upload/Create, then Video and Audio.
Video will take a few minutes to process after uploading.
Select Advance Settings after the video uploads to gain access to these new features.
What are General Education Institutional Rubrics SSC?
General education outcomes assessments demonstrate how SSC students are performing on important, institutional skills throughout the General Education class requirements for associates degree programs.
General education outcomes assessment is one of the stated Goals for the college and it is required by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) for accreditation.
General Education Institutional Rubrics are pre-designed and ready for instructors to use in D2L. Instructors just have to attach the D2L Rubric to an assignment and then grade an assignment based on that rubric.
Here is a list of the current General Education Institutional Rubrics in D2L:
SSC Oral Communication Skills Rubric
SSC Problem-Solving Skills Rubric (Assessment of Effective Use of Critical Thinking Skills)
SSC Technology Skills (Assessment of the use of Technology)
SSC Written Communication Skills Rubric
Coming Soon! SSC Multiculturalism Rubric
What are Course Level Rubrics SSC?
Course level rubrics are usually created by the instructor in D2L (unless they’d like to adapt a general education rubric above). The instructor then attaches their D2L rubric to an assignment and grades the assignment based on that rubric.
Course level assessments begin with Student Learning Outcomes listed on the syllabus of each course and those outcomes are then aligned to a rubric for a particular course assignment.
How to implement in your D2L course:
General Education Institutional Rubrics (Created by Outcomes Assessment Committee)
Attach a General Education Rubric to an Assignment
Quality Matters (QM), is an internationally recognized, standards-based program, which offers faculty quality assurance in online and hybrid course design with a focus on continuous improvement.
The Quality Matters program is rubric-based. The 43 standards are specific to higher education, backed by research, and are nationally recognized as a means to improve course design.
South Suburban College has a paid membership with Quality Matters.
Membership includes various resources, research and professional development opportunities.
Official course reviews can be completed in two ways:
External:
For a fee, the institution pays Quality Matters to review each course independently.
3 certified QM peer reviewers from other institutions review each course with a turnaround time of 3-6 weeks per course.
Internal:
The institution pays for QM peer review certified training for SSC faculty and/or staff.
These internal certified QM peer reviewers review courses for quality.
Course (and complete programs) that are Quality Matters certified are listed on the QM website. Institutions can promote these courses as well to demonstrate to their commitment to high quality courses.
How can we leverage SSC’s Quality Matters membership?
Great news! You do not need to recreate your course content every semester. It is easy to roll it over from a previous term.
In D2L, enter your current course.
Go to Course Tools (or More) →Course Admin →Import/Export/Copy Components.
Choose “Copy Components from another Org Unit” and select “Search for offering”.
Type in your course ID you want to copy “from” (for example: BIO) and Search.
From the search list choose the course you want to copy “from”, then select “Add Selected”
At the bottom of the screen, you have two options: Copy All Components (entire course) or Select Component (perhaps you just want to copy a few quizzes).
If you choose Select Components, select what you’d like to copy then Continue.
Course content should then copy from a previous course to a new course shell.
There are times when instructors may want to share their course content with another instructor or create a backup of their course for future reference. This is done by exporting your D2L course as a Brightspace course package (zip). This package (zip) can then be shared with another instructor to import into their course or saved in a secure location as a course backup.
Step 1: Export your course as a Brightspace package
In your D2L course, go to the Course Tools > Course Admin.
Select Import/Export/Copy Components.
Select Export as Brightspace Package > Start.
Select Components to Export > Continue.
Important! – Under Additional Components to Export, select Include course files in the export package > Export.
The Export will start. You’ll be notified on the Updates Alerts icon in D2L when the export is ready to download (orange dot indicates new notification).
Select Export Finished in the Updates Alerts to download the Export Package (zip).
Click to download the Export Package (zip).
Save zip file to a secure location.
Send this zip file to the instructor you are sharing your course with.
That instructor will now go to Step 2 for directions to import the zip file into their course.
Step 2: Import the Zip file into a new D2L course
In your D2L course, go to the Course Tools > Course Admin.
Select Import/Export/Copy Components.
Select Import Components from a course package > Start.
Under Import Course Package, select Upload then browse to the zip file shared with you.
When the file upload is complete, select Import All Components.
Based on the size of the course content being imported, this process may take a few minutes. When complete, select View Content.
Once the course is imported, there are a few cleanup items you will need to check:
Syllabus: Remove the old course syllabus and upload the new course syllabus.
Announcements: delete any old announcements that was in the previous course (Course Tools > Course Admin > Announcements).
Modules: Review the content within the weekly modules to determine if content is in the proper order and is visible to students. Hide or delete any content you do not wish to use.
Assignments: Review and edit assignments. Double check the scores of each assignment to make sure they match with your syllabus. You can also change due dates individually or bulk edit to change due dates for all assignments.
Discussions and Quizzes: Just like with assignments, edit dates, scores and review content within the discussion forums and quiz questions.
Grades: Select Grades > Manage Grades to determine if the gradebook is set up properly and matches with your new syllabus.
Dual Delivery Course? If teaching a dual delivery course, set up your virtual classroom meeting dates in advance. Select Virtual Classroom > Plus sign (lower right hand) to repeating virtual meeting dates.
If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to contact the Teaching and Learning Center team by emailing: ssconline@ssc.edu.
Virtual Classroom and Video Assignments are two Bongo integrations directly accessed through your D2L course.
Virtual Classroom is used to schedule meetings with your students, with the option of recording and automatically saving the recording in your D2L course so students can re-watch. Virtual Classroom has similar features to Zoom, such as sharing screen, polling and breakout rooms.
Video Assignments provide an additional resource to increase student engagement by allowing students to record class presentations remotely, answer text questions with a timed video answer, and/or answer questions that overlay upon an instructor’s pre-recorded mini-lecture or video. Video Assignments allow for grading with scores passed directly to your D2L gradebook.
Below is an archived recording of this online webinar from the Teaching and Learning Center:
Knowing how and when students are interacting with course material can be invaluable and allow instructors the opportunity tweak and adjust their content during the term.
Below is an archive webinar recording from SSC’s Teaching and Learning Center focusing on various places within D2L instructors can access analytics and statistics about their courses, including looking for trends in late and missing submissions, viewing quiz questions and responses, comparing student learning between topics, confirming students are indeed accessing course material and strategic planning for intervention, if necessary.
