Blackboard for Library Instructors

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Blackboard for Library Instructors

• JQ JohnsonDirector, Center for Educational
  Technologies
• University of Oregonjqj_at_uoregon.edu
• 8 Sept 2005

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This presentation

• Blackboard overview for library instructors
• New features of Bb 6.3
• Using Blackboard to help teach LIB courses
• Ways we can help other faculty use Bb
• Providing help and referrals
• Advising faculty on resources to include in their
  coursesites
• Integrating with other library services

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What is Blackboard?

• A commercial, web-based Course Management
  System
• An integrated, easy to use environment offering
  wide variety of features for teaching
• access control only enrolled students
  participate in course
• easy web publishing of syllabus, lecture notes,
  etc.
• asynchronous communication announcements,
  threaded discussion, surveys
• synchronous communication chat room, virtual
  whiteboard
• online quizzes, homework submission, and
  gradebook
• collaborative workgroups
• A UO Library service

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Blackboard usage consistent growth since 1999

• Statistics as of 10 Nov 2004
• 17,929 student users (85 of all students)
• 955 active fall-term or fall-sem Banner (CRN)
  coursesites
• 978 faculty, GTFs, and staff teaching using
  Blackboard
• Approx. 53,000 fall coursesite enrollments
  (estimate at least half of all UO student credit
  hours now have a Blackboard component)
• Approximately 1,500,000 web server hits/day,
  12,000 logins/day

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The UO Blackboard home page --
https//blackboard.uoregon.edu
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Typical UO Blackboard courses

• Courses in almost every discipline
• Large lecture, small seminar, and everything in
  between, plus non-course uses
• Some use for true distance ed and hybrid
  courses, but most supplements face to face
• Different instructors use different features
• Different instructors have different pedagogical
  goals
• Most instructors start slow first term teaching
  with Blackboard use only a few features

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Timeline of UO Blackboard project

• Need assessment (1996-1999) evaluated a variety
  of course management systems
• Evaluation and initial implementation (spring
  1999-2000) trial courses using WebCT and
  Blackboard
• Production (summer 2000) Blackboard becomes
  standard library service
• Upgrade (fall 2003) to Blackboard 6 Learning
  System (aka Enterprise Edition)
• Upgrade (Aug 13, 2005) to Blackboard 6.3

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The Blackboard team at the Library

• Not shown
• Betsy Kelly, GUI administrator
• Travis Ritter, network admin
• Duncan Barth
• CET Consulting (faculty support)
• ITCs (student support)
• Media Services, CETIM
• etc.

Tim Boshart Blackboard Coordinator and system
admin
JQ Johnson Director, CET and project manager
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Blackboard users

• All instructors and students have accounts. Log
  in as you would to wireless or to modem pool,
  e.g.
• Username jqj_at_uoregon.edu
• Password my darkwing password(dont know your
  password? https//password.uoregon.edu)
• Data in Blackboard is loaded from banner twice a
  day

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Blackboard coursesites

• Coursesites are created automatically for
  (almost) all UO CRN courses each term.
• Instructors can request a merged site combining
  CRNs
• UO instructor of record is Blackboard
  instructor
• Default to unavailable to students instructor
  must activate before use
• Sites created starting beginning of registration
  period for term, then twice a day
• Also sites for department (staff) major
  (undergrad) by request to courseinfo_at_blackboard

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Getting started

• Instructors edit coursesite via Control Panel
• Add material by filling out forms in web browser
  or uploading files
• Reuse material by copying a previous version of
  the course
• Change settings for appearance, functionality
• Invoke instructor tools (email, gradebook, etc.)

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New features of Blackboard 6.3

• Multilanguage Support (locales)
• Advanced Assessment Questions new question types
• Calculated Formula, Calculated Numeric. File
  Upload, Image Hotspot, Either/Or, Fill in
  Multiple Blanks, Jumbled Sentence, Opinion
  Scale/Likert, Short Answer, etc.
• Adaptive Release
• Review Status
• Performance Dashboard
• Additional Features
• Assessment Question Completion Status
• Syllabus Builder
• SCORM 2004
• Advanced Navigation Bar
• Gradebook Null Option

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Field trip

• A brief demo of blackboard with a focus on new
  features

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Helping faculty use Blackboard

• Answering typical FAQs how to log in, where to
  get help, where to send students for help
• Blackboard HELP (many resources, including FAQ)
  http//libweb.uoregon.edu/cet/blackboard/help
• courseinfo_at_blackboard.uoregon.edu
• For faculty CET consulting (Knight 19) CETIM
  Blackboard workshops (formerly IT Curriculum)
• For students ITCs
• Computing Center micro support

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Helping faculty enrich their Bb sites

• Many subject specialists are now providing custom
  Blackboard materials for their clients
• Research guides loaded into Bb coursesite
• Identifying things to include or link to (not
  just finding aids and research materials)
• Helping with mechanics of linking

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Integrating with other online Library resources

• We preload coursesites with
• Link to library home page
• Links to ereserves
• Other typical links
• Course-relevant databases and indices
• Subject guides
• Streaming media
• Persistent URLs for licensed full text
• Coming soon more links to other resources, e.g.
  metasearching

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Helping faculty find/evaluate other resources

• Other UO faculty using Blackboard
• Course-relevant free web links
• Learning objects
• Textbooks, especially ones with Blackboard course
  cartridges

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Learning objects

• What are these things?
• Finding them
• Merlot, SMETE, Maricopa Learning Exchange, etc.
• Coursesite collections, e.g., MIT Open Courseware
  initiative
• Course cartridges
• Evaluating them
• Intellectual appropriateness
• Quality
• Currency
• Access rights
• Helping develop new ones -- CETIM

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Learning Object Examples

• Merlot
• SMETE
• Coursesite collections, e.g., MIT Open Courseware
  initiative
• Textbook course cartridges
• CETIM projects