1. Course Overview and Introduction
2. Learning Objectives
3. Assessment and Measurement

It is important to put time into an overview and introduction to every online course to give your students a road map to follow on their journey through your online course as well as to include some professor presence into the course. One tool mentioned was Voki which lets you create animated, talking avatars which you could use to present a welcome message to your students. I think you can be just as effective in introducing yourself and the course by creating a short Camtasia Relay recording. (For instructors who want to have an image of themselves in the recording, Relay 4 will allow you to do this!) The presenters used mind maps to bring together information, which could be used to show the structure of a course if you wanted to create a more visual element. Here are three free mind mapping tools that were mentioned:

The presenters had a variety of tools for writing learning objectives. This website from Iowa State University has an interactive map of the knowledge and cognitive dimensions with examples for each intersection. They also showed a number of helpful websites for building objectives such as Radio James and the Differentiator.

Once you have your learning objectives worked out, you need to determine what how you will assess and measure these in the online class. Quality Matters looks for a variety of different types of assessments which are appropriate for what you are trying to assess. A helpful tool for anyone wanting to know if their assessments align correctly with their learning objectives, here is a resource from Carnegie Mellon. This website may also help you find some new ideas for assessments.

The presenters also mentioned rubistar for anyone looking for help developing rubrics. Here is another resource all about creating rubrics from the Authentic Assessment Toolbox. Our version of Blackboard at GRCC has a built-in interactive rubric tool for grading which can save a lot of time grading and providing feedback to students. It can also save you time on the questions you can get from students wanting to know how you’ll grade their assignment. You can send them to the rubric for details. For tip sheets and videos on creating and using interactive rubrics at GRCC, checkout the tipsheets at grcc.edu/bbtipsheets.

This was a good session in that it breaks down the elements in Quality Matters and gave support for each one. I could see developing something similar for faculty at GRCC to break up our online course readiness rubric into chunks with some resources and examples.

This session was a panel discussion from Coastline Community College. They focused on disadvantages, advantages, and tips for hybrid courses. I was curious to hear the panel’s view on disadvantages in particular because I hear stories from faculty at GRCC who have tried a hybrid format with less then stellar success.

1. Disadvantages
   1. Getting students to treat the course as a hybrid course where both the face to face and the online activities need to be completed.
   2. It can take a week or two to get students used to the format.
   3. Students need to be trained to be more engaged in their learning as this format requires so much more than simply attending lectures.
   4. Hybrid courses are more expensive when compared to fully online courses from an administrative point of view
   5. Logistical issues and how registration systems are set-up to communicate what a hybrid course is and when they are expected to be in class and online.
   6. Many colleges still do not have a set definition of what a hybrid course is – and the combination of face-to-face and online components an vary from course to course in a college.
   7. Many faculty moving towards the online or hybrid education want to know – how do I record and distribute my lectures? What strategies do you recommend to sharing with faculty to alternatives to lectures?
      1. There was no good answer to this – every instructor really has to decide what they are going to put online and how they are going to use the in class time. With so many variations – some instructors put their lectures online and use the face time for discussion and other activities and some instructors do the opposite – it is no wonder that students don’t know what hybrid courses are and what they are getting into. Each hybrid course is its own beast.

1. Advantages of Hybrid Courses
   1. Engagement – online learning can make some students feel isolated and disengaged, so the face-to-face opportunities can help these students persist in the course.
   2. There is more communication with students because having that face-to-face time where students can get to know you can also make students feel more comfortable contacting you.
      1. It can be very difficult to make that connection with your instructor in a fully online course – we are striving at GRCC to encourage faculty to include their presence in online courses – because it is possible to make strong connections with students in fully online environments but it takes effort. How can you show your personality in an online course and let your students know that you are there for them and working in the class as much as they are?
   3. Student satisfaction – students find it easier to make connections with their instructor and other students in a hybrid course.
   4. We should be teaching students to be independent learners – and they hybrid format requires students to take a more active role in the course, it forces instructors to rethink their role in the classroom and this can help develop those independent learning skills in students.
   5. It’s much easier to track what students are doing with the online component. Instead of having to waste class time proctoring exams and quizzes, you can have students so those activities online.
   6. Hybrid courses have opened up more avenues for discussion – a discussion can last a week on a discussion board instead of just a few hours in class.
   7. Students have different learning styles, and you can address all learning styles in hybrid courses – students who do well listening and responding face-to-face with instructors get that opportunity, and those who need the time to think and write their responses get that opportunity online.
   8. Using social media in hybrid courses? There is one school of thought where it is best to use as few additional technologies as necessary to eliminate the time it takes to get students up to speed on the various technologies.

1. Tips
   1. Keep it as simple as possible.
   2. Proper integration of the different elements.
      1. Using the online component as a preview for what will happen in class. Requires students to come to class prepared and ready to engage.
      2. Make sure your students come to class prepared. Be prepared to cover the content that your students need the most help with – give a pre-quiz so that you know what your students are struggling with and what you need to focus on during the class.

I did not gain any insight to hybrid courses I did not already know. In many ways, I think a culture shift has to occur at GRCC whereby students learn the true meaning of a hybrid course. I think that there can be rich opportunities for engagement with students, and you can take advantage of the strengths of both the face-to-face and online modalities to build a “super” course. I have long been of the mindset that in many ways hybrid courses are the best of both worlds, but I know many students may not feel the same way.

Building Community in a Fully Online Class

The presenter for this topic was perfect because she had a very bubbly personality that I feel came through her fully online courses in many of the technologies she used to build community and interactivity in her courses. So often, when I’m working with faculty who are developing online courses or working in our Online and Hybrid Certification Course, it is hard to see their own presence in the course.

The presenter spoke about her different introductory videos over three semesters. I immediately saw that just by creating a new introduction specific for each course, you as an instructor are showing your students how you will be engaging in the online class. Its nice to come across an instructor who doesn’t just keep dumping over materials year after year, but actually records a new intro each semester! I think this can also be an testimonial that creating these short videos does not have to be time consuming.

Voice thread was the most intriguing technology used to build community. Unfortunately, I don’t think voice thread is available for free anymore and I have not had luck finding a similar tool yet. Voice thread allows you to create a narrated powerpoint or presentation which you can embed in your online course, and then students can leave comments (text, audio, or video) on specific slides in the presentation. What this allows an instructor to do is have interactivity in their lectures. For example, you could narrate a typical in-class presentation, and at specific points when you would typically ask for feedback from students in class, you can ask for virtual comments from your online students.

A great takeaway I had from this presentation was the use of book groups. During specific weeks in the course, the students select a book that is relevant to the course and sign-up for a small discussion group of three students. For an entire week, three times during a semester, the students are responsible solely for reading the book and meeting virtually in a chat room to discuss the book. The instructor does structure the discussions with questions, which is important as this could quickly turn into a free for all. What is most important here is that students actually get together with a small set of their classmates to work. I’d take it a step further and have the students use a tool like Blackboard Collaborate to have a virtual meeting where they could speak instead of having to type all of their conversation. These virtual meetings can be recorded just like a chat room can be, so that the instructor can still go through it later to grade students on their participation and involvement in the discussion.

Now I think there is great potential for other similar activities. You could have students come together to discuss chapters that you’ve seen are particularly difficult for students to grasp. There may be potential for students to present to a small group in a live webinar style session with only two or three other classmates which would help make it possible for students in a variety of different time zones with different availability to actually meet live virtually. It would also keep students engaged if they were focusing on just three presentations instead of spending hours staring at a computer screen to view the presentations for everyone in the class. If you taught content that lended itself to an interview type activity you could have students meet virtually and interview each other. You could extend this to an activity where students meet virtually with “experts” in your field for interviews.

College: There’s An App for That!

Saturday evening set the stage for me with a presentation from Dean Kohrs. Kohrs authored Hacking College and his presentation was College: There’s An App for That! How Mobile Computing will Change Online Education. After this presentation it was impossible for me not to see all of the connections to smartphones. The implications of the disruptive technology (smart phones) that Kohrs spoke about is not limited to online education, it goes much further. Many students are walking into college classrooms with their smartphones. In fact, it is estimated that by the end of this year, there will be more smartphones on Earth than humans.

Kohrs identified six disruptive properties of the iPhone 4S (or any smartphone – he was simply putting this in terms of the phone he is most familiar with).

1. Interoperability
2. Geolocation
3. Augmented Reality
4. Cloud Connectivity
5. Extensibility
6. Security

I was wrapped up in the session and didn’t take that many notes, so I don’t have a succinct definition for the six properties. I did find a nice description on this participant’s blog.

One statement that Kohrs made that resonated with me the most is the “making an ebook interactive is not that helpful – its the courses that need to be created as interactive courses.”

Community

This area includes international, national, regional, state, and local activities.

• Webinar on Bb 9.1 SP8 – DLIT Attended the Blackboard 9.1 Service Pack 8 Virtual Office Hours webinar to prepare for GRCC’s summer pilot of SP8.
• BIE Steering Committee – Eric Kunnen participated in the BIE Steering Committee Meeting to discuss future plans of the steering committee for the next year.  The committee plans to meet face to face at this year’s BbWorld conference in New Orleans.

Department Action Projects & College Action Projects

This area includes accomplishments or milestones regarding Departmental and College Action Project(s).

• Project 1 – Extend DL Program
  • DL Student Survey Results – This survey was cleaned up and prepared for the DL FAB (Faculty Advisory Board).
• Project 2 – Enhance Classroom and Instructional Technologies
  • n/a
• Project 3 – Extend Blackboard Learn, Content, Community
  • Blackboard Team Meeting – Work is ongoing to prepare a server for GRCC’s pilot of SP8 for the summer session.  Live courses will be running during this pilot in preparation for a Fall upgrade.

Other Work within Your Department

This area includes accomplishments, milestones, or comments from within the department.

• n/a

DLIT Staff Reports

This area includes accomplishments, milestones, or comments from DLIT staff that is not included in the work outlined in the Department and College Action Projects area and categories above.

• Eric Kunnen
  • DLIT Department Planning – Finalized and prepared budget requests for DLIT for 12-13.
  • Prepared report with IT for DEANS Council on AGC Minimum Use Standard for Blackboard.
  • Attended the Blackboard 9.1 SP8 Office Hours webinar to prepare for GRCC’s summer pilot of SP8.
  • Spent Vacation in Orlando.
  • Participated in a BIE (Blackboard Idea Exchange) Steering Committee Meeting.
  • Worked with Jose to organize and finalize logistics and need for the Donuts with DLIT day on Feb 22nd.
  • Worked to clean up the negative and specific instructor comments in the DL survey by removing specific names. This survey was cleaned up and prepared for the DL FAB (Faculty Advisory Board).
• Meegan Willi
  • Online Course Developments
    • Met with Winona Hartney on 2/16 to discuss progress on development of DXX 115.
    • I’m seeing more of a variety in course development, even among courses that are part of a fully online degree. Given comments we have had in the past from student surveys, as well as observations made during the HLC visit, as we develop more fully online courses, it would help to have some standard navigation and organization to make the student experience a positive and successful one.
  • Took minutes at the Blackboard Team Meeting on 2/16: http://dlitgroup.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/blackboard-team-meeting-february-16-2012/
  • AGC Clicker Work: Clickers are available in 125 Main this week for faculty to stop by, see the clickers, and give their feedback. http://grcctoday.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/help-choose-our-campus-clicker-standard/
  • OHCC: Attended the final presentations on 2/17. Viewing recorded presentations 2/22 to provide feedback.
  • Attended ISIS Meeting on 2/17

• Jose Mora
  • Attended Donuts & Bagels
  • Reconciled budgets
  • Processed reimbursements
  • Answered student DLIT e-mail
  • Helped walk-in faculty.
• Student Worker
  • Took blackboard survey
  • Helped in processing and managing various documents
  • Helped in moving multimedia from one location to another
  • Added contact hours on MCCVLC site
  • Searched for faculty email addresses from survey while also scanning through the document for feedback.

EOL Faculty Reports

This area includes accomplishments, milestones, or comments from EOL faculty in the department.

• Luann Keizer
  • Assisted faculty and submitted tracking forms to http://www.grcc.edu/.
  • Hosted Blackboard, Bagels, Donuts and Distance Learning.
  • Assisted faculty within CO dept
  • Conducted Collaborate virtual field trip
  • Facilitated Blackboard Basics training and have the bruises to show for it.
  • Registered one, completed one in Blackboard Basics online course.
• Tim Koets
  • n/a
• Garret Brand
  • Assisted faculty and submitted tracking forms to http://www.grcc.edu/tracking.
  • Facilitated Week Five of OHCC and assisted with final presentations.
  • Assisted various faculty who dropped into 125 Main.
  • Participated in Blackboard Team Meeting.
  • Cat conversations increasing again (Eric back from vacation).
  • Assisted faculty within Business Department.
  • Attended e-Learning Conference in Long Beach (blog posts to follow). See http://www.flickr.com/photos/barrydahl/6772869378/in/photostream.
  • Attended Blackboard, Bagels, Donuts and Distance Learning.
  • Attended Webinar on “Building Interactive Articles for Peer-Reviewed Journals with SoftChalk.”
  • Attended ISIS Meeting on Friday, February 22..

DLIT Tracking Table

• n/a

SafeAssign Issues

• One faculty member still having issues. Mark has been in contact with them via email.

Rubric

• If a rubric is attached to an Assignment or SafeAssignment and there is no attempt from a student, then the instructor cannot use the rubric to grade the student’s work.
• Mark will follow up with Blackboard support, submit a ticket. Potentially, we’d like to add this as an enhancement.

File Permission Issue on Production, Test and Development

• Students do not have permission to view files in the course files directory by default.
• Mark will reply to the ticket with Blackboard.

Discussion Boards – Mobile App

• In Garry’s course he has a student who used the Mobile Learn App and post to the discussion board, but her posts never registered. So when grading, etc, there were not posts linked to her to show activity.
• Mark will enroll himself into the course to see if he can replicate the issue.

Accessibility Issue

• Discussion Board and Assessment issues where Jaws is not reading all of the Discussion Board posts, additionally, the screen reader sometimes skips some of the answer options in assessments.

SP8 is available in GA

• We need to install this on Dev.
• Mark wanted to ensure that there is nothing currently on dev that we were working on and didn’t want to be blown away. Garry and Meegan have nothing they need preserved. Eric?

Blackboard Analytics for Learn Summary

• We have the servers we need in place for the data warehouse.
• The building block for Blackboard Analytics still needs to be configured.

Blackboard Collaborate Pilot

• Meegan to work on survey tool for feedback from students and faculty.
• Still waiting to hear back from Peter Campbell n turning on the connection between Blackboard Collaborate and Blackboard IM. Meegan will follow-up.

Twitter Mash-up Tool

• This is currently available in Ocelot.
• Szymon did testing of the mash-up on test, and it seems ready to install in our production environment.
• Mark will reinstall it in test.

Community

This area includes international, national, regional, state, and local activities.

• n/a

Department Action Projects & College Action Projects

This area includes accomplishments or milestones regarding Departmental and College Action Project(s).

Project 1 – Extend DL Program

• n/a

Project 2 – Enhance Classroom and Instructional Technologies

• n/a

Project 3 – Extend Blackboard Learn, Content, Community

• n/a

Other Work within Your Department

This area includes accomplishments, milestones, or comments from within the department.

• n/a

DLIT Staff Reports

This area includes accomplishments, milestones, or comments from DLIT staff that is not included in the work outlined in the Department and College Action Projects area and categories above.

Eric Kunnen

• SP8 Pilot Web Page – Updated: http://cms.grcc.edu/bbupgrade
• Added a Blog Post on MCCVLC Student Success Webinar – “Student Preparedness for Online Learning” See: http://dlitgroup.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/student-success-online-mccvlc-webinar/
• DL CAP Meeting – The DL CAP team participate in DLIT departmental planning as well as review of the HLC visit.
• DEPT Planning – Completed work on the DLIT department plans and budget for 12-13.
• iPad Meeting – Met with Garry Brand, Meegan Willi, and Fiona Hert about the potential to purchase iPad for teaching and learning.
• Bb Analytics Field Trial – Met with 5 Bb Inc staff along with 13 GRCC staff to review features, potential, and capabilities related to data, tracking, monitoring, and reporting with the new Bb Analytics for Learn product that will be released soon.  This is an outstanding product and it will be extremely powerful to provide detailed statistics around the use of Bb from a faculty, staff, and student perspective along with integration with Peoplesoft data provides a rich set of interactive reports and detailed investigation possibilities.

Meegan Willi

• Bb Analytics: Met with the team from Blackboard on Monday, February 13th for an overview and a session covering Blackboard Outcomes versus Analytics for Learn.
• AGC Clicker Work: Working with Lisa G to schedule times for the campus community to view the clickers and provide the committee feedback during this week and next.
• Online Course Developments:
  • Met with Paul Phifer to discuss the development of CLS 101
  • Met with Doug Wiersma to touch base on the development of ELEC 010, 020, 030, and 040. Doug will be working with the College and MSU on an articulation agreement to bring the curriculum used at MSU to this side of the state.
  • The Online Course Review Committee met and completed 7 course evaluations. With 9 courses on the agenda for this month, we ran out of time, and the final 2 will be completed by the end of the week.
• Blackboard Collaborate Pilot: Emailed pilot participants to gather data on how the tool is being used. Pursuing pilot opportunities in the professional development, training, and meeting realms.
• Watched the recording from Blackboard’s Webinar: “Building Exemplary Courses.”  Presented by Dr. Shirley Waterhouse, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Shannon Field, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Worldwide
• Instructional Technology Council eLearning 2012 Conference – February 18-21 – I will be attending the conference and got the good news today that I was awarded an SSPD Grant which will be used towards this development opportunity.

Jose Mora

• Opened up VLC sections on website
• Capped remaining summer and Fall sections
• Worked on reimbursements for various incidents
• Answered DLIT student e-mails
• Finished conference logistical work
• Attended DL CAP
• Worked with Printing Solutions staff on new project

Student Worker

• Helped a student change her settings on Blackboard.
• Added the new sections of classes in the VLC website for the Summer Semester.

EOL Faculty Reports

This area includes accomplishments, milestones, or comments from EOL faculty in the department.

Luann Keizer

• n/a

Tim Koets

• n/a

Garret Brand

1. Assisted faculty and submitted tracking forms to http://www.grcc.edu/.
2. Facilitated Week Four of OHCC and assisted with campus session.
3. Assisted various faculty who dropped into 125 Main.
4. Participated in Blackboard Team Meeting.
5. Cat conversations decreased due to Blackboard consultations and vacations.
6. Assisted faculty within Business Department.
7. Troubleshooting NBC Video.
8. Participated in Blackboard Analytics and Outcomes meeting.
9. DL CAP meeting on Friday, February 10.
10. Departmental planning meeting on Friday, February 10.
11. Planning and funding meeting re: instructional technology for students (with Dean).
12. Bb Collaborate pilot planning meeting with Meegan.

DLIT Tracking Table

On February 9, DLIT had the opportunity to join a webinar on the topic of student readiness in online learning.

Here are a few notes:

• SmarterMeasure is a vendor in this space.  They have a report available here which highlights some great information and research about students and distance learning.
• Buffalo State College has a student survey of around 40 questions that they are working to validate.
• Some of the topics discussed on the call include:
  • Student readiness is around what drives students to participate, succeed, and complete their online course.
  • Self-efficacy is relevant when couched in a specific performance indicator rather than a general self-efficacy.
  • Learner preferences and style differences govern student satisfaction not necessarily student success.
  • Relationships to technology matter
  • Online learning already addresses multiple-learning styles
  •  Successful students possess sufficient skills to access education, desire, capacity, and also flexibility matters.
  • Readiness index = self concept, experience with DL courses.
  • Technology index = ownership of hardware and skills to operate.
  • Interest index = student orientation and excitement to engage in DL courses.
  • A students ability, comfort with communication in technology, self-direction, desire, goal setting, and learner experiences are all important facets.
  • Factor 1 – comfort with elearning
  • Factor 2 – self directed learning and self management
  • General beliefs about DL include: confidence in pre-req skills, self direction and initiative, and a desire for interaction.
  • Familiarity and mastery of the web, the perception of flexibility of courses, and the perception of quality are also important indicators for success as well as general student abilities such as reading and writing.

Learner Characteristics - Dabbagh (2007)

1. Strong academic self concept
2. Exhibit fluency in use of online technologies
3. Posses interpersonal and communication skills
4. Understand and value interaction and collaborative learning
5. Possess internal locus of control
6. Exhibit self-directed learning skills
7. Exhibit a need for affiliation

Digital Divide – Hsieh, Rai, Keil (2008)

1. Beliefs in efficacy of technology
2. Beliefs that technology will be here tomorrow
3. Peer usage and peer value of technology
4. Hedonic value vs utilitarian outcomes
5. Impact of social norms
6. Government influence
7. Perceived ease of use
8. Self-efficacy
9. Availability

At GRCC we have a student readiness web site to assist students in becoming prepared for online learning.  Check out that site here.

Blackboard Analytics

• Bb Analytics will be run on the test server for now.
• Test is a copy of Production from Monday – 2/6/12
• Blackboard will finish up matching data pieces in Blackboard with PeopleSoft to run analytics.
• For the future: we need to have a brainstorm to determine what data we want to get from analytics. What are the delivered reports available already in analytics and what is the gap analysis between what comes canned and what we want to know/what reports we are looking for. Is it possible for some reports to be sent out automatically during the semester to users we identify?
• February 13 and 14th – Blackboard will be on campus with a team of 5 to jump start the Analytics Field Trial.

SafeAssign

• We need to install the latest version of the building block on Production.
• It is currently installed on our test environment, but there is no real way to test it.
• The current issue is that while paper and reports are being returned to the user, they are not showing up in the Grade Center.
  • Evidently, there is an issue with the certificates, every time a push config command is executed it breaks the certificates. Blackboard had added a fix to this in Service Pack 7.
• Schedule the new building block, get it going, and send a communication to faculty using SafeAssign with wording to also let them know it may be necessary to double-check the tool for submissions which may not have shown up in the Grade Center.
• Eric will type up and email. Mark will provide a point in time to include with communication.

Scheduling so that when faculty stop in to ask Mark a question, we know what to tell them. Such as Mark is in 125 Main on specific days every week. Regardless, we should always tell faculty to contact ITHelp to submit a ticket. Mark will begin integrating and updating his calendar so we can be better informed.

Community

This area includes international, national, regional, state, and local activities.

• Blackboard Outcomes Conference Call – Hosted conference call with Bb Inc and Katie, Meegan, Garry, Mark on reviewing Outcomes Assessment module and Field Trial of Analytics and SP8 as it relates to program and curriculum review.
• Webinar -  VTBE Limited Field Trial Meeting was held to discuss SP8 evaluation of the new visual text box editor.
• Blackboard Connect Conference Call – Bb Connect conference call was held to discuss roadmap planning and suggestions provided by faculty for the professor notification tool.
• Starfish Demo of Connect – Attended a demo of the Starfish Connect solution with John C, Luanne S, and Mark N.

Department Action Projects & College Action Projects

This area includes accomplishments or milestones regarding Departmental and College Action Project(s).

• Project 1 – Extend DL Program
  • HLC Visit – A successful visit overall with the report expected within 2 weeks.
• Project 2 – Enhance Classroom and Instructional Technologies
  • n/a
• Project 3 – Extend Blackboard Learn, Content, Community
  • Blackboard NBC Learn Use Data – in January there were 1,029 visits, 2,594 minutes total watched, top 5 videos with minutes watched included the following:
    

Other Work within Your Department

This area includes accomplishments, milestones, or comments from within the department.

• n/a

DLIT Staff Reports

This area includes accomplishments, milestones, or comments from DLIT staff that is not included in the work outlined in the Department and College Action Projects area and categories above.

• Eric Kunnen
  • Bb Service Level Agreement – Meeting with David A, Garry B, Kurt M, Meegan W, Fred B, and Mark N to discuss how to collaborate and improve end user communication during system issues.
  • DLIT Blog Starter Post – Created a draft of a post for the DLIT blog for advancing and promoting Camtasia Relay.  Luann K and Tim K to assist in finalizing narrative.
  • Bb Field Trial Meeting -  Meeting with Bb Inc., Jody G, David A, Meegan W, and Mark N to discuss rollout and implementation plans for the field trial for analytics.
  • DL Student Survey – Prepared and delivered DL student survey results to Deans, DL FAB, and the DL CAP team.
  • DL Strategic Plan – Completed research and scanning for content for the DL Strategic Plan “Business Plan”.
  • HLC visit – Assisted in the administration, coordination, and logistics for the HLC site visit.  This was a team effort and special notice and thank you is given to Ric U, Penni W, Jose M, Meegan W, and the faculty that were willing to be interviewed and provide access to their courses for review.
  • Bb Service Pack 8 – Authored the following post on “Ocho”, Blackboard’s latest release now available: See:

    http://dlitgroup.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/highlights-from-project-ocho-aka-bb-9-1-service-pack-8/

  • FPD CAP – Attended the faculty professional development CAP.  Topics discussed included: HLC visit feedback, adequate staffing, 3 Year faculty review related to professional development, more faculty involvement in the DL faculty advisory board, the DL course review committee, and connecting FPD to online course quality initiatives.  Also mentioned was the need to unbundle the dlit@grcc.edu email address for faculty support away from Eric’s inbox along with the model for faculty support related to on demand, drop in, phone, weekend support, and the role of the IT Help Desk.
  • DLIT Department Visit – Eric K, and Meegan W visited the Music Department to provide information about instructional design, distance learning, and instructional technologies.
  • Bb Analytics Visit – Working with Jody G on the Bb Inc. Analytics Team visit.  Blackboard will be sending 5 staff to work with our IT team to implement the Bb Field Trial for Analytics for Learn.
  • Community College Journal – Provided commentary on an interview by a reporter from the publication about GRCC’s Digital Initiative.
• Meegan Willi
  • Clicker Committee Work: Worked with co-facilitator Lisa G to get short video recordings from two vendors to show to all interested parties campus wide as early as next week. Finalized agenda for meeting on February 9th with entire clicker committee where we will be recapping vendor visits from January, previewing videos for the College from the vendors, developing short evaluation forms for faculty, staff, and students to complete after viewing vendor videos to aid in the final clicker vendor selection.
  • OHCC – Supporting during optional Friday sessions
  • Online Course Development:
    • Evaluating courses for the review team’s February meeting. The team will be evaluating nine courses on February 14th including one which is a resubmission.
    • Held an initial meeting with Colette S who will be developing a new online course in Dental Assisting.
    • February 9th, follow-up meeting scheduled with Winona H who is currently developing a new online course in Dental Hygiene.
  • Blackboard Collaborate Pilot: Scheduled meeting with Garry B to continue work on website and plan for piloting the tool for professional development webinars.
  • DL CAP: Working on fleshing out the tasks for the Curriculum & Instruction Theme which I am leading into a working document to provide more detail and identify specific tasks for each item in DL CAP worksheet.

• Jose Mora
  • Worked on HLC logistics and Gift Basket
    Assisted in hosting of HLC reviewers
    Created new online sections for Summer 2012 and Fall 2012 semester
    Capped sections for VLC students in peoplesoft
    Edited another auto-emailer script for Online Course creation google docs
    Answered DLIT student e-mails
    Completed logistical work for ITC conference; hotel and flight are completed.
• Student Worker
  • Created sections in MCCVLC site in preparation to be offered when open enrollment begins for the Summer semester.
     Worked on filtering student retention data
     Attended lunch with HLC reviewers

EOL Faculty Reports

This area includes accomplishments, milestones, or comments from EOL faculty in the department.

• Luann Keizer
  • Evaluated seven of nine new online courses in preparation for approval meeting 2/14.
    Assisted faculty with OHCC discussions and course design questions
    Followed up with faculty on weighted grade assignment design
    Enrolled two faculty members in BB Basics Online and had two faculty complete requirements.
    Assisted faculty with custom grade column setup
    Reviewed online lab course
• Tim Koets
  •  1. Conducted blackboard Mashup session.
    2.  Facilitated OHCC session
    3.  Interviewed with HLC committee
    4.  Submitted two new courses for online approval (co273 and co274)
    5.  Scheduled additional blackboard Mashup session for march
• Garret Brand
  • 1.   Assisted faculty and submitted tracking forms to http://www.grcc.edu/tracking .
    2.   Facilitated Week Three of OHCC and assisted with campus session.
    3.   Attended Camtasia Relay Webinar.
    4.   Sending daily professional development updates to GRCC Today.
    5.   Assisted various faculty who dropped into 125 Main.
    6.   Participated in Blackboard Team Meeting.
    7.   The conversations about cats never stops!
    8.   Assisted faculty within Business Department.
    9.   Attended Faculty Professional Development CAP meeting.
    10.  Participated in Blackboard Use Agreement Meeting
    11.  Assisted in HLC Visit preparations and attended exit summary.
    12.  Participated in HLC faculty interview.
    13.  Volunteered course for HLC observation.
    14.  Joined Outcomes discussion in DLIT.
    15.  Attended Product Advisory Council meeting.
    16.  Troubleshooting student permission and needs grading issues.

DLIT Tracking Table

• n/a

Introducing "Ocho"...

The next release of Blackboard is nearly here!  It’s internal code name is “Ocho” and it represents a significant step forward in the future of Blackboard from enhancements in the user interface through major new features and function.  There are new reporting tools, goals and standards features, course merging, course themes, and many improvements to the user interface.

Blackboard continues it’s ongoing improvements in support, openness, transparency and quality with Service Pack 8.

“Ocho” is essentially Service Pack 8 (SP8) for release 9.1.  This release focuses on major enhancements to the user interface to streamline and simplify the user experience.  Quality in interface design and innovative user experiences is now the default and is expected when working in web based systems.  SP8 provides excitement in a clean, streamlined, and more contemporary design.

Overall, based on the demonstration, there are many instructor efficiency enhancements coupled with a modernized and simplified interface.  This is a trend and commitment toward the future as additional features are planned for the roadmap in Service Pack 9 and beyond.

The following is a photo essay of sorts that provide a glimpse at the improvements coming soon to a Blackboard near you:

Blackboard Version 8

Blackboard Version 8

Blackboard Version 9

Blackboard Version 9

Introducing… Blackboard Version 9 SP8 “Ocho”

Blackboard Version 9.1 SP8

Here are a few more screen shots highlighting just a few of the advancements, modern interface, and features that will be available in “Ohco” – Service Pack 8.

Opening Course Home Page

Welcome audio with Bb Voice Tools

Needs Grading and Quick Change Course Navigation

Send Students Text Message Reminders with Bb Connect