CloudDeakin and associated technologies
CloudDeakin is the name given to the collection of systems used to provide learning materials to students. Central to CloudDeakin is the Learning Management System (LMS). Deakin uses Desire2Learn (D2L) as its LMS. Deakin’s DTeach site has a range of CloudDeakin Guides that provide step-by-step instructions on how to use the different tools available in your CloudDeakin unit site.
Other key software applications within CloudDeakin include:
- MediaSite – a lecture recording system
- Zoom – a synchronous online classroom for students.
All units must have a presence on CloudDeakin with a unique site assigned to each trimester of offer. Staff and students can log into CloudDeakin via the DeakinHub. You can also head to CloudDeakin directly at d2l.deakin.edu.au
In the Faculty of Business and Law, staff in the Learning Innovations team generate CloudDeakin sites for each trimester. You will receive email notification approximately 4-5 weeks prior to the commencement of trimester alerting you to when these unit sites are ready for your development. A basic template is applied to each site, after which Unit Chairs are assigned access to their sites to further design and develop the unit resources.
A new site is generated for every offering of a unit. Certain elements such as Resources and Quizzes can be rolled over (essentially copied) from the previous time the unit ran. This can be helpful but requires that you review every item that is copied over to make sure the information is still current, relevant to the cohort and that all the links are taking students to the correct information.
CloudDeakin sites go live the week before trimester starts, and so having resources available to students (such as a Welcome video, the unit guide, and an overview of the unit) is vital.
Minimum requirements for unit sites
Your site must align with the CloudDeakin minimum standards, which include:
- Unit information, including – the unit guide, video welcome message, unit staff information, announcements (formerly called news posts)
- Unit site design – sequence of learning resources and assessments
- Assessment – assessment briefs and rubrics, and submission folder
- Feedback – provided within 15 business days of submission. Students should receive individual feedback on all assessment tasks in the CloudDeakin site, with the exception of End of Unit Assessments or Exams where general feedback on assessment outcomes should be provided to students on the unit site on the day Trimester results are released.
- Learning experience and Lectures – Campus and Online students should be provided with relevant-to-their-needs experiences, timely responses to enquiries, and discussion forums
- Learning resources – resources are accessible, links to technical and study support provided, access to recordings and other unit resources.
For more information about setting up the CloudDeakin site for your unit, see the Unit Preparation Guide.
Managing resources on CloudDeakin
There are two broad approaches to managing the learning content in your unit:
- Releasing all learning resources (recorded lectures/provocations, readings, interactive resources, quizzes, YouTube videos, etc) before the commencement of the trimester. This may be appreciated by students who like to plan well ahead and who may take the opportunity to complete assessments early. This would mean your assessment briefs should be prepared before the trimester starts, along with rubrics and other documents you plan to provide students as a means of scaffolding their understanding of the assessment tasks.
- Releasing learning resources and content on a weekly or topic basis, as the trimester progresses. This can help prevent students from feeling overwhelmed by the unit’s content, give you time to update based on current events, and may also help to prevent contract cheating (i.e. giving essay mills less time to prepare). At a minimum, Assessment 1 should be released when the trimester starts.
An exception to students commencing their assessments early are ‘timed assignments’ where students are given a specific period of time in which to complete or test or examinations.
If you have any questions about what this means for your unit, require support for developing the structure and sequence of your unit or the development of learning resources, or need assistance to use the tools and technologies within the Unit Site, please contact bl-learninginnovations@deakin.edu.au.
