Blackboard Campus Edition (CE) Annotations

Just for the Record...

2009-12-16T07:26:00.002-06:00

I've discontinued posting to this blog because we (JCCC, the college where I work) is within 3 months of ceasing to use Blackboard CE. We're almost finished with a migration to ANGEL (acquired by Blackboard Inc.). Anyway, I'm leaving the blog in place in case some of the existing content may be valuable to other users, but please don't expect further posts.

The Black Hole Grows

2009-05-07T05:32:00.003-05:00

An email message from Michael Chasen, President & CEO of Blackboard was sent on May 6, 2009. The text follows (see additional links at the end):

Chasen Message

I'm writing today to communicate the news that Blackboard has acquired ANGEL Learning and to share with you some of the thinking behind the combination.

Why put these two organizations together? This combination was about getting better. At Blackboard we're always trying to improve, both by focusing internally within our company and by looking externally to other organizations we admire, like ANGEL. We admire them not just for their story of entrepreneurial growth and impact on teaching and learning, but also for very specific strengths that we wanted to add to our story and deliver to our clients:

- The first is their customer support culture that has translated into consistently excellent experiences for ANGEL clients. We can learn from their skill in this area and add their know-how to the ever improving client support capability we're building here at Blackboard.

- The second is their history of innovation - especially in the areas of user experience, teaching and learning tools and course-based assessment. Independently our two offerings have led the way in a lot of areas. Now we have the opportunity to bring these strengths together for the benefit of learners in our Project NG vision for the future of the Blackboard platform.

From ANGEL's perspective, and especially in today's economic environment, joining these strengths with Blackboard's own innovation, industry leadership and financial stability also made a lot of sense.

At the ANGEL Users Conference in Chicago next week we'll be talking about how the solutions will come together and will send you an update after we get back. The short story is that ANGEL's latest release, ANGEL LMS 7.4 which launched last week, will continue as planned. In parallel we'll set about the work of bringing the product innovations of both companies to the new combined client community.

As we move forward and knit our organizations together, we’ll continue to be very focused on the client experience. That means drawing on what we’ve learned from previous integrations and minimizing distractions while weaving the best of ANGEL into the tangible value you get from working with us every day. More than anything, today’s news directly supports our top goal of continuing to bring clear added value to your investment in Blackboard.

You can learn more at www.blackboard.com/angel [http://www.blackboard.com/angel] , but please feel free to contact me (CEO@blackboard.com) or your Blackboard representative if you have any questions or comments.

In closing, thank you once again for your institution's partnership with us. We look forward to showing you the benefits of this latest step in our ongoing effort to be a stronger, more flexible and creative supporter of your teaching and learning goals for the near and long term.

Additional Links:

Press Release at http://tinyurl.com/covjjm
Reactions at http://tinyurl.com/co7axa

Blackboard Issues: Status Report

2008-08-18T09:00:00.004-05:00

It might be helpful for you to know the status of several Blackboard issues reported by JCCC staff over the past several months. This should alert you to the fact that most of these issues are not yet fully resolved. While some of these issues are supposed to be resolved in version 8 of Campus Edition, we're still on Version 6.2.3 and we have no plans to upgrade at this time.

Ticket #478596 - Get Files on Mac Cannot Upload Multiple Files & Overwrite Existing Files, Problem Description: When using the Get Files button to upload multiple files AND overwrite existing files already in the Class Files area, Blackboard does not give the option to "Replace Existing" files. Instead the filename appears as "Null" and Blackboard offers only these options: "Select another location," "Rename," and "Skip." Resolution: This issue is scheduled to be resolved with the release of Vista 8 SP1. This release date is scheduled for the early July timeframe.
Ticket #483277 - Cannot Save Email Attachment to Local Workstation. Resolution, per Blackboard Staff: This issue is resolved Vista 8. I have completed my testing within our Vista 8 test environment and was unable to reproduce the issue.

Note regarding version 8: The CE/Vista 8.0 product does not contain “new” functionality; instead it can be viewed more as Service Pack 4 for Application Pack 2, so essentially Vista 4.2.4/CE6.2.4. The main purpose of the CE/Vista 8.0 release is to align the numbering conventions of the Blackboard and CE/Vista product lines. The only change is that the Learning Environment Connector (providing CE/Vista clients with access to the Blackboard Community, Content and Outcomes Systems) is now built directly in to the product. However, if your institution does not chose to utilize these products then you will not notice any changes to the application only further stability and additional maintenance fixes for product defects.
Ticket #442776 - Moving Custom Icons Causes Edited Text Links to Revert to Original Names. Resolution: This issue has been slated for resolution in Vista 8.0 SP1. The release is scheduled for June/July timeframe. Once a final release date has been scheduled, I will either update the case notes or provide results from internal testings.
Ticket #443689 - Web Links Do Not Import When Importing a Learning Module. Resolution: I just completed testing this issue in our 4.2.3 and Vista 8.0 environment and it's still an issue. I will escalate this up to our developers and track the progress. Once we receive a resolution I will update the case.
Ticket #435137 - My Blackboard Course Listings not in Alpha Order. Resolution: This case has been escalated to our developers. Once a resolution has been released, we will update the case with any recommendations from our developers.
Ticket #467838 - Need Clarity in Naming Cross-Listed Courses. The default naming of cross-listed courses is confusing to instructors, designers and students. When a course is cross-listed the names of the original courses (child courses) do not appear as part of the new name (parent course shell). Instead the instructor and designer see a name like “Cross-Listed Group 599” on their My Blackboard screen. The student sees the same non-descript course name when they enter a cross-listed course. We use Respondus extensively to create an then publish assessments into Blackboard CE. The list of courses displayed by Respondus includes both the parent and the child course shell names. Since you can publish to a child course shell and NOT have it appear in the parent course, this just adds to the confusion. Resolution: None.
Ticket #458823 - Need Ability to Edit Assignment Drop Box Comments After They're Posted. When grading an Assignment in the Assignment Drop Box Comments text box, there's no access the HTML Creator (with a spellchecker) and once the comment is posted, there's no way to edit that comment (e.g. correct a spelling error). Resolution: Blackboard support staff submitted a feature request for this issue.
Ticket #458825 - Confirmation Needed Before File Attachment Deleted in Assignments Tool. An instructor accidentally deleted an attachment from an assignment in Blackboard by clicking the little icon next to the attachment. She thought it was an ActionLink icon. That icon deletes the attachment WITHOUT A CONFIRMATION BOX. We’ve duplicated the event. Worse, in this case the instructor did not have a copy of the file anywhere else. She assumed a copy was put into her Class Files area (accessible using the File Manager), but that is not the case (We confirmed that as well). Resolution: New feature request that assignment attachments be placed automatically in the Class Files area AND that a warning with an exit option appear before the attachment is permanently deleted.
Ticket #446216 - Teaching Assistant/Section Designers Cannot Add Public Calendar Entries. In versions prior to CE 6.1.1 staff who were enrolled in a course as both Section Designers and Teaching Assistants could add public calendar entries to the course calendar. That functionality has been reduced so individuals using that dual role can now only add private calendar entries. See attached screen capture which shows only one radio button under Entry Option. Resolution: Blackboard support wrote “I am going to submit this as an enhancement request. Let me know if you have any questions.”
Ticket #478596 - Get Files on Mac Cannot Upload Multiple Files & Overwrite Existing Files, Resolution: None yet.
Ticket #479817 - Answers not saving during quiz/test. Students are taking an online quiz/test and when clicking the "Save Answer" button the question is not saved. This appears to be a random event as sometimes the answers are saved and other times the server is slow or does not save the answer. Students taking a timed test are not able to complete the test/quiz in the allotted time due to this issue.Resolution: This issue is scheduled to be resolved with the release of Vista 8 SP1. This release date is scheduled for early July timeframe.
Ticket #448922 - When Saving Backup as File, Doesn't Default to Current Class Files Folder. If you don't carefully check where the file is being saved (when saving backup as a file), you may lose the backup file in a Class Files folder completely separate from the course you're in. Then, should you attempt to save a file to the course you are in, you may have a list of the bazillion courses to which you have access. Resolution: response from Blackboard support “Thank you for taking the time to submit an enhancement request to Blackboard Product Development. The suggestions we receive from you, your faculty members and students are extremely valuable, as they come from people who use our products on a daily basis. Your request has been thoroughly evaluated; at this time Blackboard does not have any plans to dedicate resources to develop this enhancement in a future release of our products. While this specific case will be closed, Blackboard is dedicated to working with you to leverage existing functionality for your needs. Our Building Block partners may be working on resolutions to your issue, and you can also work with the Blackboard Global Services team to request the development of a customization that would address your concerns. If you have any questions regarding these suggestions, please contact your Blackboard Account Manager. Again, thank you for your input. We may make statements regarding our product development initiatives, including the content of future product upgrades, updates or functionality in development. While such statements represent our current intentions, the product development initiatives may be modified, delayed or abandoned without prior notice and there is no assurance that such upgrades, updates or functionality will become available unless and until they have been made generally available through a commercial release.
Ticket #515267 - Assessments (Not Released to Students) Still Have Link to Results. Faculty member created practice quizzes and doesn’t want to release the grades to students. He set the assessment properties so the results would not be released to students. However, after taking the exam, students can go to the View All submissions page and while they “shouldn’t” be able to click to see submissions, it is a clickable link that goes to a screen that says “error: Sorry, this action cannot be executed.” If they try to view the submission by going to the already taken exam first then they can’t click on the title to see the submission, which is the way it should work. Resolution: Fixed in CE 6.2.2. JCCC testing indicates the problem has been corrected.
Ticket #458818 - Chat Invitation Window displays Incorrect Course Name. When you send an invitation in the Who’s online tool it shows the course that the person is in but the course title displays wrong. Resolution: This issue has been identified as a bug within our application. Our developers are currently investigating the source of this issue. Once I receive feedback as to a workaround or fix, I will update the case.

After Service Pack 3

2008-03-24T09:07:00.001-06:00

Official issues fixed with Service Pack 3 (SP3) include:

Installation issues to adopt Application Pack 2 have been resolved
Garbage collection has become more robust
Known issues in cross-listing have been eliminated
Assessment and question component have been stabilized
Installer related issues have been resolved
Safari 3.0 compatibility issue has been fixed
Issue with "new" messages feature of Discussion Board have been resolved
An important security issue has been fixed

In bold are the issues that directly affect students and instructors. We installed Service Pack 3 on the JCCC Blackboard production server on Monday, March 15.

Keep in mind that one bug still persists and may be important as you copy course content from Spring 2008 to Summer or Fall 2008 course shells. Courses with group sign-up sheets on the homepage cause the copy process to abort. After looking at this issue in detail it appears the only workaround is to delete all group sign-up sheets before copying course content (the problem persists even if you place the sign-up sheet in a folder ). After copying the course content, then go back and add the group sign-up sheets back into the course.

Online SoftChalk Version 4 Demos

2008-03-13T08:55:00.002-06:00

If interested, SoftChalk will demo their next version of SoftChalk LessonBuilder (which we license at JCCC) this afternoon (March 13) from 3-4 PM. Three additional sessions are scheduled in the next couple of weeks. See http://www.softchalk.com/webinar/ for details and to register. Register early if you’d like to see the next version of this product.

New features include:

New Style Builder tool – create your own styles
Internationalization – new language options for generating lesson content
Two new activities: Interactive TimeLine, Slide Show
Create internal bookmark links within a lesson
Ability to name pages in the Table of Contents
New online score tracking options
New CD-ROM packaging option
40 New pre-built style options
New Multi-page print option
Ability to integrate PodCasts and YouTube video as a media type
Ability to optimize image sizes and automatically convert image file types

Enhancements include:

Text wrapping around aligned images and image resizing in the editor window
Improved “list” handling, allowing nested lists and improved list editing
Equation Editor within activities
Increased image size provided in Hot Spot Image and Labeling activities
Option to increase text size in Flash Card activity
Crossword activity allows special and foreign characters
Improvements to table editing, including visible borders when the width is zero
Display of point values for quizpoppers and activities
New Keyboard shortcuts that match those in Microsoft Word
Page footers can now include links, text formatting and special characters, and images
New easier installation process
New software update process allows control of update by user

Springing Forward into DST

2008-03-04T11:47:00.000-06:00

Do you know that Daylight Savings Time (DST) starts earlier than usual? This Sunday, March 9, 2008 (in the U.S.) the change in DST will require that we reset our clocks. Our time will “spring forward” by an hour. So it’s time to remind you of a bug alert we originally posted back in December, 2007 (see http://ce-annotations.blogspot.com/search/label/Daylight%20Savings%20Time).

If you try to set a time for an event (entry in calendar or assignment or assessment due date) on March 9, Blackboard changes the time to an hour later. Here’s an example: if you type in a time (like 11:00 PM) or use the drop down menu to choose a time, it may appear correct until you save it, then the time is set forward without warning to 12:00 AM (which would be on March 10). As far as we know now, this anomaly only occurs on March 9. If you don’t expect the behavior, you may be frustrated and waste a lot of time trying to figure it out.The work-around is to simply set the time for the due date an hour earlier than you really want.

In actuality, Blackboard has released a hotfix to Service Pack 3 that fixes the DST problem, however, we’re still testing Service Pack 3 and are not scheduled to install it until March 20 (during Spring break), so the hotfix is available to apply to a patch that we have yet to finish testing. Further, since the hotfix was just released we must test it before putting it into production.

Mac Safari and the Chat Tool

2008-02-25T06:08:00.001-06:00

On April 24, 2007, we reported to Blackboard support that the “Chat tool and Private Chat from Who's Online Fails with Safari 2.04.” We added the additional detail that: “Chat does not work on Safari 2.04 when testing 4 out of 5 Macs. When you click on the Chat tool's "go to chat room" link or try to use private chat from Who's Online, it fails to operate. Occasionally a small popup window shows up on the top of the screen, but it is empty. Other than that, nothing happens. In all cases we were using Safari 2.04. Three of the Macs used Intel processors, two were not. Only one of the non-Intel Macs would work.”

In December, 2007 we retested the problem with an upgraded version of Safari. We found that the Chat tool still didn’t work using Safari Version 3.0.4. The only change was that sometimes the Chat window appears but the user cannot type anything (a message) to the recipient, then it closes on its own. Other tests had varied results (everything worked okay on a MacBook running OS 10.4 and Safari V 3.0.4 but failed on a MacBook Pro running OS 10.5 and Safari V 3.0.4. We reported to Blackboard that “We cannot determine if the problem is fixed with Safari 2.04. We can't test that version since when the Mac OS is upgraded it automatically upgrades the browser and we no longer have anyone on Safari 2.04. So the basic issue remains, you can just upgrade the browser number that doesn't work to 3.0.4.”

On February 18, 2008, Blackboard support responded with: “As of right now, Safari 3.0 with Mac OS 10.4, on AP2SP3 (that is; CE 6.2.3, JCCC is on CE 6.2.2) is the only certified support browser for Mac configurations. As our QA department continue with their testing and validation of browsers, OS and Vista versions, we will update the Support Browsers page. This is found through the 'Check Browsers' link.”

Bottom line: If any of your students are using Macintosh computers and Safari, don’t rely on the Chat tool.

What's the Difference between a Discussion Board, Blog and Journal

2008-02-05T01:18:00.001-06:00

Tracy Newman has provided a short definition of the differences in Blackboard between these three similar tools:

Threaded Topic in Discussions Tool

Users post and reply to messages. Replies that are associated with the same post are grouped together, creating message threads that can be expanded and collapsed.

Blog Topic

Participants post a chronological series of entries on a particular topic. Participants can add comments to any blog entry. Newest entries come first in the list.

Here is the comments screen for the Second Post entry:
Journal Topic

A place for students to write. Journals can be kept private between the student and instructor or shared with the class.

Here is a screenshot of what the journal screen looks like for the instructor. In the left panel, you can choose which student to review. Clicking on a name gives you that student’s journal in the right panel. It looks like a blog except that oldest entries come first. You can add comments, just like a blog.

Any of the three tools can be added to any Blackboard CE 6 course.

SafeAssign Update

2008-02-01T12:23:00.000-06:00

Blackboard has indicated that the SafeAssign central service successfully updated the system and fixed some problems within the past couple of days.

The Blackboard CE issue resolved is as follow:

“On CE6/Vista, when Gradebook columns associated with a SafeAssign assignment were deleted, access to the SafeAssign assignment [is no longer] lost”

Blackboard further stated that “many SafeAssign users with open requests with Blackboard Support regarding SafeAssign should find that their issues are now resolved. We encourage users who have open SafeAssign issues to check whether or not they are still occurring and to update Blackboard Support on the results.”

CE 6.2.2 Bug Updates

2008-01-31T09:34:00.000-06:00

The following bugs were reported to Blackboard Support over the past several months and then were referred to the Blackboard Development staff. FYI, the case number, description and latest response from Blackboard support is listed below.

#479817 - Answers not saving during quiz/test.
Case Description: Students are taking an online quiz/test and when clicking the "Save Answer" button the question is not saved. This appears to be a random event as sometimes the answers are saved and other times the server is slow or does not save the answer. Students taking a timed test are not able to complete the test/quiz in the allotted time due to this issue.

Support Response: Our developers have deemed this to be a bug within the software. The fix for this issue is tentatively scheduled for Vista 8.0 SP1. If changes are made to the schedule, I will update the case.

JCCC Note: I have requested information on when Vista 8 SP1 will be released. We’re on Campus Edition 6.2.2 which is equal to Vista 4.2, so I’m not sure how their numbering system for future releases works.

#406008 - Course Tools Menu Automatically Collapses to Just Icons
Case Description: Based on release notes, the Course Tools menu bar should not collapse to just icons when opening the Mail tool or Learning Modules tool, but that’s not the case. The menu collapses when using the Mail, My Files, Grade Book, and File Manager tools.

Support Response: After reviewing the CR which was submitted for this issue, I noticed DEV actually rejected the Change Request. They have stated this issue will be addressed possibly in a future release. Which also can mean, it may get lost in obscurity. Let me know how you would like to proceed with this case.

#476514 - Calendar Changes After Upgrade to CE 6.2.1
Case Description: 1. It’s common for our faculty to copy a course from a previous course shell and then want to move the calendar entries to new dates in the new course. When you change the date for a Calendar entry (by simply modifying the date), the screen refreshes and brings you back to "today's date" (such as the 14th if today's the 14th of August) but in the month from which you came (e.g. the month in which the original date entry occurred before you edited it), but not on the specific date of the original entry you edited. So, if you’ve got three items on January 18th and you want to move them to August 16th (and today is August 14th), each time you change the date of an item on January 18th Blackboard “leaves“ you back on January 14, rather than on the 18th. If you’re moving an item from February 20 to September 25th, after the change you’ll end up on February 14th (if today is August 14th). This is a change in behavior since CE 6.1.1.2. New Calendar entries default to today’s date no matter what you do. If you move to a date in November and try to add a Calendar entry on November 2nd, the default date will be today’s date, not the date you selected in November. You can change it each time, but there’s no sense in navigating to the new month and date, since you’ll need to set the date each time you add an entry.3. If you try to set a time for an event (entry in calendar or assignment or assessment due date) after 10:59 PM on November 4, Blackboard changes the time to an hour earlier. This is the date that Daylight Savings time ends in the Fall of 2007. If you type in a time (like 11:00 PM) or use the drop down menu to choose a time, it may appear correct until you save it, then the time is set back without warning to 10:00 PM. This anomaly only occurs on November 4. If you don’t expect this, you can be frustrated and waste a lot of time trying to figure it out.

Support Response: Our developers have stated the calendar is functioning as designed. When adding a new entry, the start date will show the current day's date. You would have to change the date to required date for the event.

#478596 - Get Files on Mac Cannot Upload Multiple Files & Overwrite Existing Files
Case Description: When using the Get Files button to upload multiple files AND overwrite existing files already in the Class Files area, Blackboard does not give the option to "Replace Existing" files. Instead the filename appears as "Null" and Blackboard offers only these options: "Select another location," "Rename," and "Skip."

Support Response: This is issue is tentatively scheduled for resolution with the release of Vista 8.0 SP1. If any changes occur from our side, I will update the case.

JCCC Note: Subsequently we reported that this same problem happens with Windows users.

#478109 - Inconsistent Discussions Tool New Activity Icon Behavior
Case Description: New Activity icon appears when no postings occur and when a new topic is added (with a description of two words or more or when a period is added to the end of one word descriptions) even when the topic has no postings. This makes it very difficult for instructors and students to use the Discussions topic New Activity icon as an alert that new postings are present for the student to read.

Support Response: No updates have been posted by our developers. Once I receive feedback, I will update the case.

#479657 - No Web Folder option for Firefox
Case Description: When using Firefox 2 you no longer get the “Open as Web Folder” option from the File Manager ActionLink. See attached screen capture.

Support Response: As of right now, DEV has not provided any updates on this issue. Once I receive an additional information I will update the case notes.

Changing the Orientation of Multiple Choice Questions

2008-01-30T16:22:00.000-06:00

We've again had some cases where the orientation of multiple choice questions is horizontal by default rather than vertical. This sometimes occurs when questions are imported from publisher test banks. Unfortunately, if no orientation is indicated in the imported text bank, Blackboard defaults to a horizontal rather than the expected vertical orientation for the answers (detractors).

The layout of the answers to multiple-choice questions can be set or changed by the instructor, but this is accomplished on a question by question basis and not globally. What this means is that while the layout of the answers can be changed, it will have to be changed one question at a time.

The process includes these steps:

Select the Build tab.
Select the Assessments tool.
Click the link for an assessment.
Click the link for a specific question.
Scroll to the bottom of the page.
In the Settings section, next to Answer layout:, click the option labeled Vertical.
Click Save.
Repeat 4-7 as needed.

Thanks to Saul Epstein for this tip.

Assessments with Random Questions

2008-01-23T10:26:00.000-06:00

To create an assessment in Blackboard that randomly selects a number of questions to administer from a larger question pool, you must set up a Question Set. For instance, say you want each student to receive a different set of 20 questions, selected randomly from a pool of 50 questions. You might want to do this in order to make cheating more difficult, or you might want students to use this feature as a self-test option. Either way, the solution is to use a Question Set when you FIRST set up the assessment.

Begin with a blank assessment. Choose Add to Assessment > Question Set. Select the questions you would like to be in the question pool and click Add Selected at the bottom of the screen. Now choose how many questions you want to appear on the test using the Select drop-down box at the top of the screen. Fill in how many points each question will be worth. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click on the Update Total button. Be sure that the new total is correct. For instance, in our example you would choose 20 in the Select drop-down box. If you then chose 5 points for each question and clicked Update Total, the new total should be 100 points. If you want to add more questions to the pool later, use the Add Question Alternates button at the bottom of the screen.

If you already have questions in an assessment, you will need to remove them and then add them back using the Question Set feature.

Thanks to Tracy Newman for this tip.

Backing up your Blackboard Course

2008-01-22T15:31:00.000-06:00

Using Blackboard CE, you (the course instructor) can backup each of your courses and save the archive file to your local computer. Should you back up your courses? At JCCC, a full or incremental backup of the Blackboard production database is made daily. if you request it, you can also have your courses backed up daily by contacting the Help Desk with the CRN of each course. Still, many faculty like the assurance of having their own backup, especially if they are about to make major changes or additions to their online course materials or have just completing making changes. If you want the extra "insurance" we recommend that you archive your course before and after you make any major changes as well as at the end of the semester. The backup should then be downloaded to your local machine. Although faculty do not have access to restore a backup to the production server, the JCCC system administrator can do so; this is a precaution so that current student activity is not inadvertently overwritten by a someone restoring a course backup without first considering the effect on current student work and activity.

There is a tutorial movie that covers this process at Creating a Blackboard CE Course Backup Movie. The steps include:

From the Build or Teach tab in your Blackboard CE course select Manage Course.
Select Backup.
To create a new archive, select Back Up Course.
To save the backup as a file, use the ActionLink of the backup and select Save as File.
You will then be asked to choose where to save the file. You may save it in either My Files or Class Files. The default file name will include the full course title, as well as the date and time the backup was created. You may change this filename if you wish, but be sure to leave the file extension .bak at the end.
Once the Save as File action is complete, you should download the file to your computer.
From the Build tab in your course, choose File Manager.
In the File Manager, navigate to the location where you saved the backup file (My Files or Class Files). You will see the backup file that you created.
Use the file’s ActionLink and select the Download option. If prompted whether to Open or Save the file, choose Save to Disk. If prompted, decide where on your computer to save the file, and select Save or OK.

Thanks to Jeff Kosko for this tip.

Viewing Calendar Entries in the Student View

2008-01-17T16:23:00.000-06:00

In the Ed Tech Center (at JCCC) we sometimes hear from faculty that they can’t see any entries in the Calendar tool when using the Student View tab. When viewing the Calendar tool using the Student View tab, be sure the View setting (upper right hand corner of the Calendar screen) displays This Course Only and not Personal Only view. Once you change the setting, click the Go button (looks like a right pointing green arrowhead) to effect the change.

Use the Discussions Tool Topic Description for Your First Posting

2008-01-14T15:29:00.000-06:00

In Blackboard 6, the Discussions tool can include categories (such as Module 1, Module 2, Module 3, or Graded Discussions and Ungraded Discussions). Then under each category, you can create topics that separate the various issues/themes you want your students to discuss (such as “Global Warming” or “I Need Help!” or “Student Lounge” or “War on Terror”). In WebCT 4.1, you could create an initial posting to define the purpose of that area or topic of discussion. Each semester, you’d need to re-enter that initial posting.

With CE 6 you can now use the Topic’s Description (select the ActionLinks icon and then the Edit Properties option) as your initial posting. Then when you copy the course to the next semester, the description is copied and you don’t need to re-enter it each semester.

Microsoft Word's Not a Native Web Format

2008-01-11T05:53:00.000-06:00

While Microsoft Word is ubiquitous, it’s still not a native web format. In other words, it’s not a file format that is opened by a web browser without a plug-in or without having the application on the recipient’s computer. Further, Microsoft Word 2007 files are often misinterpreted by Blackboard (and other applications) as zip (or compressed) files. The moral of the story is when possible use “native” web formats in Learning Modules and elsewhere in Blackboard rather than using Microsoft Word files (.doc or .docx). The best options are to use .html files (web pages) and PDF (portable document format) files. For images use files saved in either the .gif (line art) or .jpeg/.jpg (photographic image) format.

You can convert Microsoft Word files to .html in several ways. The best options are to cut and paste into Blackboard’s HTML Creator tool or to use a product like SoftChalk.

Preparing for the New Semester Blackboard Caveats

2008-01-10T16:54:00.000-06:00

The following caveats may save you some grief as you make final preparations for Spring 2008. Please read on.

If you attempt to copy content into a course shell for the new semester and it fails, don’t bother trying again. Our experience is that once a course shell copy fails, and subsequent attempts will also fail.
JCCC uses Banner integration and we have had problems with incomplete course rosters (failure of the enrollment synchronization process) for cross-listed courses in the past. To assure that you’re not bitten by this “bug” do the following. If you’re teaching a cross-listed course, log-in to MyJCCC (JCCC's Luminus portal), select the My Courses tab and print the roster for each of the cross-listed course sections. Then log-in to Blackboard, locate the cross-listed course on the My Blackboard screen (it should have a non-descript name such as “Cross-Listed Group 999 – Cross-Listed Group.” Enter the course (the link points to the parent course shell that should include all students in all sections of the cross-listed “child” sections of the course). Check that all students on the rosters from MyJCCC are included in the course Grade Book.
Remember, courses cannot be cross-listed after any student activity exists or that activity will be inaccessible.
If you’re using the SafeAssign tool in Blackboard, do not delete the Grade Book column associated with a SafeAssign assignment. If you do, the SafeAssign data for the associated SafeAssign assignment will no longer be accessible to users. Blackboard is working on a fix targeted for late January 2008, but for now, please do not delete columns in the Grade Book associated with SafeAssign.

Using SafeAssign, Blackboard's Plagiarism Prevention Tool

2008-01-03T08:05:00.000-06:00

We’ve had problems using SafeAssign at JCCC since mid-September (e.g., the product was non-functional or exhibited very slow response times). Blackboard has since addressed the problems we’ve encountered and the Plagiarism Prevention “add-on” to Blackboard now appears to be working properly. For more details on SafeAssign, visit http://wiki.safeassign.com/display/SAFE/About+SafeAssign. If you want to try adding a SafeAssignment tool to your course, the following instructions will be useful.

Adding the Blackboard CE6 SafeAssign Tool to a Course

From the Build tab, click on the Add Content Link button on the Course Content Home page.
From the drop-down list select SafeAssign, then click on the Create SafeAssign button.
You then are given a blank window to name your link to the SafeAssign tool, such as "SafeAssign Assignments."
You then click on the Configure button to save the link to your Course Content Home page or Cancel to quit.

Creating SafeAssignment(s) in Blackboard CE6

From the Teach tab, click on the new link to SafeAssign on the Course Content Home page.
Click on the Create SafeAssignment button and fill in the Assignment specific information:
a. Title: such as Writing Assignment 1
b. Description: description of the assignment and optional instructions if needed.
c. Due date: Submissions are accepted after this date
d. Draft: Do you want to allow students to submit drafts. These drafts are not sent to your institution’s search database.
e. Student Viewable: Let students view SafeAssignment reports on their papers only.
f. Urgent Checking: To process urgently or not. There is a normal 2-3 minute or greater response time.
g. Grading: Select numeric or Alphanumeric grading, this will create a column in the Blackboard CE Gradebook.
h. Click Save at the bottom of the page to save this assignment or Cancel to quit.
Repeat Step 2 above for any additional SafeAssignments you wish to create.

How Students Use SafeAssign

The students are told to click on the SafeAssign tool link on the home page to submit their assignments for plagiarism checking.
They select which SafeAssignment they want to submit by clicking on the link to it under the Available Assignments area.
They click on the Browse button and find their paper on their local machine and click Open to upload it.
SafeAssign accepts Microsoft Word (.doc only), TXT, RTF, HTML, and PDF formats only. Word 2007 format documents are not yet supported.
Once submitted they can go back and check the SafeAssign report if you allow them to in Step 2e above.

Thanks to Jeff Kosko and Tracy Newman for composing this tip.

Student View Tab Problems

2008-01-02T08:51:00.000-06:00

JCCC currently has Blackboard CE (Campus Edition) 6.2.2 installed. With this version, there are problems with the Student View tab, which exist when student access to the course has yet to be enabled. By default, unless you request otherwise, all Blackboard hosted online courses are not available to students until the first day of the semester (e.g., January 16, 2008). Therefore, until student access is enabled on January 16th, the following “issues” exist with using the Student View tab. These problems go away when student access is enabled. Blackboard has indicated that these issues are resolved in Service Pack 3 (e.g., CE 6.2.3) which JCCC has access to, but has not tested yet (it was released in late December 2007).

Despite the Release Criteria (selective release) settings for an item (e.g., Learning Module or other course element) items will show up on the Student View tab even though the selective release criteria has not yet been met.
Other schools have reported that the Group Sign up buttons do not appear (the Sign Up for Group column is not present). I do not have access to a course that uses this feature, but we assume this report is accurate since it’s been reported by several other Blackboard schools.
An “unexpected system exception error” will appear if a course has either assignments or assessments and the Assignments and Assessment tools (respectively) are selected from the Student View tab. The problem disappears when the course is made accessible to students.
Calendar entries are not visible on the Student View tab when the course is inaccessible to students. The entries do become visible once student access to the course is enabled.
In the Discussions tool, when the “Students can reply to messages but cannot post messages” setting is selected and you open a message (posted by the instructor) using the Student View tab, the Reply option (button) does not display as long as student access to the course has not been enabled. As soon as the section is open to students, the Reply option is available on both the Student View tab and when a student logs in.
An “unexpected system exception error” will appear when attempting to access the Who’s Online tool from the Student View tab if student access to the course has not yet been enabled. The problem disappears when the course is made accessible to students.
Some tools, e.g., Discussions, Chat and Announcements, display options on the Student View tab that are not visible to true students. For example, the Discussions tool displays options for creating topics and categories as well as the ability to reorder those elements. The Chat tool includes the Create Chat or Whiteboard Room button. The Announcements tool contains the Create Announcement button.

ADA Compliance

2007-12-14T16:25:00.000-06:00

As you work on creating or modifying an online course, be sure your course acknowledges the importance of and compliance with ADA requirements. Here are some suggestions:

Introductory text within the course should indicate your willingness to assist the student and work with campus support services to provide the necessary accommodations to meet the special needs of the student.
The course should include a statement that tells students how to gain access to ADA services (Access Services at JCCC).
The course should provide information on JCCC’s support services (Counseling Center, Library, Help Desk, Access Services, and so on) and provide links and information to enable easy access to institutional resources that provide student support.

Other course design tips are available at http://ce-annotations.blogspot.com/search/label/Course%20Design. This tip is based on the Quality REACHE rubric (see http://cite.nwmissouri.edu/QualityReache/).

Online or Network Etiquette

2007-12-13T09:52:00.000-06:00

As you work on creating or modifying an online course, share with your students your expectations regarding online etiquette (netiquette or network etiquette), specifically with regard to discussions and email communication. There are many sites that you can use to learn about netiquette and many that you can link to as an introduction to netiquette for your students. Review the following for background information:

http://web.jccc.edu/edtech/notes/store/30/Netiquette.htm
http://www.albion.com/netiquette/
http://edition.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/07/21/netiquette.tools/

Two links you might want to include in your course for student use are:

http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html
http://www.studygs.net/netiquette.htm

Other course design tips are available at http://ce-annotations.blogspot.com/search/label/Course%20Design. This basic guideline of this tip is derived from the Quality REACHE rubric (see http://cite.nwmissouri.edu/QualityReache/).

Instructor Response and Availability Standards

2007-12-12T08:59:00.000-06:00

As you work on creating or modifying an online course, be sure to share with your students standards for your response and availability. Here are some suggestions:

Share with your students your availability by indicating turn-around times for grading various assessments, assignments and responding to discussion board postings and email messages.
Be sure information on response times and availability is indicated in the course syllabus or a “Read Me First” module so students know what to expect regarding instructor responses and grading.
Indicate for students your availability regarding the degree of participation in discussions (e.g., will you be active, an observer only, or respond only late in the discussion after students have interacted).
Indicate your availability using other media (phone, in-person, online chat), if applicable.

Other course design tips are available at http://ce-annotations.blogspot.com/search/label/Course%20Design. This information is derived from the Quality REACHE rubric (see http://cite.nwmissouri.edu/QualityReache/).

Daylight Savings Time in March

2007-12-11T05:47:00.000-06:00

It may seem early to plan for Daylight Savings Time (it doesn't start again until March 9, 2008 in the U.S.) but we've already had a faculty member try to set a due date (for a Spring course) on March 9, 2008. When saved the hour the assignment is due automatically increments by an hour. The last notice from Blackboard indicated they're working on the bug, but no fix yet.

So, if you try to set a time for an event (entry in calendar or assignment or assessment due date) on March 9, Blackboard changes the time to an hour later. Here’s an example: if you type in a time (like 11:00 PM) or use the drop down menu to choose a time, it may appear correct until you save it, then the time is set forward without warning to 12:00 AM (which would be on March 10). As far as we know now, this anomaly only occurs on March 9. If you don’t expect the behavior, you may be frustrated and waste a lot of time trying to figure it out.

The work-around is to simply set the time for the due date an hour earlier than you really want. That’ll work until Blackboard fixes the problem. J

Easy to Understand Grading System

2007-12-11T05:32:00.000-06:00

The course design tips that have been shared over the past several days are all derived from the Quality Matters or Quality REACHE rubric, which has been shared with JCCC faculty enrolled in the iTeach Online Workshop (and its predecessor WebCeTera) since the Fall of 2005 (when we were still using WebCT 4.1). Here’s another “tip.”

As you work on creating or modifying an online course, the Quality REACHE rubric (based on the University of Maryland FISE Grant funded Quality Matters rubric, http://www.qualitymatters.org/Rubric.htm) suggests that a course’s grading policy should be transparent and easy to understand. Such a guideline can be accomplished in several ways:

The grading policy should list all graded course activities (assessments, assignments, projects, group work, discussion postings and other interactivity with other students and the instructor) and should clearly identify the points/overall value of each activity and how it contributes to the final grade.
The grading policy should be established and available to the student at the beginning of the class.
The course should include a rubric that clearly describes what the student needs to do, what each activity, assignment and assessment is “worth,” and how points, grades or percentages earned for each activity equate to a final course grade.

Other course design tips are available at http://ce-annotations.blogspot.com/search/label/Course%20Design. The Quality REACHE (QR) rubric and other information about QR is available at http://cite.nwmissouri.edu/QualityReache/.

Are Instructional Materials in an Appropriate Form for Online Access?

2007-12-07T09:48:00.000-06:00

As you work on creating or modifying an online course, the Quality REACHE rubric (based on the University of Maryland FISE Grant funded Quality Matters rubric) suggests that instructional materials should be presented in a format appropriate to the online environment and that all materials should be easily accessible to and usable by the student. Suggested ways in which this recommendation can be approached include:

All instructional materials should be easily accessible and available in alternative formats if not readily viewed by a standard web browser (e.g. current versions of Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox). If the course uses files (like Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat) that are not in a “native web format” (i.e., HTML, JPEG, PNG) then students should be provided with information on how to access the files if they do not already have the necessary programs or plug-ins installed. Suggestion: always provide the content in a file format that can be easily accessed using a web browser.
If course resources (e.g. outside readings, CD/DVD-based content, supplemental web sites) are not housed within the LMS, links to or information on how the student can access the resources should be easy for students to locate within the course.
If software plug-ins are required to access course content, then the plug-ins required should be listed within the course, along with instructions on how to obtain and install them.
Large text files and learning modules should be broken into smaller “chucks” and presented with a table of contents or other navigation system to enable easy access and reference.