Discover Desire2Learn | Dartmouth College

February 4, 2013

Dartmouth College

Table of Contents

DISCOVER DESIRE2LEARN ........................................................................................................................................ 2

THE DESIRE2LEARN DIFFERENCE ........................................................................................................................... 6

NAVIGATION OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENT ........................................................................................................... 9

Ease of Use - LMS ..................................................................................................................................................... 9

Minibar........................................................................................................................................................................ 9

Homepage Personalization ...................................................................................................................................... 10

CONTENT DELIVERY & MANAGEMENT .................................................................................................................. 12

Desire2Learn Content Tool ...................................................................................................................................... 12

Desire2Learn ePortfolio ............................................................................................................................................ 16

ASSESSMENT, GRADING AND FEEDBACK ............................................................................................................ 20

Grading Assignments in Desire2Learn ..................................................................................................................... 20

Desire2Learn Quiz / Testing Tool ............................................................................................................................. 24

Desire2Learn Grade Book ........................................................................................................................................ 26

COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION ............................................................................................................. 30

Desire2Learn Communication Tools Overview ........................................................................................................ 30

Classlist Tool ............................................................................................................................................................ 31

Discussions Tool ...................................................................................................................................................... 32

Desire2Learn Social Sharing & Learning ................................................................................................................. 34

DESIRE2LEARN MOBILE SOLUTIONS..................................................................................................................... 37

CONNECT WITH US ................................................................................................................................................... 39

DISCOVER DESIRE2LEARN Higher education has undergone drastic change over

the years: tighter budgets, policy developments and

changes to how technology can play a role in

teaching and learning. With rising costs and

enrollments, what students derive from education

needs to remain paramount and taking education

beyond the classroom and supplementing traditional

methods with what technology can offer plays a big

role. With the changes the higher education sector is

experiencing, enabling all institutions, instructors

and, foremost, students to succeed and achieve

crucial proficiencies and goals must be possible.

Desire2Learn® Learning Suite strives to address

many of these issues and aims to enable all students

and institutions to reach their potential and goals

now and in the future.

Reinventing Higher Education for the 21st Century

Complete Offering

Desire2Learn Learning Suite includes critical tools and fundamental capabilities as part of our base LMS

that other providers sell as separate products for additional costs, or even do not offer at all. The following

is a sample of several tools and core functions that are included in Desire2Learn Learning Environment,

at no additional fee:

Course design tools, Course Builder and Instructional Design Wizard, that may greatly reduce the

amount of time consumed crafting new course offerings

DESIRE2LEARN HIGHLIGHTS

A committed and enduring educational technology partner Focused on client success with over 98% client retention 700+ clients globally serving over 8 million users Global leader of SaaS delivered Learning Platforms, with ~90% of our clients using the Desire2Learn Cloud 99.9% uptime guarantee Free* video and audio recording tool which provides incredible media experience for learning and feedback Clear leader on open standards support and accessibility Open APIs to support building on our platform Free* mobile access with our HTML5 framework and amazing tablet experience R&D leader with one of the most complete learning suites

UNIQUE OFFERINGS

Only eLearning provider to offer Student Success System | a predictive modeling engine with our advanced learning Analytics Deeply integrated lecture Capture product Desire2Learn Assignment Grader™ | the only free* offline grader in the industry which allows markup, rubrics, and video/audio feedback myDesire2Learn | a lifelong ePortfolio to

keep you engaged with your alumni

Desire2Learn Mobile Web that extends access to learning, collaboration and socialization beyond

the classroom

Desire2Learn Assignment Grader that enables anytime anywhere offline grading of assignments

Data warehouse and reporting tool which helps organizations make informed decisions about their

programs

Accessibility consideration that helps all users have equal or equivalent access to teaching and

learning

Built-in tools that offer comparable functionality to our competitor’s portfolio toolset - simple,

student-accessible document editing tools that allow students to share with others (e.g. personal

and group locker space to upload and store files)

Video and audio recording utility that provides incredible media experience for learning and

feedback

Integrated email tool that can be used for internal communication within Desire2Learn Learning

Suite as well as externally

Online community building and access to useful teaching and administrator resources via

Desire2Learn Community

Competencies and analytic rubrics assessment tools seamlessly integrated with Desire2Learn’s

cross curriculum learning outcomes tracking system

Virtually unlimited customizable roles, permissions and organization level that help distinguish

your brand and accommodate your existing physical structure

Ability to manage multiple course sections from a master course as well as time saving “semester

start up” tools

Deep integrations with third party solutions such as Google™ Apps for Education and Business,

Turnitin® and Respondus®

Support for many third party integrations via IMS LTI v 1.1.1 standard, Desire2Learn Valence (web

service APIs), custom widgets and other extensibility approaches that maximize the investment in

your existing systems

Partner Alliances

Desire2Learn is thrilled to establish business partnerships with organizations that share our passion for

eLearning and client success, and we are committed to supporting clients through collaboration with all

segments of the eLearning industry. Two key alliances are highlighted below.

Microsoft® Awards

Last year marked two prestigious partnership awards for Desire2Learn including 2011 Microsoft Partner of the Year as well as the 2011 Microsoft U.S. Public Sector Partner of the Year.

Working closely together in partnership with Microsoft has enabled Desire2Learn to fulfill our mission of

delivering innovative technology that enables our clients to accomplish their goals. Our clients' success is

very important to us and we ensure we foster a culture where talented people, listening to and

collaborating closely with our clients, can express their creative passion for developing and supporting

innovative eLearning solutions. Desire2Learn has also demonstrated business leadership and success

through strong growth in new customer additions and revenue, as well as integrating with Microsoft

Live@edu, SQL Server, Windows Server, and the Windows Phone 7 platform.

More than just an LMS!

Desire2Learn Learning Suite is comprised of six key platforms that are all built upon one common

platform: the Learning Platform. The Learning Platform represents the foundation of Learning Suite

including the infrastructure for all products and services; since each product shares a common

infrastructure, they integrate seamlessly to provide maximum value to our clients; this is a key

differentiator for Desire2Learn. The following are the six platforms in Desire2Learn Learning Suite:

DESIRE2LEARN LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Desire2Learn Learning Environment enables our clients to deliver engaging content, collaborate

effectively, and realize their eLearning vision through a comprehensive and flexible eLearning solution.

An innovative combination of best-of-breed teaching and learning tools, built-in accessibility adherence,

powerful measurement and assessment options, and standards-based technology, Desire2Learn Learning

Environment redefines what a learning management system should be.

Desire2Learn Learning Environment | Homepage sample

DESIRE2LEARN® ePORTFOLIO

Desire2Learn ePortfolio takes the best of both worlds: it pairs engaging social networking and self-

directed learning concepts with proven traditional education to produce a unique and powerful solution

that enables our clients to shape the learning paths of their users and give them the opportunity to create

and share their own eLearning journey. Fully equipped with robust tools to meet and exceed the needs of

any user or organization, Desire2Learn ePortfolio propels eLearning into the future.

DESIRE2LEARN® LEARNING REPOSITORY

Desire2Learn Learning Repository enables our clients to effectively manage and share learning resources.

Enhanced usability and features allow institutions to manage their learning objects with ease, all in a

standards-based tool, with full-text search capability and easy integration with other content repositories

like libraries.

DESIRE2LEARN® ANALYTICS

Desire2Learn Analytics provides organizations a competitive edge by transforming data into simple

reports which shows usage patterns and outcomes. The all-inclusive statistical analysis allows users to

improve the online educational experience by providing insights into improvement and success

opportunities for students, faculty, and for course components. Users have the flexibility to create and

distribute reports utilizing an optimized set of reporting domains.

DESIRE2LEARN® CAPTURE

Desire2Learn Capture is designed to fit a variety of web production scenarios - from personal webcasting

to fully-automated room deployment. Rich media presentations can be captured and the synchronized

content shared with viewers as a live and/or on-demand webcast. Presentations can include video, slides,

screen and peripheral sharing, incorporate digital whiteboards and document cameras, as well as viewer

chats and comments. This highly scalable solution allows for greater collaboration and focus, enabling

persistent access to rich media.

THE DESIRE2LEARN DIFFERENCE Desire2Learn represents the union between stability and innovation. We offer the reliability, experience

and industry know-how that only an industry leader like Desire2Learn can provide. Furthermore

Desire2Learn’s relentless dedication in research and development activities enables its product offerings

to be innovative and in sync with the current needs of the market.

We have provided below a summary of the values, features and capabilities which we feel constitute “The

Desire2Learn Difference.”

Reinventing Learning Experiences

FOUNDED TO TRANSFORM THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Dedicated to helping our clients deliver transformative learning experiences and break down barriers

INNOVATIVE CULTURE Numerous client events, conferences, and thought leadership sessions

INVESTMENT IN R&D Greater than 40% of employees are focused on activities related to the research and development of our solutions

BREADTH OF INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS

Valuable R&D partnerships with clients

Full suite of integrated learning technology that allow for integration of other systems (best of both worlds)

Proven Track Record

SCALING EFFECTIVELY Over 600 people in the company supporting over 700 implementations that represent 8 million users globally

BROAD PARTNER RESOURCES

Content support from most major publishers and import tools for the rest

Optional offerings for ERP/SIS integrations, publishers, and common third party products and infrastructure, etc.

Platform allows seamless integration of additional solutions

EASY MIGRATION Imports standards based courses from select major LMS solutions

Desire2Learn’s project expertise and extensive experience enables faster platform transition times and successful migration. One example was a migration of approximately 350,000 courses and retraining of 10,000 instructors within 3 months (not that you need to move that fast)

Architecture

ADAPTIVE OFFERINGS With our dedicated Desire2Learn SaaS solution, upgrades of offerings can be on a client’s schedule (no getting surprised with a new quiz tool in the middle of exams)

Clients are able to test upgrades or service packs prior to rollout

PEAK LOAD MANAGEMENT

Desire2Learn technology is designed for high availability, maximum performance and scalability

Provides clients with options to eliminate single points of failure and reduce unexpected downtimes.

DATA REPLICATION AND STORAGE MANAGEMENT

Desire2Learn's SaaS facilities can provide both scheduled and near real-time backup functionality through its Business Continuity service offering

LATEST GENERATION OF TECHNOLOGY

XML, JSON, REST, SOAP used for SOA layer

Ability to scale to millions of users

Openness

API Check out our available APIs code-named Desire2Learn Valence (http://docs.valence.desire2learn.com/)

STANDARDS LEADER One of the first companies to support SCORM, IMS LTI v1.0, IMS CC, and many other open standards

Active participation (director and chair several groups)

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

Support for Creative Commons publishing

Provides ability to import open educational resources using open standards SRU and OAI-PMH

SECURITY Track record of ensuring security has been a priority, and ongoing security reviews with each release

Regular privacy reviews to ensure we are protecting our client data and information

Features

ADVANCED LMS FUNCTIONALITY

Provides a suite of tools aimed at increasing student engagement through an inviting learning environment and the ability to create individual learning paths and customize workflows to cater to different learning styles

Advanced tools like Desire2Learn Course Builder™ and Instructional Design Wizard™ allows instructors to allow for seamless integration of course competencies within course units and assessments, creating higher-quality, and more engaging courses.

Automated rollover from old to new course offerings, including seamless updates of all dates and settings

Advanced section and group management

Calendar sync with phones and other calendar systems such as Google™ or Microsoft® Outlook calendar systems

Special access configurations for different users (e.g. give different dates or durations for different users for assessments or learning activities)

Intelligent Agents to trigger notifications and action using complex rules with personalized messaging

INTEGRATED LEARNING OUTCOMES

Support for accreditation process and help with improving the quality of client programs

Flexible learning outcome assessment tools and rubrics

INTEGRATED COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Provides integrated synchronous and asynchronous tools, as well as the effective management of group work areas that facilitate collaborative aspects of learning

MOBILE ACCESS HTML5 mobile web access

SOCIAL APPLICATIONS Industry’s leading optional ePortfolio, and many other social tools including instant messaging, email, blogging, and third party integrations including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn®, Google™, Microsoft® Office, and many more

Usability & Accessibility

EASE OF USE Based on our comprehensive usability studies, 80% prefer using the Desire2Learn platform compared to their prior systems, and most clients report far lower support calls (from student and faculty surveys in Wisconsin, Ohio, Tennessee, and other locations)

ACCESSIBILITY NFB Certification

Section 508 and WAI guidelines support (e.g. WCAG 2.0), ATAG 2.0, and WAI-ARIA)

Support non-disclosure of disability or individualization

Preferred LMS for accessibility (equal access to everyone for everything)

Active Special Interest Group with clients and other leaders that has year round impact on product

Focused on not just our system being accessible, but helping our clients build accessible content and systems

Learn more about our Accessibility (http://www.Desire2Learn.com/Products/Accessibility/)

HAPPY POWER USERS Polished user experience and numerous power user features to keep all users happy, not just novices.

We offer full set of features and flexibility with usability, not just usability by simplicity

NAVIGATION OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Ease of Use - LMS

Desire2Learn Learning Environment is renowned for its ease of use for all users including students,

instructors, course developers, administrative staff, and parents. Interfaces are designed from insight

gained through intensive usability-focus groups. Desire2Learn Learning Environment is intuitive enough

to enable novice and expert users alike to navigate through, and interact with the Learning Suite skillfully.

We employ a team of interaction, usability, and accessibility experts that work closely with clients and

industry experts to constantly revise and improve our user interface standards. Our usability experts

frequently consult with students, instructors and administrators to design intuitive and stimulating

interface updates for each new release. One result of this collaboration is the ability to easily group links

within the navigation bar, which allows users access to every aspect of a course from a single screen. The

minibar holds three separate streams of notifications:

Messaging: Provides access to email and instant messenger 1.

Course Activity: Provides access to instructors announcements, newly released grades and due 2.

dates

High Volume Activities: Provides access to the discussion board posts 3.

This separation allows users to more easily access features that are important to them.

Desire2Learn Learning Suite’s look and feel works great on different displays and focuses a user’s

attention on the most important content of a page. Users have consistent access to courses, course alerts

and personal settings. Our overall usability is focused on simple layouts, clear primary actions, button

consistency, and streamlined workflows.

Our superior flexibility and customization allows course designers to choose whether access to all course

components is desirable for individual courses. In open courses, students and instructors can be given

broad access to move from one area to another at their own discretion and pace. In more linear courses,

students can be guided from one area to another along a learning path that can change depending on their

input and activities.

Desire2Learn’s ultimate goal is to produce an application where users focus on teaching and learning, and

not learning the application itself. Desire2Learn’s user-centric system navigation brings common tasks to

the presentation layer so novice users can quickly and easily access and complete common tasks within a

few clicks. Advanced users can probe deeper to utilize advanced features and tool-to-tool interoperability

Minibar

Switch between courses, navigate to organization and course home pages, access account settings such as

Profile and Preferences, and receive alerts specific to your system activity via the navigation minibar

located at the top of every page with easy access to Profile, Notifications, and Account Settings (which

includes links to change password and change email address for users with permissions).

Additionally, users with appropriate permissions (typically administrators) to access items found in the Admin Tools widget and Admin Tools navigation bar link, can also access those items from an icon in the minibar.

Access to Admin Tools from the Minibar

For branding, organizations can customize the minibar’s color, logo, and can specify if the minibar is fixed

to the top of each page or if it floats at the top of the page so that content scrolls behind it.

Homepage Personalization

The course homepage provides a centralized access point from which users can access all tools and

information regarding a particular course. News items, calendar items, and customized areas provide a

link to view content, see what is upcoming, or communicate with users taking the course.

The figure below illustrates one example of a course homepage customization. Some examples of typical

Widgets include News items, video feeds or search engine interfaces.

Another Example of Homepage Customization

Examples of Organization Navigation Bars Customization

CONTENT DELIVERY & MANAGEMENT

Desire2Learn Content Tool

View your entire course via the Table of Contents area within the Content tool. The Table of Contents area

provides a scrollable view of all units and topics in the course with the ability to access individual topics

and has the following features:

Full view of your entire course

One click to view a topic

Provides count of tasks in a unit along with topic progress indicators

Bulk editing, completion tracking management, downloading, and deleting

Links to course management tools such as Manage Files, Course Builder, Reports, and Copy

Course Components for users with access to those tools.

Manage content display settings

Print a course outline including course unit descriptions

The Table of Contents area allows instructors and course designers to efficiently and easily build,

restructure, and revise content in their courses. To manage content, click the context menu beside a topic

name to edit it, rename it in place, change status (draft or published), set completion method, add

restrictions (date, release conditions), and add descriptions all from the Table of Contents area.

Build and edit your course from within the Table of Contents area. Access the view of a specific unit by

clicking it in the area below the Table of Contents on the left. Add to your course with ease using drag and

drop capabilities that enable course designers to insert one or multiple PDF and Microsoft® Office®

documents from their desktop to create new document topics.

To enable access to content regardless of programs present on a student’s computer, there is an inline

document converter/viewer, so that all conversion is done in Learning Environment and does not require

a third-party. This is a huge plus because students do not need to have programs such as Acrobat® or

Word® on their computer to access content. As you build out your course, you can choose to indicate the

status of your additions and edits as published or draft. If you select the draft status, it is not available to

students.

Content Areas – Table of Contents Area

When a unit is clicked from the left hand Unit List, the Unit Details area opens to the right. The Unit

Details area provides access to common actions and the ability to create new content or add existing

content.

Instructor can add/edit unit description inline with a full HTML Editor

Unit Details – Inline Unit Description with HTML Editor

Instructor can set Draft v. Published to an entire unit or individual topics

Instructor can add due dates, restrictions, and release conditions from one consolidated view

Instructor can add activities (create new or link to existing)

Unit Details – Add Activities

When creating a new document, instructors can use the updated HTML Editor, and also copy the

contents of an existing course file which enables the creation and use of templates.

Instructor can drag and drop multiple files at once from their computer to easily create and

update file topics

Instructor can rename topics inline, reorder, add restrictions to individual topics, and publish to

Desirer2Learn Learning Repository

Unit Details – Rename Topics Inline

Instructor can set method for completion status on individual topics

Unit Details – Setting Method for Completion Status

Instructor can easily add sub-units by simply typing in the name of the new sub-unit at the

bottom of any unit view

Unit Details -

Instructor and student can access individual topics for viewing

Student view is the same view, but without editing areas and actions

Instructor and student can print list of topics

Instructor can configure course to arrange topics by content type instead of a flat list

Instructor can set the default completion status method to be used for new topics

Instructor can set default behavior for what happens if files with the same name are dragged / uploaded into the course.

This provides an incredibly easy workflow for authoring on a desktop and updating content in the Learning Environment.

Time is always as a premium. This feature is designed to save time and help users to be more efficient in getting course content into the Learning Environment.

Set up your course quickly, easily, and intuitively with the various features that allow course content creation to come together with simplicity and ease – to boost and not impede content creation.

Unit Details Area – Content Settings

Unit Details Area – Upload Multiple Files

Desire2Learn ePortfolio

Desire2Learn ePortfolio takes the best of both worlds: it pairs social learning and self-directed learning

concepts with proven traditional education. This produces a unique and powerful solution that enables

our clients to shape the learning paths of their users and give them the opportunity to create and share

their own eLearning journey. Desire2Learn ePortfolio propels eLearning into the future.

Scrapbook capabilities of Desire2Learn ePortfolio

Desire2Learn recognizes that students and instructors both demand a personalized learning experience

that extends beyond the boundaries of traditional educational tools. Students and instructors alike need

to be able to interact with networks of peers and evaluators to share their portfolio for personal,

educational as well as professional purposes. Desire2Learn ePortfolio meets these demands to accelerate a

user’s eLearning experience.

Of particular interest to Dartmouth College may be Desire2Learn ePortfolio’s ability to empower

instructors to guide and improve student’s learning experiences by gaining valuable insight to a student’s

learning path which is enabled by the portfolio. You gain knowledge through data on students’ progress

toward learning objectives and the degree of shared learning and collaboration. Instructors can aggregate

individual efforts at the course, departmental, and institutional level. Equipped with such insight, you

now have the ability to shape the learning experience and improve learning outcomes for all students.

The following diagram illustrates how Desire2Learn ePortfolio uses relationships to bring together

artifacts, reflections and presentations:

For more information about Desire2Learn ePortfolio, please visit

http://www.Desire2Learn.com/ePortfolio/

Benefits of Desire2Learn ePortfolio

Some of the key benefits of Desire2Learn ePortfolio are highlighted below:

Life-Long Learning | The flexible options for porting the Desire2Learn ePortfolio into other formats

provide learners the capabilities to use and re-use their portfolio for lifelong learning. ePortfolio provides

the ability to map, document and showcase learning and achievements during specific educational

enrolments and continue beyond the timeframe of a relationship with a specific educational institution.

The following information is marked confidential, and is not intended for public release. In the event of

a public records request, this information is to be redacted to the maximum extent provided by law.

MYDESIRE2LEARN

myDesire2Learn allows graduating students to maintain an active Desire2Learn ePortfolio after leaving

their institution. myDesire2Learn ePortfolios are managed in Desire2Learn Cloud and are an example of

Desire2Learn’s commitment to supporting lifelong learning.

myDesire2Learn will be available next year. Please see https://mydesire2learn.com/ for more

information.

Use ePortfolio for setting goals and developing a Learning Roadmap that evolves continuously through

the various phases as users learn through every day experiences and formal training.

Social Learning | ePortfolio enables learners to connect with peers and mentors, give and receive ideas

and feedback, share learning experiences, and collaborate with others.

Learners can build and extend their learning networks across peers, evaluators, colleagues and subject

matter experts. Learners can also insert social profiles into user accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter,

LinkedIn® and Google™+1. Desire2Learn ePortfolio captures both the formal and informal training

learning experience. Develop and achieve goals, gain recognition working with a community of individuals

seeking personal growth through social interactions.

Empowers Learners | Web 2.0 standard interface components such as a dashboard and tagging

engage learners. The dashboard brings social sharing capabilities to the next level, as it allows learners to

view recent updates and changes within ePortfolio. Unread invites, recently changed items and recently

viewed items are all posted here, and you can also view which items others have recently viewed of yours.

The ability to publish anything within Desire2Learn ePortfolio provides learners with ultimate control

over their learning adventure. Desire2Learn believes social learning to be very empowering.

Ownership of Learning | ePortfolio provides learners with a tool to organize and manage their

learning goals and achievements. Learners can tell a story with their ePortfolio and personalize the

presentation of the learning story to reflect their personality or message.

Assess Transparently | Desire2Learn ePortfolio allows for comments and assessment with rubrics on

any item. Grades, competencies and learning objectives add to the formal assessment component in

Desire2Learn ePortfolio.

Harness Flexibility | Robust and easy to use, institutions can track accreditation while learners

establish a personal repository of learning artifacts. With import and export capabilities, learners can take

their Desire2Learn ePortfolio contents with them if they ever change institutions.

Integrate Seamlessly | When combined with the Desire2Learn Learning Environment and Web

Services, Desire2Learn ePortfolio offers a complete and robust learning experience.

Career Development Management | Map goals, track learning experiences and receive feedback on

activities, learning objectives, and developing competencies.

Support Peer Assessment | Users can provide comments and assessments using formal rubrics to

peers.

Supplement Course Activities | Deep integration with Desire2learn Learning Environment allows for

seamless movement of ePortfolio materials into the course for showcase or assessment and supports users

pulling course feedback and assessment items from courses into the ePortfolio.

Support Reflective Learning Practice and Self-assessment | Metacognition, self-explanation and

reflection are methods for students to develop deeper learning through clarification, linking experiences

and past learning, relating personal beliefs and values and recognition of patterns.

Desire2Learn ePortfolio is an enterprise offering to support user-centric learning processes through goal

setting, capturing learning experiences, and organizing learning evidence. Thus allowing learners to share

ideas, give and receive feedback, participate in social learning networks and showcase their achievements

and capabilities.

ASSESSMENT, GRADING AND FEEDBACK

Grading Assignments in Desire2Learn

The Dropbox tool enables students to submit assignments through Desire2Learn Learning Environment,

eliminating the need to mail, fax, or email assignments. Using the Dropbox tool, students can simply

upload their assignments to the appropriate folder.

Instructors may set up separate dropbox folders for each assignment and restrict access to the folders by

date and time, group membership, or special access permissions. Set a dropbox folder due date

independent of folder availability to clearly communicate the date until on-time submissions are accepted.

Additionally, due dates are highlighted for students while late submissions are highlighted for instructors.

These late indicators in the interface are dynamic and are based on the submitting user’s due date – if a

submission previously flagged as late has its due date extended for the user, it will not be flagged as late in

the interface.

Instructors can be notified of new dropbox submissions through the Updates widget or daily summary

notifications. Instructors can also grade each assignment, leave feedback in a variety of ways, and return

submissions with comments all from within the Dropbox tool. Once assignments are submitted, an

instructor can view the assignment in their browser or download them, sort assignments by students or

check submission times.

Dropbox | Instructor view of a Dropbox folder

The dropbox folder supports individual or multiple attachments of virtually every single file type. The

table below presents some of the more commonly used file types that are supported by Desire2Learn

Learning Environment:

File Type Extension File Type Extension

Web ASP, HTM, HTML, XHTML, etc. Audio MP3, MPA, RA, WAV, WMA, etc.

Text DOC(X), RTF, PDF, TXT, WPD, etc. Video AVI, FLV, MOV, MP4, MPG, RM, SWF, WMV

Data CSV, PPT(X), XLS(X), XML, etc. Developer C, CPP, CS, JAVA, PL, PY, etc.

Image BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, PSD, TIF, etc. Other ZIP, RAR, KDW, etc.

Desire2Learn also features a complete integration with Google Docs™. Once submitted to the Dropbox,

these documents are converted to PDF, and allow other tools like Turnitin® to perform document

analysis. Upon submitting these documents, users can no longer edit them. Being able to submit these

documents to the Dropbox tool allows customers to use Google’s office productivity and collaboration

tools more effectively.

View Documents In-line

Instructors can view documents in their browser without having to download them. This reduces the

likelihood that an instructor is missing the appropriate software to view common file types or has to

download and manage multiple copies of documents.

Dropbox | View and grade documents in your browser

The in-line document viewer is powered by the platform’s document viewer and conversion tools. It

supports the viewing of a variety of file types, some of which are converted locally.

Unlike systems that send student submissions to hosted, third-party services to convert for in-browser

rendering, Desire2Learn Learning Environment converts supported file types locally into images and

HTML/text versions where required prior to displaying them.

Image view (File Types Supported)

Word processing documents (.doc, .docx, .txt)

Presentations (.ppt, .pptx)

PDF (.pdf)

Images (.gif, .png, .jpeg)

HTML/Text view (File Types Supported)

Word processing documents (.doc, .docx, .txt)

Web documents (.html)

Presentations (.ppt, .pptx)

Originality Report

For institutions using plagiarism detection through the integration with Turnitin®, users can

also see the submitted document in the form of an originality report.

Download

Instructors can download all other file types to work offline with the associated software

program

Individual students or groups of students can submit assignments to various dropboxes associated with

assignments within a course. Using the Dropbox tool, instructors can provide meaningful and

individualized feedback.

Dropbox | Save feedback as a draft

Feedback can be withheld so that instructors can

review and revise grades, rubrics, comments, and

attachments.

Once feedback is published, students are able to

see feedback from their submission history in the

dropbox; publishing feedback updates any

associated grade items. Instructors can publish

feedback to all students simultaneously or on a

student by student basis.

There are many evaluative feedback features

within the Dropbox tool:

Annotating HTML and Text Documents

The annotate action is offered on each applicable file and stored as an attachment with the version

indicated, which makes annotating HTML files and text files through Desire2Learn Learning

Environment’s HTML Editor easier to discover.

Online Markup

Online Markup, the integration with Turnitin® GradeMark® for clients that use it, provides a number of

features to annotate documents online such as leaving text comments, markup, and highlights. This

functionality is easily accessed when reviewing student submissions to encourage instructors to provide

rich feedback to students.

Download and Edit

Instructors can download documents, make edits in the associated software, and then attach the updated

files as feedback to the student.

Record Audio

A simple interface for recording audio feedback is available when reviewing a student’s submission. The

generated audio file is attached to the feedback.

Record Video

THE VIDEO NOTES TOOL

The video notes tool enables users to quickly and effectively add video recorded from their webcams into

Learning Suite content and is included as part of Desire2Learn Learning Environment. With the video

notes tool, add recorded webcam anywhere Insert Stuff™ or video attachments are currently supported in

Desire2Learn Learning Environment. The video notes tool supports the recording and embedding of

videos as long as the browser supports Adobe® Flash®.

Access User Information and Contact Users

In the top right is information about the user or group whose submission you are evaluating. This area

offers student information visible to the evaluator and available contact methods.

Folder Information and Properties

Folder Information and Properties is a collapsible section that provides access to information about the

folder and gives options for adjusting its properties. For example, quickly add special access to a student

who might need more time to submit their assignment. Therefore, a teacher’s assistant who does not have

permission to edit or view the folder properties, can consistently see the instructions for the assignment.

Evaluation Options

Desire2Learn provides options to the evaluations section in the feedback panel. This section contains

options instructors might have forgotten (e.g., adding rubrics), class benchmarking (e.g., teachers

assistants evaluating how other markers scored students by reviewing rubric and grade statistics) and

workflow elements (e.g., a link to the grade book to assign zeros to users without submissions).

Record Evaluation

Desire2Learn has compressed the areas to assign scores and score rubrics by adding learning objective

associations in context of the rubric control.

Dropbox | Use a Rubric to score assignments

Offline Grading

Our newest mobile application, Desire2Learn® Assignment Grader for iPad®, integrated with

Desire2Learn Learning Environment, allows instructors and educators to take their entire launched

collection of student-submitted digital assignments anywhere they want and grade them from the

convenience of an iPad® device. Desire2Learn Assignment Grader can help shorten turnaround times for

providing grades and feedback as well as increased student engagement by providing written, audio

and/or video commentary.

Desire2Learn Quiz / Testing Tool

Desire2Learn provides a versatile quizzing tool which allows for the quick creation of surveys, self-

assessments and evaluative assessments using a large number of question types. Instructors can easily

create, edit, and grade quizzes with no prior knowledge of HTML or other web programming technologies.

Quiz results are viewed in an organized and concise format. Dartmouth College can set numerous

restrictions on the quizzes they create (such as date of availability), as well as associating them with

learning objectives. Questions can also be created in, or copied, to question libraries that allow for full

reuse of questions or quizzes within a course, or all courses across the organization.

Fair tests can be created that pull a certain number of questions of particular difficulty levels from

different random question pools. The Desire2Learn testing and assessment tools are fully compliant with

IMS. The following question types (question formats) are currently available:

Multiple choice

Multi-select

Likert style (only for surveys)

True or false

Matching

Fill-in-the-blanks

Short answer

Long answer

Ordering

Image and description text

Significant figures

Multi-short answer

Calculated – including randomly generated

numbers

Other custom question types

RANDOM QUESTIONS

Inserting a random section into a quiz ensures that each user will receive a unique set of questions. The

random section pulls from a designated pool of questions stored in the Question Library. It is important

to note that you must import questions that have already been created elsewhere into a random section.

After selecting the questions from the library, you can specify how many questions from the random

question pool each user should see. The random section will then randomly select this number of

questions for each user that takes the quiz. This feature guarantees that each user will receive a unique

quiz with different questions. There are no limits to the number or type of questions in a random quiz.

QUIZ MANAGEMENT

Instructors can handle student pre/post testing by creating multiple attempts for a quiz (see below figure)

and use our release condition feature to set schedule and requirements for pre/post-tests.

Manage Quizzes Tool – Edit Quiz Attempts

Instructors are also able to create custom learning paths for each student, as the Restrictions tab allows

for special access for specific users. For example, if a special education user is in need of more time on a

quiz or test, the instructor can give them special access to that quiz for an extended period of time.

Desire2Learn keeps confidentiality in mind, as users will not be able to see the differences in due dates.

The Calendar will only show the due date for that specific user.

Dartmouth College may also add bonus questions, mandatory questions, and prevent users from moving

backwards in the quiz.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

You can associate a quiz with a set of learning objectives and a competency that you want people taking

your course to master. You can also evaluate the quiz using a rubric. You can associate a whole quiz, or a

group of questions, with learning objectives.

Using the Objectives tab, you can associate a quiz with a learning objective, and therefore tie the

assignment to a competency you want users to master. This association can be a basic association or an

association with a rubric-based assessment. In cases where only a subset of quiz questions are relevant to

a learning objective, you can align specific groups of quiz questions to learning objectives from the quiz’s

Objectives tab. The questions must be together in a section. In addition, you can use a new learning

objective assessment method for quizzes called “Score on selected questions”. It’s the numeric score of all

questions in the quiz aligned to the learning objective.

QUIZ PREVIEW

The quiz preview option allows you to "write" a quiz before releasing it. While previewing a quiz, you work

through the steps of answering the questions, submitting the quiz, having the quiz graded (if auto-grading

applies to it) to ensure that the automatic grading was set up properly, and viewing the reports you have

set up. The preview feature allows you to ensure the accuracy of the content and grading before releasing

it to students.

Desire2Learn Grade Book

Grade book meets a multitude of needs utilizing a powerful feature set and set-up wizard. Flexible setup

options provide our clients freedom to implement the grading system that works best for their individual

course. For time efficiency, grades can be entered in a simple spreadsheet-style interface or imported

from Microsoft® Excel® or CSV File Format.

EASILY FILTER GRADE BOOK INFORMATION, SAVE AND RETAIN THAT VIEW

The “Enter Grades” area is where instructors enter, import, and export grades for students. In this area

the grade book is organized by user. From this view, instructors can grade users by user, item, category, or

final grade. Instructors can also switch between the standard view of the grade book and a spread sheet

view.

The Grades tool | Spreadsheet view of grade book

SEARCH FOR USERS

Instructors can search for users in the grade book by the Search, View By, or Next Page options.

RENAMING AND ADDING COLUMNS TO THE GRADE BOOK

Any column can be added manually or be added via upload or via Desire2Learn Valence. These columns

can also be renamed.

REORDER COLUMNS

A reorder option is available from the Manage Grades area. Instructors can select a new position for a

category or grade item using the “Sort Order” drop-down list beside its name. The positions of other

categories and grade items adjust accordingly.

UPLOAD GRADES FROM A SPREADSHEET

Instructors can enter grades in another application and import them into Learning Environment using a

CSV or TXT file. Instructors are also enabled to create new grade items through an import file by adding a

column to the file.

The import file must follow a standard format. A “grades sample import” file is available as a reference

point. We recommend that instructors set up their grade book in Learning Environment even if they plan

on entering grades in a CSV or TXT file. Instructors can then use the Export Grades option to create an

appropriately structured file.

EDIT GRADES

Grades can be manually edited to provide instructors with more flexibility.

ADD NOTES TO GRADES

Grade book allows instructors to leave comments that users can see when viewing their final grades. Also,

the Grades tool allows instructors to leave comments only other authorized graders, such as TAs, can see

– not users. For example, an instructor can leave a message or comment inline for a teaching assistant in

the grade book.

The Grades tool | Leave comments for users or graders

ACCESS ASSESSMENTS VIA THE GRADE BOOK (IN-PLACE GRADING)

You can enter or update a grade from either the Grades tool or the tool with which the item is associated.

You can associate quizzes, dropbox folders, and discussion forums and topics with grade items and grade

them directly from the Quizzes tool, the Dropbox tool, the Discussions tool, and the Attendance tool.

CALCULATE COLUMNS USING A FORMULA

The Formula Editor enables you to define a formula that calculates a grade item’s value based on other

grade items. When you create a formula, you specify which grade items you want included in the formula

and the relationships between them. An example of a simple formula is one that calculates the sum of a

number of grade items. A more complicated formula is one that drops the minimum or maximum value

from a set of grade items.

INTEGRATE GRADE BOOK WITH STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

Learning Environment fully supports bi-directional integration with SIS and has the ability to transfer

rosters and grade information. Learning Environment features both the Holding Tank and Desire2Learn

Valence for integrating with SIS systems.

RELEASE THE APPLICABLE GRADES TO A USER

The “release to user” option is configurable and up to the lecturer when grades are released.

You have the option to allow the automatically graded quiz attempt grade to be seen immediately after the

user has completed and submitted the quiz. However, the displayed score is limited by what the system

can auto-grade which may exclude essay questions, for example.

COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION

Desire2Learn Communication Tools Overview

Desire2Learn Learning Environment enables academic networking through flexible group management

options that are integrated with learning tools, and provides both real-time and asynchronous

communication tools that can be customized to enforce security policies and promote engaging usage.

Desire2Learn Capture

Desire2Learn Capture empowers presenters to go beyond simply communicating, so that audiences can

connect like never before. Our portable and fully-automated room and mobile capture solutions cost less

and do more, allowing you to capture and effortlessly deliver a synchronized audio, video and

presentation rich media experience. Viewers can also participate in live text chat as well as search text

contained in visual aids.

Email

A fully-featured Email tool is included in Desire2Learn Learning Environment. Our clients can choose to

configure it for send-only messaging, for internal messaging only, for sending/receiving both internally

and externally. Clients are able to filter through emails, as well as create personalized folders. The Email

tool automatically associates messages and contacts with course offerings, and facilitates continuous

communication with the rest of the user’s experience.

Instant Messaging

Users can quickly find other users who are currently online and send private messages using the Pager

tool. This feature allows instructors to minimize the amount of email they receive, and enables learners to

communicate quickly with their peers. The Pager tool can be turned off when learners are taking an online

quiz.

Chat

The Chat tool is a real-time, text-based collaboration tool. Dartmouth College can use the Chat tool to

brainstorm ideas, hold a question and answer period, have a debate or discussion, or organize a remote

study group. As opposed to other collaboration tools, such as Discussions, Chat conversations occur in

real-time. You can set up course specific chat rooms or chat rooms that involve individuals from all over

the organization. Archives for chat sessions are automatically created and logged.

Discussions

Discussions provide a means for class interaction. The Discussions tool enables rating one another's

message postings, allows for offering participation incentives, and empowers users to call out key

contributions. Discussions can be graded with ease and supports numeric and rubric assessment types.

Blog

The Blog tool provides a controlled environment for our users to communicate and reflect. They can read

their peers’ blogs, leave comments, and maintain a list of favorite blogs. It is up to our clients to decide

whether their users’ blogs are available inside or outside their institution; if they are public, social sharing

networks can be inserted into the user profile, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn® and Google™+1.

Calendar

The Calendar tool provides an integrated view to help our users stay on top of all course work and

upcoming deadlines. Clients can create course-related events in other tools and set them to appear in the

Calendar using content, discussions, dropbox, grades, and more. Users can share scheduled events with

peers and courses, and view the availability of others. The Calendar tool allows synchronization to your

mobile devices and other calendars like Outlook® and Google™ to be through iCal®, and also highlight

different views and consolidated viewing.

Synchronous Integration

Desire2Learn has developed an Integration Pack for Synchronous Communication Tools (IPSCT), which

provides a direct integration with Adobe® Connect™ and Blackboard® Collaborate for distance learning,

meetings, webcasting, and events.

The following information is marked confidential, and is not intended for public release. In the event of a public records request, this information is to be redacted to the maximum extent provided by law.

We are also currently working on extending the IPSCT integration to other third party offerings such as WebEx™ and Microsoft® Lync®.

Classlist Tool

The Classlist tool enables an interactive environment for Dartmouth College to keep track of users. Use

the Classlist tool to see who is enrolled in a course; users logged into Desire2Learn Learning Environment

appear with a green dot beside their names. Also, use the Classlist tool to send emails and pager messages.

Organizational tabs for easy navigation may be set up according to different roles or groups of roles

pertaining to the users. For example, instructors can choose to have a tab which only shows students, a

tab which only shows faculty, and a tab that shows both.

The Classlist tool is also a central area for managing information about students. View user profiles,

Desire2Learn ePortfolios, blogs, shared locker files and progress, print the classlist, check enrollment

reports, and change enrollment information (e.g. enrolling and removing users, changing roles, unlocking

accounts, and resetting passwords).

Discussions Tool

The Discussion tool provides document sharing, private group collaboration, and multiple viewing

options including threaded and temporal sequencing. The Discussion tool is also fully integrated with the

Grades tool, allowing instructors to grade and provide feedback on discussion postings from within the

tool itself.

Course discussions provide a valuable forum for learner and instructor interaction. The Discussion tool

enables students to rate one another’s messages which provide a participation incentive, and empower

students to call out key contributions. The Discussion encourages students to:

Share thoughts on course material with their peers

Set up forums to ask questions

Pose a question for the class to debate

Discuss the answers to an assignment

Create forums for groups to work on group assignments

Discussions

Discussions are an important aspect of an academic solution. The Discussions tool provides:

The ability to create, edit, delete, and flag

messages

Detailed searching – including subject and

message

Document sharing possibilities

Easy moderation (create, monitor, etc.) by

course administrators

Email notifications

Full archives

Gradable discussions

Peer reviews

Private group collaborations

Setting of group permissions

Useful statistics gathering and reporting

Notifications of new message posts allow students to stay on top of discussions even when they are away

from their computers. These notifications are sent to a user’s external email and provide more

opportunities for reading messages and interacting with discussions in process.

Desire2Learn Learning Environment provides a straightforward subscription process from the

Discussions pages and Compose Message window. Flexible subscription and delivery options allow users

to control what notifications they receive and when. For example, users have the option to subscribe at the

forum, topic, or message thread level. Additionally, users can choose to receive those notifications

immediately or as a daily digest of new, unread messages by course. The Subscriptions List page shows

users their subscriptions and allows them to update subscriptions from a centralized location.

Mobile Access

Discussion forums, topics, and messages can

be accessed in a mobile-friendly format

through Desire2Learn Mobile Web. Users can

navigate forums and topics or read messages.

They can also compose new messages, reply,

and subscribe to notifications, rate messages,

search message posts, and flag messages for

later viewing.

Additionally, if users access the links in a

discussion email notification from a mobile

device, users are taken to the mobile version

of the page for reviewing the message, topic,

or forum.

Reply, subscribe and flag messages

View of a Classlist

Desire2Learn Social Sharing & Learning

The flexible nature of the Desire2Learn Learning Suite enables many social networking features. Many

user groupings and role permissions are offered, as well as personalized User Profiles and social sharing.

User Groupings

Similar to courses, many other types of user groupings such as communities of practice, special interest

groups, study and tutor groups, and sports teams can be organized within the system to enable and

encourage user interaction. All tools traditionally available within courses are available within these

organization units.

The Blog Tool

The Blog tool in Desire2Learn Learning Environment is typically enabled for public access. For publicly-

accessible blogs, both the blog author and anyone reading a public blog posting is able to easily like it on

Facebook, tweet it on Twitter, or recommend it with Google+™. You can turn sharing destinations on or

off by organizational unit through DOME configuration variables.

Social Networking in the Blog Tool

User Profiles

User Profiles add an extra amount of personalized space within Desire2Learn Learning Environment.

Users have the ability to add information to their user profile, which can be seen by other users with the

appropriate permission set. This information can include everything from a picture and nickname to

addresses, likes/dislikes, and other user configurable information.

Desire2Learn also enables Dartmouth College’s users to add links to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn® and

Google+™. This gives other users the ability to view profiles from other sites, and perform actions such as

following on someone on Twitter, requesting a friend on Facebook, or adding each other to Google+™ and

LinkedIn® networks. This functionality adds a more exciting, personal touch to User Profiles.

View of a User Profile

Users can also make similar user profiles within Desire2Learn ePortfolio and insert the same social

sharing features.

Role Permissions

Tools such as email, chat, discussion forums, surveys, news, and blog can be made available to users with

further flexible permissions than in courses. Although the same permissions and roles could be used

within these networks and collaborative spaces, it is not necessary to remain constrained. For example, a

user can be a student or teacher within a course, but a participant or leader within their social group.

These organization units can be opened up for self- enrollment (allowing users to join by searching for

appropriate groups) or can have enrollments coordinated through automated methods from the Student

Information System.

Desire2Learn ePortfolio Social Sharing

The integration of social media tools for externally shared presentations bridges the gap between the

educational sharing in Desire2Learn ePortfolio with a user’s personal and professional communities.

Users can connect public presentations with their online social and peer network. Users have the

opportunity to like public presentations on Facebook, tweet on Twitter and recommended on Google+™.

It should be noted that presentations shared within the organization but not made public do not support

social sharing integrations for privacy reasons.

DESIRE2LEARN MOBILE SOLUTIONS Desire2Learn understands that learning is not confined to the classroom. Extending access to mobile

devices provides resources, services, course information and interaction to both students and faculty

where and when it is convenient. Desire2Learn offers a rich mobile experience to all users with no cost

through our Mobile Web Framework included by default in Desire2Learn Learning Environment. The

Desire2Learn Mobile Web is accessible to students running iOS, Android™, Windows® Phone, or

Blackberry® devices. Our optional Desire2Learn Campus Life application provides native application

functionality for an additional fee and can also be used with multiple platforms. Finally, Desire2Learn’s

Assignment Grader is available for free to individual instructors because it adds significant value, namely

the ability to download assignments and work completely offline with grades and feedback sync’s to the

server the next time the iPad® user is online.

Our mobile solutions offer individuals and institutions the flexibility to select the products that best meet

their needs.

Our mobile solutions include:

Desire2Learn Mobile Web | (No cost) Included with Desire2Learn Learning Environment at no

additional cost, mobile device users may access course tools such as News, Content, Calendar and

Grades in formats optimized for mobile web browsing and interact with other users through

discussions.

Desire2Learn Campus Life | (Fee Associated) A native mobile application for BlackBerry®,

iPhone®, iPod touch® and Android™ platforms, designed to consolidate campus services, news,

resources and Desire2Learn Learning Environment in a single, institutionally branded application.

Desire2Learn Campus Life can be integrated with Dartmouth College’s SIS system and can be the

conduit between SIS and Desire2Learn Learning Environment. This is an optional product offering

which would incur additional installation and annual recurring fees to Desire2Learn Learning

Environment.

Desire2Learn Assignment Grader |(No Cost) Our newest mobile application integrated with

Desire2Learn Learning Environment, which allows instructors and educators to take their entire

launched collection of student-submitted digital assignments anywhere they want and grade them

from the convenience of an iPad®. Desire2Learn Assignment Grader can help shorten turnaround

times for providing grades and feedback as well as increased student engagement by providing

written, audio and/or video commentary.

Desire2Learn Binder™ |(No Cost) Released with Desire2Learn Learning Environment 10.1,

Desire2Learn Binder gives users the freedom to read, interact with, and organize course resources

from virtually anywhere, directly on an iPad tablet device. This unique solution helps users organize

and manage digital resources in ways that are accessible and flexible, leveraging their preferred

technology. Likewise, it also helps promote learning engagement through user experience

personalization via insertions, customizations, bookmarking, and tagging, in addition to promoting

productivity and time efficiency in and outside of the classroom.

Desire2Learn Mobility Options

For more information about our mobile solutions, please visit

http://www.desire2learn.com/mobile/highered/.

CONNECT WITH US We really do pride ourselves on the partnerships that we build with institutions around the world and we

would be pleased if Dartmouth College was a part of the Desire2Learn family. We invite you to connect

with us and see what we’re all about.

WEBINARS | WWW.DESIRE2LEARN.COM/WEBINARS

At Desire2Learn, we are driven to build learning solutions that transform teaching and learning. We

believe the common online challenges faced by teachers and students can be solved, and we'd love to show

you how with one of our live, interactive webinars.

CONFERENCES | WWW.DESIRE2LEARN.COM/EVENTS

We attend numerous conferences every year. At any of the events that we visit, you’ll have the opportunity

to stop by, say hello, share views, and discuss the potential eLearning products and services that

Desire2Learn can deliver to meet Dartmouth College’s needs today and tomorrow.

FUSION | WWW.DESIRE2LEARN.COM/FUSION

Our annual Desire2Learn Users' Conference draws clients from around the globe who come together to

connect with one another on common interests and inspire one another to create innovative and engaging

eLearning environments.

THE HORIZON | ISSUE 25

This quarterly newsletter shares information from our clients, partners, and Desire2Learn to give our

clients perspective as they build and deliver the very best in learning environments. To subscribe to this

informative newsletter visit http://www.desire2learn.com/Horizon.

WEBSITE AND VIRTUAL DEMOS | WWW.DESIRE2LEARN.COM/DEMOS

Our website, Desire2Learn.com, is loaded with information about what we offer. Or watch our online

demonstrations for a sample of what we can do.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Lastly, connect with online with your favorite social media tools:

Facebook | http://www.facebook.com/Desire2Learn

Twitter | http://twitter.com/#!/Desire2Learn_PR

LinkedIn | http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3280106

Desire2Learn eLearning RSS Feeds | http://www.desire2learn.com/rss/