In each issue we chat with a different Desire2Learn Community user.
Sharon McCarragher
E-Learning Specialist
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Sharon McCarragher
Community Coordinator (CC): Sharon, when I first started in Support at D2L, I was introduced to you as a site administrator for dot.edu (pronounced "dot e-d-u) at the Milwaukee campus. I understand the services that organization provided are now provided by a utility organization at the UW-Madison campus. Is that correct?
Sharon McCarragher (SM): That's correct. Dot.edu offered eLearning services (course management system hosting, training, support, and instructional design) to educational institutions … primarily the University of Wisconsin System's 27 campuses. In 2004, dot.edu closed its doors, having successfully completed its mission: proof of concept for the effectiveness of centralized infrastructure to provide robust and up-to-date eLearning solutions through economies of scale. That service, for the University of Wisconsin System, is now provided by a centralized "utility" organization located at the UW – Madison campus.
CC: Where did that leave you?
SM:
I happily accepted a position as one of the senior site administrators for D2L in UW - Milwaukee's Learning Technology Center (LTC), where we support instructors in the use of technology in their teaching.
"The D2L Dropbox, with its detailed tracking, feedback features, link to the Gradebook, and automatic naming convention for downloaded files seemed like a miracle to us!"
CC: What services does the LTC provide at UWM?
SM: The UWM LTC is well-known for its work in the field of hybrid / blended learning. We also support many technologies in addition to D2L – and some in conjunction with D2L, such as rich media (including podcasting and video podcasting), and Turning Technologies' "clickers."
CC: How does your position at the UWM LTC differ from what you did at dot.edu?
SM: My current position is very rewarding. In my prior position, I was at least one step removed from the actual users of the system. Now I get to work directly with instructors, helping them discover ways to make technology work best to meet their individual needs.
As in many organizations, my position description includes other duties, but with regard to eLearning, I currently represent the LTC on several system- and campus-wide committees, including the campus ADA Advisory Committee. I am also the main liaison between the LTC and the UWM Help Desk, which provides 24/7 support for students, faculty, and staff.
As in many organizations, my position description includes other duties, but with regard to eLearning, I currently represent the LTC on several system- and campus-wide committees, including the campus ADA Advisory Committee. I am also the main liaison between the LTC and the UWM Help Desk, which provides 24/7 support for students, faculty, and staff.
CC: I detect a lot of pride and enthusiasm in your voice.
SM: I am honoured to be working with the best group of colleagues I've ever had. Innovative, intelligent, collaborative, and supportive... each brings a unique set of skills and talents to the UWM Learning Technology Center that enriches the whole.
CC: I've never been to the Milwaukee campus. What is it like?
SM: We're located just a few blocks from Lake Michigan in a residential neighbourhood. UWM is part of a dynamic community rich with theatres, parks, shopping, professional sports teams, restaurants, cafes, concert halls, and galleries.
Milwaukee – which is often called the "City of Festivals" for the year-round schedule of cultural, arts, entertainment, and ethnic festivals – is a great place to live--and UWM is a great place to learn. The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee is Wisconsin's second-largest university, with more than 28,000 students and 152 different academic degree programs.
Milwaukee – which is often called the "City of Festivals" for the year-round schedule of cultural, arts, entertainment, and ethnic festivals – is a great place to live--and UWM is a great place to learn. The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee is Wisconsin's second-largest university, with more than 28,000 students and 152 different academic degree programs.
"It's like having my 'direct line' to D2L back again! It's a great place to ask questions of both fellow users and the wonderful D2L employees I know and love!"
CC: What are the latest eLearning projects at UWM with D2L?
SM: There has been a lot of interest lately from departments that want to build question libraries for several courses to draw upon for quizzing and exams. Our Math department is working on a project that they hope will include as many as 6,000 questions when completed.
The second scenario is also "in progress" – an introductory-level Psychology course wherein each student works through the materials at his or her own pace. Each lesson presentation must be viewed before the student has access to a corresponding quiz, on which they must achieve a minimum score, before the next lesson presentation is released to them. This is a perfect venue for D2L's release conditions!
The second scenario is also "in progress" – an introductory-level Psychology course wherein each student works through the materials at his or her own pace. Each lesson presentation must be viewed before the student has access to a corresponding quiz, on which they must achieve a minimum score, before the next lesson presentation is released to them. This is a perfect venue for D2L's release conditions!
CC: What's the buzz I've heard about UWM and iTunes U?
SM: That's right. UWM recently began using iTunesU. Now, in addition to viewing rich media presentations in the D2L Content area, a student may click a link in their D2L course site to subscribe directly to a podcast of certain materials.
CC: Earlier, you mentioned "clickers." Where do the clickers fit in with D2L at UWM?
SM: An increasing number of instructors on the UWM campus are using clicker technology to build questions into their lectures that take advantage of the power of immediate feedback. Students use clickers to send their responses, and within seconds the tabulated results may be displayed in a table or graph on the screen at the front of the room. The clickers, receiver, and software used to develop questions and analyze responses comprise a Student Response System, or SRS. For the Turning Technologies product, Turning Point, UWM has also developed a tool to allow instructors to easily import points for students' clicker responses directly into the D2L gradebook.
CC: What's your favourite D2L tool?
SM: There are too many good ones to choose from! But the one tool in D2L that stood out in my mind from the very beginning was the Dropbox. When we began using D2L in 2003, we had just experienced a series of very ugly situations in our previous course management system: people were downloading and uploading documents from the electronic dropbox, and having a horrible time with overwriting files, lost versions, and insufficient information about who had done what to which file when. The D2L Dropbox, with its detailed tracking, feedback features, link to the Gradebook, and automatic naming convention for downloaded files seemed like a miracle to us!
CC: What tool would you most like to see revised?
SM: Manage Users. It's really important, when you've got a large institution like UWM, to manage each person's role in every course. Right now, the more courses someone is enrolled in, the more difficult it is to manage, and if someone has a cascading role in even one org unit, it's impossible to get a Current Enrolment report for them. I need to see each person's Role in each org unit, especially the cascading Roles (which usually have more permissions), and I need the ability to easily and accurately make changes.
"A main goal with the migration of any tools to the new 8x framework is to improve the consistency and usability of them, as well as to reduce the amount of time it takes to complete common tasks, such as viewing and managing user enrollments.
The new design plan for Manage Users is to include more search capabilities and search options so that administrators can find exactly the information they are looking for, when they need it. An example of this would be the ability to do a search that returns everyone enrolled with a given role, everyone enrolled in a given orgUnit, and many more.
We will also re-organize the pages so that timeouts due to cascading or large number of enrollments will be a thing of the past and so that the interface itself is more intuitive.
Many of the improvements we've proposed for this next version came from Community users, when we posted interactive prototypes for Manage Users, and 11 other tools earlier in 2006. This is a practice that will continue as we reach out to the Desire2Learn Community to help us improve and shape our products going forward."
Kenneth Chapman, Lead Product Manager, Desire2Learn
The new design plan for Manage Users is to include more search capabilities and search options so that administrators can find exactly the information they are looking for, when they need it. An example of this would be the ability to do a search that returns everyone enrolled with a given role, everyone enrolled in a given orgUnit, and many more.
We will also re-organize the pages so that timeouts due to cascading or large number of enrollments will be a thing of the past and so that the interface itself is more intuitive.
Many of the improvements we've proposed for this next version came from Community users, when we posted interactive prototypes for Manage Users, and 11 other tools earlier in 2006. This is a practice that will continue as we reach out to the Desire2Learn Community to help us improve and shape our products going forward."
Kenneth Chapman, Lead Product Manager, Desire2Learn
CC: What do you like most about the Desire2Learn Community?
SM: That's easy! It's like having my "direct line" to D2L back again! It's a great place to ask questions of both fellow users and the wonderful D2L employees I know and love!
CC: What additions or improvements would you like to see in the Desire2Learn Community?
SM: I wish there was a way for me to set a personal preference to get an email notification when there are new messages in certain discussion forums. Life is too busy for most of us, and I don't always remember exactly where I posted my question … and it takes time to keep coming back to see if anyone has answered my inquiry. Likewise, there are certain forums and topics I watch more closely than others. If I received an email whenever a new message was posted to a particular topic, I would be sure to get the benefit of the Community's feedback, and would be more inclined to contribute to topics where I might actually be of some assistance myself.
"This is the most common request we receive in the Community. Email notifications in Discussions is a high priority for us as well. Our Product Management team is currently working with our lead software architects to research the best way this can be implemented in a future release."
Cara Scott, Community Coordinator, Desire2Learn
Cara Scott, Community Coordinator, Desire2Learn
CC: As a valued member of this year's Users Conference Planning Committee, what you are envisioning for this year's conference?
SM: The D2L users' conferences are always unique because they are truly created by and for D2L users … with a lot of support from Desire2Learn. There is no better place to meet people who understand both the joys and the challenges that come of having a course management system so dynamic and feature-rich that no single person could possibly know and understand every bit of it … except maybe Kenneth Chapman. (Desire2Learn's Lead Product Manager)
The conference is my opportunity to visit and network with fellow users and with D2L, especially the development and support team. And top-level management! Can't get better than that!
The conference is my opportunity to visit and network with fellow users and with D2L, especially the development and support team. And top-level management! Can't get better than that!
CC: What will set Fusion 2007 apart from other conferences?
SM: I'm very excited about this year's focus on pedagogy. The Course Showcase will be an excellent venue to see what other campuses are doing in D2L, and to hear about what has worked well and what still needs "tweaking." I encourage everyone to share their best practices because we all benefit when we learn from one another.
Send your nominations for a Community User to chat with "In Person" in upcoming issues of the Community Newsletter to Community@Desire2Learn.com
