ReadSpeaker:
A New Text to Speech Tool in D2L
Accessibility is a top priority for us! We were able to purchase ReadSpeaker, a text-to-speech tool that is integrated into D2L Showing students this audio option will create more opportunities to engage students and accommodate the various ways students absorb content. Reach out to CCIT for additional help with this tool.
Zoom Updates:
New Zoom features for you to try
Share your screen to Breakout Rooms: Hosts can now share their screen to all the breakout rooms. This can be great when you want students to still be able to see directions you have put up for them, even in their breakout rooms. When you go to share screen, there is a small checkbox on the bottom left to share to breakout rooms.
Support button in Zoom: As a meeting host, you may notice a new button at the bottom of your Zoom window, Support. This button allows you (as the host) to request control of a student’s computer or specific app, or if a student is having technical difficulties, the ability to request a restart that immediately connects them to the meeting once their device has been restarted.
Create Beautiful Courses
with HTML Templates
Did you know there are easy to use HTML Templates that make it simple to create aesthetically pleasing accessible D2L pages? Whether you are a beginner or an advanced template user, check out the new HTML Template Style Guide that will introduce you to the templates, demonstrate how to incorporate them into your course, pro-tips on the best ways to use them, and real examples of how faculty are using them in their courses. There are some great new student engagement features! Easily create D2L course pages that use flip cards, click ‘n’ reveal buttons, timers, embedded Google files and much more with a simple copy and paste. Reach out to CCIT if you have any questions.
Upcoming Events:
CDI Showcase: Watch your colleagues present their redesigned courses from the Summer 2021 Course Design Institute. Wednesday, August 25th starting at 8:40AM.
See the full schedule of course presentations: https://ccit.dtcc.edu/coursedesigninstitute/
CDI Showcase Link – https://dtcc.zoom.us/j/98066920180
Create Beautiful Courses with HTML Templates – join CCIT for a quick 30-minute session on ways to use HTML templates to make your course pop!
Zoom link: https://dtcc.zoom.us/j/95552488824
8/20 – with Jason at 9:00 am
8/23 – with April at 10:00 am
8/24 – with Carrie at 10:00 am
8/26 – with Hilary at 11:30 am
Lunch & Learn
Mark your fall calendar for Fall Lunch & Learn dates.
Wednesdays at 11:00 am – Further details coming soon.
9/1 – Checklist Readiness Checklist
9/15 – Online Learning Consortium Resources
9/29 – Intelligent Agents
10/13 – Padlet
10/27 – Google Slides Interactives
11/10 - ThingLink
11/17 – Flipgrid
12/1 – Effective Feedback
12/8 – Microsoft Teams
Coffee Talk
Please join us for another season of CCIT Coffee Talks! Miss a few this fall? You can find many of our past episodes on the CCIT Coffee Talk page.
Premieres mid-September
A few of this season’s topics:
- Jamboard and Canva
- “Secret” new Zoom apps
- Icons and photo tools
- Quiz tool analysis
- Newest HTML template pages
- TEaCH Champions
Coffee Talks are held every other Friday 9:00 – 9:30 a.m., Dates TBD
Summer 2021 D2L Updates Highlights:
Rubric tool – 2 new updates will make using rubrics for you and for students!
- Copy Rubric Criterion – reuse rubric criteria that have already been created with an action menu next to the criterion name. It now provides Copy and Delete options. When an instructor copies a criterion, the new criterion is added under the original with the criterion name Copy of [name of original criterion].
- Print a Rubric – Print or export to PDF options are now available for Rubrics! Students and instructors can print a preview or an evaluated rubric. From the Rubric, select Preview from the dropdown arrow and find “Print Rubric” in the upper righthand corner.
Work to Do Widget – The new Work To Do widget provides learners a summary of assigned learning activities from courses that are overdue or have an upcoming due date. The widget has been added to the default course homepage in D2L to show only due and overdue learning activities from that course.
The Work to Do widget displays the following learning activities:
- Assignments
- Checklists
- Content
- Discussions
- Surveys
- Quizzes
Important notes:
- Learning activities only appear in the Work To Do widget when the activity has a defined due date or end date.
- By default, the widget displays activities due in the upcoming 2 weeks, and overdue work from the previous 12 weeks.
- This widget is only viewable by Students and does not appear in Instructor view.
Reach out to CCIT for support with these tools in your course!
D2L Pre-Semester Checklist
As you prepare to release your courses for a new semester, use this short checklist to make sure your course is ready for a clean, updated copy! It will prompt you to create a copy for your own use:
