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University of Guelph’s Custom Tools

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1 University of Guelph’s Custom Tools
Increasing Functionality and Efficiency using D2L Valence Greg Sabatine Manager, Online Technologies @gregsabatine

2 HTML2Word Purpose: Our instructional designers and web developers found it difficult to extract the content in DE courses so that the instructor (or content experts) could make revisions. This tool automatically converts the HTML code to Word (.doc) format. C# - ASP.NET 4.0 LDAP authentication Serves both D2L instances on campus Purchased conversion Class (htmltortf.com) Need to use utility account for pulling course info Time savings: 1-2 hours of copy/paste vs. 30 seconds (per course)

3 Template Scrubber Purpose:
We started a Learning Outcomes Assessment (LOA) project and noticed our Brightspace Templates had incorrect nomenclature to successfully integrate the project. This tool quickly renames and reorganizes the Templates to meet the needs of the LOA project. C# - ASP.NET 4.0 LDAP authentication Part of LOA Project Template nomenclature guide created Time savings: 1-3 hours/Department vs. 2 minutes

4 AccessTracker Purpose:
We needed a way to track and enroll/unenroll external guests, guest speakers and demo accounts. C# - ASP.NET 4.0 LDAP authentication + user table Automated server app runs daily at 2:00am Serves both D2L instances on campus Time savings: 5 hours per semester vs. 1 minute per record

5 AccessTracker

6 AccessTracker

7 NewTron Purpose: Originally intended to find all new courses in a specific program, this tool has expanded into a dashboard application for various tools and reports. All good software/hardware should have “Tron” in the name C# - ASP.NET 4.0 LDAP authentication Use threads or Ajax for applications that make thousands of calls Dropbox Count: 800 calls = 4.5 minutes vs. 6 seconds using threads Time savings: 2 hours per semester vs. 10 minutes set up/runtime

8 UofG D2L Toolbox Purpose:
Designed to extend and automate Brightspace functionality. A collection of small but flexible tools that have a powerful impact on course administration. ColdFusion 7 Genius Dashboard – based on Bootstrap 3.1.1 LDAP authentication + role assignment Enrollment, Group and Grade tools Time savings: approx. 1 hour per task

9 UofG D2L Toolbox: Bulk Enroll
Purpose: We have a lot of certificate/resource/satellite courses being offered. These courses require manual enrollments (not sync’d with SIS). The BUM tool didn’t work (timed out) and too much work to set up Our solution queries the LDAP system and only needs one piece of relevant data (username, student ID, address) Restricted to administrators

10 UofG D2L Toolbox: Bulk Rename
Purpose: Originally designed to fix the order issue with Brightspace Groups: Group 1, Group 10, Group 2, Group 3… Our solution is to automatically rename all groups in a Category This tool has evolved to include a custom prefix and suffix to group names Restricted by available enrollments

11 UofG D2L Toolbox: Enroll into Existing
Purpose: We seem to encounter issues with groups not populating correctly and some instructors want to use the same Group structure each semester. Removing/recreating groups is time consuming Don’t want to remove discussion restrictions/release conditions Our solution doesn’t remove current group enrollments Restricted by available enrollments

12 UofG D2L Toolbox: Create Predefined
Purpose: We have had many requests to create customized groups (quickly). TA name-based (Group 01 – TA John Doe) Time-based (Room 211 – 12:30pm) Teams (Blue Team, Red Team) Topic-based (American Revolution, French Revolution) Instructors hate the Brightspace checkboxes! Allows for hand-written sign up sheets into Brightspace Groups Restricted by available enrollments

13 UofG D2L Toolbox: Create by Section
Purpose: Many of our courses have multiple sections. Instructors want to create Groups based on section enrollment. ECON*1100 (01.02) Same issue with using the checkboxes. This takes too long to do manually and is error-prone Randomized Restricted by available enrollments

14 UofG D2L Toolbox: Group Lists
Purpose: One of our most common requests (or complaints) is that there isn’t an intuitive way to export group lists. Currently Brightspace Groups can be viewed online or pulled one-by-one out of Grades Our solution creates a CSV formatted file that can be used in Excel or in conjunction with other tools Restricted by available enrollments

15 UofG D2L Toolbox: Gradebook Column Copy
Purpose: This tool was created as a workaround for instructors that want to use a weighted grade system but use a formula grade item to perform a specific function. It copies the value of one grade column into another or creates a new grade column Copies the values of any existing grade item and s them to the user before the copy completes No need to export and use Excel Restricted by available enrollments

16 Other Tools Not Demonstrated
OpenEd has created several other tools using Web Services. PEAR (Peer Evaluation, Assessment and Review) Integration Automated Deferral Tracking DCE – Department to Campus Enrollment Clicker Details (iClicker) Clicker Lists (iClicker) Course Request Auto-Enroll ScanLink (ScanTron scanning) Oracle Copy2Campus (copy news) OLP Final Grade Transfer New Staff and Faculty Enrollment

17 Questions? Don’t be shy… How are you using it? Greg Sabatine
@gregsabatine Manager, Online Technologies Open Learning and Educational Support (OpenEd) University of Guelph


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