We hope you had an incredible vacation! We’ve missed you all and we are excited to Welcome you back! Our goal is to support you with all the new technology such as ChatGPT. So, watch this video to learn just how CCIT can help you.

Course builders for the Education Department, Title III, and Pell Program, are incorporating innovative course design and teaching strategies in their D2L courses. These strategies enhance student engagement, promote active learning, and ultimately lead to improved academic outcomes. We hope that these examples in action will inspire you to try out some new strategies that will create a dynamic and inclusive learning environment for your students. 

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The College has a new online tutoring platform, BrainFuse! Students have access to 24/7 live tutors in a wide variety of instructional content along with an expansive library of just-in-time resources and content to help them successfully complete their coursework. Learn more at our Brainfuse Webpage and share this resource with your students; it can be found in the tool section of the navbar in D2L.

CCIT has had a few changes over the summer. Hilary Valentine has left the College to pursue other opportunities, Carrie Curry is moving to the Owens Campus Business Department as an instructor and we are excited to welcome Jenna Sinnamon, ID at the Stanton Campus, and Jennifer McFarlane as our D2L Admin. Please join me in welcoming our new members, we look forward to collaborating with and supporting you! 

Jenna Sinnamon is a recent addition to CCIT as an Instructional Designer after spending 10 years in the K-12 setting as a math teacher. She is also a former adjunct instructor from the Owens campus after working in the math and education departments. Jenna has a passion for developing meaningful learning experiences for all. She finds great value in creating a sense of community within her courses, regardless of their delivery method. Jenna earned a Bachelor of Science in Education (K-6) as well as a Master of Education in Applied Technology in Education from Wilmington University. She earned her most recent Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction from Western Governors University. Jenna is excited to partner with the faculty at Delaware Tech to increase student engagement and success. 

Jennifer Mcfarlane joins CCIT as a Learning Management System Administrator for the D2L platform. As a member of the Del Tech community for nearly a decade, her roles as alumni and employee allow for a unique perspective into student success. She began her journey at Stanton campus, earning an associates degree in Secondary Education: Physics May 2015. After graduating, she remained at Del Tech as a tutor for the Math and Physics center. In August of 2018, Jennifer transitioned into the IIT department as a technician with CMS. While working in Tech Support, she continuously sought ways for technology to be more engaging and user-friendly. By November 2022, she became a specialist at the Terry campus. In January 2022, Jennifer graduated from Western Governors University with a BA in IT Management. As a non-traditional learner herself, she is passionate about utilizing technology to break down barriers and provide multiple avenues for student success. 

D2L is updating the quiz creation and quiz taking experiences to simplify existing workflows and add useful new quiz timing options. These are released in 2 phases. 

1. Phases 1 and 2: Quiz Timing Improvements, Quiz Taking Improvements, and Auto-submission  – available July 2023 for all clients. The changes include auto-submission, a simpler quiz setup, and the removal of obsolete quiz timing options (such as the grace period), improvements to the Quiz taking experience including show/hide quiz timer and improvements to the Quiz results view. You can read more about phase one here and read more about phase two here.  
2. Phase 3: Synchronous Quizzes – Available September 2023 for all clients. In the final phase, D2L will expand from asynchronous quizzes to supporting both asynchronous and synchronous quizzes. The new addition of synchronous quizzes enables instructors to set up a quiz where the quiz timer starts on the start date for all learners rather than when the learner launches the quiz (asynchronous). The quiz timer then ends for all learners at the same time. You can read more about phase 3 here. 

Starting with the Fall 2023 semester, courses from more than two years ago (the previous 6 semesters including Fall, Spring, and Summer) will be moved to an Archive semester. These courses are still fully accessible and can be accessed for copying purposes or to gather data. This change was made to reduce scrolling in the My Courses widget in D2L and make it easier to find your recent courses.  

CCIT is always looking for ways to streamline and improve the user experience in D2L. As part of that effort, we have streamlined the navigation options you see in the course navigation bar. Some items have been removed; others have found a home elsewhere on the nav bar. You can access all of the tools from the Course Admin area at any time.  

D2L has a new tool designed to more quickly and effectively get you the help you need. This is the Brightspace Virtual Support Assistant and is located in the bottom right corner of any D2L page. This should be the first place you go for any assistance with D2L. You can get answers quickly or if the issue is more complex, this tool will help you reach additional support.