Blackboard bug - Hiding the Cengage Tool

There's no need to try this, but if you go to Tools or Tools Area on your Blackboard course menu and click the "Hide Link" button next to Cengage Learning MindLinks, you'll see a blank white area below the Welcome and My Courses tabs. If you've tried this, just click the back button on your browser to take you back to the Tools area.

This bug will be fixed in a future version of Blackboard, but in the meantime, you can fix this bug and hide the Cengage tool by going to the Control Panel > Customization > Tool Availability. It's best not to change anything in the Tool Availability section. All you need to do is open it. You don't need to click Submit either. Just click on Tools in your course menu again.

When you return to Tools, the Cengage tool will have magically disappeared.

How to Create Excellent Courses with Open Education Resources (OER)

What are Open Education Resources (OER)? Find out at  http://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2012/11/30/how-to-create-excellent-courses-with-open-education-resources/.

Blackboard Needs Your Help

Blackboard has three new opportunities to partner with the Blackboard User Experience team to influence future releases of Blackboard Learn. If you are interested in participating, please read further and click the registration links if you want to participate.


Student Engagement & Retention Focus Group

The Blackboard User Experience team is looking for feedback on the design and experience of tools intended to bring retention and student engagement to a teacher's attention, quickly alerting them to potential risk and allowing them to take immediate action.

If you would like to participate in this focus group, please register below.
Registration Link: https://bbuxresearch.wufoo.com/forms/recruiting-for-student-and-engagement-research /


Grading Assignments Research Activity

Are you an instructor? Blackboard is working on streamlining how you grade assignments and we need your help! We've added some new features and we'd like to spend an hour letting you use them and get your feedback.

If you are interested in participating in this research activity, please register below.
Registration Link: https://bbuxresearch.wufoo.com/forms/recruiting-for-grading-assignments-research /


Help Plus Beta

Blackboard is evolving our help (we are calling it Help Plus internally). One key change is we are opening the help system to encourage the community to share the materials they create for their school. Our goal is to build a library of best practices from the community that enhances our help.

We are looking for contributors and end users to help us test the system. Contributors are those of you that are building supplemental resources (videos, PDFs, etc) on Blackboard Learn. If you want to share your ideas and your work with the Blackboard community, we need your help.

End users are those who value help and want to help us test and perfect the system. We need your help, too!

Testing will begin the first week in December with a short introduction.

If you are interested in participating in this beta, please register below.
Registration Link: https://bbuxresearch.wufoo.com/forms/recruiting-for-help-plus/

Creative Commons Licenses

Regent University periodically publishes a video magazine for educators. This month's issue is all about Creative Commons licenses. If you're interested, take a look at http://www.regent.edu/admin/ctl/onlinetraining/centerpoint/.

Instructor Characteristics That Affect Online Student Success

There is an interesting article on the Faculty Focus blog about "Instructor Characteristics That Affect Online Student Success" that can be read at http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/instructor-characteristics-that-affect-online-student-success/.

"From these findings and the comments from participants, we identified communication/availability and feedback as the two primary characteristics that the students found important in their online courses. Students wanted frequent, timely communication and substantive feedback on their assignments. We received comments such as the following:

• “We must hear from the instructor within 24 hours!”
• “I would not think twice about withdrawing if the instructor is not available five days a week.”
• “The worst thing is waiting for a graded paper.”"

What do you think? Please complete the poll below or at http://poll.fm/3yw17.

Grading Assignments Survey for Instructors

Blackboard is working on refining how you grade assignments and they'd love your feedback on how you use assignments in your course and how you expect to be able to grade them. You can share your opinion by answering the questions in the survey below:

Survey Link: http://participate.usabilla.com/891e13ee5a116cf7061662b04082f4279d0b0374

Video Captioning Tool

There is a web-based program that allows you to caption YouTube, Vimeo, or other videos about as easily as any other solution I've seen. They provide easy to follow videos that step you through the process. If you need to caption a video, you might want to give this tool a try.

Amara a.k.a. Universal Subtitles
http://www.universalsubtitles.org/en/

Online Student Bill of Rights Video

Quality Matters created this well-done video.
Watch it at http://youtu.be/2mDbSvqBvR8?t=48s

At Cuyamaca College we are committed to quality!

Online Learning in the Social Era Video

Michelle Pacansky-Brock traces the possibilities the social era holds for transforming online learning in this short video. Watch it at http://youtu.be/qh2HskDtpK8 or view the embedded version below.

How to Use Social Media to Advance Science Programs

This article in The Chronicle is available for the next 4 days at http://ow.ly/egkAP

Just a reminder, if you want to create a Facebook page for something related to the college, please review the District Social Media Guidelines and contact Rhonda.

3 Things You Might Not Know About YouTube

Free CCC Confer Webinar
Thursday, October 11th

Noon - 1:00 PDT

Presenter: Donna Eyestone

Did you know you can:

• Record and edit your YouTube videos from your web browser
• Easily add and search captions
• Curate your own playlist, even adding your own intros to other people's YouTube videos?

All you need is a webcam and a YouTube account -- no software, no trials, no downloads so you and your students can easily create videos.

Learn how to:

• Write a script
• Get a good camera angle
• Record without looking like you're reading
• Edit out the beginnings and ends of clips

Sign up at http://www.cccconfer.org/webinarReg/webinarReg.aspx

More Information: http://www.cccconfer.org/webinarEmail/templates/webinar-0912.html

Active Learning

"Studies prove time and again that college students do not learn when listening passively. To clarify further, twenty minutes of listening to a lecture is the maximum amount of time that students can process information effectively according to research cited in Does Active Learning Work, A Review of the Research (Prince, 2004)."

From an excellent article: Learning Online is not a Spectator Sport: How to Make it Active

Designing an Exemplary Course

Blackboard is offering a free online course titled "Designing an Exemplary Course" that is open for registration now.

Course Description: Using the Blackboard Exemplary Course Program (ECP) Rubric as a guide, this open course will provide both theoretical concepts and practical tools for instructors to recognize, organize, and build online courses for both blended learners and online learners. You decide what level of participation you want to have in the course, so there's no harm in signing up and looking around in it to get ideas for your own courses.

Presenters: ECP Directors and 2012 ECP Winners representing over ten institutions

Duration: September 19th - October 17th

The welcome video can be viewed at http://youtu.be/cenCNR9887g

How to Enroll in the Open Course:
1.    Click here to be taken to the course home page.
2.    Click on “Self-Enroll” to get started.

California Blackboard Users Group (CaliBUG) Meeting on October 19th

The Fall 2012 Meeting for the California Blackboard Users Group (CaliBUG) will be held October 19, 2012 from 10 AM to 3 PM at Ohlone College, Newark Center Room 1100, 43600 Mission Boulevard, Fremont, CA 94539.

Administrators, coordinators, and faculty are invited to attend this free [including lunch provided by Blackboard] event. This is an exciting opportunity to meet with colleagues who use Blackboard. We hope you can attend!

If you are not able to come in person, some or all of the sessions will be offered on the Internet!!

The tentative agenda includes:

• Keynote –What’s New With Blackboard?
• Useful Blackboard Building Blocks
• Blackboard Analytics
• Spotlight on USC’s Ultimate Blackboard Course Site 

Please RSVP today (!) to this link: http://tinyurl.com/d6vefbv

3 Reasons why Students Don’t Participate in Online Discussions

This article at Online Learning Insights looks into why students don't participate in online discussions and ways to get them more involved.

Fall 2012 @ONE Courses

@One offers courses, webinars, and certification in the areas of instruction and technology skills for the California Community College system. "Creating Accessible Online Courses" and "Introduction to Teaching with Blackboard 9.1" are required courses for being certified to teach online at Cuyamaca College.

These courses are filling up fast, so reserve your spot today!

Available Courses:

• Creating Accessible Online Courses
  Monday 09/17/2012 - Friday 10/12/2012
• Designing Effective Online Assessments
  Monday 09/17/2012 - Friday 10/12/2012
• Introduction to Teaching with Blackboard 9.1
• Monday 10/15/2012 - Friday 11/09/2012

Don't Miss these Learn at Lunch Webinars

• Canvas: the CMS for Multimedia and Connecting with Your Students
  Thu, 09/27/2012 - 12:00pm
• Mobile Teaching: Don't Leave Home Without It
  Tue, 10/02/2012 - 12:00pm
• Learn How to Make Your Meetings Shorter and More Productive!
  Wed, 10/03/2012 - 12:00pm
• Enhancing Your Productivity with Free Web-based Tools
  Wed, 10/10/2012 - 12:00pm
• Design Crimes in Your Presentations and How to Solve Them
  Wed, 10/17/2012 - 12:00pm
• QR Codes for Learning? YES!
  Wed, 10/24/2012 - 12:00pm
• YouTube - Record, Edit & Caption Your Own Video; All in YouTube
  Tue, 10/30/2012 - 12:00pm
• Take Your Online Teaching to New Heights: The @ONE Online Teaching Certification Program
  Tue, 11/06/2012 - 12:00pm
• Closing the Loop - Creating Self-Reflecting Students in Online Classes
  Thu, 11/08/2012 - 12:00pm

Playing a YouTube Video in Chrome

There is a problem that can occur when trying to play a YouTube video in Blackboard while using the Chrome browser. The instructions at http://www.gcccd.edu/online/documents/BB-Chrome-YouTube.pdf explain how to get these videos to play. Please pass this information on to your students if you have YouTube videos embedded in your Blackboard courses.

Flex Week Workshops

Here is a list of workshops that many of my blog readers may be interested in. See the full Professional Development schedule for more information. All these workshops will be held in E-206. I hope to see you all there!

Monday

11:30 - 12:30 pm
Accessibility

Tuesday

9:00 am – 10:00 am
Films on Demand Streaming Video

Noon - 1:00 pm
Social Media for Departments and Classes

2:30 pm to 4:30 pm
Great Practices in Online Teaching

CANCELLED
Lecture Capture

Wednesday

5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Blackboard I – Getting Started

7:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Blackboard II – Course Menu and Content

Thursday

2:30 am to 3:30 pm
Blackboard III – Grade Center

4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Blackboard IV – Tests & Quizzes

Friday

9:00 am to 10:00 am
Blackboard V – Safe Assign

10:00 am to Noon
Open Lab with TLC Staff

New Semester Preparations

Welcome back for the Fall Semester! We've prepared several resources to help you prepare for the new semester on the new Online Success website. There is a Blackboard Semester Checklist web page that lists things you'll need to do in your Blackboard containers. There is a very useful Word file ("downloadable checklist") on that page with a more detailed list that you can print out and check things off as you finish them.

There is an important emerging legal issue that I'd like to remind you about as you prepare your syllabi. It is increasingly important that online instructors establish an ongoing drop policy and implement it. It is the responsibility of the instructor and the college to assure that students receiving federal and state financial assistance be dropped from online classes when they cease to be active. The most common measure of inactivity is the passing of a week without communication with the faculty member or submission of course work (simply accessing the Blackboard container is not sufficient to demonstrate “activity”). The federal government has audited colleges to see if students are receiving financial aid for periods longer than they were actively involved in the class. Further, they are asking colleges to reimburse them for money paid to inactive students!

Information about your drop policy should be included on your syllabus that defines exactly when and under what circumstances students will be dropped for inactivity. For example, “Students who are inactive will be dropped from the course. If an entire week goes by with no activity on your part either through discussion board participation, email communication, or submission of work, quiz, or exam, you will be dropped. Therefore, it is imperative that you let me know if, for some reason, your contribution to the class will be interrupted.” In reality, we recommend you send a warning notification to students after a week of inactivity and allow a few days for them to respond.

Online Video for Your Classes

The Cuyamaca College Library subscribes to a few collections of educational videos that can be used for online and face-to-face courses. Check out the library streaming videos web page for all the options they offer.

Films on Demand is the newest and best video resource the library has to offer. It includes thousands of high quality educational titles in many subject areas. These videos can be shown using a computer and projector in classrooms or viewed outside the classroom on the web. All the video clips are closed captioned, and can be embedded or linked to in a Blackboard container.

To find out more about Films on Demand, come to the workshop Angela Nesta is giving on Tuesday, August 14th from 9 to 10am in room E-206 or check out the Films on Demand website Angela created.

Discussions in Online Classes

Discussions are very important in online courses to allow instructors to meet "regular effective contact" (see p.10 - 55204. Instructor Contact) requirements and help students to engage in course material. However, discussions pose several challenges for instructors. A series of three articles from the Online Learning Insights blog offers some good insights and suggestions to help faculty facilitate online discussions.

1. How to get students to participate in online discussions 
2. How to facilitate robust discussions online 
3. The Methods and Means to grading Student Participation in Online Discussions

Learn Blackboard This Summer

@ONE is offering the Introduction to Teaching with Blackboard online course from July 9th to August 3rd. This course is fully online so you can take it while sunning at the pool or from whatever exotic locations you may be travelling to this summer. Full-time instructors can receive professional development credit for taking this course. This course also counts towards certification to teach online at Cuyamaca College.

See the @ONE website for more information at:
http://www.onefortraining.org/node/587

Word Counter for Blackboard

Liberty University created a Firefox add-on that counts the number of words in discussion board, blog, journal, and wiki posts made by students. This add-on lets faculty quickly see the number of words a student has posted to make grading easier.

To get the add-on, go to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/Word-Counter-Bb/ using Firefox. Click the green "Add to Firefox" button to install it.

After installing the add-on you'll see something like this in your Discussion board threads.

Online Teaching Conference This Week

The Online Teaching Conference for 2012 starts this Wednesday and runs through Friday. You can attend online for free by registering at http://www.onlineteachingconference.org/.

To kick-start the conference, 2012 Blackboard Catalyst "Exemplary Course" Award winner (and former OTC Keynoter) Dan Barnett's presentation -- "Closing the Loop - Creating Self-reflecting Students in Online Classes" -- is now free to view on YouTube at http://youtu.be/MmmXpjSt2ag. This thought provoking video is pertinent to all online teachers.

Cheating in Online Classes

An article in The Chronicle titled, "Online Classes See Cheating Go High-Tech" underscores the importance of having multiple measures of assessment in an online class AND making some of those measures project based so that a student’s work and skill set becomes recognizable.

The Cuyamaca College "Best Practices Checklist for Effective Online Instruction" lists several ways to reduce cheating. In particular we encourage "Instructors use more than one method to assess student learning, and the methods are appropriate to the content being assessed. (item 3.4)"

Another Checklist item that is applicable is "Learning activities foster instructor-student, content-student, and if appropriate to the course, student-student interaction (e.g. e-mail, discussion, phone, online conferences)." (item 5.1)

The more instructors get to know their students through discussion and other interactive assignments and activities, the easier it will be to determine when a student is not doing their own work.

End of Summer Semester Reminders

Here are some quick reminders of things to do in your Blackboard containers before you head off to enjoy your summer.

Wrap it up

• Double-check your Total column to make sure it is totalling correctly
• Check to make sure you haven't hidden any students that have actually been in the class
• Grade Center > Manage >  Row Visibility > only students with a "no" icon should be grayed out
• Make your course unavailable after grades are turned in
• Backup of your course

No Upgrade

Due to problems with course copy in newer versions of Blackboard, we will not be upgrading to a new version this summer. This means no new stuff to learn in Blackboard for the summer or fall semesters.

Have a great summer!

Photo by Craig Belldina

How to Add Someone to Your Blackboard Course

The new Online Success website has changed the steps you take to add someone who is evaluating your course, another instructor, a guest lecturer, a student making up an incomplete, or a TA into your Blackboard containers.

Here's how to add them:

1. Go to the Blackboard Login page
    
2. Click Faculty Support for Online Success
   
   
   
3. Click Blackboard Requests
   
   
   
4.  Click Add a User form
   
   
   
5.  Login with your campus network username and password
    
6. Fill out the form

Please note: All users added this way will be given a special "technical add" user.name that starts with "ta."  (ie: ta.john.smith).

New Online Success Website

The GCCCD Online website has been completely overhauled. It is now called Online Success. A task force that included Rhonda Bauerlein and Cindy Morrin from Cuyamaca, Chris Rodgers and Janice Johnson from Grossmont, and Debbi Smith from the District, worked over the last few months to revamp the outdated GCCCD Online website. We hope you will be pleased with the changes and we would like to hear any suggestions for improvement.

You can find the Online Success website from the link on the Cuyamaca College website under Online Services or use this URL: http://www.gcccd.edu/online/ .

Unfortunately, this big of a change couldn't be made without breaking a lot of links to resources you may have been using in your courses. Please take some time to review your courses and put in the new links.

Here are some of the major links to check:

• Blackboard Login Instructions - http://www.gcccd.edu/online/student/blackboard/default.html
• How to Submit an Assignment video: http://www.gcccd.edu/online/tutorials/bb/videos/submit-assignment/default.html
• Change your email address in Blackboard: http://www.gcccd.edu/online/documents/tutorials/change-your-email-address.pdf
• Exam Tips: http://www.gcccd.edu/online/student/blackboard/exam-tips.html
• Student Help Desk: http://www.gcccd.edu/online/student/online-student-help-desk/default.html

Please explore the new site to see what may be useful to you and your students.

Blackboard Calendar Tool Survey Opportunity for Instructors and Students

The notice below is from Blackboard. I know many of you have strong feelings about how the calendar in Blackboard could be improved, so please take this survey and let them know. Also, let your students know about it so their input can be heard.

---

Attention students and instructors! We need your help.

The Blackboard Product Development team is currently investigating ways to improve our Calendar tool for instructors and students. We want to understand how you feel about specific options for this feature. Please set aside approximately 20 minutes to tell us about yourself and answer 28 question pairs (students) and 36 question pairs (instructors) so we can better understand your motivations.

About the survey: Questions are delivered in pairs to ask you how you would feel if a feature WAS included and if the feature WAS NOT included in Blackboard Learn.

To participate: Share the links with other students and instructors who may be interested! The surveys are available for the next week. To take a survey, click the appropriate URL for your role or paste it into your browser:

Survey link for students: https://bbuxresearch.wufoo.com/forms/calendar-student-perspective/

Survey link for instructors: https://bbuxresearch.wufoo.com/forms/calendar-instructor-perspective/

Make Flashcards with Quizlet

Quizlet is a free web app that lets you create flashcards and study games that can be embedded into Blackboard and viewed on a PC, phone, or tablet. They have thousands of flashcard sets that have already been created. Find out more at quizlet.com.

Embedding does not work in emails, so click the title of this blog post above to see an embedded set of flashcards for Horticulture- Vines/Groundcovers.

Choose a Study ModeScatterLearnFlashcards

Study these flash cards | Study horticulture flash cards

Free Instructional Ideas Course Offered by Blackboard

Course Title: 

Instructional Ideas and Technology Tools for Online Success

Description: 

Motivating students and creating community within blended and online learning environments is crucial to academic achievement and success. This open course will provide both theoretical concepts and practical tools for instructors to improve motivation, retention, and engagement within blended and online courses.

Course Objectives:

* Identify and apply relevant motivational strategies and instructional techniques 

* Construct thinking skill options for different types of learners and subjects 

* Design and share innovative thinking skill activities as well as unique cooperative learning 

* Map and apply instructional models and ideas to online learning tools

Enrollment: Open Enrollment begins Monday April 23, 2012. 

For more information, http://bit.ly/ImHv05

To Register: http://bit.ly/I6aiZG

Course Duration:  April 30th- June 4th ( A total of 5 weeks)

About Dr. Curtis Bonk:  Curt Bonk is Professor of Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University and President of CourseShare. Drawing on his background as a corporate controller, CPA, educational psychologist, and instructional technologist, Bonk offers unique insights into the intersection of business, education, psychology, and technology. A well-known authority on emerging technologies for learning, Bonk reflects on his speaking experiences around the world in his popular blog, TravelinEdMan. He has coauthored several widely used technology books, including The World is Open, Empowering Online Learning, The Handbook of Blended Learning, and Electronic Collaborators.

There are more than 1000 people from all over the world registered for this already.

Photo Editing Made Easy - PicMonkey.com

Up until recently, I thought Picnik was the easiest online photo editor to use. However, Google bought it and decided to shut it down as of April 19th. I've been looking for a viable alternative and finally found it at PicMonkey.com.

PicMonkey is a free web-based photo editor that you can use without signing up. Once you upload your photo, it keeps things simple by showing the "Basic Edits" which are the seven tools you will most likely need to use.

• Auto Adjust
• Crop
• Rotate
• Exposure
• Colors
• Sharpen
• Resize

PicMonkey has many more features if you click one of the gray icons to the left of the tool list. The "Touch Up" tools let you fix blemishes, erase wrinkles, add blush or spray on a tan with a click.

Even if all it had was the easy to use crop and resize tools, I'd be very happy with PicMonkey. I can't believe how hard it was to find a program that did these two functions easily and well. PicMonkey does everything I want an online picture editor to do and more!

Using Wikis, Journals, and Blogs in a Face-to-face Class

In this audio podcast from NIU, Dan Cabrera and Carol Deemer discuss her use of wikis, journals, and blogs in her face-to-face course.

Click here to play the MP3 file

Other podcasts from NIU can be found at http://teachingwithblackboard.niu.edu/blackboard/podcast/.

Videos to help you rethink education, learning, & school

Garr Reynolds, the author of Presentation Zen has pulled together a collection of thought provoking videos in his blog post at:
http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2012/03/rethinking-education-learning-the-role-of-school.html

Got a great lesson?

"TED-Ed's mission is to capture and amplify the voices of great educators around the world. We do this by pairing extraordinary educators with talented animators to produce a new library of curiosity-igniting videos. You can nominate a teacher, nominate an animator or suggest a lesson here: http://education.ted.com."

Check out the TED-Ed YouTube channel to watch a video that explains what this is all about as well as how you can share your teaching skills with a global audience. While you're there, check out the videos that have been developed so far. There might be something you can use for your classes.

Technology Showcase at Grossmont College

You can earn Professional Development credit by attending the Technology Showcase on March 13th and 14th in room 70-066 at Grossmont College.

March 13 Workshops:

10:00 - 12:00	Apple Products and Free Services
12:30 - 1:30	Using McGraw-Hill in Blackboard
3:00 - 3:00	Dropbox
4:00 - 5:00	CCC Confer

March 14 Workshops

10:00 - 12:00	Overview of Cloud Computing
2:00 - 3:00	Google Voice
3:30 - 4:30	Twitter

Form more information about these presentations and how to sign up see:
http://goo.gl/8YSHj

7 Strategies to Make Your Online Teaching Better

Excellent article at  http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/7-strategies-make-your-online-teaching-better

You Can Impact the Future of Blackboard

Blackboard is offering two new opportunities to partner with the Blackboard Product Development team to impact upcoming releases of Blackboard Learn. Please share the link to the first survey with your students.

1.) Social Learning Survey Opportunity for Students, Instructors, and Instructional Designers

Attention Students, Instructors, and Instructional Designers! We need your help.

The Blackboard Product Development team is currently investigating social learning ideas with students, instructors, and instructional designers. We want to understand your motivations for integrating social capabilities into the online learning experience. Please set aside about 20 minutes to tell us about yourself and answer some questions so we can better understand your motivations.

About the Survey - This is the second of approximately three separate surveys on social learning. Questions will be delivered in pairs to ask you how you would feel if a feature WAS included and if the feature WAS NOT included in Blackboard Learn.

To Participate - Share the link with other students, instructors, and instructional designers who may be interested! This survey will be available to you for the next week. To take the survey, click on the following URL or paste it into your browser:

Survey Link: https://bbuxresearch.wufoo.com/forms/social-learning-2/


2.) Assessment Creation and Reporting Survey Opportunity for Instructors

Attention Instructors! We need your help.

The Blackboard Product Development team is currently investigating what features are important to instructors when creating and analyzing tests and surveys. Please set aside about 20 minutes to tell us about yourself and answer some questions so we can better understand your needs.

About the Survey - Questions will be delivered in pairs to ask you how you would feel if a feature WAS included and if the feature WAS NOT included in Blackboard Learn.

To Participate - Share the link with other instructors who may be interested! This survey will be available to you for the next week. To take the survey, click on the following URL or paste it into your browser:

Survey Link: https://bbuxresearch.wufoo.com/forms/assessment-creation-and-reporting/

Easy New Way to Paste from Microsoft Word into Blackboard

Did you know that posting directly from Micrsoft Word can create display problems in Blackboard? This is a serious problem that I've written about before. The good news is that now we have an easy way to fix this.

There is a new option in the Blackboard text editor that allows you to paste from Word. This option removes the Microsoft code that causes the problem. Just click on the Add Mashup icon (it's the last icon on the far right of the third row of the toolbar) and choose the Paste from Word option.

Please encourage your students to use this Paste from Word Mashup tool when posting to Blackboard.

@ONE Online Courses & Online Teaching Conference

Spring 2012 Online Courses are Available Now!
Come join fellow educators and participate in our popular series of @One online courses. Our course curriculum has been developed to align to the internationally recognized iNACOL standards for effective online instruction. Demand is high so register today!
For more information, see our Online Courses page.

Beginning in February & March:
•Creating Accessible Online Courses
begins February 21st, 2012
•Designing Effective Online Assessments
begins February 27th, 2012
•Introduction to Teaching with Moodle
begins March 5th, 2012
•Introduction to Teaching with Blackboard 9.1
begins March 5th, 2012

Beginning in April & May:
•Introduction to Online Teaching and Learning
begins April 9th, 2012
•Creating Accessible Online Courses
begins April 9th, 2012
•Designing Effective Online Assessments
begins April 9th, 2012
•Building Online Community with Social Media
begins May 7th, 2012

All classes above have professional development credits available through Fresno Pacific University.

Spring 2012 Desktop Seminars:
•Teaching on the Move: Integrating Student's Smart Phones and Tablets into your Courses
February 14th, 12:00 p.m. PST

•Beyond Online Teaching With Virtual Presentation Skills
March 2, 2012, 12:00 p.m. PST

2012 Online Teaching Conference
June 13, 14, & 15
Evergreen Valley College
San Jose, California

Register Now!
for special early-bird pricing

Course Entry Point

In Blackboard, the Course Entry Point is the first thing students see when they go into your course. The default Course Entry Point generated when we create new containers is the Tools Area. The reason is that when containers are created, that is the only menu item it can be set to, but the Tools Area is not a good thing for students to see when they enter your course.

A better thing for students to see when they enter your course is Announcements. Announcements makes a good Course Entry Point because you can post a Welcome message there, and as the semester goes on, you can post any important information that comes up.

The first thing you have to do is make sure you have the Announcements tool link on your course menu. To find out how to create this link, please watch the video at http://youtu.be/JmnfStgKdUA. Also, follow the instructions in that video on how to move Announcements to the top of your course menu.

Next you need to set your Course Entry Point to Announcements. To do this:

1. In the Control Panel click Customization
2. then click Style. 
3. in section 4, click the drop-down
4. click on Announcements
5. click Submit.

Flex Week Workshops

As followers of this blog, you might be interested in attending some of these workshops offered during Flex Week. 

Tuesday, January 17

11am – Noon     Accessibility

1pm – 3pm         Great Practices in Online Teaching

3pm – 4pm         EduStream

Wednesday, January 18

5:30 – 6:30pm     Blackboard I - Getting Started

7pm – 8pm          Blackboard II - Managing the Course Menu and Adding Items

Thursday, January 19

2:30 – 3:30pm      Blackboard III - Grade Center

4 – 5 pm               Blackboard IV - Tests and Quizzes

Friday, January 20

9am – 10am         Blackboard V - Assignments and SafeAssignments

10am – Noon       Open Lab

No Students in the Grade Center

You will not see your students listed in the Grade Center when you go into your Blackboard containers before doing a course copy. The reason for this is that we removed the default Weighted Total and Total columns from the template that all new containers are built from so that these columns would not be duplicated once the old semester is copied into the new one.

However, it can be disconcerting to look at your Grade Center and not see any students there. If you are building a new course from scratch and/or not planning to copy in an old course, you can add your own Total column to the Grade Center, then your students will appear there.

To add a Total column:

1. Control Panel > Full Grade Center
2. Hover over Create Calculated Column and click Total Column
3. Type Total in the Column Name field
4. Leave all the other fields the way they are
5. Click Submit

Now you should be able to see all your students in the Grade Center.