Course Development Instructions
Purpose of this Document
This document should be used by NSCC faculty members looking for guidance for the course creation and/or course conversion process using Desire2Learn (D2L) to deliver their course to students, through online, face-to-face, or hybrid learning formats. This document will provide helpful instructions, recommendations, and tips that have been gathered from other faculty. This document is meant to be used in conjunction with the Course Template. You can obtain the zip file at http://ww2.nscc.edu/lyle_l/D2Ltipsheets/d2ltipsheets.htm and clicking on “Download D2LTemplate Zip File.” Then import it into an empty D2L shell. Request the D2L shell from the Computer Services Help Desk. Request that the course be created in the "Master" semester. Provide a Course Prefix, Number, the word MASTER, and your name. Example: OAD1000 MASTER (Lyle)
Before You Begin
You will need to copy this course and all of its components into your course shell before you begin to make changes to it. To copy the Template into your own course shell, please follow these directions: After you receive notification that your course has been created, log in to NS Online, click the name of the course that you will be developing. Click on “Edit Course” toward the top right of the screen. Click on Inport/Export/Copy Components, then click on Import Components > From a file. Locate the zip file you downloaded above and follow the steps. Import all components. You should see green check marks appear as each element imports.
Welcome News Items
It is extremely important for all great courses to have a warm and welcoming message for students when they first enter the course. The News items on the course home page will be the first area students will see. Students have access to your course the first day of classes, and if you are teaching an on-campus course, this welcome message can set a positive tone for the first day of class. Please consider including these three items: Course Prefix, No., Section, and Name; Instructor's Name, and Telephone No. It is also nice to include a small image of your textbook. For the first week or so, include a course description. Welcome message including a statement to tell student how to get started..
In the Template you will see examples that need to be edited. You may want to locate a picture of your textbook and a picture of you (if desired). The third news item is a welcome message for the course. The quick link to get started is already set up to link to the getting started module. The link should automatically work for you. Once you add content to the linked page in the content area, the link will work correctly to show the students your information.
Content
The content area is broken up into modules and topics. Within these modules and topics will be held all of the course content you plan to deliver to your students. It is important this area is organized and well thought-out.
Course Information Modules
These example modules will hold all the relevant course information that students may need to refer to throughout the semester. The first module is "Getting Started," and the second and following modules are for you to add your course content. As you click on Module 1, information to help you with content development is included.
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You can make edits and changes within the course content area as you desire. The outline is provided as a guide.
Modules 1-12
The blank files (and files with instructions) for modules have been created and attached to a stylesheet with “Arial” as the font. As you edit files, please do not select font from the D2L built-in editor. The stylesheet will control the appearance of the font. As you add content, please use Heading 1 for the title, Heading 2 for the next level, etc., as you would in an outline. Some professors prefer to organize their courses in a weekly, unit, or chapter format. Feel free to change the term “module” to “week,” “chapter,” or “unit” to align with your course plan. As you create content, here are some suggestions:
Email
The Email link or classlist (see below) can be used to send email to anyone who is enrolled in or has access to your course. To view email addresses, click the Email link then click the Address Book button. During the course creation process there is nothing you need to do within the Email tab. Names and emails will be automatically added to the address book as students enroll. This is simply a tool that you can use during the semester to contact your students individually, as a whole, or by groups. We do not recommend attaching document to emails when sending information to students. Instead we recommend that you post any needed documents for students in the content area and send an email to the class notifying them that it has been posted and where to find it. This method will encourage students to be in your course and will allow them to find other information they will need while they are in the course. This will also cut down on filling up email quotas with large documents for you and your students.
Grade Book
The template course grade book with three categories created for participation, quizzes, and assignments. This is just a start for your grade book, and it will need to be edited for your specific grading scheme. You can add or delete categories and items wherever necessary.
Assignments
Assignments area for instructors to provide assignment instructions and to provide files for students (if needed); it is the place where students will submit files for the instructor. The assignments area of the template course has one folder where students can submit an assignment. You should rename the folder to a more descriptive name of the assignments you are expecting from the students. When you create a column in the grade book where the grade will be recorded, it is important to keep the grade book item name the same as the assignment name You may add more folders as you have assignments for the course. We also recommend that you should add specific instructions in the description area of each assignment. This would include the directions for the assignment or what type of file format you will expect the students to submit.
Discussions
The discussion area has been populated with the most common discussion forums and topics. This includes: Introduce Yourself, Q & A, Weekly Discussions, and Project Teams. Use these for examples and delete or edit the entries to fit your course design.
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For online courses we recommend that you require your students to post an introduction during the first week of class. We also recommend keeping the discussion and questions that come up during the course within D2L (instead of through personal email) so that other students in the class can keep up and have their questions answered by viewing the discussions afterwards. Some online instructors like to include an out of class discussion area where students can communicate with each other about topics that have nothing to do with the course. This will build the students sense of community and keep those types of discussions out of the course related discussion forums. The one module discussion forum and topic are created for you as an example. Some faculty include a weekly or module posting. In each module’s discussion you can pose a new question and keep the discussion threads organized and separate. We have also included a Project Team discussion forum for courses that have team projects where students will need a place to discuss their work. All you need to do is assign students to the correct groups, which can be done using the “classlist.” These discussion forums will not been seen by any students until they are assigned to the group, and even then, they will only see the group discussion that they are assigned to. We recommend that in any discussion forum where students will be graded you provide personal feedback to the students on their responses. This will allow them to more clearly understand your expectations of what a good posting looks like and why they received the grade they did on their specific posting. This is especially necessary at the beginning of the semester until students are used to your grading style.
Quizzes
In the Quizzes area of the template course, you will see a “Student Info Survey” quiz. This is a quiz for students to let the instructor know that they understand the course requirements. It also gives student an opportunity to get used to taking and submitting quizzes online. It can include content or non-content based questions, but should not be graded so that students can practice using the system without any pressure. For each quiz, it will be necessary to click on the title and select the appropriate settings for each tab, including release dates, making the quiz active, and setting submission views. You will need to add questions specific to your course into the Question Library and then assign those questions to specific quizzes. You can collect questions from Publisher CD’s that have been provided to you, from Respondus, or from Word documents of previous quizzes you have given. This process is specific to the individual, and Instructional Services will be happy to help you getting your Question Bank set up. Below are recommended tips for using low-stakes and high-stakes quizzes in your course.
Tips for Low-Stakes Online Quizzes 1. Start with a Sample Exam so students get a low-risk opportunity to learn how to use online quizzing. 2. Wherever possible, use a large question pool with randomized questions to help minimize collusion among students. For Multiple Choice questions, select the Random Option for all but “None of the Above” type questions. 3. Place one question per page so that it is more difficult for students to print/save exams for distribution. Tips for High-Stakes Online Quizzes 1. Start with a Sample Exam so students get a low-risk opportunity to learn how to use online quizzing. 2. Wherever possible, use a large question pool with randomized questions to help minimize collusion among students. For Multiple Choice questions, select the Random Option for all but “None of the Above” type questions. 3. Place one question per page so that it is more difficult for students to print/save exams for distribution.
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4. Disable right-click access in quiz Properties to minimize opportunities for collusion among
students.
5. Keep the window for taking the exam short, 48 hours or less. 24 hours may be a good
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maximum. One Distance Learning instructor reports good success in requiring all students to take the exam at the same hour. Restrict the Time Limit for the quiz to 60 minutes or whatever is the shortest reasonable amount of time. Set the Clock to show and Enforce the Time Limit Set the Restriction to “Auto-submit” the quiz attempt when the Time Limit and 5 minutes Grace have expired. In the Submission View set the Show Questions option to NO until everyone has completed the exam. Include clear instructions on all this and any academic honesty statements in the quiz instructions. Here is a sample honesty statement to consider:
Example of Online Quizzing Academic Dishonesty Policy: You have been encouraged in this course to collaborate and share information with other students. However, for this online exam you should do your best individual work and refrain from any behavior that would unfairly improve your grade or the grade of another student. Do not share any information about the questions in this exam, your responses, the material covered, the material not covered, or anything else about the exam with anyone, anytime. Failure to follow this policy may result in a failing grade on the exam and potential failure of the course. If you become aware of any abuses to this policy, please contact the instructor immediately.
Survey
The survey tool in D2L is a great way to get quick feedback from your students. In the Template Course you will find a survey provided for you that can be used to get feedback from your students on how the course is going. We recommend this survey be used in the middle of the semester, so you will have time to respond to any feedback before the semester is over. We believe that if you give students an opportunity to provide feedback at mid-term, you may be able to acknowledge or address some of the concerns in a way that will help improve the overall course evaluations at the end of the quarter.
Classlist
The Classlist area will be automatically populated for you as students register for your course. However, you can use this area to add other staff or faculty who will be helping with the course or who need to access its contents for some reason. You can email individual students from the classlist or the entire class. If you are using groups or teams in your course this is where you need to assign students to specific groups. To do this click the Groups button on the navigation bar, and then click on the New Category icon. Assign a category name and add a description if desired. Choose the type of enrollment and choose whether to auto enroll new users. You have options to create workspace and set up discussion areas. Click on create after you have made choices.
Calendar
The Calendar is a helpful tool that can remind students of important events or due dates for your course. It is just another place to get this information in front of the students. Make sure you set your Display Options to “current course” and instruct your students to do the same.
Advanced Customization
Quick Tip #1 – Customizing the course Navbar Have you noticed that the default Navbar contains links to features you may not want to use? Some of
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you, for example, may not be using the Quizzes option yet it is still in the default Navbar creating an expectation among your students that adds confusion to your course. This Quick Tip shows you how to customize the Navbar to your preferences. Besides removing items you do not plan to use, there are several optional items you can add such as Links, Checklists, or Q&A. You can also use these instructions to simply move Navbar items to different areas that you prefer. Step 1: Edit the Navbar After you login to your course, look for the small “E” in the upper left corner of the window. Click on it to go to the Edit Navigation Bar window.
Step 2: Modify the Navbar The Edit Navigation Bar window allows you to modify 4 areas of Navigation. The one you will want to modify is the Bottom Left and you can get there by clicking on the Bottom Left tab or by clicking on the lower left area of the gray graphic representation of the Navigation bars. After you have selected the Bottom Left Navbar you can select a Current Active Link such as Calendar and use the “<" button to move it back into inventory and off the Navbar. Similarly, if you want to add Survey, you can select it from the Inactive Links window and use the “>” button to add it to the Navbar. The Up and Down arrows let you re-order items in the Navbar.
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When you are done, simply click Save at the bottom of the window and you are all set. Hope this helps!