Below are the latest news and announcements from LSC-Online, as seen in the D2L Announcements widget. This page will be regularly updated, with the newest information at the top.
LSC-Online also provides other outlets of helpful information, including an email newsletter, a video newsletter, and an event calendar.
Feedback Wanted: Virtual Tutoring Services
Posted in D2L on Apr 4, 2025 10:00 AM
Faculty, we want your feedback!
If you have a few moments, please take a 2-question survey about virtual tutoring at Lone Star College.
Simple Syllabus Training
Posted in D2L on Apr 1, 2025 8:39 AM
Reclaim your time and streamline your course management with Simple Syllabus.
- Effortless Syllabus Creation: Say goodbye to formatting headaches! Build clear, consistent, and accessible syllabi in minutes with an intuitive template.
- Centralized Information: Keep everything in one place – course descriptions, learning objectives, grading policies, assignments, and more.
- Seamless Integration: Loads directly into D2L when published – no extra steps!
- Automatic Updates: Easily push revisions to all your courses with a single click.
- Enhance Accessibility: Ensure your syllabi meets accessibility standards effortlessly.
Choose the session that works best for you:
|
Monday |
April 21st |
10:00 am |
|
|
Tuesday |
April 22nd |
2:00 pm |
|
|
Thursday |
May 1st |
11:00 am |
|
|
Friday |
May 2nd |
1:00 pm |
All training sessions will be recorded and made available in VTAC with additional training documents to follow.
April Training Sessions
Posted in D2L on Apr 1, 2025 12:01 AM
There is a variety of training sessions happening this month. Here are just a few:
- 4/1 at 10am - Q&A with D2L
- 4/4 at 9am - LSC Organization Development Summit
- 4/17 at 9:30am - SoftChalk: Quizzes and Score Center
- 4/22 at 12pm - Respondus 4 and the Test Bank Network
- 4/24 at 10am - Snagit: Hide Sensitive Information
Be sure to check out the VTAC Event Calendar for more, as there are far too many to list here. It includes trainings by LSC faculty and staff, as well as the vendors themselves.
Happy Learning!
Request for Library Feedback
Posted in D2L on Mar 31, 2025 12:01 AM
LSC Libraries want to hear from you!
Please share your thoughts on the LSC Libraries Spring 2025 Survey.
March D2L Update
Posted in D2L on Mar 25, 2025 8:00 AM (Updated)
The following D2L update will go live on Friday, March 28.
New Quiz Evaluation Experience - Additional Question Types
The New Quiz Evaluation Experience—introduced in September 2024—initially supported a limited set of question types. This update expands support to additional question types:
- Arithmetic
- Matching
- Ordering
- Multi Short Answer
- Significant Figures
Important Note: The New Quiz Evaluation Experience will become the default starting May 12. After this date, the Classic Quiz Evaluation Experience will no longer be available.
Improvements to the Welcome Window
Clicking [Open Window] in the Welcome Window will now show the new Welcome Widget Setup window, which will provide answers to the following questions:
- What content should I include?
- How do I add content to this window?
- When does this window appear?
Please refer to the updated Welcome Window VTAC article for more details.
Awards - New Issue Date Option for Manually Issued Awards
Instructors now have greater flexibility when issuing awards. A new Issue Date field in the Issue Award dialogue allows instructors to manually enter an award date, enabling backdating when needed.
For information on other D2L-related topics, please search this VTAC knowledge base.
RUOnline Conference - March 17
Posted in D2L on Mar 7, 2025 2:00 PM
The 16th Annual Rutgers Online Learning Conference is a premier event focused on the evolving online and hybrid education field. It provides a space for educators, administrators, and students to discuss and share insights on the latest trends and innovations in digital pedagogy.
When: Monday, March 17, 9 AM - 5 PM
Where: Virtual
Cost: FREE for LSC Faculty and Staff!
Register here: https://ruonlinecon.rutgers.edu/
- Select the INSTITUTION PASS ticket and apply promo code IPLS25 at checkout to zero out the fee.
All LSC Campuses are Closed for Spring Break
Posted in D2L on Mar 7, 2025 12:01 AM
All LSC campuses are closed for Spring Break on March 10-16, 2025.
RESOLVED: Respondus Monitor Outage
Posted in D2L on Mar 5, 2025 1:19 PM (Edited)
UPDATE: The incident has been RESOLVED.
Original Message:
At this time, there is an issue with Respondus Monitor, as well as all Respondus Lockdown Browser service for Chromebook users. Users affected are experiencing slowness, or are unable to launch Respondus Monitor and/or Lockdown Browser for Chromebook. The Respondus Lockdown Browser Dashboard is also not loading for some users.
Respondus is currently working to troubleshoot the issue. We will provide additional updates from Respondus as they are made available. You can track the status of this issue here: https://status.respondus.com.
March Training Sessions
Posted in D2L on Mar 3, 2025 10:30 AM
There is a variety of training sessions happening this month. Here are just a few:
- 3/6 at 10am - SoftChalk: Presentation Learning Activities
- 3/12 at 12pm - D2L Accessibility in Higher Education
- 3/18 at 9am - Turnitin: Interpreting the Similarity Report
- 3/20 at 10am - Getting Started with Snagit
- 3/25 at 11am - Respondus Lockdown Browser + Monitor
Be sure to check out the VTAC Event Calendar for more, as there are far too many to list here. It includes trainings by LSC faculty and staff, as well as the vendors themselves.
February D2L Update
Posted in D2L on Feb 28, 2025 9:00 AM
Quizzes - Filter Quiz Statistic by Section or Group
As of February 28, instructors can now filter quiz statistics by Sections or Groups in D2L. This update allows for more precise analysis of student performance in large courses with multiple sections or instructors. This change also streamlines assessment analysis and helps instructors tailor their teaching strategies more effectively.
- A new View By dropdown lets instructors select Sections or Groups when viewing quiz statistics.
- The selected filter applies to all three tabs: User Stats, Question Stats, and Question Details.
For information on other D2L-related topics, please search this VTAC knowledge base.
WriteVue Webinar hosted by Intelliwriter
Posted in D2L on Feb 17, 2025 8:54 AM
Join Vantage (Intelliwriter) as they host a webinar for faculty.
The WriteVue Webinar Series-Episode 1-Empowering Young Writers: Evidence-Based Strategies for K-12 Educators
Join Dr. Lori Severino for an engaging webinar on practical strategies to develop writing skills across grade levels and diverse student populations.
Drawing on her extensive experience and research in structured literacy, the session will explore evidence-based methods to scaffold instruction, address the unique needs of diverse learners, and implement effective interventions for students with learning disabilities.
Participants will gain actionable insights and tools to empower all students to become confident, capable writers. This webinar is essential for educators looking to enhance their instructional practices and promote equitable learning outcomes in writing.
Register for the Webinar:
Wed, Feb 26, 2025 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM (UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)
RESOLVED: OTS Services Unavailable - Potential VTAC Form Issues
Posted in D2L on Feb 11, 2025 8:47 AM (Edited)
Update: This issue has been RESOLVED.
Original Message:
OTS is currently investigating an issue that is causing several of their applications to be unavailable this morning (OTS sent an email out this morning, please see it for more details). As a result of that issue, the VTAC Self-Service Forms may also be affected, and may be intermittently unavailable.
IntelliWriter Training Sessions for Faculty
Posted in D2L on Feb 6, 2025 2:09 PM
IntelliWriter is a virtual writing coach designed to improve writing in real-time across multiple disciplines and languages. We invite you to attend our upcoming training sessions to enhance your understanding of this tool and its key features.
Short-Notice Training Alert: We understand this is short notice, but we have a faculty training session scheduled for February 7 at 12 PM (CST). If you’re available, we encourage you to join us.
Faculty IntelliWriter Training Dates & Registration Links:
- February 07 | 12 PM CST → Register Here
- February 21 | 12 PM CST → Register Here
We appreciate your flexibility and hope to see you at one of these sessions. For information about other upcoming training sessions, please visit the VTAC Event Calendar.
January D2L Update
Posted in D2L on Jan 28, 2025 2:59 PM
This January update for D2L went live on January 23rd.
Important information regarding the update:
Creator+ Navigation Changes
The navigation to access Creator+ in the HTML Editor has changed. Now Creator+ can be found by clicking the Authoring Tools icon.- Clicking the icon will open a menu with all three Creator+ options, Insert Element, Insert Practice, and Layouts.
The navigation to access Creator+ in the HTML Editor has changed. Now Creator+ can be found by clicking the Authoring Tools icon.
For information on other D2L-related topics, please search this VTAC knowledge base.
Pearson Outage - RESOLVED
Posted in D2L on Jan 27, 2025 4:10 PM (Edited)
UPDATE: The incident has been RESOLVED.
Original Message:
Pearson is currently experiencing technical issues impacting course access via Third-Party Integration with various LMS, including D2L Brightspace. Faculty and students may experience a delay or various error messages, such as '503 Service Unavailable' error when attempting to access their course. Technical teams at Pearson are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Please refer to https://support.pearson.com/getsupport/s/ for more info.
Campus Closures - January 21st & 22nd
Posted in D2L on Jan 21, 2025 11:01 AM
Due to College closure, all classes – including online classes – have been canceled for Tuesday, January 21, 2025, and Wednesday, January 22, 2025. All LSC properties will be closed. LSC expects to reopen for normal hours and resume classes on Thursday, January 23, 2025.
For questions regarding your class, contact your instructor or visit https://www.lonestar.edu/weather. For questions regarding registration, schedule changes, etc., please visit our Academic Advising webpage by clicking here. For additional helpful resources, click here.
Stay Safe and Warm!
Reminder: D2L Email Has Been Retired
Posted in D2L on Jan 15, 2025 1:33 PM
Reminder: D2L Brightspace Email has been replaced by Microsoft 365 (Outlook)
D2L Brightspace email has been replaced by the Microsoft 365 email integration, which hosts the LSC Employee Email domain (@lonestar.edu) and LSC Student Email domain (@my.lonestar.edu). You will no longer be seeing the envelope icon on D2L.
D2L Brightspace Email Retirement
- The D2L Brightspace email service has retired on December 18, 2024.
- You are no longer able to access D2L emails through this platform, including your old sent and received emails.
- Emails sent via the Classlist or Intelligent Agents will continue to work.
- Because D2L will no longer have a Sent Folder, we recommend having D2L send copies of your outgoing emails to your LSC email.
Microsoft 365 Widget in D2L
- You can already access your Lone Star College email, calendar, and OneDrive directly from D2L using the Microsoft 365.
- The widget can be found on the main D2L homepage and the homepages of your courses.
- If you are accessing the widget for the first time, and you are receiving an Internal Error here, log into your LSC Outlook account on the same browser. This will pair the widget with your course, and will only need to be done once.
- Learn more about using the Microsoft 365 widget.
For more information about the upcoming changes, see the FAQ page in VTAC.
Second Chance: Digital Digest Newsletter
Posted in D2L on Jan 15, 2025 12:01 AM
Our start-of-semester newsletter was recently sent out via email. If you haven't read it yet, here's another chance.
Topics included in this issue:
- Automatic Zero Grading
- D2L Email Transition Complete
- Semester Start Reminders
- AI Detection Returns
- Design in the Evening
- Online Proctoring Options
- And more!
Want to see some of these topics in action? Watch our video newsletter!
For previous issues, please visit the Newsletter Archive page in VTAC.
Turnitin Scheduled Maintenance
Posted in D2L on Jan 13, 2025 12:01 AM
Turnitin will be conducting necessary maintenance on Saturday, January 18th, from 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM CST.
During this time, all Turnitin services (including the D2L Turnitin integration) will be unavailable. Assignments should not be submitted to Turnitin or Turnitin-enabled assignment folders in D2L during this time frame.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Video Newsletter - Spring 2025
Posted in D2L on Jan 7, 2025 8:00 AM
The Online Update is a video newsletter produced every major semester by Lone Star College.
Here are the topics in the Spring 2025 Episode:
- Creator+ Practices with Lumi AI
- Auto Zero for Missing Submissions
- New Quiz Evaluation Experience
- Rubrics in Quiz Questions
- Microsoft 365 Email Transition
- Faculty Support Options
- And more...
For more information about these topics, search this VTAC knowledge base. You can also read our corresponding email newsletter for additional updates.
Spring 2025 Semester Start
Posted in D2L on Jan 6, 2025 12:02 AM
Welcome to the Spring 2025 Semester!
To get started in your D2L course, please explore the following resources:
D2L Semester Start Checklist: This checklist will assist you in making a smooth start in your D2L courses and includes topics like copying content and merging course sections. You can find it at the following link: D2L Semester Start Instructor Checklist.
Visit the VTAC Knowledge Base: This site contains guides to help you work with your new D2L course. You can find it at the following link: VTAC Knowledge Base.
D2L resources for students can be found at this link: Virtual Learning Assistance Center.
Extended Support Hours: January 11
Posted in D2L on Jan 2, 2025 8:00 AM
VTAC is offering extended support hours on Saturday, Jan. 11th from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. The VTAC team will be providing ticket support and a virtual open lab to assist faculty with D2L, supported technologies, and course design.
The virtual open lab can be accessed through this link.
Tickets for D2L related questions/issues can be submitted by emailing VTAC@LoneStar.edu.
OTS is available 6 a.m. to midnight for technology questions.
For other support opportunities, please refer to the VTAC Event Calendar.
December D2L Update
Posted in D2L on Dec 24, 2024 12:01 AM
The next update for D2L is scheduled for December 27th.
Important information regarding the update:
Consistent Evaluation – New Learner View of Grade indicator
Consistent Evaluation enables faculty to evaluate learner submissions for Assignments, Discussions, and Quizzes using an improved and optimized experience. With this update, the Consistent Evaluation and the New Quiz Evaluation are updated with the new Learner View of Grade indicator. This will display the grade the student will see for the assessment.
For example, if the grade scheme applied to a course is a Letter Grade, instructors can view that letter grade instantly under Learner View of Grade. In this example, the letter grade is based upon the grade entered during an evaluation. The instructor can also choose to Hide Learner View of Grade or Show Learner View of Grade directly from the evaluation experience.
For more information on grading Assignment and Quiz submissions and Discussion posts, please see the Grade Assignment Submissions, New Quiz Evaluation Experience, and Grade a Discussion VTAC articles.
D2L Virtual Assistant being upgraded with Lumi Chat
The D2L Virtual Assistant is being upgraded with D2L's new chatbot, known as Lumi Chat. Lumi Chat provides generative AI responses to students' and faculty's queries. Generated answers take your questions, identify your intent, and create a free-form text answer with information from D2L's knowledge bases while also linking to related documentation (from D2L's knowledge base) where applicable.
After closing Lumi Chat, you are prompted with a Customer Satisfaction Survey to gather your feedback. The survey is prompted automatically when you close the chat window and is accessible any time through the star icon in the chat. Participation in the survey is optional, and will be used by D2L to improve the chat responses in the future.
For more information on Lumi Chat, we recommend viewing the article About Lumi Chat on the D2L knowledge base.
For information on other D2L-related topics, please search this VTAC knowledge base.
LSC Winter Holidays - Campus Closed
Posted in D2L on Dec 19, 2024 12:01 AM
Lone Star College campuses are closed for the Winter Holidays, Dec. 19 - Jan 1.
Examity Retiring on 12/31 (Tues)
Posted in D2L on Dec 18, 2024 3:20 PM
Examity will be retired on December 31, 2024. If your online course uses Examity for exam proctoring, please note that it will no longer be available after the aforementioned date. ProctorU will serve as the new exam proctoring service.
If you have any further questions, please contact VTAC Support for assistance.
Retirement of Third-Party Integration 1.1
Posted in D2L on Dec 11, 2024 10:11 AM
As of December 18, 2024, the following third-party integration versions will be retired:
-
Cengage 1.1
-
Connect 1.1
-
Carolina Distance Learning 1.1
If you have already upgraded to version 1.3, no further action is required at this time. However, if you are currently using the 1.1 versions, you must upgrade to version 1.3 to ensure your integration links work correctly for the upcoming semester.
Please contact your respective Third-party representative for assistance.
If you have any further questions, please contact VTAC Support for assistance.
Reminder: Major Changes to Email in D2L
Posted in D2L on Dec 8, 2024 12:00 PM
D2L Brightspace Email is Getting Retired
Reminder: D2L Brightspace email will soon be replaced by the Microsoft 365 email integration, which hosts LSC Employee Email (@lonestar.edu).
What is happening and when?
D2L Brightspace Email
- The D2L Brightspace email service will be retired on December 18, 2024.
- After this date, you will no longer be able to access D2L emails through this platform, including your old sent and received emails.
- Any D2L emails you wish to keep need to be forwarded to your LSC Email prior to this date.
- Emails sent via the Classlist or Intelligent Agents will continue to work.
- Because D2L will no longer have a Sent Folder, we recommend having D2L send copies of your outgoing emails to your LSC email.
Microsoft 365 Widget in D2L
- You can already access your Lone Star College email, calendar, and OneDrive directly from D2L using the Microsoft 365.
- The widget can be found on the main D2L homepage and the homepages of your courses.
- Learn more about using the Microsoft 365 widget.
For more information about the upcoming changes, see the FAQ page in VLAC.
Scheduled Archiving of Old Courses
Posted in D2L on Dec 5, 2024 1:55 PM
Starting Wednesday, Dec 18th, we will be archiving D2L courses and sandboxes that are at least one year past their end dates. This archive will include courses from Summer 2023.
If you need to regain access to an archived course, please go to VTAC Support and select the [Archive/Restore Courses] tool under Course Design. Here are instructions for using the tool.
If you restore an old course but don't see it in your My Courses list, click on the [View All Courses] link and use the search and/or sorting functions.
D2L Showcase - Recording & Survey
Posted in D2L on Dec 5, 2024 8:30 AM
We would like to thank everyone who attended the D2L Showcase. We hope you found it informative and are excited about some of the new features that D2L is working on.
We’d love to hear your feedback! Please take a moment to complete this short survey and share your thoughts on the Showcase, including which new features you’re most looking forward to.
If you missed the live event, don’t worry—you can watch a recording of the D2L Showcase here.
We’re looking forward to the upcoming features D2L is working on and anticipate integrating them into our environment once they have successfully passed testing and compliance.
November D2L Update
Posted in D2L on Nov 26, 2024 3:30 PM
The next update for D2L is scheduled for November 29th.
Important information regarding the update:
New Quiz Evaluation Experience
The new experience provides an updated look and feel to your grading workflow, consistent with the updated experiences for Assignments and Discussions that were released previously. To access the new quiz evaluation experience, you must click the [drop-down arrow] in the upper right hand corner of the screen and select [Turn it on]. To revert back to the old experience, you can follow the same process but select [Turn it off].
For more details on the New Quiz Evaluation Experience, you can view the Turn On New Quiz Evaluation Experience and New Quiz Evaluation Experience VTAC articles.
New Automatic Zeroes for Overdue Submissions Feature
You can now set your gradebook to automatically apply a grade of zero to any student who has not submitted an Assignment, Quiz, or Third-party Integration activity before the due date has passed.
There is a lot to keep in mind when using this new feature, so we recommend reading the Automatic Zeroes for Overdue Submissions VTAC article before activating it.
Assign Evaluators and Publishers for Assignments
The Evaluators and Publishers feature in D2L Assignments allows instructors to delegate the task of grading and providing feedback for assignments to other faculty in the course, significantly reducing instructor workload for large courses or complex assignments that require multiple perspectives, and helping to provide a more comprehensive assessment of student work. By delegating tasks, instructors can optimize the evaluation process for assignments and ensure timely feedback.
This is an advanced feature, with many complex moving parts to consider before using, so please read the Assign Evaluators and Publishers for Assignments VTAC article before utilizing this feature.
For information on other D2L-related topics, please search this VTAC knowledge base.
Second Chance: Digital Digest Newsletter
Posted in D2L on Nov 24, 2024 5:00 PM
Our end-of-semester newsletter was recently sent out via email. If you haven't read it yet, here's another chance.
Topics included in this issue:
- Creator+ with Lumi AI
- Major Changes to Email in D2L
- Semester Wrap Reminders
- New Quiz Experience
- D2L Showcase Recap
- Design in the Evening
- And more!
For previous issues, please visit the Newsletter Archive page in VTAC.
D2L Showcase - Register Now!
Posted in D2L on Nov 8, 2024 3:39 PM
Register now for the D2L Showcase! Learn about new and upcoming features in D2L. Catch the live stream on Thursday, November 14, from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM.
RESOLVED: Turnitin - Issue with Enabling Similarity Reports
Posted in D2L on Oct 31, 2024 1:34 PM (Edited)
UPDATE: The incident has been RESOLVED.
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
At this time, we are currently investigating an issue that is occurring when trying to enable a Turnitin Similarity Report for a D2L assignment. As a result, it is not currently possible to enable Similarity Reports for new assignments. We are working with Turnitin to resolve this issue.
We sincerely apologize for the impact this disruption may be causing. We will provide an update as soon as new information becomes available.
Snagit - Now Available to All Faculty & Staff!
Posted in D2L on Oct 25, 2024 9:49 AM
Lone Star College Academic Affairs is excited to announce that Snagit, a powerful screen capture and recording software by TechSmith, is now available for download to all LSC faculty and staff. With Snagit, users can easily capture, edit, and share screenshots and videos to enhance their instructional and professional materials.
Please head over to the VTAC Snagit article to access the download link and license code that is required for installation. Be sure to log into the VTAC page first using your LSCS credentials to access the article.
For detailed instructions on using Snagit’s features—including screen capture, video recording, and image editing—please refer to the official TechSmith Snagit Tutorials. Live training webinars are also available via the VTAC Events page.
For information on other D2L-related topics, please search this VTAC knowledge base.
September D2L Update
Posted in D2L on Sep 24, 2024 8:00 AM
The next update for D2L is scheduled for September 26th.
Important information regarding the update:
Assignments - Bookmarks Removed
- Before this update, instructors could click [Bookmarks] to add bookmarks to pages of a PDF. However, these bookmarks were not saved. The [Bookmarks] option in [Assignments] → [Annotations] is now removed.
For information on other D2L-related topics, please search this VTAC knowledge base.
Labor Day Office Closure
Posted in D2L on Sep 2, 2024 12:01 AM
Thank you for your hard work. Offices are closed for Labor Day on Monday, Sept. 2nd.