Lots of Bang for Your Buck
Updated February 12, 2016

Lots of Bang for Your Buck

Laura Abercrombie | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Desire2Learn

Desire2Learn is utilized by the entire campus as a learning management platform.
  • Extremely versatile; because we have a very diverse faculty, each with a particular work-flow, D2L is flexible enough to meet the needs of everyone.
  • The iPad grading application is a godsend! I can grade offline, and the second it's linked with WiFi it will upload the grades. Since I'm an English professor, this is incredibly useful.
  • The ability to copy elements from one shell to another is helpful when you have multiple sections of the same class.
  • The versatility is also its drawback. There are SO many different ways to do the same thing, that learning the system is overwhelming.
  • Creating quizzes is not user friendly at all. It takes an inordinate amount of time.
  • The shell itself is not customizable. It's difficult to draw student's attention because it is not at all visually appealing.
  • Since I am only a professor, I don't feel I have the authority to answer this question.
I was not involved in the selection process for my organization since I am only a professor. However, I have worked at 2 previous organizations that have used other online LMSs, and I think overall, D2L is at the top of the list of LMSs I find the most usable.
I think the college has implemented D2L very well, which is why it is baffling to me that more professors aren't using it. I think enough professors are using it that the college isn't going to abandon the service any time soon, but it seems to me like I am in a minority.

Using Desire2Learn

For me, someone who is reasonably technologically proficient, it was a bear to learn, but once I did it was relatively intuitive. However, for most of the professors I work with who are not comfortable with technology, I can see how they would be overwhelmed by D2L and then, as a result, just refuse to use it--which is what is happening to a certain degree.
ProsCons
Like to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Feel confident using
Unnecessarily complex
Slow to learn
Cumbersome
Lots to learn
  • Creating modules--the course builder function is very nice.
  • adding documents, links, and other content to modules--it's a very simple drag and drop.
  • Copying units from one shell to another. Couldn't be simpler.
  • Making quizzes and tests.
  • Adding and changing grades.
  • Attendance.
Yes - The mobile interface is great once you realize that there are 2 different account login that must be tied together in order to use the grading function to its full capacity. If you don't have both of those things, you cannot use all of the available grading tools.