When it comes to technology, I have never been the one people seek out for advice. Typically the one seeking advice is me, cringing at the common counsel, “It’s easy! Just click here and you’ll get right in.” It just never ends up quite that simple.
This term, PSU switched our online classroom program from Blackboard to Desire2Learn (D2L). Changes of this nature can often cause upheaval but the transition was relatively smooth. I took a moment to ask Professor Kennamer what he thought of the new program and he seemed to take to it with ease. He particularly expressed his approval of it compared with Blackboard. However, my capstone instructor, Heather Petzold, told me she thought Blackboard might have been more intuitive than D2L, but she is “easing her way into it.” She also noted her need to seek more guidance with the new program compared to Blackboard.
After hearing these mixed reviews of D2L, I felt nervous to go online and start looking around. I was pleasantly surprised to find the program relatively understandable, and it only took a few tries to figure out how to move around. I am not so sure I am jazzed about the new discussion forum forcing us to click in and out of threads to see replies, but I can live with it. And after talking with instructors at PSU, I now understand that how easy D2L is to the user really depends on the extent in which we need to utilize the program.
In my case, all I am doing is reading and posting, and I am happy to report that D2L is user-friendly, even for a non-computer wiz like me. I am curious to hear from other students though. What do you all think?