Desire2Learn Conversion Plan

10 10 2013

Reposting from email to all faculty, sent by CTLE Director Eugeniu Grigorescu on 2013-10-10:

Dear Faculty,

After an extensive and in-depth evaluation process by the Learning Management System Evaluation Working Group, the University has chosen Desire2Learn (D2L) as its next Learning Management System (LMS). An email from Dr. Harold Baillie and Dr. Jerry DeSanto regarding this decision was sent on July 1, 2013.

The Evaluation Working Group consisted of faculty members recommended by the Technology Advisory Group (TAG), undergraduate and graduate students, and staff members from several campus departments who will be supporting the new LMS.

D2L will be available for the Spring 2014 semester. ANGEL will be available until May 31, 2014. During the Spring 2014 semester, ANGEL and D2L will run in parallel. You will have the option to choose which system you want to use next spring.

The Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE) and the IT Development and Applications (ITDA) are working with a group of pilot faculty this semester to optimize the migration process and prepare “best practices” for teaching and learning in D2L.

Course Conversion – ANGEL to D2L
Over the next 2 months, ANGEL courses will be converted/migrated to D2L. Existing ANGEL courses from fall 2011 through summer 2013 will be converted automatically. Moreover, you will be able to request conversion of additional courses via an online form. The form will be available in early January 2014. The form’s availability will be announced via email.

Access to D2L
D2L will be available for faculty access on Monday, January 6, 2014. At that time, you will be able to view all of your converted courses from ANGEL.

Teaching with D2L
During spring 2014, you may use either ANGEL or D2L, but not both. If you decide to use D2L, you must complete an online form to opt in to teach all of your courses in D2L. The form and instructions will be available in early January. The form’s availability will be announced via email. The deadline to commit to using D2L for Spring 2014 is Friday, January 17, 2014.

In spring 2014, the only courses accessible by students in D2L will be those that you committed (opted in) to teach using D2L.

D2L Showcase
The CTLE will be hosting showcases of the D2L features on Monday, November 11 (3:00 – 4:00 pm) and Tuesday, November 12 (4:00 – 5:00 pm). Both presentations will be in Brennan 228.

D2L Workshops
The CTLE will offer numerous workshops in January 2014 to prepare you for the switch to D2L. There will be 2 types of offerings: training hands-on sessions and open migration workshops. The hands-on sessions will cover basic functionality of D2L as well as the grade book, discussion forums, and assessments. The open migration workshops will provide one-on-one assistance in adjusting the converted content from ANGEL into D2L. The workshop schedule will be announced via email in mid November.

D2L Links

As always, the CTLE and ITDA will be available to help make this transition as smooth as possible. Please do not hesitate to call upon us at any time.

Best regards,
Connie Wisdo, ITDA
Eugeniu Grigorescu, CTLE


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Categories : Angel and Desire2Learn, Announcements, Technology Training, Tutorials

Server Retirement for Simba Shares and WPROD

6 05 2011

If you have a SIMBA or WPROD folder on your desktop, please pay attention to this post!

An e-mail (copied below) was sent yesterday in regards to a server migration happening in IR. It primarily affects people who run reports through banner (Advisors), but also anyone who gets monthly budgets reports from the Finance Office (people who have grant money available).

Any data you have stored on your Simba Share (Usually a “Z:” drive) needs to be moved to your Royal Drive or will be lost. If you have any data saved on a Simba Share, please follow the instructions below. If you have any questions, contact tech support (techsupport@scranton.edu or 941-4357), e-mail your friendly TAG departmental liaison, or send an e-mail to tag-members@scranton.edu.

Dear Simba/WPROD Users & Simba “Shares” Users:

You are receiving this email because:
(1) you actively run reports from Banner, and your report output is saved to the “Simba” server
or
(2) you are a receiver of Monthly Budget Reports from the Finance Office, which reside on the WPROD server.

Both of these servers are being “retired” in July, in conjunction with the ERP Migration, and their contents will no longer be accessible after July 27, 2011.

The new home of Banner reports and Monthly Budget Reports will be Royal Drive.

Below (and attached) are the instructions to copy files from Simba/WPROD (monthly budget reports) and Simba “Shares” to Royal Drive. It is important that you complete this task by June 30, 2011.

If you have two drives mapped, the first to a Simba directory and the second to a shared, departmental Simba directory, then you need to move the contents of both those directories to Royal Drive. In the case of a shared directory, you should consult with your department supervisor or Data/Technology Coordinator before copying any of the files to determine which folder on Royal Drive the files should be copied to – your personal folder or a Group folder.

Copying Files to Royal Drive from Simba or WPROD Server

Make sure you are connected to Royal Drive with the Xythos Drive client (see below). If you need help installing, or using it, please contact the Technology Support Center. techsupport@scranton.edu or 941-4357.

To Save Current Monthly/YTD budget report:

1. Click link in email to open the current budget report
2. Log in with your username and password
3. Click File
4. Click Save Page As
5. Select R:Usersyour-usernameBanner (to save the report to the Banner folder on Royal Drive)

Note: You may want to create a separate folder for each month under the Banner folder
Click File
Click New
Click Folder
Enter a name for the folder (e.g. July 2011)

To Save Previous Budget Reports:

1. Click link in email to open the current monthly budget report
2. Erase 2011_MAR.PDF at the end of the URL
3. Press Enter
4. A list will appear of previous monthly/yearly budget reports
5. Open each file (with Wordpad)
6. Click File
7. Click Save Page As
8. Select R:Usersyour-usernameBanner (to save the report to the Banner folder on Royal Drive)

To Save Files Currently Residing on Your Simba Mapped Drive:

1. Click Start
2. Click My Computer
3. Double-click on the mapped Simba drive (e.g. (Z:) bontragerg1on ‘Advanced Server V7.3A for OpenVMS (…)
4. Right-click File
5. Select Open with
6. Select Wordpad (or whatever is applicable for the file type)
7. Click File
8. Click Save As
9. Select R:Usersyour-usernameBanner (to save the file to the Banner folder on Royal Drive)

Files on other mapped drives can be saved to Royal Drive in a similar fashion.


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