D2L Sandbox

What is a D2L Sandbox?

A D2L Sandbox is a non-credit course site in which you are enrolled in as the Instructor. It is a safe place to experiment with different tools within the learning management system (LMS) without worrying about “breaking things” or confusing students who are currently taking (or will be taking) your classes for credit.

Do I have a D2L Sandbox?

Click on the course selector (waffle) icon at the top of the D2L homepage. Browse for “sandbox”, or do a search if you have a long list of courses.

Why do I not have a Sandbox?

When the university was transitioning from Blackboard (previous LMS) to D2L in 2013, sandboxes were batch created for instructors teaching at that time. The university currently does not have a mechanism to automate the creation of sandboxes for new instructors.

How can I request a Sandbox if I do not already have one?

Follow the instructions on this page:
https://ucalgary.service-now.com/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=KB0031629
Choose the Add non-credit course option.
In the Business reason field, indicate that you are an instructor/ TA/ staff and would like a sandbox to familiarize yourself with D2L.

I like what I have built in my Sandbox. Can I copy some or all of the things over to my “real” course so I don’t have to start from scratch?

Absolutely! Please see this article on how to Copy/ Import a previous D2L course into a new course. You have the option to Copy All Components over, which would include any News items, Content, Course Files, Grade Settings and Assessment items that you may have in your Sandbox. Alternatively, you may choose to only bring over Selected Components.