Wednesday, May 28, 2008

LBCC CMS Trial Scheduled for Fall 08

The Technology Initiatives sub-committee of ITEC (the committee formerly known as DEIT) is looking for a few adventurous / curious / noble faculty who would be interested in teaching with a new course management system (CMS) during the Fall 2008 term.

We’re looking at three possible alternatives to Blackboard Basic (our current CMS), and ideally we’d like to have 4-5 faculty testing each one: 2-3 teaching online, 2-3 using it as a supplement to a regular course. Here are the alternatives we’re looking at:


Details:
1. We anticipate that we will be able to relatively automatically migrate your current Blackboard course to the new environment you want to test.

2. We’d like you to teach your online course or supplement your regular course using only this new environment for Fall term 2008. We don’t want to confuse students by having faculty switch back and forth between two CMS’s during the term. But we would strongly recommend backing your course up on LBCC’s Blackboard system every few days as a precaution.

3. We also anticipate that you’ll need to spend some time this summer acquainting yourself with the CMS and its new features and potentials.

4. At the end of the term, we’d have both you and your students complete a survey to help us see what your “real-world” experience was.

5. We’ll have a fund you can apply to for a $250 curriculum development grant as a “thank you” for participating, knowing full well that your participation comes from your generous commitment to teaching and that $250 won’t nearly cover your time (see attached application).
 
How to volunteer:
If you’re interested, please download the application form (PDF) and return to Vickie Keith in IA232A by June 13th.
 
The following information will be asked on the form:
1. Which CMS environment you’re interested in trying (if you want to look at Angel or Moodle before deciding, please email Paul Hagood for a Moodle demo and Susan Clark for an Angel demo).

2. Which online course you’d like to teach using this CMS, or which regular course you’d like to provide supplemental materials and activities for. (We’re looking for courses that are currently fully developed on Blackboard, not new classes.)
 
Thank you so much for your interest!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

New Tutorial - Blackboard Course Self-Enrollment

Here is how to create a Blackboard Test from a Pool, including how to randomize questions in each test presentation.

Requires Flash Player (available here).


Download the Step-By-Step Tutorial (Word Doc)

Instructors: if you would like this video copied into your Blackboard course, contact the System Administrator.

Friday, May 16, 2008

New Media Services Blackboard Development Site



If you are a Linn-Benton Community College employee, you are invited to enroll in the Media Services Blackboard Site. This site, an actual Blackboard course shell, is maintained by Paul Tannahill, the LBCC Blackboard Administrator.

Inside you will find tools, including text and video tutorials, some of which you may want to copy over into your own Blackboard course(s). If you see something you like, ask Paul to copy it into your course. And, of course, if you would like to contribute or suggest new content for this shared site, we're just a phone call or email away!

Login to Blackboard here, then go to the "Courses" tab. From there, look for the "Workshops" category in the Course Catalog, and click the "Enroll" button on the right side.

Enjoy!