Transforming ScreenSteps into a Comprehensive Curriculum: The Birth of D2L Essentials

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The Brightspace D2L learning management system, a cornerstone of our educational framework, offers vast capabilities. But how can we simplify and streamline its potential for our faculty?

The Challenge: Historically, several organizational units at the college created overlapping training resources. This fragmentation often led to a convoluted mix of scattered and outdated materials. Locating a specific tutorial or a relevant YouTube video became a daunting task, often compared to finding a needle in a haystack.

The Solution: We chose to look at our ScreenSteps articles with a fresh lens—not just as troubleshooting tools but as potential building blocks for a unified curriculum. Powered by monday.com, we convened stakeholders, meticulously mapped out faculty tasks in Brightspace D2L, and initiated a transformative journey. Our dedicated student workers are equipped with captured screen footage, and meticulously curated articles, all while being supervised by our Faculty Services Resource Center. The result was a staggering collection of nearly 100 unique articles on https://pimacc.screenstepslive.com/, each dedicated to detailing functionalities of the D2L Brightspace platform.

With such an abundance of content, we encountered another puzzle: ensuring streamlined access. Our innovative answer was the D2L Essentials course.

Introducing D2L Essentials: A Self-Paced Odyssey

At Pima Community College, our mission is to simplify and enhance the experiences of our faculty. While D2L Brightspace is brimming with tools, we realized the need for a guided pathway. Hence, the D2L Essentials course was born.

Dive Into the Basics: Our first three modules lay the foundation, ensuring every instructor, irrespective of their teaching modality, grasps the core essentials:

• Module 1: Introduction to D2L Brightspace Platform and Core Essentials
• Module 2: Organizing Course Content
• Module 3: Gradebook Management

Advance With Mastery: The subsequent modules cater to the evolving needs of digital pedagogy, fortifying faculty with advanced tools for effective course content creation.

• Module 4: Effective Communication Tools
• Module 5: Managing Courses
• Module 6: Creating Content, featuring Panopto

Self-Paced Learning: Your Pace, Your Mastery: The D2L Essentials course introduces a self-paced learning model, designed with utmost flexibility. We’ve infused each module with tutorials, equipping faculty with hands-on experience. To keep the learning journey rewarding, an award system acknowledges every accomplished milestone.

Embarking On A Journey of Mastery: We have designed our course to adapt to individual needs, accommodating both newcomers and seasoned D2L users. Our ultimate vision is not just to acquaint faculty with the basics but to connect them with a reservoir of advanced resources. This allows for a dynamic exploration of teaching methodologies, tailored to individual rhythms.

Closing Thoughts: At Pima Community College, we are committed to ensuring an enriching learning journey for our educators. The D2L Essentials course stands as a testament to our dedication to continuous learning and growth. We invite our faculty to embark on this odyssey, redefining the boundaries of digital education.