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.
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/