Following the weekend of Aug. 26, iterations of D2L and Digication will be on continuous release, meaning small improvements will happen every few weeks without major disruptions to the systems. (Image courtesy of Kevin Lyon)
To continue its commitment to users and evolving technology, at the end of August DePaul implemented upgrades to both D2L, the university's learning management system, and Digication, the ePortfolio platform. Following the weekend of Aug. 26, iterations of D2L and Digication will be on continuous release, meaning small improvements will happen every few weeks without major disruptions to the systems. Though change can be difficult, the core functions of both systems have remained the same.
Stepping Into Daylight: A New D2L interface for a new academic year
DePaul's D2L site transitioned to Daylight, a new user interface that modernizes the look and feel of D2L by expanding user accessibility in mobile environments. D2L, short for Desire2Learn, is DePaul's learning management system, where instructors and students can access course materials for online, hybrid and in-person classes.
Daylight will not change the core functionality of D2L, but rather, the design of D2L's look and feel. The responsive design of Daylight allows users to access D2L course pages and tools between desktop and mobile views, which wasn't possible on the outgoing interface.
One noteworthy difference to be aware of is a name change from "Dropbox" to "Submissions" on the course toolbar. The function of the "Submissions" tool remains identical to the current system; the change is in name only.
Throughout the fall quarter, Faculty Instructional Technology Services will offer webinar sessions to overview Daylight and its key features. Visit the
Teaching Commons page to find more information and RSVP for an upcoming session.
Digication: When classic becomes new
After a year of discussion between vendors, platform developers and an ePortfolio steering committee assembled by representatives from divisions and departments across the university, DePaul has agreed to continue with Digication as its ePortfolio platform.
However, Digication is no longer the rigid and outdated platform that has received criticism for its design restrictions and usability limitations. As of Aug. 26, all DePaul faculty and staff will shift from Classic Digication to New Digication.
New Digication provides users with a much-anticipated update to a modern look and feel, offering seamless content uploads from a variety of new integrations, such as Google Drive and Box. The new ePortfolio layout provides users more options for arranging and designing content without learning extensive CSS or web coding languages.
Classic ePortfolios will still work well for the foreseeable future, as long as web browsers support the platform. Soon a tool for transferring Classic ePortfolios to New will be available.
For faculty and staff reliant on Digication for their course content and training materials, please contact
DigicationHelp@depaul.edu as soon as possible to familiarize yourselves with the new platform and migrate your content to new ePortfolios.