Quick Start for Students Using Desire2Learn (D2L)

Welcome to Desire2Learn

Desire2Learn (D2L) provides a way for your instructors to integrate online materials and activities into your courses. This sheet is intended to provide basic information about logging in and changing your password and e-mail address.

For detailed instructions on what you need to do in your D2L course site, refer to materials from your instructor. Further technical assistance can be found by clicking on the Resources Widget on the UW-Waukesha Homepage-Resource widget, the Helpdesk, or through your instructor.

Getting into D2L

• Log onto the computer at your campus or at home.  If you are not familiar with the login procedures, ask for assistance from the lab assistant.  Open a browser; please use Internet Explorer 6.0.2 or Netscape 4.0 or higher. Internet Explorer works best with D2L; FireFox will also work.
• Go to http://d2l.uwc.edu
• Use your campus network logon to access D2L.  Enter your username, which is the same as your UW Colleges e-mail user name. This is typically: the first four letters of your LAST NAME, followed by the first letter of your FIRST NAME, followed by the last four digits of your ID number.  Example:  Joe Student, with ID 0123456 would have “studj3456” for a username. You do not need to include @uwc.edu.
• Enter your password. Your password is your current Campus Network Password.  Typically your original password was the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number, followed by !!, followed by the last two digits of your birth year.  Example:  1234!!81

Special Note: If you change your campus network password, you must use that password to logon to D2L as they are the same. If you forget your password you must bring a photo ID to a member of the IT staff to have your password reset. Or, you may reset your own password by going to: http://www.uwc.edu/selfservice/.

• You are now on the UW Colleges D2L Home Page for your campus, an area designed as a portal to all of your D2L courses, D2L resources, and information specific to your campus.  You can find links to your courses in the middle of your screen, under the heading My XXX Courses, where XXX is your campus name. To get to your classes for the current semester, click on the “+” twisty (+) next to the current semester (which would be for UW-Waukesha, Fall 2007).
• If you have trouble logging in, please check the online account manager at https://www.uwc.edu/account  to verify your username, or contact your instructor.

D2L Support

• Contact your instructor or a member of the IT staff at (262)521-5540.
  • E-mail wakit@uwc.edu with your name, class, contact information, and a short explanation of the problem.
  • The UW Colleges Helpdesk at https://helpdesk.uwc.edu or e-mail them at helpdesk@uwc.edu or call 1-877-449-1877. 
  • If you go to the Helpdesk Website, you will need to login using the same username/password you use for D2L. Request assistance by creating a ticket.  That is, click on the “Create Ticket” link and enter your information; the Helpdesk will respond as soon as possible.

  Before contacting the UW Colleges please make sure you doing the following:

  • Using the URL (address): http://d2l.uwc.edu
  • Using the same username/password as your UW Colleges network logon without “uwc.edu.”
  • If working from home, complete the “If you are working from home, do a system check before logging in.”  That is a link on the logon screen.  You should do this before you logon from home for the first time.
  • Have both cookies and javascript turned on.

  Other problems that might occur:

  • Contact your instructor for course-related questions.
  • If you have technical difficulty with your computer or the internet, you should contact your computer manufacturer or your Internet Service Provider.

  Printing from D2L:

  It is recommended that you do not print documents directly from D2L. When you get the option/window to “Open” or “Save” a course document, do not “Open.” Select “Save” and save the document to your “My Documents.” Then open your course document in “My Documents” and set up the document for printing. To save on printing and paper, refer to the sheet Printing (Quotas and Options).