Teaching with Blackboard at NIU

Scheduled Blackboard Outage - 7/8/2013

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 06:46:04 -0500

A significant upgrade is scheduled to be performed to the Blackboard Learn System on June 8, 2013. The upgrade will begin at 12:00 AM and will complete by 11:00 PM. The Blackboard Learn System (http://webcourses.niu.edu) will be UNAVAILABLE during this time.

The latest version of Blackboard Learn, 9.1 Service Pack 11 (SP11), will introduce several new exciting features, including:

New Content Editor: Vastly improves the user experience for formatting text, pasting content from Word, and more.
Assessment Item Analysis: Provides statistics on overall test performance on individual test questions.
Assessment Fill-in-the-Blank Question Enhancement : Fill-in-the-Blank and Fill-in-Multiple-Blanks questions now offers regular expression options for grading answers.
My Blackboard: Create your own profile and discover and interact with others in your academic network.
Inline Assignment Grading: View, annotate, and grade student-submitted files "inline" without the need to download any files.
Retention Center: Identify at-risk students by using pre-configured rules or by creating your own.
New Calendar: Sporting a new UI, the new calendar now integrates fully into your courses. Never miss an assignment again.
Blackboard Drive: View, edit, and manage your Content System files right from your desktop.

To learn more about the upcoming features, please visit the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center's upgrade page at www.niu.edu/blackboard/upgrade.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the ITS Helpdesk at 815-753-8100 or helpdesk@niu.edu.

Blackboard Never Stop Learning Tour 1-Day Event in Chicago, May 23rd

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:57:50 -0500

Blackboard is traveling all across North America looking to meet you--the educators, technologists and leaders that have a passion for making the educational experience the best it can be. The teams that design and build the Blackboard tools you use everyday are jumping at the chance to meet and collaborate on what matters to you, where you are.

The Never Stop Learning Tour is also a unique opportunity to plug into your community and engage with fellow Blackboard users in your region. Transfer knowledge and come away with all the answers to your most pressing questions.

Blackboard's next stop is at the University of Illinois at Chicago in Chicago, IL! Blackboard invites you to this FREE, one-day event to:

- Connect with other Blackboard users in your area
- Learn about the latest in new features in Blackboard
- Ask questions or share feedback with Blackboard product experts

More Details

When: Thursday, May 23, 2013
Where: University of Illinois at Chicago, Student Center West
Registration: REGISTER NOW >>

April 2013 Blackboard Workshops

Fri, 1 Feb 2013 12:11:48 -0600

The schedule of Blackboard workshops for NIU faculty, staff, and graduate teaching assistants for April 2013 is now available online at:
http://www.niu.edu/blackboard/workshops.

Weekly Webinars by Faculty Blackboard Experts

Thu, 7 Feb 2013 11:21:26 -0600

Learn more tips for teaching with Blackboard! Sign-up for one of the upcoming 1-hour webinars led by faculty Blackboard experts, offered as part of the Blackboard Innovative Teaching Series.

Blackboard Tutorials

Fri, 1 Feb 2013 12:11:57 -0600

A wide variety of Blackboard tutorials are available at http://www.niu.edu/blackboard/tutorials.

Teaching with Blackboard Podcast

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 11:31:15 -0600

The new podcast entitled, " Teaching with Blackboard at NIU" now offers tips, ideas, suggestions, and examples of best practices of teaching with the Blackboard learning management system. The goal of this podcast is to discuss the pedagogy of online teaching and learning and share ideas and tips for how faculty can leverage the Blackboard learning management system to improve the teaching and learning experiences the offer for their students. More details...

Blackboard Workshop Schedule

Wed, 1 Nov 2006 14:59:59 -0600

Schedule of upcoming Blackboard workshops for NIU faculty / staff