Desire2Learn: Faculty
Login to Desire2Learn (D2L)
Desire2Learn (D2L) is PSC's online learning platform. Login to D2L by:
- Navigating to the PSC D2L website: https://prairiestate.desire2learn.com.
- Clicking the D2L button on the PSC Website: https://prairiestate.edu.
Sign in to D2L using your PSC Username and Password. Your PSC Username is the first part of your PSC email address (before @prairiestate.edu). If you forgot your password or need to reset it, contact the PSC Help Desk at HelpDesk@prairiestate.edu or (708) 709-7999.
Instructional Design
Information on course design and how to make your content accessible for all learners is available on the Instructional Design website.
Are you moving your traditional face-to-face course to an online format? If so, review the following document that incorporates best practices and D2L. Guidelines for online courses are in the Faculty Handbook for Online Education.
D2L Videos:
Click on the link to access the video:
- Create/edit/delete an Announcement
- Copy course content to a new course shell
- Getting started with adding Content
- Getting started with the Gradebook
- Use the Accessibility Checker to make content accessible
- Activate your course to make it available to students
Faculty presentations:
Instructional Technologies
Evernote is a note taking app that can be accessed via a mobile device, PC or MAC. Download the app and record your voice to transfer the information to your course shell or documentation. Faculty can add the recorded notes to the feedback area of an assignment or grade items in the gradebook. Faculty can also add the recorded notes to an image to provide a long description of a complex image in a course module in D2L.
Microsoft PowerPoint. To add a narrated lecture to your course, review the following information. Narrate
your
power point by adding audio to the individual slides. Narrate, save and download the
file. Add the file to YouTube to have it captioned. To learn how to use PowerPoint, click here. To learn how to record audio narration to your presentation, click here. After you create and save your presentation, turn your presentation into a video. Click here to learn how to save your file as a video. To ensure your presentation is accessible
to all learners, add the file to YouTube and have it captioned.
Click here to learn how to add captioning to your lecture.
Google Meet. If you wish, use Google Meet to schedule a virtual meeting with students, click on the link to learn more about the tool, Google Hangouts Meet. You may use the Virtual Classroom tool in D2L or Google Hangouts Meet to hold meetings with students in real time.
Are you interested in creating multimedia content? VoiceThread “VT” is a software program that enables you to create community in an online learning environment. Click here to learn more about the cloud-based software program. VT offers a free (limited) account and free workshops. One of the nice features of VT is that it is not reliant on Flash software. To learn more, click here. Add your file to YouTube and then have it captioned. Click here to learn how to add captioning to your power point lecture.
Are you interested in creating video for your instruction? Screencast-o-matic is a software program that enables you to create and share screen recordings. You can create a free account. How-to videos are available on the website. Click here to access the videos.
Frequently Asked Questions
I recorded a meeting using Google Meet. How do I share the file with my students?
Add the link of the recording to the Content area in your course.
View the following YouTube video on how to add the link.
Students cannot access my Discussions.
Discussion topics require at least one discussion forum. However, you can create many
topics.
Create a discussion topic and align the forum with the topic.
A student missed a quiz or an exam. How do I give the student access to the quiz or
exam?
I received a letter from the Office of Disabilities and need to give a student more
time to take a quiz or exam.
Faculty can give one or more students special access to a quiz or an exam. Click on
Adding Special Access to view the instructions.
The quiz did not automatically populate the grade in the gradebook.
Check the Assessment tab on the quiz. Select "Allow attempt to be set as graded immediately."
Create a Grade Item and select "Auto Export to Grades."
Students cannot see the quiz or test grade in their gradebook.
Check the setting on the quiz or test in the gradebook. Click on the drop-down arrow
next to
the quiz or test, grade item, and remove the setting for End Date. When you create
a grade item,
do not add a Start/End Date. This is different from the Start/End Date for the actual
quiz.
Students cannot see my course.
On the course tile on the Home Page in D2L, click on the three dots and then click
on Course Offering Information.
Scroll down the page and select "Course is Active." Save your changes.
I don't see the Assignment in the gradebook.
Check your settings on the Assignment. On the Properties tab, select New Grade Item
and give it a name.
A column will be created in the gradebook.
D2L Instructor Tutorials
These documents are in PDF format and Adobe Reader is required to view them. Download the latest version for free. There is also a course called D2L Faculty Resource Center inside of D2L.
| Topic | Documentation Type |
| Accessibility HTML Content | |
| Adding Video Content | |
| Announcements | |
| Assignments | |
| Attendance | |
| Blog | |
| Change the Start and End Date | |
| Chat Tool | |
| Checklists | |
|
Adding Content |
PDF |
| Copying Content | |
| Course Backup | |
| Discussions | |
| Discussions - Getting Started | |
| Classlist/Email | |
| Export User List | |
| Getting Started | |
| Grades | |
| Groups | |
| HTML Basics | |
| HTML:Content and Accessibility | |
| Intelligent Agents | |
| Journals | |
|
Quizzes |
PDF |
| Rubrics | |
| Screen Cast O Matic - Recording your lecture YouTube - Adding Captioning to recording |
|
| Seating Charts | |
| Semester Start Checklist | |
| Turnitin - Getting Started | |
|
Video Classroom by YouSeeU |
|
| Virtual Assignments by YouSeeU | |
Problems/Questions
If you are having problems logging in to D2L, or would like additional support and information on how to use D2L, please contact:
- The Help Desk at (708) 709-7999 or helpdesk@prairiestate.edu
- Lirim Neziroski (Manager of Online Learning) at onlinelearning@prairiestate.edu.