Desire2Blog

I usually keep an eye on a Twitter search looking for posts that have something to do with D2L . The beginning of the semester is always interesting, especially as students are posting their unfiltered thoughts about school, online courses, professors, D2L, and lots of other things. Here are some examples. I'll leave out their Twitter names since I don't know these people. Dear D2L though my college, please fix yourself so I can take quizzes on Firefox. THANK YOU! Love, Cissa trust me, everything you click on d2l... and the time u spend on each "page" they cn see.... 71 unread discussions on D2L? CRAP! I was only gone for one weekend! In class with a professor that doesn't know how to work the internets and d2l. Maybe he should use the googles. ocu's desire2learn has to be the shi**iest web page ever. period. well, aside from the other ocu web pages. Online classes start today. Not liking their new D2L system. Go to a "Laptop Campus"...should ALL of ...

You might need to read the previous three posts to get a feel for all of my concerns about the proposed changed to MnSCU course definitions. For now let's just say that I think they're on the verge of turning a molehill into a mountain. (That's my photo from Pilot Mountain, NC - definitely not a molehill.) So, you should be asking, what is my proposed solution? Very simple. Here they are. On-ground courses: any course that is scheduled in a traditional classroom setting for the traditional amount of seat-time, which for us equals about 16 hours per credit. It should not matter whatsoever whether the faculty member chooses to use the Internet (in reasonable ways, see caveat #1 below) , whether they use active learning exercises, whether they use PowerPoint, or whatever. Faculty members teach their classes how they choose to, within the normal guidelines of the institution. Blended courses : any course that meets in the traditional classroom for a portion of the normal amoun...

Part one looked at the proposed changes to definitions of on-ground courses. Part two looks at the state of affairs regarding blended/hybrid courses in MnSCU. Part three will now parse some of the information related to the new proposals to further define what is and what isn't an online course. The main reason for this effort appears to be a response to complaints/feedback indicating that students find information in the course registration system to be confusing regarding the delivery method that they should expect when they sign up for a class. Therefore, MnSCU is attempting to create additional class codes so that students will have better advance notice as to whether the course will use the Internet in any way, whether they will have any required seat time, and even what types of online activities they should expect to engage in. That might not sound too bad on the surface, but the devil is in the details - as usual. (synchronized swimming photo (CC) courtesy by Eric Bégin ...