| Planned D2L server maintenance by Desire2Learn for fall semester: Maintenance is a time period when access to SCCC D2L courses for faculty and students will not be possible. Maintenance is not an optional computer server procedure - it is a necessary part of ensuring that the D2L/SCCC online course environment operates properly and as expected. We ask your cooperation in understanding and also planning ahead for these planned interruptions to service.
Monthly Maintenance Schedule: Please plan accordingly for the following maintenance dates:
October 25 - 26, 2008
November 22 - 23, 2008
December 27 - 28, 2008
Start times are on Saturday night at approximately 11 pm; End times are on Sunday mornings at approximately 7 am
Faculty have been requested to Unenroll students so that your D2L Classlist matches your Banner Roster. See the Office of Instructional Technology memo dated: 9/16/08 . PLEASE inform your students you unenroll so that they are aware and will not wonder where there link to your course has gone when in D2L. The Registrar's mailing to students regarding unenrollment will not be sent prior to 10/14/08 .
A new Schedule of OIT trainings in D2L for faculty new to online, new to D2L, or for those faculty/staff/administrators wanting to learn something about D2L - or something more - has been released for October, November and December. Trainings are currently scheduled into the Delta Room in the basement of Huntington Library at the Ammerman campus. See the Office of Instructional Technology memo dated: 9/29/08
9/30/08 - Students now have the ability to forward CourseMail from D2L to external email addresses.
Known issues resolved by D2L: HTML tags appearing in Discussion
Production site enhancements made:
Expanded view of 'My Courses' so full CRN can be seen, scroll right to see entire view- use CRN to tell between two sections with same course name.
Role Switch is activated for Faculty.
Common Student logon problems: Student has not created their MySCCC Username and Password and cannot access the D2L link in portal; There can be a 24-hour delay between registration and showing in D2L which causes inability to login to D2L through MySCCC portal; Student exists on D2L server and classlist in D2L course but has not logged in due to above conditions, or, in a very few cases, there is a problem with their Banner-to-D2L file.
Other Suggestions: Use the Course Mail 'filter' settings to limit what your default view of mail looks like.
Access to D2L for students will begin the week of 8/25/08. You may allow access to your courses as desired, such as through use of an icebreaker or course information module, etc. It is planned that students will be able to view the 'Student Orientation to D2L' course when they gain access to the D2L site.
Full access to courses in D2L begins on: 9/2/08
Students will access D2L through the 'My SCCC' portal. They will login at My SCCC and then click on the SCCC Virtual Campus link after that login. They will then be automatically redirected to the D2L site where they can access their course links in the 'My Courses' section of the their 'My Home' page. IMPORTANT -
There will be a delay from time of SCCC portal username creation and gaining initial access to D2L
NavBars are now flexible for your adjustment. It is very important that you leave the recommended settings that allow normal course operation and access in place (see Robin Hill's Workshop in your My Courses section at your My Home page)
COURSE MAIL is operational. You do not need any sort of 'Private Folder' to communicate with students inside your course in D2L unless you want to use such. The D2L course mail utility allows you to communicate with all or any student in a specific section; across all possible students from all courses in D2L you teach (but only at the main or Org page - not from inside a particular course); with any enrolled SCCC D2L student across all possible students using D2L. Just pay attention to the settings for course mail - the default in each course does limit mail to only that course and students. Students to which you send course mail can reply to you - this all becomes a record of communication within the course itself.
You CANNOT use the D2L Course Mail utility to generate regular external-to-D2L 'send/reply' messages. You can forward externally but cannot send external email into a D2L course or to your My Home mail area. Plan on using an external email, such as the College Outlook or your own personal email to conduct messaging that is not part of your course(s) environment online in D2L.
Student Information materials
Elsewhere at the Distance Education web site are Student Information and Help documents. These include:
Tri-fold brochure: 'Introducing SCCC Virtual Campus & Desire2Learn'
Postcard mailer to enrolled D2L students which highlights using 'My SCCC' to logon to D2L
Use of the D2L Help Desk at 1-877-325-7778 is encouraged for D2L use questions and issues AFTER logging in successfully to D2L. Problems with logon and the use of the My SCCC portal are being directed to the 'Login Issues?' web page at http://depthome.sunysuffolk.edu/liminis/login_Issues.htm
Web-enabled course supports in D2L:
Web-enabled (or you may know them as web-enhanced or supplemental) courses in D2L will not be available for the beginning of fall semester. This is consistent with the original plan for the D2L implementation. Once the viability of courses operational for fully online and blended/hybrid modalities have been established we can then move ahead with web-enabled traditional course supports in D2L. There is no ability to use CourseSpace or Blackboard environments which is also consistent in following previously released information during the spring semester in 2008.
Student telephone inqueries and information requests
In September/October the Office of Instructional Technology will add a phone number for automated call direction to College resources - including OIT - to better direct student inqueries and begin to track requests for information and services.
Last updated: 8/29/08 |
