Teaching with Blogs

Now that Blackboard has the capability to add blogs and journals to your courses, you may be wondering how you might use them to enhance student learning.  Here are some resources for you to explore to find out more about using blogs for teaching and learning.

• Annette Vee provides good information on using blogs for teaching at http://www.annettevee.com/blogstoteach/.
• Lanny Arvan has written an excellent article for Inside Higher Ed called "Teaching With Blogs" that you might find interesting.
• Joe Sanchez shares his experiences using blogs in his class at http://www.educause.edu/blog/joesanchez/TeachingwithBlogs/166276
• A slide presentation on 11 Advantages of Using a Blog for Teaching
• Rubrics to Evaluate Classroom Blogging
  

Bb Server Maintenance

A Blackboard server upgrade is scheduled to start on Wednesday, August 11th at 3:30am PDT. It should complete on or before 6:30pm PDT the same day. Blackboard will not be available during that time. Bb 9.0 SP4 (Service Pack 4) will be installed at this time.  This upgrade will fix a few bugs we have been experiencing over the summer, but will not change or add functionality to Bb.

Avatars Now Available in Bb 9

An avatar is a picture or image that represents you. Avatars can be used to personalize the Blackboard experience and will appear by your name in certain areas of your courses such as journals and blogs. Both faculty and students can upload avatars.

Instructions on how to use avatars can be found at:
http://www.gcccd.edu/online/tutorials/bb/avatars.pdf

Blackboard Acquires Elluminate & Wimba

This news came today in a letter to Blackboard clients.  Elluminate is web conferencing software that is available for faculty to use free right now through CCCConfer. If you've ever taken a webinar through @ONE (which I highly recommend), then you've used Elluminate. Look for these workshops during Professional Development week on Intelligent Integration: Elluminate Bridge for Blackboard and CCC Confer Training for Online Conferencing  for more information on how you can use this tool to enhance your teaching..

Wimba "brings students and teachers together with a combination of interactive technologies such as voice, video, podcasting, instant messaging, application sharing, polling, and whiteboarding."

This acquisition will form a new Blackboard Platform called Blackboard Collaborate.

@ONE Online Teaching Certification Program

@One is offering a new Online Teaching Certification Program that will help you excel in the digital age. It’s extremely affordable, comprehensive and easy to fit within your busy schedule. Plus it’s designed with your instructional needs in mind, so you’ll receive usable tips every step of the way from the highest rated instructors in online education. You’ll increase your student success and retention rates, better use your existing course management tools and learn to leverage new media to inspire your students to excel.

For more information about the program visit www.onefortraining.org/certification.