“Without change, there can’t be progress”. This is a sentence often used when something new is implemented. However, people can sometimes shy away from it. Why change something you’ve been using for so long? Why change something that has been proven to work?
One form of change we have recently encountered at this university is the change from the old D2L interface to the new one.
And, as with everything new, people have mixed feelings about it. I wondered if these mixed feelings were actually based on something real, or if it was more a matter of adjusting to it.
The first person I spoke to was Mariah Walker. She wasn’t very positive about the new system. She uses D2L as often as any student does, but according to her – this system is way more complicated.
“I don’t think it’s as easy to use. Now it’s more like, you have to go here, and then you have to go here, and you have to go here, you know?” Walker said. Other than that, she doesn’t really like the layout either. “It’s too bright. The first D2L had a softer background, while this one is completely white. It feels like it’s way more in my face.”
Across the student body it seems as though the annoyance of having to learn a new system is the true issue rather than students being confused by it.
I also spoke to a transfer student from Australia. Her name is Sariah Wi Neera. Seeing as she just got here, she didn’t get a chance to work with the older system, so I asked her what she thought of the new D2L itself. “I have used it, and, I don’t know. It’s pretty simple. I’ve had programs that are a little bit easier to navigate but this one is fine. I’m just trying to figure it out for now but it doesn’t seem too difficult for me,” she said.
This seems to support the idea that the new D2L is not as terrible as some people might think. If someone new can easily use it, everyone should be able to figure it out pretty quick. In fact, one student who has also used the old system actually preferred the new one.
“I actually really like it,” Mckenna Macklin said. “The new D2L is a lot more user friendly than the old D2L. It’s more clean cut, everything kind of fits in its own section, and everything is very visible. I really like how it’s set up.”
“I used the old D2L religiously,” she said when I asked what she thought of the old system. “Because you basically had to in order to make sure you’re keeping up with your classes and stuff. The old D2L was definitely harder to use, as it was more difficult to get to certain places. Like, I could easily access the syllabus and stuff, but for some of the assignments I’d have to spend 10 mins digging for it. With the new D2L it puts everything out there for you to see, whether you need it or not, so its very easy for you to start scrolling through things and be like ‘ah, this is what I need.’”
With change there is always a time for adjustment which can be difficult for some people. Perhaps for the new D2L we need to keep the old phrase, “give it time to grow on you” in mind.
