After the close of Fall 2011 finals week, and prior to the start of the Winter 2012 session, Desire2Learn will be upgraded from version 9.2.1 SP5 to version 9.4.1 9.4.0. No grades, enrollments, course materials, or other data will be affected by this upgrade.
EDIT: PASSHE has decided to upgrade only to 9.4.0 for now. The upgrade to 9.4.1 will come at a later date. Most of the enhancements listed below will be present in 9.4.0.
The upgrade will bring several enhancements:
- a redesigned Calendar tool with a cleaner, more usable interface and with functionality enhancements that allow it to become a hub for course activities
- a new Seating Chart tool that works in traditional, blended, and fully online courses, pulling together student progress and attendance data
- expanded and enhanced notification options that allow students and instructors to choose how and when they will receive information about activities taking place within their courses
- a new, improved interface for leaving feedback in the Dropbox tool
- a more powerful News widget on the My Home page that will aggregate news from courses for each student and instructor
- the option to preview audio feedback before saving EDIT: This will not be present in 9.4.0.
Watch for more information and announcements of training opportunities on these new features over the coming weeks.