Notifications & the Pulse App

Helping Students Stay Connected

What Students Tell us About the Pulse App

D2L Pulse App

"The Pulse app on my phone has been great at reminding me when assignments are due and what the assignments are."
* Source: PCC-PSOL 2022 Student Survey

What Can We Do To Help Students Stay Connected with Our Course?

As you design or tweak your courses, don't forget to share with students your recommendations on how to get automatic notifications via email and through their smartphone using the Pulse App.  To support this, here's a resource we recommend sharing with students through your course announcements or within your introductory module:

To learn more, view the embedded videos below which show students how to set their notificaitons and download the pulse app.

PimaOnline's Explainer Video for Faculty

D2L's Explainer Videos for Learners & Faculty

Tutorial: Managing Pulse Notification Settings

Alternatively, view in full-screen

Faculty FAQs (Click each question to view the answer)

How can I help guide students to download the Pulse app and/or adjust their notifications so that they can be alerted of new announcements, graded activities, etc.? 

To help students learn how to download the app and set their notifications, we recommend sharing a link to our Notifications & The Pulse App page at our PimaOnline Student Guide.   

Should I promote student use of the Pulse app for classes I teach that do not utilize D2L's date restriction tools (i.e. start, due and end dates)?  

Yes - but to clarify student expectations, make sure to provide clear guidance for your specific class as it relates to the tool.  For example, a faculty not using D2L's date restriction tools might say, "Please note that the Pulse app will provide alerts to course announcements and updated grades/feedback, but to view due dates in this specific class, you will need to return to your 'Schedule of Work' within our 'Start Here' module."  Keep in mind that many students will already have the Pulse app downloaded for other Pima classes that utilize D2L date restrictions - so make sure to provide students clear expectations around whether your due dates will be visible within the tool.