Monday, April 4, 2011

Blackboard 9.1 Is Coming in June


We plan to upgrade to Blackboard version 9.1 on June 4th of this year. This will not be a huge change like the one you experienced when we upgraded from version 8.0 to 9.0 last summer. This new version will add functionality to enhance your teaching. A few buttons will move or be renamed in the new version, but the basic way things work will stay pretty much the same.

So what's new in this version? I'll start regularly posting information on these new features to this blog until the upgrade takes place. Here are two of the new features you may find useful.

Improved Grading

In version 9.1 you can grade wikis (more about wikis later), blogs, journals, and the discussion board directly into the assignment without having to go back to the Grade Center. In addition, they have introduced flexible visual indicators in the Grade Center allowing you to apply coloring and criteria to help with grading management or to easily spot trends in student performance. View a video on how this is done at: http://ondemand.blackboard.com/r91/movies/bb91_grade_center_color_code.htm

Moving Tests, Surveys, and Assignments

Based on client feedback, Blackboard has made it easier for instructors to design and redesign courses specifically when moving locations of tests, surveys, and assignments. When working on course design all content items can be either moved or copied throughout the course, saving time and eliminating the need to recreate or redeploy content.

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