I will start offering Blackboard 9 workshops in April. Please help me choose the best times to offer these workshops by filling out a short survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Z2XGFJM.
The survey will expire after April 4th, so just take 2 minutes right now to fill it out.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Bb 9 - Number of Rows Displayed in the Grade Center
You're going to love this enhancement to Blackboard 9. In the Grade Center, you will see a button that says "Edit Rows Displayed." Click on it and you'll have the option to display from 5 - 50 rows in the Grade Center.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Bb 9 - Your Questions Answered
It seems everywhere I go these days, I get asked questions about the transition to Blackboard 9. Here is a list of the questions I get most often and the answers.
1. When will the upgrade to Bb 9 happen?
Sometime between June 2 and June 14, 2010. The exact date for the upgrade hasn't been set yet, but we want to do it between the Spring and Summer semesters.
2. Will I have to completely redo my courses for Bb 9?
No. Your courses from this semester will work the same in Bb 9 as they do now. Course copy will work the same, so you can copy your courses from this semester into future semester containers without any problems.
3. What has been removed from Bb 9?
4. What changes will there be in Bb 9 that I may not like?
Other colleges have expressed frustration with the following items. They are controversial and many people already on Bb 9 have requested they be changed. By the time we're on Bb 9, these may work better.
5. What's good about Bb 9?
6. If the Digital Dropbox goes away, where will work already submitted to it go?
You will need to download any files you want to keep that are in the Digital DropBox to your hard drive before we do the upgrade. These files will not be accessible in Bb 9.
1. When will the upgrade to Bb 9 happen?
Sometime between June 2 and June 14, 2010. The exact date for the upgrade hasn't been set yet, but we want to do it between the Spring and Summer semesters.
2. Will I have to completely redo my courses for Bb 9?
No. Your courses from this semester will work the same in Bb 9 as they do now. Course copy will work the same, so you can copy your courses from this semester into future semester containers without any problems.
3. What has been removed from Bb 9?
- The DropBox. The more robust Assignments tool allows students to submit their assignments to their instructors.
- The Electric Blackboard. This tool isn't used much. Let me know if you need an alternative.
- Student Homepages will not be available. The new Blogs tool enables students to express their thoughts and reflect on learning within the course.
4. What changes will there be in Bb 9 that I may not like?
Other colleges have expressed frustration with the following items. They are controversial and many people already on Bb 9 have requested they be changed. By the time we're on Bb 9, these may work better.
- If you select a Display Until date, you must select a Display After date as well. This one is a real gotcha.
- Students need to click an extra "Attach File" button when submitting assignments.
- Announcement emails link to the announcement, rather than give the actual text of the announcement.
5. What's good about Bb 9?
- Fewer clicks!!
- Drag and drop on the course menu and other areas
- Quick way to see the course from a student perspective
- Multiple attempts for assignments, each can be graded separately
- Improved group features, such as multiple group creation and group assignment grading
- New "Home Page" in courses allow instructors to add modules that show students what is due, the calendar, and announcements in the same place
- Class blogs, group blogs, personal journals
6. If the Digital Dropbox goes away, where will work already submitted to it go?
You will need to download any files you want to keep that are in the Digital DropBox to your hard drive before we do the upgrade. These files will not be accessible in Bb 9.
Friday, March 12, 2010
2010 Online Teaching Conference
The 2010 Online Teaching Conference will be held this year at San Diego City College on June 17th and 18th. Early bird registration is available until April 18th for $125 or you can register and attend virtually (watch and listen on your computer) for free!
I attended last year's conference virtually and it was great to get all this information from the comfort of my office. You must register to attend virtually, but again, it's free so there's no reason not to!
I attended last year's conference virtually and it was great to get all this information from the comfort of my office. You must register to attend virtually, but again, it's free so there's no reason not to!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Bb 9 - No Digital Dropbox!!!
In Blackboard 9, the Dropbox tool has been replaced with the Assignment tool. If you want to modify your courses now to use the Assignment tool, I have created two videos that will show you how to create an assignment, and another video that you can link to for your students to them how to submit an assignment in Blackboard 8.
Creating an Assignment
Submitting an Assignment
Of course, this process has changed quite a bit in Bb 9. Here is a PDF created by Blackboard to show you how to Get Started with Assignments in Bb 9.
Creating an Assignment
Submitting an Assignment
Of course, this process has changed quite a bit in Bb 9. Here is a PDF created by Blackboard to show you how to Get Started with Assignments in Bb 9.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Bb 9 - Adding Tools to the Course Menu
To quickly find all my posts about Bb 9 you can go to http://cuyamaca-online.blogspot.com/search/label/Bb9.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Cool Tools to Improve Online Communication
This week I found two tools that can help you improve communications with your students.
The first tool is called Broadtexter. Broadtexter allows you to contact a group of people (a.k.a. students) by sending text messages en masse to their cell phones. We all know that the primary communication device for our students is their cell phones. With this website, you get a Flash widget that you can embed into a Blackboard item or web page that students can use to sign up with their cell phone numbers. You can also use this same widget to send them messages. I can see a lot of uses for this in an online class such as sending reminders that tests or assignments are due. This could also be used to send announcements to students about upcoming events that your student group or organization is offering.
The second tool is called EditGrid which allows you to embed a spreadsheet that can be edited live by several people at once from within a Blackboard content item. This blog post by Melissa Koenig from DePaul University shows how to use EditGrid to creat a virtual sign-up sheet right in Bb.
The first tool is called Broadtexter. Broadtexter allows you to contact a group of people (a.k.a. students) by sending text messages en masse to their cell phones. We all know that the primary communication device for our students is their cell phones. With this website, you get a Flash widget that you can embed into a Blackboard item or web page that students can use to sign up with their cell phone numbers. You can also use this same widget to send them messages. I can see a lot of uses for this in an online class such as sending reminders that tests or assignments are due. This could also be used to send announcements to students about upcoming events that your student group or organization is offering.
The second tool is called EditGrid which allows you to embed a spreadsheet that can be edited live by several people at once from within a Blackboard content item. This blog post by Melissa Koenig from DePaul University shows how to use EditGrid to creat a virtual sign-up sheet right in Bb.
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