TOTAL Workshops - March Offering

We are planning to facilitate a pilot of another "Total" workshop during the month of March, beginning right after spring break week.  The "Using Best Practices in Online Teaching" workshop began a few weeks ago and will wrap up very soon.  Ashley Leslie has lead this workshop, and we hope to get a lot of feedback and suggestions from participants once it is completed. 

These workshops are for those instructors who already have experience with Blackboard, don't have time to take a full course, and are looking for a professional development opportunity that targets a specific area of interest. In  March, we will run the "Designing Meaningful Discussion Activities" online workshop for any SVCC instructors (adjunct or full-time). It will begin after spring break and will run for 3 weeks (March 11th - 31st).  If you would like to participate in this workshop, please complete the form linked below.  

We would appreciate your participation.  Thanks!

Workshop Sign-Up

TOTAL Online Workshops - February Workshop Offerings

Thanks to those of you who completed the survey concerning the online workshops.  I reviewed the results and the following two workshops were selected for the initial pilot.  You can click on either link below to read a description of each workshop including objectives.  With each online workshop, you will have required tasks to complete each week in Blackboard.  The participant(s) will receive a certificate from the VCCS upon successful completion of the workshop at the end of the session. 

Please click the links below to read the workshop descriptions, and the link to sign-up to participate can be found below as well. Remember that when you sign-up that you are making a commitment to participate in the online workshop each week and to complete the required tasks. 

These workshops are free and open to any full-time or adjunct instructor at SVCC, but there are some prerequisites to consider.

You should already have...

• Training or experience in the use of Blackboard instructor tools.
• Ability to use the Internet in an effective and efficient manner.
• Basic knowledge about the operation of a computer, file management, and software installation.

If you have any questions about these workshops, please contact me. 

Using Best Practices in Online Teaching - Description  (4-weeks)  February 4th - March 2nd

Designing Meaningful Discussion Activities - Description  (3-weeks)  February 4th - February 24th


Participant Workshop Sign-Up (You can sign up for either workshop or both...your preference.)

TOTAL Online Workshops - Interest Survey

Personnel from a few colleges within the Virginia Community College System have worked to develop a series of workshops on various topics pertinent to online learning. These workshops will be facilitated online through the Blackboard System, approximately 4-weeks long, and free to any VCCS employee (part-time and full-time). These workshops are for those instructors who already have experience with Blackboard, don't have time to take a full course, and are looking for a professional development opportunity that targets a specific area of interest. We will be piloting a few of these workshops this spring and would like to collect some information from you to help guide us in selecting the initial workshops for the pilot. Your participation in this survey would be greatly appreciated.  The survey consists of 5 items, so it should not take up too much or your time.  We will collect survey results over the course of the next week (until Friday, January 18th), so please do not delay in completing this. 

If you have any questions about this, feel free to contact me.  Thank you!

Survey

Start of A New Semester

January 8th begins our Spring semester at Southside. The enrollment process to place students into their Blackboard course areas has begun, so any students displaying on your roster within SIS should display within your course area in Blackboard sometime tomorrow (1/3/13) . This was done for all online, hybrid, AND seated courses. You still control student access to your course area and will need to make your course area available by the start of the session. (If you have an online or hybrid course that begins on January 8th, your course should be available to students no later than 8:00 AM that day.)  Please make sure that your course is ready to roll on time.  We begin getting calls from students bright and early that morning when they can not get into their courses. 

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There are a few things that should be checked as you prepare to start this new session.

1. Minimum Requirements for Distance Learning Courses   --  (Online Course Checklist)


2. Course Copy or Export/Import to Copy Content from One Course Area to Another:  Remember that a course copy can take up to 24 hours or more to complete. DO NOT run a course copy a second time, you could end up with double content...this cannot be undone. Submit an IssueTrak ticket after 24 hours if you still have not received an email stating that the process has been completed. I can submit a request to the VCCS to check their logs.  Course Copy Instructions
   
   Another option when copying content is to export the content out of your original course and import into the new one. By utilizing this option, you will have a back-up of your course on your computer or flash drive, and we have found this process to be more reliable and at times even faster than course copy.  Export Course Content / Import Course Content
   
   Neither process noted here is full-proof, you MUST check all of your content, test links, etc. and make corrections as needed.
   
   
3. Course Check: Did you check all content, assignments, and tests? Make sure to check everything carefully to make sure all content is displaying correctly.  Once you have made your course available, I recommend using your student account to access your course to double check your content . See what your Grade Center looks like for students. (See step 10 below.)   Using Your Student Account


4. Duplicate Menu Buttons or Content: When you copied over course content into your new course, you may have included areas that weren't needed. Delete or hide buttons on your course menu that lead to empty or duplicate content. (For example: You should have a "Student Help" button, not "Help?". Delete "Help?" if you see this in your course menu).   Click into each area on your course menu (other than Student Grades), and check for duplicate content within those areas.  Clean-up your course areas.    Adjusting the Course Menu


5. Copy and Paste from Word Tool:  There is a new copy and paste from word tool that was integrated into our Blackboard system last May.  This allows you to copy content from Word into an area of Blackboard (announcement, item, test question, folder, etc.) without formatting issues or other problems that can arise from pasting from Word.  This tool is easy to use, but would not be easy to locate on your own.  Take a look at the instructional guide linked above. 
   
6. McGraw-Hill Connect and Blackboard Integration Tools:  Those of you who utilize McGraw-Hill Connect will need to check out these tools.  You now have the capability to link your Connect "Course" with your Blackboard course shell.
   
   Getting Started Instructions  (Begin with this)
   McGraw Hill's Connect Tutorials Page - Scroll down to the bottom for video tutorials on integrating your course with Blackboard.  (This is a great follow-up to the getting started document with step-by-step instructions on adding content.)
   Blackboard's Instructional Guide   (Page 15 begins the instructions on adding content)


7. Blackboard Collaborate Web Conferencing, Instant Messenger, and Voice Authoring Tools


8. Blackboard Mash-Ups:  Tools within Blackboard 9.1 to easily add YouTube videos, Slideshare presentations, Flickr Photos, Links to Collaborate session or recordings of sessions, Record Audio, and copy/paste Microsoft Word content.
   
   
9. Course Availability: You will need to modify the availability of your course for students to have access.   Modifying Course Availability
   
   
10. Grade Center: Remember that your grade center area will need to be either set-up or cleaned-up. If you course copy or utilize export/import to copy content, you will need to go through your grade center and clean it up. Check your categories (they duplicate every time you course copy) and remove categories that you aren't using other than the default categories that can't be removed. (Click on Manage and then Categories within the Grade Center.) Double check assigned column categories and points possible by going to Manage and then Column Organization. Remove columns that you are not using. Use your student account, and click on the Student Grades button on the course menu to find out what students are seeing.    Basic Set-Up and Clean-Up Instructions


11. URLs to Remember

• Technology Training Site (This link will take you directly to BB handouts page.)
• SVCC Technology Page :  This has links to information on Blackboard, Using Blackboard Collaborate Web Conferencing, Using Panopto, etc.   There could be information here that you could link within your course to provide students with information on how to use these tools.

Fall 2011 Course Deletion

It is time for some housekeeping in Blackboard. Fall 2011 (FA11) course areas in Blackboard have been identified and marked for removal on November 9th.  Although the VCCS does maintain an archive of your courses, it is recommended that you maintain a copy of your course by exporting the course content. All archived courses will be available through the VCCS for about 2 years after they are removed from Blackboard. You should also download a copy of your grade center from Blackboard for each course as back-up as well, if you have not done so already. (Downloading and Uploading from the Grade Center--Video Tutorial)

If you have taught online, login to your "MySVCC" page and click on "Blackboard" to see which courses you are enrolled in as an instructor. From your SVCC tab or Teach tab, you will need to click on the circular icon (looks similar to a gear) found on the upper right corner of your "My Blackboard Courses" module. This will allow you to see all courses that you have taught that are currently in Blackboard, even if you have chosen to not have them display in your "My Blackboard Courses" module.  The criteria for removal at this stage is:

1. Course ID's ending in "FA11"
2. Or created before August 1, 2011

You should export content from any courses planned for removal AND save the zipped files on your computer for future use. (These file are not stored in Blackboard.)

Click on the link below and scroll down to the section called "Course Management and Navigation". From there you will find instructions on exporting course content. You can either view the instructions or download to save or print.

Blackboard Instructional Handouts

Upcoming Blackboard Upgrade

On the weekend of November 16th our current Blackboard system will be updated from Blackboard version 9.1 service pack 7 to 9.1 service pack 9.  This is not considered a major upgrade, but it will take approximately 24 hours to complete the process, and there are a few new features to be aware of.  (The upgrade will not take all weekend, but at this time we do not have a confirmed time frame.)

Information on new features and tools have been added to our technology training site.  Here is a direct link.

Blackboard Update - What to Expect

August 21st begins our Fall semester at Southside. The enrollment process to place students into their Blackboard course areas began on August 10th, so any students displaying on your roster within SIS should be displaying within your course. This was done for all online, hybrid, and seated courses. You still control student access to your course area and will need to make your course area available by the start of the session. (If you have an online or hybrid course that begins on August 21st, your course should be available to students no later than 8:00 AM that day.)

---

There are a few things that should be checked as you prepare to start this new session.

1. Minimum Requirements for Distance Learning Courses   --  (Online Course Checklist)


2. Course Copy or Export/Import: Remember that a course copy can take up to 24 hours or more to complete. DO NOT run a course copy a second time, you could end up with double content...this cannot be undone. Submit an IssueTrak ticket after 24 hours if you still have not received an email stating that the process has been completed. I can submit a request to the VCCS to check their logs.  Course Copy Instructions
   
   Another option when copying content is to export the content out of your original course and import into the new one. By utilizing this option, you will have a back-up of your course on your computer or flash drive, and we have found this process to be more reliable and at times even faster than course copy.  Export Course Content / Import Course Content
   
   Neither process noted here is full-proof, you MUST check all of your content, test links, etc. and make corrections as needed.
   
   
3. Course Check: Did you check all content, assignments, and tests? Make sure to check everything carefully to make sure all content is displaying correctly.  Once you have made your course available, I recommend using your student account to access your course to double check your content . See what your Grade Center looks like for students. (See step 10 below.)   Using Your Student Account


4. Duplicate Menu Buttons or Content: When you copied over course content into your new course, you may have included areas that weren't needed. Delete or hide buttons on your course menu that lead to empty or duplicate content. (For example: You should have a "Student Help" button, not "Help?". Delete "Help?" if you see this in your course menu).   Click into each area on your course menu (other than Student Grades), and check for duplicate content within those areas.  Clean-up your course areas.    Adjusting the Course Menu


5. Copy and Paste from Word Tool:  There is a new copy and paste from word tool that was integrated into our Blackboard system in May.  This allows you to copy content from Word into an area of Blackboard (announcement, item, test question, folder, etc.) without formatting issues or other problems that can arise from pasting from Word.  This tool is easy to use, but would not be easy to locate on your own.  Take a look at the instructional guide linked above. 


6. New McGraw-Hill Connect and Blackboard Integration Tools:  Those of you who utilize McGraw-Hill Connect will need to check out these tools.  You now have the capability to link your Connect "Course" with your Blackboard course shell.
   
   Getting Started Instructions  (Begin with this)
   McGraw Hill's Connect Tutorials Page - Scroll down to the bottom for video tutorials on integrating your course with Blackboard.  (This is a great follow-up to the getting started document with step-by-step instructions on adding content.)
   Blackboard's Instructional Guide   (Page 15 begins the instructions on adding content)


7. Blackboard Collaborate Web Conferencing and Voice Authoring Tools


8. Blackboard Mash-Ups:  New tools with Blackboard 9.1 to easily add YouTube videos, Slideshare presentations, Flickr Photos, Links to Collaborate session or recordings of sessions, Record Audio, and copy/paste Microsoft Word content.
   
   
9. Course Availability: You will need to modify the availability of your course for students to have access.   Modifying Course Availability
   
   
10. Grade Center: Remember that your grade center area will need to be either set-up or cleaned-up. If you course copy or utilize export/import to copy content, you will need to go through your grade center and clean it up. Check your categories (they duplicate every time you course copy) and remove categories that you aren't using other than the default categories that can't be removed. (Click on Manage and then Categories within the Grade Center.) Double check assigned column categories and points possible by going to Manage and then Column Organization. Remove columns that you are not using. Use your student account, and click on the Student Grades button on the course menu to find out what students are seeing.    Basic Set-Up and Clean-Up Instructions


11. URLs to Remember

• Technology Training Site (This link will take you directly to BB handouts page.)
• SVCC Technology Page :  This has links to information on Blackboard, Using Blackboard Collaborate Web Conferencing, Using Panopto, etc.   There could be information here that you could link within your course to provide students with information on how to use these tools.