Search

eLearning Frenzy

eLearning is like a sewer, what you get out of it depends on what you put into it.

Open Search
Tag

bbworld15

BbWorld15: Blackboard Learn Top 10 for Faculty – Things You Can Use Today and What’s Coming Down the Road – Session Blog

Speakers
Wade WeichelSenior Product Manager
Blackboard INC.

11. Tool Integrations LTI – (Learning Tool Inneroperability) at course level

10. Date Management – the ability to manage due/availability dates across your Bb course on from one page.

9. Student Preview – ability to view your course as student, all the way down to My Grades

8. Bb Grader – iPad app that allows an instructor or evaluator to review submitted assignments.

7. Retention Center – allows faculty to track student risk indicators without difficult setup/configuration.

6. Grade Center – Grade History – track grade center interactions over time

5. Test Power Features (significant digits, test exceptions, Access Log [lets you see in timestamped way that student’s interaction with a test], IP Address Filters (assures integrity in high-stakes testing environment]

4. Authentic Assessment (Large projects, capstone portfolio – complex set of work, direct assessment, generally not an exam.  (extensive feedback)  [Assignment Tool, Portfolio assignments, Wikis, use of Rubrics, SafeAssign, non-electronic observations…]

3. Delegated & Anonymous Grading – good for high-stakes testing for anonymity for delegated graders as well as students, large course section grading of assignments can be distributed.

2. Goal Alignments to Question Items and Individual Rubric Criteria –

1. Goals Manager – Mapping Tool – ability to update content alignments

What is Bb Working on?

  • New Student Dashboards (Competency Based Education)
  • Workflow Improvements & Usability (thread navigation in discussion board grading)
  • Simpler posting of grades to the SIS
  • BbGrader grows to BbIsntructor fully fleshed out.
  • Bb Ultra improvements including calculated column formula builder
0

BbWorld15: Blackboard Collaborate Road Map – Session Blog

Speakers:

David Hastie Sr. Dir. Product Management
Carl Marrelli Sr. Product Manager

**Some these are forward thinking statement and may or may not end up being in the final product.

Collaborate Ultra has been out for a couple of months and the initial feedback has been super positive!

3 objectives in Collaborate redesign:

  • Simple – easy entry into sessions, browser based, sleek intuitive interface
  • Modern – Cutting edge media technology, accessible, Mobile
  • Focused – Designed for education, varied instructional strategies/methods, Deeply integrated with the LMS

Highest level of quality and innovation – enhancements andmaintenance more quickly released with zero downtime

Key Benefits

  • HD Video & Audio Puts you right in the Center
  • A world class user experience to encourage use
  • Supporting Asynchronous learning models, native mp4 recording and playback
  • Web-Based – get started immediately no need for java or downloading launchers.

Available no in all regions and in 26 languages.  Application is responsive adjusts based upon the format of device that you are viewing it on! Also adaptive based on type of content.

Current use Cases:

  • office hours
  • group collaboration
  • teaching & learning

Learn 9.1 – If you use you can use new Collaborate Ultra with B2. New Collaborate B2 Supports session in old and new collaborate experience. Allows for piloting while still using old system.

Chat panels pop out when in use!

Sharing file interface is simple and easy to add and annotate! Several annotation tools with several colors.  Either on top of images or files like powerpoint, pdf, jpg.  Sharing Browser instances as well.  Things you share are easily identifiable.

Records whatever is being actively shared + Audio. Conference members can live-caption or translate a session!

Mobile: Collaborate is directly integrated into Bb Student. Is currently in Beta. Should be available soon.

Collaborate functionality allows for students to be presenters. Moderator can make student presenters as well! Application sharing is so much better.  Moderators can easily stop student sharing.

Future Capabilities:

If you need the alternative to be better than the status quo from the start, you’ll never begin!

  • Mobile experience
  • Polling
  • Feedback Mechanism
  • Breakout Rooms
  • Phone Conferencing – telephony integration
  • Moodlerooms Integration
0

BbWorld15: Competency-Based Education in Theory & Practice – Session Blog

Speakers
Dr. Deborah M. Seymore
American Council on Education

Dr. Deborah Everhart
Blackboard

  • Competency-based learning and education defined.
  • Research and enhancing the dialogue.
  • Results

Competency Based Learning

Transitioning away from seat time in favor of a structure that creates flexibility, allows students to progress as the demonstrate mastery regardless of time, place or pace of learning.  Provide flexibility in the way that credit can be earned or awarded and provide personalized learning opportunities – US Dept of Education

Competency Based Education

Is an alternative to the credit hour-based system of credentialing.  Student progressed is based on demonstration of proficiency and/or mastery as measured through assessments and/or application of credit through prior learning.  In CBE programs, time is the variable and student competency mastery is the focus.  in CBE the focus is on academic programs, practices and policies.

Potential benefits of competency based learning:

  • Focus on learning outcomes
  • learning activities and assessments aligned to outcomes
  • credit for prior and experiential learning
  • Motivated and engaged students
  • Efficient, flexible and lower-cost credentials
  • Increased student retention and completion rates
  • Lifelong learners’ portable evidence of learning
  • Employers’ visibility into graduates’ competencies
  • Outcomes-based frameworks for continuous improvement

Join Research –

Mutual interest in:

  • Credit for prior learning and credit mobility
  • serving post-traditional students
  • digital badging and alternative credentials
  • expanding CBE dialogue

Outcomes –

  • Published Clarifying Competency based Education terms – lexicon
  • Leadership roundtables with CBE practicioners
  • Blackboard Blog Series
  • ACE publications
  • Public forum releasing research paper: The Currency of Higher Education: Credits & Competencies

Get Infographic on what CBE looks like from ACE website: http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/PublishingImages/What-Competency-Based-Education-Looks-Like-Full.jpg

What CBE Looks like.

Clarifying Competency Based Education terms:

94 terms defined:

11 classifications

  • overview
  • competencies & learning outcomes
  • assessment processes
  • evidence of learning
  • Credentials
  • Badges
  • Instructional and Supporting Roles
  • Student Support
  • Regulations & Accreditation
  • Validation

CBE Definitions & Framework – (Focus on institutions and education programs) Competency, Occupational Skills, ONET, Learning Outcomes, Institutional Outcomes, Accreditation Standards

CBE Educational Structures: (Focus on institutions and education programs) Credentialing – Credentials, Certificates & Degrees, Stackable Credentials, Credit for Prior Learning

CBE Educational Structures: Instructional Roles – Instructor, Coach, Assessor, Advisor, Tutor, 360 Help & Support

CBE Federal Regulations and Accreditation Requirements – Attendance, Credit Hour, Seat Time, Title iV, Direct Assessment etc..

CBL learning processes (Focus on Learners & learning processes) – Differentiated Learning, Authentic Assessment, Project-Based Learning, Mastery, Proficiency, Leveling up(motivator).

CBL Badges & Portable Evidence of Learning (Focus on Learners & learning processes) – Badges, Micro-credentials(not explicitly an open badge, small unit of learning), Open badge Standard, Portable Evidence of learning, Badge Backpack, Portfolio, Profile

The Currency of Higher Education: Credits and Competencies

Credit-hour proceesses are likely to remain deeply embedded in post-secondary systems for some time, but there is ample opportunity for innovation with competencies and a parallel and complimentary currency.

Diverse stakeholders – government agencies, educational leaders, faculty, assessors, students, employers are all looking at competencies.

Competencies provide representations of learning outcomes that are more flexible and transparent than credit hours. Competencies are more prone to change over time than fixed unit representation of credit hours.

Implementing CBE practices in credit-hour places in complex.  but if faces fewer barriers and more rapidly provide benefits to a large number of students when outcomes-based approaches are compatible with credit-hour systems and processes.

Students need to know how they can evaluate the quality of CBE programs. Little structure is available to facilitate this.

Employers are key stakeholders in the definition of CBE credentials and credential marketability.

Badges and other micro-credentials can be useful bearers of competencies achieved.

0

BbWorld15: General Session Learner’s Voices (Panel) – Session Blog

Education is not a given in everyone’s life, but it should be!  Change is needed – we have wide-spread acceptance of this fact.  98% of college/university president said that change was needed and 67% said that the change needed to be disruptive, incremental small change is not enough.

What do learners look like today? How do they behave, and what drives them? Our change needs to be based on understanding the people for whom our education systems exits.

The Changing Leaner –
– number is growing (How Many)- increase of diversity/age etc.. (Who they Are)
– expectations change: driven by technology (enhanced interaction, integrations) (What they expect)

Students expectations of education system:

  • learn from peers as much as intructors
  • career ready prior to graduation
  • Networking opportunities with alumni/employers
    Essential part of college experience should be networking with future employers, at least help in getting interview.
  • Value for money
    Value is created differently for every single student (research experience, ability to transfer credits), lecture versus experience in the field. Debt loads/Cost.  Quit being system-centric and start be learner-centric
  • real life application of learned skills
    More than likely students will graduate high school not knowing how to write a check, a resume, invest in stock market.
  • Credit for their prior experiences
  • high use of technology
  • Guidance for next steps
    Adaptability and flexibility of the institution is key!  Taking courses where they are best offered, if your institution can make recommendations based upon student learning styles.
  • Flexible institutions for non-traditional learners
    (military vets) Competency based learning model is a good fit for this!

Today’s Barriers

  • Too Difficult to navigate student support systems
  • Cost of Education and unavoidable debt
    What are you prepared to invest and what will you get out it?  Is it affordable for you?
  • Tough to see big picture across coursework and institutions
  • I don’t know where to go to get help or good feedback
  • My outside experience is not connected to classwork
  • Lack of flexibility in how i engage my courses and teachers
    Unique needs of learners should be met – all types of disabilities, Institutions should provide training for instructors on how to engage.
  • Need to address diverse backgrounds of cultures.  Empathy is key
  • Not enough counselors per student at secondary level.
  • Not every student can afford a device/connectivity problems

Positive Aspects

  • World perspective: learning experiences between cultures
  • Moved from pen to device (use the cloud)
  • After School programs/volunteer opportunities (like Baltimore intersection)  Creating student leaders, encouraging student engagement
  • Half of course grade is “Did you attain goals you set during year” – Reflection paper more critical thinking in learning.
  • In lieu of final three options, presentation – paper – project or if you have anything else (one act play)
  • Pre-course survey: knowing who is in the room. Learning with context
  • Recognition that education is about the students -> starting to be seen more an more.

Looking Ahead

  • We are learning with/from people who half-way across the world.
  • We all need to do a better job of understanding and sharing the educational experience.
  • Some don’t think it will change like it should.
  • More discussions and panels of these types of challenges/barriers.
  • All it takes is one person.
  • We are the change!
  • Teachers becoming facilitators of learning!

    • If you want to learn it you should be able to!

0

BbWorld15: Drop-In Trainings – A Buffet Approach to Technology Training – Session Blog

Speakers
Christala Smith
Director, Center for Instructional Development & Technology
Southeastern Oklahoma State University

Problem with scheduled training classes is low attendance.

Problem solving:

  • have to attend hour long training for 5 minutes of what they need
  • low attendance at scheduled training classes
  • different expectations
  • Quality delivery mechanisms

Educause Article on Drop-In Training

Wall of different software with handouts for each at the lab.  Go and get the exactly the information you want, right then.  Find experts in tech that wouldn’t mind being available to answer questions for the buffet-style training.

Goals

– Have a Variety of Tools – they come for what they need  (they come wanting to learn thing but end up learning two or more)
– Start: Targeted Training
– Networking Opportunities
– Personalized Hands-on Training
– All Inclusive Technology
– Have food (buffet of tech and buffet of food)

Have floater walking around touching base and asking “Did You Know” questions to direct faculty to appropriate drop-in group.

Have different units there to help with area of expertise:  Trainers, Instructional Designers, Support Desk, Video Team, Web Content specialists, Library etc..)

Send images of software offered in press release and let faculty know that they can think of questions before hand.

Getting the word out:  E-mail, Flyers, Word-of-Mouth

Success:  More served immediately, increased exposure, improve meetings, creating unique solutions, bridge of creativity, positive feedback!

Future:  In Conjunction with faculty symposium, include other trainers/topics, additional space.

0

BbWorld15: Best Practices for Implementing Blackboard Communities – Session Blog

Speaker
Adam Voyton
Wilmington University

Once you get the license, what do you do with it?  Customize interface to engage students and faculty across your institution.

Customization:

  • Create tabs, sub-tabs, and modules
  • each tab, sub-tab can be configured to appear to users that are assigned to a particular role
  • A module is bascialy a box that can contain: text, video etc..

Primary Roles are Students, faculty, staff.

For tabs or modules that have information relevant to students and or faculty in certain department, we set up college-specific institutional roles.

Student/faculty login has generic content and customized content.  Advertising, Marketing, Student Life

Students: Top layer tab has student services tab – links to student service pages, Jobs for Kats as Top Layer Tab
Faculty: (Faculty services tab – centralizes info that was scattered across website)  My media module (Kaltura)

Subtabs – Tech Support/Resources (support desk hours) (clean up My courses video), Kaltura subtab, My media and faculty repository on it along with self-help for Kaltura.  Blackboard Collaborate  subtab(embed the webpage), Blackboard subtab for IM.

Wilmington uses colleges on Top lvl tabs that contain info that they may want behind a login.  Each of these tabs have subtabs with more info   (question, how do you envision having 6 tabs one for each college).  Tabs to other systems

Things to Keep in mind:

*Tabs don’t open up in new browser tab.
*when embedding content use HTTPS*Have rules and policies for what content can go where (Governance)
*Set up a calendar to manage/schedule the content
*keep MY Courses at top right and announcements at top center

Blackboard Organizations

Bulk of orgs are Academic in nature, a fair amount of student orgs, smaller honor societies and departments.

Come up with and keep up with a naming convention.

Implementing Communities  (Organizations Subtab with “My Organizations” module)  Contains video explaining what orgs are and how they work. Including support documentation.  (Have an org catalog), link to a request form.

3 ways to enroll users into orgs: 

  • Self Enrollment – No level of privacy
  • Manual Enrollment – Leader has complete control, but has to do it all themselves.
  • Automatically adding someone who meets a certain criteria (SIS Based), some people may not want to be enrolled. (come up with un-enrollment process – place a default link in orgs with instructions to e-mail leader etc..) come up with code of conduct link for orgs as well.

Tips to Increase Students Use of Organizations (Require leaders to go to training)

– Make registration process simple
– Put out a press release on ORGS (get the word out)
– Videotaping campus events or use collaborate
– have student representatives talk for them

Online Student Association – Blackboard Org  (Engaging Online Students) – automatically add every student taking an online course.

  • Discussion board of the month – “What can we do to engage our online students at homecoming?”  small giftcard or prize of randomly selected participant
  • Online Student of the Semester – (we can use our ads)  Short little bios, students can apply we can focus on them.
  • Introductions Discussion Board (Networking)
  • Have video and webpage about this organization

Remind your constituencies what Blackboard Communities does for them. Press Releases, videos etc…  Target program chairs about Bb Orgs.

Lessons Learned:

– Get Departmental Involvement
– Dedicate a staff member to serve as community admin- Audit content every year
– People that do not have a Bb Login will not be able to access any content in Orgs

0

BbWorld15: Leveraging Blackboard to Introduce New Faculty to Essential Technologies – Session Blog

Speakers
Kimberly Evans
Joey Robinson
Reynolds Community College

TTS 101 Orientation to Essential Tech is an online orientation designed to streamline the on-boarding process and acclimate newly hired faculty to various technologies and services.  A collection of modules are housed within Blackboard introducing faculty to the wide range of tech resources they will be expected to use.

Upon hire faculty are automatically enrolled and through Blackboard complete each module.  They will remain enrolled for 1 year.  Once completed, deans and chairs are notified and they receive 1.5 hours of professional development.

Information is distributed at faculty orientations, convocation.

Orientation contains:

  • brief video of objectives
  • self-guided activities
  • self-assessment
  • resources

Each of the modules use adaptive release to move faculty on to the next module when they complete the previous one.

Menu: Possibilities: (Start Here, E-mail, Computer account, SIS, LMS etc..)

Exit survey posted at the end of session to measure effectiveness of orientation.  (It is not mandatory to complete training)

Reynolds looked at helpdesk tickets (Logon Concerns, Email, Software) they all decreased over time with implementation of orientation.

Don’t ask, just congratulate when welcoming.  Not “Would you like to participate?”, but “Congratulations, you’ve been enrolled..”

0

‘Twas the Week Before Blackboard World’

‘Twas the week before Blackboard World,
not much longer will we wait.

Thinking about multi-booked sessions

for which we’ll be late.

 

Meeting with vendors, colleagues and more,

Technology experts and topics to explore.

Pre-conference workshops to jumpstart our brains

learning best practices on which we will train.

 

I’m interested in training, f2f and online,

so many sessions, so little time!

T-Bug, best practice, pedagogy first,

networking with colleagues, you work up a thirst!

 

Vendor exhibits, giveaways galore,

Or maybe a door prize of which we will score!

We will listen, we will talk, we will soak up the knowledge,

and share our experiences with private sector, k-12, or college.

 

We look to return come Friday next week,

loaded with the knowledge we strove to seek.

So I say to you all, let’s learn without fear,

for if we want more, we wait ‘till next year!

0

When you Pack your Bags for Blackboard World 2015

bbworld15When we think of thought leading eLearning conferences that we attend like Blackboard World, we often think of them in terms of things we will come back with. There is good reason for this, as there are so many takeaways that a conference like Blackboard World provides. For the purposes of this blog post however, we will be focusing on what we should bring with us to Blackboard World 2015.

So when you pack your bags for BbWorld….

…..Pack a way to share what you learn:

For every oSharing Gadgetsne of us who are fortunate enough to attend this tremendous eLearning event, there are many, many more of us who cannot be at BbWorld. Since we all know that “sharing is caring,” bring a way to share what you’ve learned with your coworkers back home and your colleagues across the world. Whether you are live tweeting by phone or mobile device, live-blogging from your tablet or laptop, or maybe just taking notes to present, blog, or post later, you will be helping your coworkers at home and your peers across academia benefit from what you are picking up from colleagues, professionals and thought leaders.

…..Pack a charger (Mobile or otherwise):

Portable ChargerIf indeed you are sharing your experience, or just trying to stay in touch with events back at home, you will definitely need a charger. I would suggest bringing one of the mobile chargers that you can keep in your pocket/purse/backpack. During the hectic schedule, you may not get a chance to go back to your room, and you may not find an open plug where you can “juice-up”. *As an addendum to this packing tip, bringing a small power strip is also beneficial as you can share one plug with a number of your peers.

…..Pack a desire to meet people and make connections:

Make ConnectionsPossibly the biggest benefit to being at Blackboard World is the ability to meet your peers and form connections that you will maintain and use throughout your professional career. At your home institution you may be the only person who does what you do, but at Blackboard World you are a small fish in a big pond. There will literally be hundreds of people with your same type of job. What better way to pick up best practices and learn what is working and not working for your colleagues, so that you aren’t stumbling around on your own when it comes to your learning management system or eLearning in general.

…..Pack some tennis shoes or at least comfy dress shoes:

ShoesBbWorld has possibly the largest population of slacks/skirts and Nikes in the eLearning universe. For a conference this large, you may be walking a quarter of a mile just to get to your next session. You also have vendors to see and colleagues to touch base with, so comfortable footwear is a must. Some of you may spend the evening at the Washington Mall area. Let me speak from experience, walking the Mall in DC can cause blisters in the wrong shoes!

…..Pack a Presentation!

PresentationBe a Blackboard World Presenter! The Call for Proposals is open until April 15. Share your successes, obstacles and experiences on a multitude of topics. The backbone of BbWorld are presentations by those of us in the trenches who work with faculty, students, deans, directors and Blackboard to make eLearning possible. Take the plunge and submit your proposal to present today!

There are probably many other things you can think of packing, so don’t limit yourself to just this list (checked bag fees not-withstanding). I know I look forward to seeing what my colleagues are bringing to BbWorld15 this summer!

 

 

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑