Communication and Assessment methods and mechanisms are going to be important in keeping your course running smoothly over the coming months. This area is in development and more information will be added soon.


Blackboard 30-minute Webinars from March 2020

Teaching Remotely (Blackboard Learn Basics)
In response to growing concerns on the spread of the coronavirus, and institutions moving to fully online teaching, this webinar is designed to provide you easy step-by-step instructions on how to upload course content, create discussion boards for students to communicate, and provide an overview on the types of online assessments available in Blackboard Learn.

Getting Started with Teaching a Virtual Class (Blackboard Collaborate Ultra) 
Moving from in-classroom instruction to the online classroom does not have to be difficult or stressful. Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is a communication tool that will allow you to continue to engage with your students in a synchronous manner, or record sessions for students to watch at a later time. In this 30-minute session, we will review the Collaborate interface and tools available to use while teaching online.

Guide to Building Mobile Content 
In this urgent response to moving from in-person instruction to online instruction, instructors should prepare for students to access course information on the go. In this 30-minute session, we provide you with basic fundamentals for preparing online course content for mobile delivery. Additionally, we will review Blackboard mobile apps and provide you with a helpful worksheet on mobile content development.

Communications

Synchronous – meaning at the same time or immediate form of communication. Users are online at the same time and can see each other chatting or collaborating in real-time

Asynchronous – meaning at staggered times. Users generally won’t be on at the same time and collaboration is spread over a longer time (maybe hours or days depending on the activity)


Assessment – Video Submissions

There are two ways you can create an area in Panopto that facilitates student submissions. This may be for recorded presentations, performances or other visual multimedia:

This guide and the videos below explain the two methods for Panopto Student Video Assignments.

Method 1

This method creates an assignment folder within the main Panopto area of a Blackboard/Learning Edge course. This method works best when you want students to upload their own recordings and also have the option to share with the wider group at any point. This may be for the purposes of discussion or peer review.

Panopto Assignment Folder with Sharing
Method 2

This method creates an assignment submission area within Blackboard/Learning Edge that is linked to Panopto and also creates a corresponding column in the Blackboard Grade Centre so that feedback can be left by tutors on the recorded submission. However, unlike Method 1, recordings cannot be shared with other students.

Panopto Submission Dropbox with Grade Centre Integration
Student Video Submission Instructions

Instructions are included in the assignment, while this guidance shows a bit more detail for students on how to submit:

Panopto – Submitting Video Assignments

Assessment – PowerPoint with Audio Recording

If you wish students to submit PowerPoint slides with audio recording to Turnitin, then you must be clear on how they should do this. Some students in the past have misunderstood and recorded video files to embed in their presentations. Turnitin is limited to 100mb submission file size and so it is not advisable to embed a video.

The the following method enables them to record the slideshow including audio. Note there are tabs under the video on the page to select the version of Office:  

Record a Slide Show with Narration

N.B. The size of a PowerPoint file will include the file size of just the slides before recording the audio, plus an estimate of 1.5 MB per minute for audio. This is intended as a rough guide, it will depend on individual set ups.