Course Content

Handouts and Other Information

If paper handouts are no longer an option, D2L is your best tool for distributing documents and information to students.

Upload a file (syllabus, or any other) into D2L.

Quick intro video that shows how to get your syllabus (and other files) into D2L for the first day of classes.

Adding, Rearranging, and Deleting Modules

Short introduction to creating and managing modules, which are required in the D2L Content Area. They are also helpful for good course design.

Adding and Working With Files

Uploading and moving files. Understanding how D2L displays them to students, and monitoring student engagement.

Creating Links in D2L - Transcript

Learn how to create links in D2L and some tips to make using those links easier.

Building and Editing Web Pages in D2L's Content Area

Create a simple web page, which D2L calls Files. You can use this to embed links and videos right on the webpage.

Don't create course content you can get from somewhere else. Think of where your discipline can use primary sources, databases, and other content already on the web. Speak with colleagues about this, here and elsewhere. Remember, Bouwhuis Library has a variety of database resources.

For more on adding or uploading content to D2L, see the full list of our Self-Paced Training Set.

Online Interactive Lessons

Create online lessons using Google Sites. Can you adapt lecture notes into a website? Particularly if you rely on lots of images and even videos, you probably can. Here's an example.

Create online lessons using Microsoft Sway. Sway can make attractive narrative sites with interactive content. Paired with short lecture or demonstration videos, these can be powerful, versatile online lessons reusable across classes.

Introduction to Sway - Transcript
An introduction to get you started with MS Sway.

Advanced Sway - Transcript
This video shows you other tools you can use to make your Sway more unique and interactive.

If you have experience with other website-builder tools, they can work just as well.

Audio Recordings

You can record lectures and other information as audio files.

Using a Mac? You can record audio using QuickTime, or you can record and edit Audio using GarageBand. These are available free for Mac users from Apple.

Using a PC? Try Audacity. It’s free, has documentation, and there are plenty of tutorials on YouTube.

Screencasting

Record Screencast Videos for your students. You can essentially salvage classroom lectures by creating or adapting a few slides, and adding your voice and slide-timings. Publish the video via Google Drive or D2L.

PowerPoint is great for recording your slide-based lectures.
Screencast-O-Matic is a favorite for Canisius users. This can record essentially anything on screen, for when you need to show or demonstrate things other than PowerPoint slides.
Panopto has a browser-based recorder that can then be used to quickly add your recording to your course. This can be accessed from the Add Existing Activities or Insert Stuff tools in D2L.
Quicktime and iMovie on the Mac are also a great combination for screencasting.
Here's our Guide to Screencasting.

Tips

Lots of video can be time-consuming for you to produce and for students to watch. Don't record lectures if you don't need to. Record what you absolutely need, and nothing more.

Is it covered in text, or existing video resources already available on the web?
In lecture, are you paralleling a textbook or other class readings, and can save time by just focusing on what is not otherwise available to them?

Write a script before recording.

You will find it much easier to record a better video if you read from a script, either prose or a very strong outline.
If you use Google Drive to host video, share the transcript with students as well, so they can read as well as watch.

Share your Slidedeck

Make the slides available to students for download, in case they wish them into their notes.
Visually-impaired students can use screen-reading software to read the slide content.

See below for how to to host video on Panopto and have it appear in D2L.

YouTube

You can Find Course Content on YouTube. YouTube has excellent tutorials, primary sources, and other videos that are suitable for teaching and learning in many fields. Many faculty are using YouTube-based content now. Don't record something that someone already recorded and made available to all of us!

In the past, we recommended YouTube or Google Drive for hosting video, but we now have a much easier solution: Panopto (see below!)

Using Panopto to Share Video and Audio

Panopto can be thought of as a private YouTube for Canisius. Students with access to your D2L course space will automatically gain access to videos that you put into the corresponding Panopto Course Folder.

It is also much easier to share video and audio in Panopto than using Google Drive or YouTube. This video will show you how to do that. You can also quickly edit media on Panopto as well, whether it's cutting out certain parts of your video or switching out the PowerPoints.

For a preview of Panopto in D2L, watch this video.

For other tutorials, please visit the Panopto Wiki here.

Continuity Guide

Bouwhuis Library is as helpful and relevant to us in our online or remote courses, as it is when we are on campus. At their Continuity Guide, you can find links to their databases, research guides, and how to work remotely with library staff.

Open Textbooks

The Open Textbook Library may be an excellent place to find free, online publications suitable for higher education courses. While you may be using a textbook in your course already, you may find additional content here.

Other Considerations

Consider saving .docx or .pptx files as PDFs, since these are more smartphone-accessible files.

Cancelled on-campus labs? Consider the following:

- Investigate whether you can substitute video or web-based simulations for on-campus labs.
- Can you supply data so students could at least complete part of the process off-campus?

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