Month: September 2010 Page 1 of 2

Blackboard Mobile Learn and Mobile Devices

On September 27, 2010

For the last year, Blackboard has supported a new feature for people accessing the system via Apple devices like the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad using wi-fi (by wi-fi, not by cellular connection) and by Sprint Android (only by Sprint network, not by wi-fi). We occasionally get reports from members of the UR community that opening the application on their devices returns a message that the University of Richmond has not enabled the service. This is not true as we first enabled this service Spring 2010 and have not made any changes. When trying to access UR Blackboard through Blackboard Mobile learn app, mobile devices actually go through a corporate Blackboard server before accessing our UR servers. As best as we can tell, there are two frequent causes of the aforementioned error:

(1) Blackboard seems to frequently update the mobile device apps and the recently outdated version often loses compatibility.

(2) Blackboard’s servers temporarily lose the ability to mediate the connection between the mobile device and the person’s institution’s Blackboard.

To best minimize these issues, people who want to use their mobile devices with UR Blackboard need to keep their Blackboard Mobile Learn applications as frequently updated as possible, and they should have a contingency such as using their device’s web browser with UR Blackboard if that is practical.

Journals: New in Blackboard 9

By Jon

On September 26, 2010

In Information, New Features

Journals allow your students to engage in reflective practice throughout the semester in a private platform that only the instructor and the student can access.

You can create a journal by going to:

Control Panel > Course Tools > Journals
The Tools menu item > Journals
A content area > Add Interactive Tool > Journal

This viewlet from Blackboard’s On-Demand Learning Center will take you through the Journal creation process step-by-step.

During creation, you can also specify whether you’d like students’ journals to be graded. Journals can be indexed monthly or weekly, and instructors can comment on students’ entries. (Note: Formatting of comments is currently unavailable, but a Blackboard representative said this feature would be available in a future version.)

Groups can also have journals. Journals and Blogs are VERY similar in groups, but there are some subtle (and important) differences:

In a Group, you can select whether all members of the group can view the journal (essentially, a blog), or members have individual journals (leave “Permit Members to View Journal” unchecked). Blogs are available to all members of the group by default.
Blogs have the option of anonymous comments and entries. Journals do not.

Once you’ve named your journal, please be careful not to edit the link; doing so may be associated with a bug.

Another idea: Journals can also be used by students to post short, written homework assignments that are all displayed on one screen.

If you have any questions, please send an email to blackboard@richmond.edu .

Blogs: New in Blackboard 9

By Jon

On September 22, 2010

In New Features

Faculty have been asking about private blogs (those that are not open to the entire Web) for some time. With Blackboard 9, your wish has been granted! You can create a blog inside of Blackboard open to contributions by your entire class, a group of students, or a single student. Individual blogs differ from journals because they can be read and commented on by all students. Group blogs are restrict viewing and commenting to members of that group. Journals are private “blogs” that can only be seen by its author and the instructor.

Why use a blog? Blogs provide an environment where students can review their peers’ work — no longer will the only reader of an assignment be the instructor. Blogs or journals can also serve reflective spaces where, over the course of a semester, an instructor can see how much the student has grown in knowledge and understanding of course concepts if s/he blogs regularly. They’re organized chronologically, making it easy for an instructor to chart that progress.

Instructors have the option to link blogs to the Grade Center, allow anonymous commenting, and enable students to delete their own posts.

If the instructor is using a Home Page, in the “What’s New” module, students and instructors are notified by default when there are new blog entries, as well as new discussion board posts, assignments available, and more.

To get started creating your blog, add a Blog Tool Link to your course menu, use Control Panel > Course Tools > Blogs, or click the Tools menu item > Blogs. Hit “Create Blog” and customize its settings on the following page.

For detailed instructions on blogs in Blackboard, see Blackboard’s short, easy-to-understand viewlets: Creating a Blog, Creating and Editing Blog Entries, and Commenting on Blog Entries.

Groups: Improvements in Blackboard 9

By Jon

On September 15, 2010

In New Features, Tips

Groups are one of the most underutilized features in Blackboard, IMHO, but also one of the most useful.

With Groups in Blackboard 9.1, you can:

Release quizzes and assignments to different groups at different times
Batch-add people to groups
Set SmartViews in the Grade Center to view the grades of particular sets of students

Groups basics

If you’ve requested a merged course or just want to give students a space where they can work as a team by exchanging files, keeping a team blog,using group chat room, etc., Groups will be helpful to you. You can enable some or all of these for each group. Blackboard has a helpful viewlet about how to add students to groups.

Setting up sets of Groups

Group sets can be useful if you want to divide your students multiple ways (i.e. sections AND teams; teams WITHIN sections), The Academic Colleges Group IT (ACGICT) has created two video tutorials that will show you how to create group sets and how to edit group sets. You can also randomize user enrollments into groups in sets.

Self-enrolling in Groups

Need a sign-up sheet? You can use the self-enroll option in Groups to set up groups to which students add themselves. Group sets also include a self-enroll option.

Tests: Adaptive Release for Groups

When setting up a test that will be deployed, you can create Rules in Advanced Adaptive Release, which you find by clicking the double-chevron to the right of the test once you’ve added it to a content area. Select Create Criteria > Membership to select the Group; select Create Criteria > Date to set the to/from dates).

ACGICT also has created a viewlet on using Adaptive Release to restrict content to groups.

Please contact your technology liaison, or e-mail blackboard AT richmond DOT edu for further assistance with or ideas about using groups!

9.1 Bugs to be aware of

By Jon

On September 13, 2010

In Information, Warnings

Updated: September 15, 2010

Most of these bugs and known product defects Blackboard are minor, but please keep these in mind when contacting your technology liaison for Blackboard support.

1. Send Email

The Send Email screen looks strange in IE8 via the Control Panel. The Submit bar runs through the Attach File link.

Workaround: If this impedes your sending e-mail, send e-mail through the Tools menu item > Send Email.

2. Strange text after setting External Link menu item to open in new window

If you’re going to add an External Link as a menu item, do not set it to open in a new window. If you do, Blackboard adds strange text to it and gives the user a 404 Not Found error when s/he clicks the link.

3. Save as Draft when posting to Discussion Board

When using Save as Draft, you may receive an error and lose your submission. Blackboard has confirmed this is a bug and will be fixed in a future version.

Workaround: Compose your response in a text editor and paste into Blackboard only when you’re ready to submit.

4. Tasks appearing in arbitrary order

Ideally, tasks would appear in a student’s Tasks module in order of priority and due date. However, they only appear this way on the My Blackboard page; in the Home Page they appear in an arbitrary order. Blackboard has also confirmed this bug, which will be fixed in a future version.

Workaround: If you use Tasks, be mindful of this and tell your students they may not appear in order of date due. If you’re using Tasks but not Announcements, consider creating a Tasks tool link in your course menu and setting Tasks to your course entry point. From the Tasks tool link, students can sort tasks by Title, Priority or Due Date.