Reports! Reports!

Instructors can run reports about course activity which might actually be useful. Check out Control Panel > Evaluation > Course Reports. Reports run as PDFs open as pop-ups, which means instructors will need to override their pop-up blocker.

Course Home vs. Announcements "tool"

It looks like students (all users in fact) control what appears on the course home page. Moreover it looks like the Announcements tool is separate from the Course Home page. We need to think about how to handle this and perhaps how to control it (if we can.) What are the implications for instructors posting announcements?

Admin search for all courses

Finally figured it out. On Admin tab > Courses, to search for all courses, search for Course ID Not Blank, as shown:

% is wildcard for User searches

If you're on the Users search page within the System Admin module, and you want to run a search for everything available in the system, you can no longer just hit "Go." The search won't execute. Instead, to search for everything available, type the % character in the search field, and click Go.

This option only works in the Users search. It doesn't work in the Courses search. Grr.

Messages tool turned off

I turned off the Messages tool at the system level. No courses should have the Messages tool (the internal messaging system) available for anyone. Faculty should be directed to use Charter Oak webmail instead.

File Uploading and Attachments

The new file upload tool allows you to upload several files at the same time. It also allows to select from previously uploaded files, rather than browsing for them on the computer.

This will save time if you need to upload a lot of files to one spot.

Being able to select from previously uploaded files will allow you to recall an accidentally deleted file, or place files strewn throughout the course in one place. You can also use the list to see if you have uploaded a specific file, instead of having to search for it within the course.

Re: Assignments tool settings

Assignments tool now also allows instructors to create assignments for individual students or groups.

Formatting Issues

When editing a test, finished questions appear to have line-spacing and other formatting issues. I've checked the code behind the questions and choices, and there is no explanation for it. Luckily, this problem is not visible when edit mode is turned off, so students should not be able to detect this.

Menu Views

You can choose from different menu views: list, expanded, and folders. Or you can choose to hide the menu all together!

You can also edit names and locations of items on the course menu, without having to go to the control panel.

Faculty Information

The faculty information section is edited just like anything else, which on one hand is a good thing. You dont have to go to the control panel to fill out the information and another place to view it. On the other hand, there is no template for what information the faculty member should provide.

Maybe as part of the course template we can provide a brief description of the kinds of things that should be provided in the space.

Lesson Plan Tool

The lesson plan tool allows for more structure for lessons. The tool allows the professor to state instructional objectives, giving the lecture more direction and focus.

Administrative Tab

Cannot seem to get "Course Administrator" to Course/Organization Roles table.

I set the permissions for "Instructor" and "Course Administrator."

Drag and Drop

BB9 has made it easier to put items, folders, menu items, and files where you want them. Instead of selecting a number order from a drop down menu, you just drag the item and drop it where you want it.

One thing I wish this feature also could do is drop files into folders, like in windows. Consider it a suggestion for BB10, I guess.

Understanding the Changes in Blackboard

helpful pdfs on changes in bb

https://www.asu.edu/courses/oasis/BB9/BB9WhatsNew/BB9WhatsNew.pdf

http://main.gvsu.edu/cms3/assets/428A2C9A-0FB7-5B0C-BBFCF723C12E59E3/blackboard9/Understanding%20the%20Changes%20in%20Blackboard%20NG.pdf

Blank Page? Quoi?

What is this Blank Page content type that we can add to content areas? How does it differ from items, folders, etc.? Hmm.

Course menu behavior

When a content area on a course menu is completely empty, its link on the course menu is hidden when edit mode is off. Students won't see course menu links that go to "Empty" areas. Instructors need to go into Edit mode to see the content area in the menu. This will be a training point for instructors.

Content Collection?

Has anyone looked into the Content Collection / Course Files feature? It's new and it looks like a big deal.

Assignments tool settings

The Assignments tool is now more flexible:

Instructors can allow students to submit once, unlimited times, or a specific number of times.

And instructors can set up an assignment so that it will accept late submissions but mark them in the grade center as "LATE."

Two thumbs up!

"Recycle Course" now "Bulk Delete"

The "Recycle Course" feature is now called "Bulk Delete." I don't see the term recycle anywhere. Hard habit to break?

Speaking of things we want to prevent faculty from doing, we need to adjust the instructor role permissions in BB9 to mimic the changes we made to the instructor role in BB7.

Discussion Forum descriptions

In BB9, descriptions of discussion forums appear to the right of the forum title, instead of below the forum title as in BB7. This isn't a big deal, except that long forum descriptions may clutter the page.

Labels

By labeling your posts, you let others discover what you have to say. Let's use the following labels:

• cool
• questions
• questions-answered
• admin
• instructor
• student
• new-features
• training
• headscratchers
• problems

Any other ideas? Let me know by posting a comment.

Images in posts

Look Ma! Blogger lets me upload images! We can easily include screen shots with our posts.

Our purpose

"Why use a blog?" This blog will help us figure out Blackboard 9 together. On this blog we'll record our findings, observations, questions, and answers. We'll document cool stuff, odd stuff, things to be aware of, and warnings we'll have to communicate to faculty and students.

Why document our work on a blog instead of on a white board or wall of post-its? Because we work at different times in different locations! This blog will let us contribute information from wherever we are. Plus we won't overwrite one another's work like we could in a file on the COSC network.

Questions? Thoughts? Leave a comment via the Comment link below. C'mon, try it out. You know you want to.