The Scoop on D2L and MyMotlow Banner (Part Two)

By Anthony Czelusniak

Motlow Buzz Staff Writer

            Last issue, Motlow Buzz readers received insights on the inner workings of D2L from Dean of First Learning Terry Durham. Now it’s Cindy Logan’s turn to explain some of the details of MyMotlow Banner.

            MyMotlow Banner is similar to D2L in that it is provided by a separate company called Ellucian. However, unlike D2L, Motlow’s IT department is able to build custom modules for MyMotlow Banner to increase functionality whenever the need arises. 

“Examples of [custom modules] include orientation, testing and proctoring sign-ups or specific program applications, like nursing or medical lab tech programs,” said Logan, who serves Motlow as chief information officer.

            MyMotlow Banner is used by students year-round, but during class sign-ups and when the final grades are being posted, the usage will increase significantly.

            Logan explained that these usage spikes are not a problem at all “unless we happen to be monitoring system statistics and the spikes go unnoticed.”

            Managing MyMotlow Banner is not an easy task. Maintenance is needed continuously to provide service. The size of MyMotlow Banner goes beyond what the user can see.

            “Banner is a vast system that brings together hundreds of functional processes, supported by several thousand database tables,” she said. “In addition, there are several other software systems that interface with Banner to provide additional functionality needed by the college but not provided by banner.”

            One of the biggest challenges for the maintenance of MyMotlow Banner is scheduling. MyMotlow Banner is in use throughout the year, meaning there will always be some disruption of service.

            Logan added, “We usually try to schedule those windows late in the evening and on weekends when fewer users are on the system. We also do our best to avoid times when we know usage will be high or when a major event is occurring.”

            When asked if there is anything students or faculty can do to make managing MyMotlow Banner easier, Logan asserted that it is not the responsibility of students or staff to worry about managing MyMotlow Banner.

            “The primary responsibility of faculty is to teach, and the primary responsibility of students is to learn. Faculty and students should never be burdened by the Banner system but should always be prepared to report to IT or Motlow leadership when they feel the system is a burden or is not performing as it should.”

            Logan reiterated how important it is to keep account login information safe.

            “Students see only their own student or financial aid data, employees see their own employment information, faculty/advisors see only their own students, and faculty see only their own courses,” Logan said.  “Protecting one’s user-ID and PIN is critical to maintaining security of one’s own data.  Never share your user-ID and PIN number and periodically change the PIN to ensure security.”

            Students and faculty who need assistance can contact the Help Desk at Extension 1510 (on-campus) or (931) 393-1510 Option 1 (off-campus) or helpdesk@mscc.edu.

The Scoop on D2L and MyMotlow Banner (Part One)

By Anthony Czelusniak

Motlow Buzz Staff Writer

            SMYRNA – D2L and MyMotlow Banner are creative and helpful tools for faculty members and students, but technical challenges pop up unexpectedly from time to time.

Dean of Digital First Learning Terry Durham and Motlow State Chief Information Officer Cindy Logan recently provided information on how they manage D2L and MyMotlow Banner – working out the unexpected kinks. In part one of this article, the focus is on D2L.

            D2L, or sometimes referred to as Desire2Learn, is a service provided by a multinational company. Because of this, Durham, who manages D2L for Motlow, must maintain the service without having complete control over it.

 “We have to rely on others to make changes or improvements to the platform,” he said. “However, if we owned the software then we would need to be involved directly with maintaining and updating the software. This additional position needed to make changes in-house would be expensive to say the least.”

            Despite the lack of total control over the software, Durham and his team still work hard to ensure the software is ready for use at any time of the day during the semester. His job is made harder by unexpected changes to the software that happen. This happened last semester when the visual layout of D2L was changed drastically without warning.

            “We have had edits performed on course shells that should have not been done,” he continued. “We’re currently working on this not being an issue in the future. Instructors and students become very concerned when this happens, and I do not blame them at all.”

    Durham added, “I have contacts at D2L that I stay in-touch with, so if anything seems out of the ordinary, then we are on the phone or email asking what is happening beyond Motlow State Community College.”

            When asked about the major influx of students to Motlow over the past few years, Durham was confident that an increase in the student population won’t be a problem.

            “We have not had any issues with the system becoming overloaded, nor do I foresee that happening,” Durham said.

            He mentioned that he and his staff are working to add new features for instructors that will make teaching even easier. A new D2L training module for students will help familiarize users with the software.

            Durham explained, “If the students knew more of the basic items or terminology when emailing D2L for help, it would help us tremendously.”

Durham also shared some information on how the email system inside D2L works.

            “If you email your professor’s D2L account from your Motlow State Community College email account, the message will be returned,” Durham noted. “IT people call this ‘bouncing back.’ If you receive an email from your professor’s D2L account, then you must log in or be logged into D2L to respond to that message. The outside link to convey that message back outside of D2L is turned off. This is a [Tennessee Board of Regents] policy that is to be followed, and we can’t turn this on. So please make sure you check your D2L email account as well as your Motlow State Community College email account.”

            Students and faculty who need assistance can contact the Help Desk at Extension 1510 (on-campus) or (931) 393-1510 Option 1 (off-campus) or helpdesk@mscc.edu.

            Stay tuned for part two of this article.