Instructor FAQs
- Do I have to request my course offerings for upcoming terms?
- When will my courses show up for the next term?
- How do I make my course visible to students?
- What if a course that I am teaching doesn't show up in MyCourses after that term has been loaded?
- How do I give another instructor or a TA access to my course?
- I teach multiple sections of a course and would like to have them appear as one course - how do I do that?
- How do I make a backup of my course?
- How do I make my course active in order for the students to access it?
- Can I forward my mail out of D2L?
- How do Banner and D2L work together to set up my classes?
1) Do I have to request course offerings for upcoming terms?
All credit courses are provisioned in Desire2Learn - instructors do not need to submit a course request for credit courses. However, an instructor may choose to request a Master or Practice course offering for creating/saving course content outside a given semester or to test out D2L features not yet utilized. Instructors have on-going access to any Master or Practice courses requested and built.
To request a master and/or practice course, instructors should use the online form available from the faculty resources web site: http://eu.montana.edu/online/faculty/
Select the "Request a D2L Course Offering" link located under the "Faculty Resources" area in the left nav bar. Please allow 5-7 business days for request processing.
2) When will my courses show up for the next term?
Course offerings for upcoming terms will typically be provisioned within a few weeks after registration begins for that term. Once the next term courses are loaded, instructors will see credit course offerings in the MyCourses widget under the header for the appropriate term. Student enrollments are updated nightly from Banner. Read more about terms: http://eu.montana.edu/d2l/help/terms/
3) How do I make my course visible to students?
When instructors make a course active, the course becomes visible and accessible to students between the start and end dates of the course. A tutorial on how to make a course active is available: http://eu.montana.edu/d2l/help/activate_course/
4) What if a course that I am teaching doesn't show up in MyCourses after that term has been loaded?
The course and enrollment information in Desire2Learn comes from what is in Banner. Instructors must be listed as the "Instructor of Record" in Banner for courses to automatically appear to the lead instructor(s) of any credit course offering. Instructors should work with the department and the Registrar's office to have "Instructor of Record" information correctly reflected in Banner. Note that multiple "Instructor of Record" accounts can be associated with any credit course offering via Banner. Note also that lead instructors can add a co-instructor into a course. Here is a tutorial explaining how to enroll users: http://eu.montana.edu/d2l/help/enroll_user/
5) How do I give another instructor or a TA access to my course?
For directions on how to add another instructor or TA to your course see the tutorial: http://eu.montana.edu/d2l/help/enroll_user/
6) I teach multiple sections of a course; can I have those merged into one?
Yes! To request a merge, instructors should send an email to ecat@montana.edu with the Course Rubric, Course Number, Course Sections and Course Title that need merged. Instructors can copy the information from the MyCourses Widget and paste into the email. MSU-Bozeman D2L support will set up the course sections to be merged into one cross-listed course offering. Once the courses are merged (the title will include CL for "cross-listed"), the instructor will have access to and work in the merged course offering. It is best to request the merge before entering any content into the course offerings that will be used to create the merged course.
Note: The best time to request a merge is at the front end of the semester, after all course offerings display in the “My Courses” widget in D2L, and before instructors actually work at setting up the course.
6) How do I make a backup of my course?
Desire2Learn does not have a process for instructors to individually backup course offerings with user data intact. All courses remain on the server and are backed up administratively on D2L servers. Courses will be maintained on the server as long as MSU-Bozeman continues to contract with Desire2Learn.
Instructors can use the export function to make a copy of a
course's content but no student data or participation
is exported or transferred. Grade sheets can be exported
from the Grades area for retention and filing with a
department.
8) How do I make my course active in order for the students to access it?
When instructors make a course active, the course becomes visible and accessible to students between the start and end dates of the course within a term. For information on making a course active, see the tutorial at: http://eu.montana.edu/d2l/help/activate_course/
9) Can I forward my mail out of D2L?
Yes. Email in Desire2Learn is both internal and external to the system. Mail can be forwarded out and users can receive messages from external mail servers. For more on D2L email go here: http://eu.montana.edu/d2l/help/email/
10) How do Banner and D2L work together to set up my classes?
Almost all of the student, instructor, and course information in Desire2Learn is imported in an overnight feed from Banner. This requires care in creating information in Banner and patience in being able to access that information as it makes it's way to D2L. For more expanded information on this topic, including handy points to know, go to this link:
http://eu.montana.edu/d2l/help/instructor_faq/d2l_banner.htm
