In Mid-May, 2018, D2L at Canisius College is getting a new look and feel. In most cases, the changes are cosmetic and things are just where they were in the old D2L. Meantime, I’m preparing a series of new D2L tutorial screencast videos for instructors. In some cases this was about due anyway; D2L has steadily added new features, and even modified some existing features in the years since some of our current videos were recorded. But the new videos will also feature the new D2L interface.
Here’s a sample of new videos showing what the grades tool will look like after mid-May.
In all COLI screencast tutorial videos, I strive for a blend of features:
- Thorough coverage of the procedure, feature, or option I’m demonstrating, but not overwhelmingly comprehensive. It should be enough to get you started, with a few tips for easier use.
- A short video playtime. I’d rather have many short videos, instead of fewer, longer videos. Under ten minutes is typical.
- Professional quality narration, imagery, and sound, while recognizing that timely production is important, and that every tutorial video has only a few years’ value, at most.
- I write a script to ensure quality and clarity, and in the new D2L video tutorial set (coming in May), the scripts will also be available alongside the videos, for those who prefer text tutorials.
You can create screencast tutorial videos yourself, to free up classtime by replacing lectures and demonstrations with videos your students can watch anytime, anywhere (repeatedly). Or, have your students create video tutorials as assignments. Check out our Screencasting resource.