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Issue 35, Winter 2006
by Patricia LeClaire
To accommodate the wide range of instructional and administrative objectives for using BlackBoard, small-group workshops are now offered in a “three-tier” format. This allows participants to attend just those workshops which specifically meet their needs.
Beginning January 6, every Friday afternoon from 1:00–4:20 p.m., three consecutive workshops are offered in the ATUS Training Room, MH 154. There is a 20-minute transition period between sessions to allow time for remaining questions. Registration for all 3 workshops is available here. Those interested in attending more than one workshop will need to register for each separately.
As usual, each participant should confirm that they have a login name and password for BlackBoard prior to the workshops. BlackBoard login information is automatically generated when faculty and staff first activate their Universal Account. Your user name and password will be the same as your Universal Account. If you encounter difficulties, please call the Help Desk at 650-3333 or Web Services at 650-3096.
Participants wishing to add course materials to their actual course during the workshops should place their course materials in their personal folder on the U: drive prior to the session.
Introductory QuickStart
1:00—2:00 p.m.
Focus is solely on the publishing of non-interactive content, and will cover six basic BlackBoard functions
- configuring your course using the Control Panel
- creating Announcements
- uploading, or linking to, a Syllabus
- uploading, or linking to, content in a variety of formats (text, graphics)
- using Folders to aggregate related content and activities into discrete units of learning
- using Learning Units to aggregate related content and activities into sequenced modules
The QuickStart workshop is most appropriate for those faculty who are new to BlackBoard, faculty who will use BlackBoard as a means to post static information in support of their face-to-face classes, and staff who want to use BlackBoard for publication of non-academic information.
Assignments
2:20—3:20 p.m.
Focus is on BlackBoard functions related to assignments
- creating assignments using the Assignment Manager
- configuring the Gradebook
- adding offline or non-academic activities to the Gradebook
- providing access to online grade review by your students
- exporting the Gradebook to Excel
The Assignments workshop is most appropriate for faculty who are experienced in using the six basic BlackBoard functions and wish to extend and enhance their courses with interactive assignments capabilities.
Communication and Collaboration
3:40—4:40 p.m.
Focus is on BlackBoard functions which support instructor-student and student-student communication and collaboration
- creating and managing group activities
- strategies for managing whole-class discussion forums
- creating and managing Chat sessions
- creating and managing Virtual Classroom sessions
The Communication and Collaboration workshop is most appropriate for faculty who are experienced in using the six basic BlackBoard functions and wish to extend and enhance their courses with interactive whole-class and group activities. This workshop is also appropriate for staff who are developing “community” sites within BlackBoard.
For further information, please contact Patricia LeClaire at 650-2557.
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