As exams and the final chances to make the Dean’s List near, many of us will be checking our grades regularly on Desire2Learn.
Unless your instructor doesn’t use D2L.
The university has set up a network for students to learn, check grades and have documents at-hand online.
Many instructors do use D2L, but there are faculty members who neglect the technology.
Some professors have their own websites or use the library E-reserves to post material. Students can also request to meet with professors during office hours or send an email if they are concerned about grades or course material.
These methods work great, but there are also instructors who don’t do anything to supplement their lack of D2L usage.
The university even hosts D2L training for instructors. There is no excuse for not knowing how to use D2L.
Students who want to check their grades are instantly at a disadvantage. It also puts visually impaired students at a severe disadvantage.
The syllabi visually impaired students receive in class aren’t in brail, although they can scan their papers and convert them into brail. This process is more tedious than having their computers make the switch directly from D2L.
In NBC’s “The Office,” Michael Scott, the stupidly hilarious boss, makes the motto of the paper company Dunder Mifflin, “Limitless paper, in a paperless world.
This motto got the show some laughs, but we truly are living in a world where we rely less on paper and more on technology.
The world today is almost all online. Many of us have just recently signed up for classes, something that had to be done in person before the invention of the Internet.
Our campus prides itself on being environmentally friendly. If more instructors used D2L it would be a step toward further sustainability.
While many professors have registered their classes on D2L, there are still those who never use it. The university should work to ensure professors are not only on D2L, but also using it.
At the very least, professors should post syllabi and grades on D2L. It would benefit students if they had more handouts online.
Classes on D2L are more interactive for students by providing different ways to access the material.
The faculty at UW-Whitewater is generally very accommodating for students. It would be a welcome improvement to see more professors providing content online.
It’s time to make sure that instructors are using D2L to provide the most advanced learning experience for students.