Activity Feed

Introduction

The Activity Feed is a widget within D2L that creates a unique "feed" or "stream" for a course. The feed is a way for instructors to provide access to activities learners need to complete, deliver information they need to know, and facilitate learner engagement in an intuitive and friendly interface. 

This tool differs from the Announcements tool in D2L because students can comment on posted items.

The Activity Feed allows you to:

  • Post a message for students
  • Add a link
  • Attach existing course materials such as Discussions and Quizzes
  • Create or link an Assignment folder
  • Allow students to comment on a post
  • Attach important documents or other files

How to Access and Enable the Activity Feed

The Activity Feed feature is a custom homepage that is located in the Homepages tool within D2L.

To access and enable the Activity Feed:

  1. Log into D2L and navigate to your course.
  2. Click Course Admin in the navigation bar.
  3. Click Homepages under Site Setup.
  4. From the “Active Homepage” dropdown menu, select the "Official Course Home Activity Feed".
  5. Click "Apply" to save your changes.

Note: Adding the Activity Feed homepage removes the Announcements widget from your D2L course homepage.

How to Post Something to the Activity Feed

  1. Enable the Activity Feed.
  2. Click Create a Post.
  3. Select to create a Message or an Assignment.

A red box surrounds the Create a Post message in the Activity Feed widget within D2L.

How to Post a Message

  1. Click Create a Post and select Message.
  2. Enter your message text within the "Create a Message" box. Check the "Allow Comments" box if you'd like to allow students to respond to your message.
  3. Click the paper clip icon below to add an attachment such as a file, a link to an existing activity, a URL, a file from OneDrive, or a video from the web.
  4. When you've finished crafting your message, click Post or Post Later (if you want to schedule your message to post at a later time).

White numbers, 1-4, are in purple circles. In order, they point to the Message tab, the Create a Message box, Attach something, and the Post button.

How to Post an Assignment

  1. Click Create a Post and select Assignment.
  2. Add a new assignment name or select an existing Assignment folder you previously created.
    1. Note: choosing an existing Assignment folder will automatically populate the Instructions, Due Date, and Submission type fields with the information from the Assignments tool. Any attached grade items will also be included.
  3. Add instructions, if desired.
  4. Add a due date, if desired. You can also choose to add this assignment to the Grades tool. You just need to specify the max number of points.
  5. Select the Submission type. 
  6. Click the paper clip icon below to add an attachment such as a file, a link to an existing activity, a URL, a file from OneDrive, or a video from the web.
  7. When you've finished creating or adding an existing assignment, click Post or Post Later (if you want to schedule your assignment to post at a later time).

 An image of the Activity Feed - Assignments screen. Purple bubbles with white text 1-7 appear over a few key areas of the image including the Assignment tab, where to create a message, add assignment instructions, modify the due date, adjust the submission type, a paper clip icon to add an attachment, and a post button.

 

 

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