Did you know that content displayed in Blackboard 9.1 does not have to be released to all the students all at once. The ‘Adaptive Release’ and ‘Adaptive Release: Advanced’ tools allow an instructor to customise the release of any content, making its availability determined by a series of criteria, including, date, membership and grade.
By deploying your chosen criteria individually, in simple sets, or through the creation of ‘rules’, controlled access to any content can be simply tailored to meet very basic requirements, such as releasing weekly teaching, right through to exceptionally sophisticated requirements.
An example of a more sophisticated use is the Anatomy and Physiology exam in the PUP1147 Stepping into Nursing module which has been delivered online for many years now. The diverse nature of this Inter-Professional Learning practice module demands that predetermined student groups (based on level, discipline and administration), sit one of two versions of the exam (standard and extended) in a controlled environment at two set times on the same day. This makes for a complex administrative process, which in the previous version of Blackboard (CE8) demanded a high level of attention to detail and many test and mock set-ups for final assurance. However, in Blackboard 9.1 by setting a series of criterion to create ‘rules’ and then ‘subsequent rules’, the same can be achieved in a much less demanding and complex way. Below is an example of the adaptive release criteria for two sittings of the same exam on the same day to selective students.
The following 5 minute video Create Multiple Rules to Release a Content Item from Blackboard’s On Demand Learning Centre, takes you through the process to set up both simple and complex release criteria.
With the ever-increasing adoption of technology enhanced learning, the demand to control the equitable access and release of teaching, learning and assessment contents becomes more and more fundamental. Therefore, the ease of use in the creation of flexible and robust release criterion in Blackboard 9.1, offers a more secure approach which is critical to success, especially in the control of high value summative processes such as exams and assignment submissions.
Additional note: The ‘What’s New’ module (typically displayed on the default Home Page of modules) highlights new content that is made available to the entire course. Adaptive Release Content that becomes available after certain criteria are met is not reported in this module.
If you would like any further information on this, please email [email protected]
Adrian Cain
Learning Technologist