Monthly Archives: March 2018

How to Add Pictures in d2l News Feed

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Have you ever wanted to bring more attention to an item in your news feed with a picture? It can be done in d2l.

First, click where in your post you’d like to place the picture, and click on the 2nd icon to the left (it looks like a mountain with the sun) in the tool bar above your news post.

You’ll be prompted to add a file, either from Course Offering Files or from a URL. We want a URL. Find a picture you’d like to post from a website, right click it, choose “Copy Image Address,” and paste that into the URL prompt in d2l.

d2l will ask you to Provide Alternate Text. If all you want to do is display the picture, select “This image is decorative.”

If the image’s size needs adjusting, like in the example below, click on the lower-right icon with the arrows pointed outward.

Select the picture by clicking and dragging your cursor along the image. This will generate boxes on each corner. Click and drag a corner to adjust the image size. After adjusting the image size, click on the lower-right icon with the arrows pointed outward.

You now have a picture in your news feed!

Updating and Editing Courses

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If you need to make any edits with your DCS courses, you can use the following form to request an edit. Maybe you’ve discovered that something in your course needs an updated page number or you thought of a comment that could help clarify assignments.

 
Be sure to include your name, course, the requested edit, and the URL for the page you’re requesting to edit.

Tips for Successful Online Learning

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DCS Independent Learning is publishing material for the broader online educational community. This effort began with the publication of A Foundation Course in Reading German by Howard Martin, revised and expanded as an open online textbook by Alan Ng. https://courses.dcs.wisc.edu/wp/readinggerman/ 

It continues with Tips for Successful Online Learning. https://courses.dcs.wisc.edu/wp/successfulonlinelearning/

For newcomers to online education, the “Consider Your Options” tip reviews different online learning choices: free versus paid, continuing education credit versus college credit and competency assessment versus independent study versus cohort classes. And, to help prospective students critically assess online learning providers, it includes a primer on regional versus national accreditation.

To help prospective students focused on career advancement, the “Consider Your Career Goals” tip introduces students to the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Statistics’ The Occupational Outlook Handback with information on 575 different occupations: the job itself, the work environment, job preparation,  occupational outlook and regional data.

For online students there are tips on appropriate communication, “Mind Your Ps and Qs,” writing resources, “Write Wisely: Use Your “OWL” Online Writing Lab” and time management, “Budget Time and Find Space.”

In all, Tips for Successful Online Learning offers twelve tips and reflects DCS Independent Learning’s commitment to helping students find the learning option that is best for them and fulfilling their educational goals. Forthcoming DCS Independent Learning  publications for the wider educational community include, for instructors, “How to Teach Successfully in D2L” and, for students, “Getting Ready for a Writing Intensive Course.”