UTC Online Upgrade: Blackboard Organizations

April 12, 2011 Scott Gast

As part of the UTC Online transition to a new Blackboard version and server, Blackboard organizations are also impacted by this transition.

Any current Blackboard organization wanting space on the new server must email a request from one of its organizational leaders to utconlin@utc.edu. Leaders may request an immediate transfer, a transfer at the end of the spring semester, or creation of a new organizational space from which the leader may import or rebuild the organization’s content. Details about requests and the organizational transition are listed here.

Organizational leaders are encouraged to attend training for the new Blackboard interface offered by the Walker Teaching Resource Center. Specifically, leaders may want to attend this special training class oriented for organizations: Learning How to Use the New Features in Bb9 for My Organization

You may access the new server at anytime with your UTCID and password at bb4.utc.edu

Please contact the Teaching Resource Center if you have any questions about this transition for Blackboard organizations.

UTC Online Administrator
utconlin@utc.edu

UTC Online Upgrade: Summer ’11 Classes & Enrollments

April 4, 2011 Scott Gast

UTC Online is transitioning to a new Blackboard version and server beginning with Summer ’11 classes. These classes are available for development by faculty. Student enrollments from Banner are being updated hourly on the new UTC Online server, but students will not see their summer classes on UTC Online until faculty make their courses available. Login at the new server with your UTCID and password at bb4.utc.edu

Faculty are encouraged to attend training for the new Blackboard interface offered by the Walker Teaching Resource Center.

Important Dates:
May 9, 2011 – Students directed to new Blackboard server from MyMocsNet
June 2011 – Fall ’11 classes uploaded to UTC Online
September 15, 2011 – access to old Blackboard server removed for faculty

Please contact utconlin@utc.edu if you have any questions about this transition.

-UTC Online Administrator

UTC Online Upgrade: Summer ’11 Classes Available for Development

March 21, 2011 Scott Gast

UTC Online is transitioning to a new Blackboard version and server beginning with Summer ’11 classes: these summer classes are now available for development by faculty. To access the new server and your Summer ’11 classes on UTC Online, login using your UTCID and password at bb4.utc.edu

Student enrollments in summer classes will begin updating on UTC Online in early April on an hourly basis. Fall 2011 classes will be uploaded to UTC Online in June 2011.

To prepare for the new Blackboard interface, faculty are highly encouraged to register for training offered by the Walker Teaching Resource Center:

Please contact utconlin@utc.edu if you have any questions about this transition.

-UTC Online Administrator

UTC Online Upgrade: Changes are Coming…

March 7, 2011 Scott Gast

UTC Online will transition to a new Blackboard version and server beginning with Summer ’11 classes. Faculty will have access on the new server (bb4.utc.edu) to develop their summer classes by the end of March. Information about the transition is detailed here.

The new Blackboard version offers enhanced functionality, new features, and more efficient ways to manage your course. Since the new interface looks very different, faculty are highly encouraged to register for training offered by the Teaching Resource Center.

Training faculty may be interested in include the following sessions:

Please contact utconlin@utc.edu if you have any questions about this transition.

-UTC Online Administrator

Spring 2011 Classes on New Blackboard

January 28, 2011 Scott Gast

As of January 27, 2011, here is some usage data on the number of UTC classes using the new Blackboard server during the Spring 2011 semester.

  • Courses: 193 (undergraduate: 141, graduate: 52)
  • Faculty: 63
  • Students: 2,485

These courses may also be viewed graphically by college or by department (the raw numbers by college and department are listed below).

by College
Arts & Sciences92
Business3
Engineering & Computer Science34
Health, Education & Professional Studies64
Total:
193

by Department
Accounting2
Astronomy3
Biology5
Chemistry5
Computer Engineering1
Computer Science15
Criminal Justice8
Early Childhood1
Educational Doctorate8
Special Education6
Education8
English30
Engineering Management2
Engineering6
Industrial Engineering5
Engineering: Nuclear1
Educational Psychology6
Engineer Tech Mgmt: Engr Mgmt4
French1
Geology9
Health & Human Performance19
History2
Humanities2
Math6
Management1
Music2
Nursing9
Philosophy3
Physical Therapy10
Physics3
Psychology1
Social Work3
Theatre and Speech3
University Honors1
University Studies1
Women’s Studies1
Total:193

Request for Spring 2011 Classes to Pilot New Blackboard Version

October 22, 2010 Scott Gast

If you are an instructor who would like to test the new Blackboard version with your Spring 2011 class, please email utconlin@utc.edu with the class(es) or contact the Walker Teaching Resource Center.

Move to New Blackboard Version Rescheduled for Summer 2011

October 22, 2010 Scott Gast

All UTC Online classes will migrate to the new version of Blackboard beginning with Summer 2011 classes. Access to these courses for instructors will begin in April 2011.

While UTC Online had tentatively scheduled moving to Blackboard Learn 9.1 for Spring 2011 classes, UTC Online administrators decided to hold off on migrating due to the following reasons discovered during the Fall 2010 pilot:

  • Identification of multiple issues and bugs in the current release (some major, some minor)
  • The need to turn off new functionality in order to prevent certain issues from occurring (thus losing some functionality)
  • An estimated four (4) Blackboard software updates scheduled between now and the beginning of Summer 2011 classes; each update contains multiple bug fixes and product enhancements

By waiting until Summer 2011, UTC Online hopes to provide an optimal online learning environment with as few bugs and as much functionality as possible.

We are continuing pilot testing of the new Blackboard version during the Spring 2011 semester. If you are interested in participating in the pilot, please contact utconlin@utc.edu with the class(es) you would like to pilot.

August 2010 Update

August 6, 2010 Scott Gast

Here’s a brief update on where we stand with the new Blackboard version for UTC Online.

Completed:

  • Installed new physical servers for UTC Online
  • Installed Blackboard Learn 9.1 on new servers
  • New Blackboard version is up and mostly ready to go: bb4.utc.edu

This Fall:

  • Beta testing by Walker Teaching Resource Center staff and UTC instructors
  • Pilot testing for several Fall 2010 courses
  • Faculty will have access to Spring 2011 courses in mid-November 2010
  • Switchover for students will be after the end of the Fall 2010 semester

Challenges in Moving to Version 9

August 6, 2010 Scott Gast

In a presentation at BbWorld 2010 (“Upgrading to Blackboard Learn, Release 9: Field Notes from USC and UT Austin”), Patrick Crispen and Carolyn Thomas summarize some of the challenges their institutions faced when moving to Blackboard version 9. Some highlights included:

  • Old ways to navigate and build a course no longer apply: many will think it’s easier, but inevitably some faculty will not think so
  • The computer you use matters: Blackboard 9 pushes processing operations to users’ computers, thus the speed, age, and browser version of the computer you use to connect to Blackboard matters greatly
  • Hiding the course menu is evil: users will think their course is gone if the course menu has been hidden
  • Grade Center is still slow, especially in Internet Explorer 7: this is in part because the Grade Center is a web application and not a web page; again, what browser you use and the age and speed of your computer matters greatly when it comes to accessing the Grade Center
  • Digital Dropbox is gone: get used to it, it’s not coming back; the Assignments tool is much more full-featured
  • Course Files is a brand new way of managing course content (overview)

Text Box Editor

May 12, 2010 Scott Gast

Text Box Editor ScreenshotAs a Mac user, it’s heartening to see Blackboard support the WYSIWYG editor (called the “Text Box Editor“) for Safari users. Windows/Mac Chrome users get support too. It’s also pleasantly easy to toggle the text box editor on/off if for whatever reason you have troubles with it.

Blackboard’s help page on this editor is especially amusing towards the end:

“Differences Between Text Editor and Text Editor

The Text Editor and Text Editor both allow the entry of formatted text in Blackboard Learn. The Text Editor allows Plain Text, Smart Text and HTML formatting. The Text Editor allows users to edit content in an interface resembling a word processor, and perform basic HTML functions without knowledge of any HTML.”