Saving Information from D2L Course Sites

How can instructors save a personal copy of information from D2L course sites?

There are a number of ways an instructor can create a personal “archive,” to be retained outside of D2L. 

How to export a course site for later use in D2L

• Preserves the Content page, course files, News (Announcements), Quizzes and Question Library, Grade book, Discussion Forums and Topics, and Dropbox folders
• Creates a .zip file that the instructor can import into another D2L course site at a later date
• Does not include student grades and contributions
• .zip file could be imported into any IMSCP-compliant learning management system

How to download and save student grades and contributions

• Each area containing student grades and contributions must be individually downloaded
• Gradebook
• Dropbox Submissions
• Quiz Statistics
• Quiz Reports
• Discussion Posts

When downloading or saving gradebooks or student submissions, it is imperative to maintain the privacy of student records, which should be saved on campus-housed, password-protected network storage rather than on local hard drives or portable storage devices. Questions about how long gradebooks and student records may be retained should be discussed with the appropriate department, school, or college, or with the UWM Records Officer.


Important note:  The UWM Records Officer, Brad Houston, states "Student work as described here is a public record under the UW-System general record schedule for academic records ACAD024, which gives a retention time of six months after the end of the semester (see here: http://www.uwsa.edu/gc-off/records/schedules/studentrecsboilerplateUWROC.pdf).  ...  Per the regulations set down by the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), students may access their own records [not just those in D2L], so long as they are retained by the university. Once the retention period has passed, the records may be destroyed and instructors / departments are under no obligation to produce them. However, if records are retained beyond the 6 month period, they may still be requested and should be produced."

How to download and save course files only

• Preserves the files located in D2L "Manage Files" area

How to copy components from an old course site to a more recent D2L course site

• Preserves the Content page, course files, News (Announcements), Quizzes and Question Library, Grade book, Discussion Forums and Topics, and Dropbox folders
• Copies directly from one D2L course site to another
• Does not include student grades and contributions

.

Exporting Quiz Statistics

Exporting quiz statistics

Instructors can export quiz statistics and reports to a comma-separated value (CSV) file. The CSV file contains all pertinent information on the quiz so the data can be queried, sorted and evaluated.

To export quiz statistics

1.     From the Course Home page, click [Quizzes]

2.     Click the [Statistics] icon (bar graph) beside a quiz name

3.     Click the [User Stats], [Question Stats] or [Question Details] tab to view statistics broken down by user or by question.

4.     Click [Export] to save the quiz statistics as a CSV file on your computer.

User Stats CSV files contain performance data by user, including: the user’s Org Defined ID, username, first name, last name, quiz score, the value the quiz was graded out of, the user’s score as a percentage, and the class average.

Question Stats CSV files contain data about the average score on questions by points and percentage.

The question title, text, bonus status, and difficulty level are included in the CSV file.

Question Details CSV files contain detailed information about each question in the quiz, including a list of all of the answers provided for each quiz attempt, how many users chose each possible answer, the total number of responses, and the average score on the question. The question title, text, bonus status, and difficulty level are included in the CSV file.

What data is exported?

Description of exported data by question type

Question Type	What is exported
Multiple Choice	All of the possible answers and the number of responses for each answer.
True and False	All of the possible answers and the number of responses for each answer.
Long Answer	All of the responses provided listed on  separate rows.
Short Answer	The correct answer for each blank and an additional row for all other answers, and the number of responses for the correct answer versus other answers.
Multi-Short Answer	The correct answers for each blank and an additional row for all other answers, and the number of responses for the correct answer versus other answers.
Fill in the Blanks	The correct answers and an additional row for other answers, and the number of responses for the correct answer versus other answers.
Multi-Select	All of the possible answers and the number of responses for each answer.
Matching	All of the possible matches and the number of responses for each match.
Ordering	All of the answers in the order match and the number of responses for each match.
Arithmetic	Questions broken down by results and units. Also lists which users had both results and units correct, only results correct, only units correct, and neither correct.
Significant Figures	Questions broken down by results and units. Also lists which users had both results and units correct, both results and units correct as well as significant figures, only results correct, only results and significant figures correct, only units correct, and neither results or units correct.

Download Course Files

1.  Go to the D2L course site

2.  Click [Content] on the your course Navigation bar.

3.  On the left, in the "Content Area" menu, select [Manage Files].

4.  A list of files included in your course will appear. To the left is a list of folders.

5.  At the top of the list of files, check the box to the left of "Folder/File." This will select all files. Each folder and file will become checked, and their background will become blue.

6.  At the top of the page, on the upper right corner, select the [Zip Files] icon, which looks like a carpenter's vise.

7.  Although there will be no indicator on the D2L page that the "zip" command is being executed, all selected files will be compressed and compiled into a Zip archive. Look at the bottom of your browser window for a progress bar.

8.  When the "zip" process is complete, a pop-up window will prompt the user to [save] or [open] the .zip archive file.

9.  [Save] your file to a secure location on your computer, or to a network drive where the information is regularly backed up.

Exporting a D2L Course

How to Export a D2L Course Site

Instructors can now download a .zip file that contains their D2L course site components. The .zip file will not contain student data, but may be useful for future reference or to expedite setup of an identical course in another D2L server environment.

This operation is most reliably performed on a high-speed internet connection (DSL, cable, or campus network) and on a computer that has a direct connection to the internet port (not wireless).

1. From your D2L Course Home page, click [Edit Course]
2. Click [Import / Export / Copy Components]
3. Select [Export Components] and choose [Include course files in the export package]
4. Select the components to be included in the export and click [Next]
5. Click [Next]
6. *** WAIT *** while the animated "Exporting..." symbol is displayed
7. When green checkmarks appear for all selected components, click [Done]
8. On the Export Summary screen, you should see a message "The course export was successful." Click on the link [Click here to download the export Zip package.]
9. Save the .zip file to your local drive or portable storage device

IMPORTANT NOTE: If your export does not complete as expected, please consider:

• Are you on a high-speed internet connection? (DSL, cable, or campus internet are recommended)
• Is your computer hard-wired, not wireless? (wireless is NOT recommended)
• Is your course very large? If so, try exporting it in smaller "chunks." For example, do one export selecting only Content and Course Files. Then do a second export of other components. If the export times out again, break down the export even further.

.