WWW – Why Work with Widgets WWW – Why Work with Widgets? Working with widgets to clear out clutter and organize your course in D2L Alison Hedrick and Debbie Geist First-Year and Transition Studies University College

Why Work With Widgets? What in the world is a widget? Examples of ways to use widgets – same information / different delivery (packaging) The evolution of a course homepage (from none to fun!) Why work with widgets? (see what the survey says!) How to work with widgets (making, modifying and moving) Still wondering? Ask us…

What is a widget?

Widgets Your D2L course homepage can be easily customized using widgets. Widgets are areas containing specific information regarding the course. (Think of them as digital sticky notes.) They help add topical organization to your D2L course. System widgets are defined by the Desire2Learn platform. You cannot modify the contents of system widgets or delete them, but you can change where the widgets are located on your course homepage and customize their display options. Custom widgets can contain any information, multimedia, or quicklinks you want to display to students as soon as they enter your course. A widget is a small amount of web coding that you can easily put on your website, blog, personalized start page or on a course home page in D2L. In the Learning Environment, there are two types of widgets: system widgets and custom widgets

System Widgets System widgets: defined by the Desire2Learn platform cannot be deleted contents cannot modified location on course home page can be modified display options can be modified System widgets are built into the LE, and include things like Calendar, Content Browser, My Courses, Role Switch and Updates. The News Tool is also one of the System Widgets.

Custom Widgets Custom widgets can be customized any way you choose can contain a variety of information, multimedia, or quicklinks students see these as soon as they enter the course Custom widgets are built in the HTML editor (or an external application), allowing the course owner to put just about anything they choose into the widget box.  All of the examples below are of custom widgets.

Show live course here. Show me some widgets!

About Your Instructor Hidden slide – examples of custom widgets.

Orientation and Information Hidden slide – examples of custom widgets.

Go To Information Hidden slide – examples of custom widgets.

Header widget Hidden slide – examples of custom widgets.

Homepage evolution using widgets

Home Page Progression 2013 vs. 2017

spring 2013 – move to D2L (where are the widgets?) Just the basics – all course specific information is filed in folders located in the Content Browser widget

fall 2015 – widget overload!

summer 2016- much better

Here’s what the students had to say…. Was the effort worth it?

Student Survey Results/ Course Layout Hedrick – 55 responses Geist – 14 responses 96% indicated the course layout easy to navigate 98% were able to locate necessary content throughout the semester 100% acknowledged that the header widget allowed them to easily access everything they needed to do each week 12 out 14 indicated the course layout was easy to navigate 12 out of 14 were able to locate necessary content throughout the semester 100% acknowledged the header widget “This Week” made it easy to access everything they needed to do each week Data collected spring 2016 – ICT2101 online sections

Student Feedback - Hedrick Mid-semester student comments: I LOVE the header widget because it helps keep me organized and is an easy find for the lessons and tasks that need to be completed. Now . . . . all I have to say about the widgets . . . . . love . . . . love them! They help keep me on track with weekly assignments, which is especially a plus with several classes a semester. really like the widgets on the home page; they make the class so much more organized and comprehensive. This is the most efficient, organized, and informative online class I have ever taken!

Student Feedback - Geist End-of-semester evaluation survey comments: It was easy to read and find all the work. The layout of the modules with the checklist made my life easier. I'm the type of person that needs 1,2,3 and i do it in that order. Easy to know exactly what needs to be completed each week. The fact that everything was in the same place each week made it quick and easy. The layout helped me stay organized

How to work with widgets D2L’s GUI interface How to work with widgets

How to get to widgets & what to do when you’re there… Accessing widgets (2 methods) Course Admin => Widgets [ or Edit ] Edit this widget / Style this widget Editing a widget [style, copy, edit, preview, delete] Creating a widget Adding a widget to the homepage Course Admin => Homepages In live course, demonstrate how to access widgets, edit widgets, create widgets, and add widgets to the homepage.

Questions? Debra Geist dgeist1@kennesaw.edu Alison Hedrick ahedric1@kennesaw.edu