View a Course as a Student

You can temporarily switch your role by using the personal menu under your name on any homepage in D2L. Switching your role provides a generic view of the course using the role you select.

Switching your role

  1. Click on your name in the Minibar. This will open a dropdown menu.
    Identifies name area in minibar.

  2. Click on [View as Student].
    Indicates View as Student

    • If you don't see Student, click [Change]. Several role options will appear.
    • Select [Student].

      Identifies alternative view menu.
NOTE: The Student role is likely the only role you will need to use.  
  1. Your role will be reflected in the minibar by text under your name and a bright orange icon with arrows on it.
    Identifies user role switch icon in the minibar.

End Role Switch

  1. Click your [Name] in the minibar.

  2. Click on the [X] to the right of Viewing as Student.
    Indicates the X to end the role switch.
NOTE: When you use Role Switch, you are automatically redirected to the course homepage view for that role.

Impersonate

A person with appropriate access can Impersonate another user from the Classlist. Unlike Role Switch, Impersonate allows you to “log in” as a specific user. In this case, you will get a 100% accurate view of what a student sees in the course. It would be beneficial to impersonate a test student when confirming your newly designed course functions as intended.

NOTE: Instructors may only impersonate test students in a sandbox. The Impersonate option is not available to instructors in live courses. You can copy your course content into a sandbox to test it using impersonation. Only D2L administrators have the ability to impersonate other users.

Impersonating a user

  1. From within a Sandbox course, go to the Navbar, and click [Collaboration][Classlist].
    Indicates the Collaboration dropdown menu.

  2. Click the drop-down menu of your Test Student and select [Impersonate].Indicates the Impersonate option in the dropdown menu.

  3. Click [Yes] on the Confirmation screen.
    Indicates the Yes option on the Impersonate participant confirmation screen.

  4. The personal menu on the minibar displays the name "Student Test" with a bright orange icon next to the name.Identifies the Test student role in minibar.

Stop impersonating a user

  1. Click on [Student Test] in the minibar. A dropdown menu will appear.

  2. Click the [X] to stop impersonating the test student.
    Identifies the Test Student role and indicates the X used to stop impersonating.