Desire2Learn > D2L Essentials

D2L Essentials

Welcome to D2L Essentials. The tutorials found here provide an introduction to the key features of Desire2Learn, ECC’s learning management system. If you’re new to D2L or just need a refresher on some of its most commonly used features, you’ve come to the right place.

Most faculty find it helpful to begin with the “Course Set-up” page found near the top of the navigation menu on the left and continue through each of the remaining pages in order. Each page will walk you through a brief series of best practices and provide links to guides and tutorials on that topic. At the bottom of each page, you'll find a list of one or more short tasks that you can complete to test your understanding of the concepts covered on that page.

How long does D2L Essentials take to complete?

Faculty with no previous D2L experience should be able to complete all of the tasks in D2L Essentials in 3 to 6 hours.

What topics does D2L Essentials cover?

By completing D2L Essentials, you will learn how to:

• Post a news announcement on your course homepage
  
• Create a module
  
• Upload a file to a module
  
• Create a discussion forum and topic
  
• Create an assignments folder
  
• Create a grade item
  
• Set an end date on an assignments folder
  
• Set a lock date on a discussion
  

D2L Essentials also provides a brief introduction to features that can help you monitor student use of your course materials in D2L.

What if I don’t have a course in D2L?

If you don’t have a course in D2L that you can use to complete the hands-on tasks in the tutorials, a staff member in Distance Learning can create a practice course for you. We call these practice spaces “sandboxes.” To request a sandbox, please email d2lhelpdesk@elgin.edu.

Who should I contact with questions?

If you have any questions about D2L essentials, you can email d2lhelpdesk@elgin.edu.

How can I get proof that I completed these tutorials? (Optional)

Once you’ve completed all of the hands-on tasks at the bottom of each page, you can send an e-mail to the associate dean for instructional improvement, Tim Moore (tmoore@elgin.edu). He will review your course and notify you if you’ve successfully completed all of the tasks. You can also indicate in the e-mail if you would like your department chair or another administrator to be notified that you have met the D2L Essentials requirements.

Please note that there are no required hands-on tasks for the final page, “Monitoring Student Progress.” These resources are simply included here for your benefit, and many faculty have found them to be valuable as they begin using D2L.