• Working under the radar … Blackboard 9.1 update

    One of the lessons I am learning about implementing a major technology project is that there are quite long stretches of time when nothing really newsworthy happens – there is a huge amount of work going on but very little of it is of interest to the majority of our readers. I could write more about how Blackboard 9.1 now integrates with our student information database, or similar  … but I won’t.  Instead, here are a couple of snippets on progress in general.

    As we move towards July, the number of academic and administrative staff  receiving training in the essentials of Blackboard 9.1 is picking up. All academic departments have arranged to attend workshops that will enable them to build their courses in 9.1. We are also timetabling mop-up sessions between now and the end of July for those colleagues unable to attend. If you want to arrange a place on one of these additional sessions, please email [email protected] for information on dates, times and availability.

    There are currently 110 modules in 9.1 that are ‘live’ with 1,624 registered users. We’ve been monitoring all requests for support and to date, the number of technical issues reported have been pleasingly low. I don’t think this is a matter for complacency, however, so if you are a student or a member of staff who is currently using Blackboard 9.1, or who used it last semester, your feedback would be very welcome.

    As Blackboard has now achieved mainstream adoption across the University, the Learning Technology Development Division (part of Learning Services) have completely reviewed the processes that were in place to communicate with and support staff, students and other customers in the event of occasional dips in service or the system being down. Again, this activity is essential, largely invisible and only really of interest when there is a problem. Having completed the review, tested and introduced new, robust processes, we can now start publicising them. Staff can access the guidance from the  How do I report a problem? section (Blackboard) from the Learning Services wiki. Feedback on this is also welcome. I just hope we don’t have to put it into practice anytime soon!

    Lindsey

  • Campus Pack Awareness Sessions: more than just an ePortfolio

    Over the past few months we have been evaluating Campus Pack: a powerful ‘building block’ to further extend the potential of Learning Edge. It offers all students a personal area where they can create blogs, wikis, journals and podcasts, and allows us to build templates for things like CVs, ePortfolios, and PDP.

    As students own the content within their environments, they have full control over who can view and edit – they can choose to share elements with colleagues across the University, as well as externals such as mentors in work placements and even potential employers. Viewers/collaborators then have the ability Rating tool in Campus Pack to leave comments, discuss and ‘rate’ items; offering exciting opportunities for ongoing feedback and dialogue.

    Other interesting features include the capability for tutors to embed Campus Pack content directly within their courses, and where necessary, link these to the Grade Centre for assessment. There is also the potential for mobile access to Campus Pack, which will add further flexibility to learners.

    We are holding a number of awareness-raising sessions over the coming weeks – it is envisaged that the range of options through Campus Pack will be of interest to colleagues across the University, with direct benefits to teaching and learning, as well other areas such as Careers and Learning Services.

    These sessions provide opportunity for staff across the University to give us direct feedback, and influence any decision regarding the purchase of a license. Please get involved, it would be great to see and hear from as many staff as possible.

    Tuesday 24th May – 12:00 – 1:00 (SOLSTICE Green Room)

    Thursday 26th May – 12:00 – 1:00 (H203)

    Wednesday  1st June – 1:00 – 2:00 (SOLSTICE Red Room)

    Sign up for one of the sessions here – http://campuspack.eventbrite.com/

     

    If you are interested in Campus Pack and want to learn more about mobile access, contact Peter Reed ([email protected], #7756) for details about an upcoming webinar on Tuesday 24th May

    Peter

  • Blackboard 9.1 Academic Staff Development Launches in FAS

    Following on from recent work preparing the departmental administration teams to use Blackboard, we have now started working with the academic staff in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to prepare them for the upgrade.

    The process has begun with face-to-face sessions being delivered to each department with the aim of making sure everyone can do basic tasks on the new version. These sessions will be followed by continued support and resources covering aspects of using the Virtual_learning_environment and the wider Learning Edge system, in more detail.

    The exact nature of the ongoing support will be tailored to each department’s needs, and will include guidance on areas such as course handbooks, online assignment submission, and using audio and video for teaching and learning.

    The FAS development programme will be provided to over 150 academic staff, and include about 12 sessions running from May onwards.

    Peter

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