The Blackboard Bulletin
An informational resource for Illinois Central College Faculty
Blackboard is coordinated through the Teaching and Learning Center at Illinois Central College, 240A
ICC to upgrade to latest Blackboard release in Spring 2010
Just in time for the Spring 2010 semester, Illinois Central College will upgrade to Version 9 of Blackboard. Right now ICC is using Version 6.3 and had planned to upgrade to 8.0. However, the newest release, 9.0, has already proved to be stable and offers improved features. So this moves us from ultraconservative to ultra-current! Training sessions will be held throughout the fall to acclimate faculty and staff to the new features of the program before the changeover. We anticipate that faculty will really like the new version with its expanded features. For example: easily drop the lowest grade from a series of tests; use freeze frame in the Gradebook to line up student names and grades; incorporate blogs into your online class; with one click, email your students the latest Announcement; and set dates for Discussion Boards to be available or unavailable to students. Perhaps, best of all, the upgrade should eliminate the compatibility problems between Internet Explorer / Vista and Blackboard that have plagued us the last few years. The system will move the current Blackboard sites to the new version, so instructors will not have to worry about moving their own classes. Watch for information about training and please take advantage to insure a smooth transition within your sites.
Need help with Blackboard? CALL 694-8908 E-MAIL tlc@icc.edu VISIT 240A, East Peoria Campus SCHEDULE an appointment, daytime or evening TLC Summer Hours Monday, Tuesday, and Friday 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM Wednesday and Thursday 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM
TLC/Blackboard Staff tlc@icc.edu Jeff Maston, jmaston@icc.edu Gayle Blodgett, gayle.blodgett@icc.edu Pam Dewey, pdewey@icc.edu Markie Castle, mcastle@icc.edu Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu Patrice Hess, phess@icc.edu
Another Online Blackboard Institute Offered in June/July with Mini-Institute in August
Gayle Blodgett is doing an amazing job with teaching the Blackboard Institute in an online format, and is preparing for her fourth online Institute. This will start on June 17 and run through July 23. Explore Blackboard from a student perspective as you learn to use its features as an instructor for the fall term. This is a great class for those who have not previously used Blackboard or those who would like a refresher or to learn about some elements of Blackboard that they have not tried before. If you are thinking about using Blackboard sometime in the future, this is the best way to begin. It would be easier to learn Blackboard 6.3 now and transition, than to learn 9.0 for the first time. REGISTER: tlc@icc.edu or 694-8908 The TLC will offer a Blackboard mini-institute in August with dates TBA. You may also register for that at tlc@icc.edu or 694-8908.
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May 1, 2009
For help with Blackboard, please check out the Blackboard page of the Instructional Innovation website at http://www.icc.edu/innovation/blackboard.asp.
The Blackboard Bulletin
An informational resource for Illinois Central College Faculty
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Thanks for your help with the spring Blackboard clean-up
Thanks to all faculty and staff who returned our emails concerning the cleanup and maintenance of Blackboard @ICC. With your prompt response, we have archived and removed over 400 Blackboard sites which were no longer being used, removed over 100 instructors from courses where they were no longer part of a group of instructors, and solved many small problems. We also left 1,800 classes alone, per the request of the instructors who are still using those sites. It is not too late to send back your email concerning your classes that are no longer needed or to simply request that we remove classes that are not necessary.
Archive and Recycle Your Old Classes:
Please maintain your sites at Blackboard @ICC by archiving and recycling your classes after the semester ends. “Archiving” just means saving a zip copy of the class, as it exists right now, with all students, assignments and grades in it. Should the need arise, the TLC can use that file to restore your class. “Recycling” means permanently removing elements of your Blackboard class site (specifically, last term’s students, course statistics and, perhaps, announcements) in preparation for the new term. Students from previous terms will have access to your Blackboard course site until you recycle the site and remove them. Both the TLC and the Help Desk get complaints from students who don’t want to see their old classes when they open Blackboard, so you are also doing your students a service by removing them from your Blackboard course. If you are an instructor in a class with other instructors, it is certainly a best practice to consult with your peers before recycling. Always archive first and then recycle, to preserve a backup copy of the course. For help with archiving and recycling, see http://www.icc.edu/innovation/PDFS/blackboard/Archiv ingRecycling_Nov07.pdf or make an appointment at the Teaching and Learning Center. Faculty are reminded that you may archive (save a copy of your class) any time or many times during the semester, not only at the end of the semester. Certainly any time you make major changes to the site, you should consider archiving it. Also, if your grades are only saved in your Blackboard site, periodically download and save a copy of the Gradebook. Go to the worksheet view of Blackboard. Click on Download Grades and then choose Comma as the delimiter type and click Submit. Click on Download with the right mouse button and select Save As to save the file to a safe location in an Excelcompatible csv file. The Teaching and Learning Center archives all classes before removing them, unless the instructor otherwise specifies. However, it is recommended that the faculty also archive and save their own courses.
Batch Enroll Requests for Summer Classes
http://www.icc.edu/innovation/batchEnroll/batchEnrollR equest.asp We can enroll your complete student roster into your Blackboard site for your summer classes. Just fill out the form at the link above for each course that you wish to have students enrolled in, including your Blackboard Course ID and your class number. Your Blackboard Course ID can be found by going to the Courses tab from the opening page of Blackboard. The Blackboard Course ID is normally in the format of: subject, catalog number, instructor last name and, for those who have sites for multiple sections of the same class, a number (for example: ENGL105Smith3). The class number is the four-digit number found in both the print and internet class schedules under the title “class number.” The Teaching and Learning Center staff will enroll the students and send you a conformation e-mail when it has been completed. Batch enroll requests will be honored within 48 hours. Be sure to Recycle your students before you request batch enroll of your courses. Otherwise students from a previous term will be combined with your current students.