Blackboard Faculty Announcements

If you have any questions concerning any of the items in this blog entry or questions at any time about Blackboard (Bb), please submit an on-line help desk ticket at http://www.at.vcu.edu/helpdesk/ or email blackboard@vcu.edu or call 828-2227. If the Help Desk staff cannot answer your questions they will forward your questions to a member of the Technology Services Learning Systems staff. A portion of the Learning Systems staff in Technology Services is dedicated to monitoring Blackboard help tickets.

Items covered in this blog entry:
• Blackboard User’s Group meeting Thursday, October 16, 10am-11am, Cabell B-41
• Blackboard Downtime -Sunday, October 26, 8am to 4pm (Note, not usual Bb downtime schedule)

Blackboard User’s Group meeting Thursday, October 16, 10am-11am, Cabell B-41
Please join the Learning Systems group for a Blackboard User's Group meeting on Thursday, October 16 (Monroe Park Campus Reading Day), in Cabell Library B-41 from 10am to 11am. The Learning Systems group will discuss documentation that is available for your use and use of your students. The group would also like to hear your suggestions for additional documentation. If you plan to attend, registration would be appreciated, register at http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/training/course_detail.asp?ID=6188 . Registration is not required.

Blackboard downtime – Sunday, October 26, 8am to 4pm (Note, not usual Bb downtime schedule)
The University Computer Center has scheduled Sunday, October 26 from 8am to 4pm to move data to a new storage device. During this move, Blackboard data will be moved to the new storage device. For more details see VCU Planned System Changes (http://www.pubapps.vcu.edu/changes/plannedChange.aspx).

Training Opportunities and Help Links
Center for Teaching Excellence
Learn about sound pedagogical methods and other resources
http://www.vcu.edu/cte/
Blackboard Training – enter Keyword = Blackboard
http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/training/

Blackboard FAQ
http://faq.vcu.edu/ts/

Blackboard Known Issues
http://faq.vcu.edu/ts/index.php?action=show&cat=41

Technology Help Desk page
http://www.at.vcu.edu/helpdesk/index.html
Email: blackboard@vcu.edu

Blackboard’s Support for Faculty, Instructors and Designers
(NOTE: this is not a VCU site. We run the Blackboard Academic Suite version 7.3)
http://behind.blackboard.com/s/faculty/

Regards,
Blackboard Team
blackboard@vcu.edu

Posted by at 4:38 PM | Permalink

Blackboard Maintenance - Friday, September 26, 2008 – 4pm to midnight. Blackboard Maintenance is the second and fourth Friday of the month.

If unforeseen circumstances cause the system to be down past midnight updates will be posted to the Blackboard system announcement blog at:

http://blog.vcu.edu/blackboard/

Regards,
The Blackboard Team

For further assistance contact:
Technology Services Help Desk Contact Information
Phone: 828-2227
Email: blackboard@vcu.edu
Help ticket: http://www.ts.vcu.edu/helpdesk/
Blackboard FAQ: http://faq.vcu.edu/ts/

Bb Training/Instructional Assistance
http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/training/it/search.asp (enter Keyword: Blackboard)
Center for Teaching Excellence - http://www.vcu.edu/cte/

Posted by at 9:53 AM | Permalink

If you have any questions concerning any of the items in this blog entry or questions at any time about Blackboard (Bb), please submit an on-line help desk ticket at http://www.at.vcu.edu/helpdesk/ or email blackboard@vcu.edu or call 828-2227. If the Help Desk staff can not answer your questions they will forward your questions to a member of the Technology Services Learning Systems staff. A portion of the Learning Systems staff in Technology Services is dedicated to monitoring Blackboard help tickets.

Items covered in this blog entry:
· Wimba Voice Tools and Live Classroom will be upgraded on Friday, September 26
· Bb Regularly Scheduled maintenance – September 12 and September 26
· JournalLX (Bb blog tool) Pilot will end December 2008
· Bb Known Issues – Where to Find?
· News from Center for Teaching Excellence
· Training Opportunities and Help Links

Continue reading "Blackboard News – September 7, 2008" »

Posted by at 1:44 PM | Permalink

email from SoftChalk:

SoftChalk Innovators Series: "Promoting Higher Level Thinking Skills"

Hello,
For professional development purposes, we offer a "Certificate of Attendance". Our Innovovator Webinars are about the pedagogy, not the technology. Next session, on August 27, learn how SoftChalk is used to develop higher level thinking skills. Click here for details.

Other ways to learn about SoftChalk:

* Introductory Demonstrations: Discover the main features of SoftChalk, see examples and ask your questions.
* SoftChalk Short Courses: Join our popular training program on topic-specific one-hour sessions.

Innovators in Online Learning
Promoting Higher Level Thinking Skills:
Using Bloom's Taxonomy with SoftChalk LessonBuilder
Wednesday August 27
11 am Pacific | 2 pm Eastern

In this one hour presentation Lyn Hawks, Coordinator of Independent Learning at Duke University TIP, will show how you can you use SoftChalk to ensure that students are thinking at their highest level. Bloom's Taxonomy is a familiar framework for educators as they help students explore levels of knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, evaluation, and synthesis. Learn how the Duke University Talent Identification Program harnesses LessonBuilder quizzes, activities, and hyperlinks to provide meaningful skill practice and assessment at the highest levels of critical thinking. See examples of elementary, middle, high school, and college level lessons at work. The session ends with a Q&A period. (Space is limited. Please register now for best selection!)
Register Now for this Innovators presentation

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Online Introductory Demonstrations
Want to see how easily a lesson can be built? Each one-hour live online demonstration introduces the key features of SoftChalk. We will view example lessons, and then demonstrate how the lesson content was created using SoftChalk. The session ends with a question and answer period . Register at http://www.softchalk.com/webinar.

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SoftChalk Short Courses
Get specialized detailed training. Each Short Course is a "live" 1-hour training course conducted by a SoftChalk instructor using web conferencing. The course typically includes a presentation and examples, as well as an opportunity to ask questions and receive assistance from the instructor. These Short Courses are free to our Gold Support clients (register from the Help Menu of SoftChalk LessonBuilder) and a small fee for others. Register at http://www.softchalk.com/training.

Register Now for Short Course Training

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Check out our newly updated Quick Tour Videos, Sample Lessons and User Guides on our website today!

Please feel free to forward this digest to any of your colleagues who may have an interest in creating more engaging on-line lessons for their students.

Please contact us with questions or concerns.

The SoftChalk Team
team@softchalk.com
www.softchalk.com
877-638-2425 (toll free USA/Canada)

Posted by at 10:41 AM | Permalink

If you have any questions concerning any of the items in this blog entry or questions at any time about Blackboard (Bb), please submit an on-line help desk ticket at http://www.at.vcu.edu/helpdesk/ or email blackboard@vcu.edu or call 828-2227. If the Help Desk staff can not answer your questions they will forward your questions to a member of the Technology Services Learning Systems staff. A portion of the Learning Systems staff is dedicated to monitoring Blackboard help tickets.

Items covered in this blog entry:
New Information:
• Bb JumpStart Service started August 1, 2008
• Bb Policies posted on-online
• 2008 Summer courses will be set to Unavailable status the week of September 1
• Bb courses for 2005 Summer, 2005 Fall & 2006 Spring were archived
• Softchalk LessonBuilder upgraded to Version 4
• Bb 7.3 Documentation (new version after May 16, 2008 upgrade)
• Respondus version upgraded and license renewed

Reminders (might be new information if you are first time user):
• Making 2008 Fall courses available to students
• Combining course rosters for Multiple sections or Cross-listed courses
• Download Gradebook from Prior Semester course(s) for your Personal Copy or Upload Grades
• Blackboard Maintenance Schedule (Next date: August 8, 4pm to midnight)
• Wimba Voice tools and LiveClassroom Maintenance Schedule
• Training Opportunities and Help Links

Continue reading "2008 Fall Semester - Blackboard New Information and Reminders" »

Posted by at 5:25 PM | Permalink

The regularly scheduled Blackboard downtime maintenance for Friday, August 8, 4pm to midnight has been CANCELED. The system will NOT be taken down.

Regards,
The Blackboard Team

For further assistance contact:
Technology Services Help Desk Contact Information
Phone: 828-2227
Email: blackboard@vcu.edu
Help ticket: http://www.ts.vcu.edu/helpdesk/
Blackboard FAQ: http://faq.vcu.edu/ts/

Bb Training/Instructional Assistance
http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/training/it/search.asp (enter Keyword: Blackboard)
Center for Teaching Excellence - http://www.vcu.edu/cte/

Posted by at 3:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)