D2L Connection: Minnesota Edition
7:45am–4pm (Central Time)
9700 France Ave South
Bloomington, MN 55431
Why Attend?
- Gain practical experience with in-depth sessions on the D2L Brightspace platform.
- Provide firsthand feedback directly to D2L staff.
- Share tips and techniques with colleagues.
- Enjoy networking opportunities.
Join your colleagues, peers, and D2L staff at the D2L Connection: Minnesota Edition on April 5, 2019 at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minnesota. For the past several years, the D2L Connection has been a great day of learning and sharing for Minnesotans and others in the region.
Keynote Speaker Troy Dvorak, Faculty, Minneapolis Community and Technical College

- How They Think: The True Key to Student Success
- An interactive session about how educators offer effective thinking, learning, and psychological skills to help students become more confident, efficient, and productive.
Sponsored by D2L in collaboration with Minnesota State Colleges and Universities and St. Catherine University, this conference will showcase many aspects of teaching and learning within Brightspace. Sessions will also feature related topics such as teaching design and instruction, innovation, inclusivity and engagement, as well as support, training and administration. Formats include 50-minute breakouts, 50-minute roundtable discussions, 25-minute lightning rounds, and 30-minute poster sessions. D2L Minnesota Connection is all about collaboration. With presentations, training sessions, and time for peer networking, attendees can discover how Brightspace supports every individual’s unique pathway and potential.
Registration Cost: $85 USD
Schedule
2019 Collaboration Award
ePortfolio Community of Practice
Minnesota State
2019 Innovation Award
Integration of D2L, Qualtrics and Excel
Inver Hills Community College
2019 Impact Award
Bookstore Collaborative
Bookstore Collaborative Colleges
Award in Memory of Jane Melander
Equity Book Group
Minneapolis College
Morning Break - Grab a snack in the Link area between buildings
Keynote Follow-up: 7 Psychological Keys to Student Success - Troy Dvorak, Minneapolis Community & Technical College - P0838
Stories of Success and Challenge from Minnesota State OER Learning Circle Participants - Panel - P0842
Animation in Online Learning - Melissa Heinz, Metropolitan State University - P0840
D2L ePortfolio - Ben Nwachukwu and Hamid Ullah, Southwest Minnesota State University - P0806A
Sustainable Campus-Wide Captioning Practices to Support Course Videos – Is this Really Possible? Lesley Blicker, Minnesota State Educational Innovations and Kathleen Coate, Normandale Community College - P0806B
Intelligent Uses of Intelligent Agents – New and Improved- Barry Dahl, D2L - P1810
D2L Brightspace Vendor Integrations: Technology and Terminology- Jonathan Werth, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System Office - P1838
Getting the most out of Virtual Classrooms and Video Assignments - Mark Geirach, D2L - P1842
The Art of Designing Effective Teaching and Significant Learning- Karen LaPlant, Metropolitan State Univesity and Zala Fashant - P0838
Best Practices for Video Conferencing- Janet Winsand, St. Catherine University - P0840
Roundtable: Utilizing D2L’s Virtual Classroom for Your Online Instruction- Miriam White, Bemidji State University - P0806A
Brightspace Rubrics: Everything you Always Wanted to Know but Were Too Afraid to Ask- Suzanne Schlangen and Kim Vossen, Minnesota State System - P0806B
Badges and Certificates with the Brightspace Awards Tool – Dan Semi, D2L - P1810
Using the D2L ePortfolio Tool as a High Impact Practice- Carol Lacey, Metropolitan State University and Linette Manier, Normandale Community College - P1838
The D2L 90-Day Review/Preview- Mark Geirach, D2L - P1842
*D2L Listening Session in P0808A/B
Lightning - P0838:
a. Ways Brightspace Can Make Your Course Communication Even Better – Karen LaPlant, Metropolitan State University
b. Assessing the Quality of Your Course – Karen LaPlant, Metropolitan State Universty
5 Free Tech Tools to Make You More Productive Inside and Outside of the LMS – Barry Dahl, D2L - P0840
The Power of Coaching: Use and Innovation in Your Work Group- Mike Kutzke, Ridgewater College - P0842
Enabling ReadSpeaker’s Suite of Learning Tools for Inclusive Teaching and Learning- Ginger Dewey and Paul Stisser,ReadSpeaker - P0806A
Lightning - P0806B:
a. Creating an Online Presence Through Animation – Melissa Heinz, Metropolitan State University
b. 7 ways to Improve the Look & Feel of Your Course on D2L – Miki Huntington, Minneapolis College
Roundtable: Effective Practices for D2L Admins Discussion- Dan Semi, D2L - P1810
Annotate Student Assignment Submissions with Ease- Susan Engel, St. Cloud Technical & Community College and Karen Wenz, Minnesota State System - P1838
Elements of Streamlined Online Course Design- Phil Darg, Pine Technical & Community College/Lake Superior College - P1842
What Works? Applying Evidence-Based Teaching and Learning Practices in D2L Brightspace- Maggie Glazer, St. Cloud Technical & Community College - P0808 A
Ten Bright Ideas to make your Brightspace Courses More Accessible to Students with Disabilities- Barry Dahl, D2L - P0840
For Distance Colleagues Who Want to Collaborate; D2L is the Answer- Dr. Camille Brandt, Bemidji State University - P0842
Coming Soon: New D2L Brightspace Content Experience- Jonathan Werth, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System Office - P0806A
Lightning - P0806B:
a. 7 ways to Improve the Look & Feel of Your Course on D2L – Miki Huntington, Minneapolis College
b. Integration of D2L, Qualtrics, and Excel for Customized, High Impact Course Evaluations - John Bayerl & Jonathan Schwinck, Inver Hills Community College
Beyond the “Digital Divide”: Understanding the complexities of access and inclusion in an online learning environment- Emily Myanna and Jennifer DeJonge, Metropolitan State University - P1838
Using the D2L ePortfolio Tool as a High Impact Practice- Kelly LaVenture, Bemidji State University and Katie Subra Winona State University - P1842
Turn in Your Survey - Get Drawing Ticket!

Hotels & Accommodations
Hotel rates for conference attendees are available at these two hotels for the night of April 4, 2019. Sheraton Bloomington Hotel 5601 West 78th Street, Bloomington, Minnesota 55439 CALL: 1-888-627-8068 for availability and rates. No rooms are being held for this event due to the NCAA Final Four playoffs happening the same weekend. Hilton Garden Inn – Bloomington 3900 American Blvd W I Bloomington, MN 55437 RATE: $129 per night plus tax CALL: 1-844-856-8554 no later than Friday, March 8, 2019 Reserve Online Use Discount Code of "D2L" to make your reservation. The discounted rate of $129.00 per night plus tax will be available through Friday, March 8, 2019.
Call for Proposals
Sorry- proposals for this year are now closed!
D2L Connection: Minnesota Awards
Submit Awards Nomination Here about the Award
The D2L Connection: Minnesota Edition planning committee is pleased to announce the conference’s D2L Connection Awards! The awards are open to individuals or teams who use D2L Brightspace. Self-nominations are welcome! Submissions due by March 13, 2019 You may nominate yourself, another person, or even a team of people! The D2L Connection Awards are an annual event of the D2L Connection: Minnesota Edition conference. The awards recognize Minnesota faculty, technical staff, or administrators who have used D2L Brightspace to deliver learning experiences that are innovative, collaborative, or have made an extraordinary impact on learning outcomes. Anyone in Minnesota who uses D2L Brightspace is eligible for nomination. Award Categories- Innovation – Given to organizations or individuals who demonstrate exceptionally creative methods or technologies to address important student needs
- Collaboration – Given to organizations or individuals who demonstrate exceptionally creative collaboration within a course, department, institution/school, or system of institutions
- Impact – Given to organizations or individuals who through their work, construct or reflect an extraordinary impact on teaching and learning or other desired outcomes
- MN State Schools: Contact Karen.LaPlant@metrostate.edu
- St. Catherine University: Contact Nancy Hendrickson nehendrickson@stkate.edu
- Any other non-Minnesota State College or University or other school within Minnesota: Contact Karen.LaPlant@metrostate.edu