First things first:

How do I add my course readings and other files?

One of the first things that comes to mind when designing a course in D2L is making some content or reading materials available. While there are multiple ways to upload files in D2L, there are a few good habits to start practicing regardless of how you put files into your course.

●     Before uploading files carefully consider the organization of the course.

How will you organize the course material; by week or by topic? For more information see the article on {Chunking Content} {Learning Modules} {Organizing your Course}.

●     Use a consistent naming convention.

Using consistent naming conventions for your file names and titles will cut down on confusion for students as well as help you stay organized. For example, always name readings something like Reading 1: Title of the Article, Reading 2: Title for the Article, etc.

 

●     Keep the titles and file names the same.

When you upload a file, you will be prompted to provide a title for the file. This is required to meet accessibility standards and helps students tell one reading download from another. The title for the file will be the name students see. The actual file will be stored in Manage Files in D2L. So to keep things simple, keep the title and file names the same.

●     Convert to PDF

Not all students will have Microsoft Office on their computers so save files you create as PDFs because PDF readers, like Adobe Reader, are available for free. To create PDFs:

• On a Mac, click on File and select print. In the lower left hand corner, click the PDF button. Choose to save as a PDF.
• On a PC, use free programs such as CutePDF or Primo PDF to convert your files.

●     Accessibility – Screen Reader Compatibility

While PDFs are the recommended file type, they are actually images of a file and not always readable by screen reading software used by students with visual or learning disabilities.

○     Provide students with readings accessed from the libraries databases as many publishers create articles that are OCR (Optical Character Recognition) compatible.

○     Use the OCRScanningService so that your PDFs will be compatible with screen readers.

If you are able to search the text of the PDF document in Adobe PDF Reader then the document is not an image and is more likely to be compatible with screen readers.

To learn more about the content tool in D2L, visit: http://oit.colorado.edu/node/2211