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

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/

Subject: December Digest Featuring SoftChalk Talk

Happy Holidays from SoftChalk! We know the month of December can get quite hectic and your calendar is probably full, but take a moment to check out our latest webinar series - SoftChalk Talk. At SoftChalk Talk you will get all your SoftChalk questions answered by the experts. Come 2009 you will be happy you did - SoftChalk is the gift that keeps giving all year long!

Introducing your SoftChalk Talk Experts: Click & Drag

SoftChalk Talk is a new and exciting online series that will feature Click & Drag - SoftChalk experts, Dave and Mary Beth. This will be your hour to discuss topics of importance with SoftChalk fans near and far. It's a great place to ask a SoftChalk question, ask for advice, or share your ideas and suggestions. Please join your hosts for an exciting one-hour session on the following dates. To register visit http://www.softchalk.com/talk.html.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008
12pm PT | 1pm MT | 2pm CT | 3pm ET

Thursday, January 8, 2009
1pm PT | 2pm MT | 3pm CT | 4pm ET

Wednesday, January 14, 2009
9am PT | 10am MT | 11am CT | 12pm ET

Advance Your LessonBuilder Skills

Get specialized detailed training. Each Short Course is a live 1-hour training course conducted by a SoftChalk instructor using web conferencing. The course 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.

The following Short Courses are being offered at this time:

SoftChalk StyleBuilder - Tuesday, December 16
1pm PT | 2pm MT | 3pm CT | 4pm ET

Hyperlinks and Embedded Media - Thursday, December 18
1pm PT | 2pm MT | 3pm CT | 4pm ET

Introduction to SoftChalk - Monday, December 22
9am PT | 10am MT | 11am CT | 12pm ET

Quizzes and SoftChalk ScoreTracker - Tuesday, January 6
12pm PT | 1pm MT | 2pm CT | 3pm ET

Creating, Importing and Modifying Tables - Thursday, January 8
9am PT | 10am MT | 11am CT | 12pm ET

Images and Sidebars in LessonBuilder - Monday, January 12
10am PT | 11am MT | 12pm CT | 1pm ET

Contact SoftChalk
22 South Auburn Ave Richmond, VA 23221 l team@softchalk.com l 877-638-2425 (toll free)

Please report any problems to blackboard@vcu.edu.

Thank you,
The Blackboard Team

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/

Regards,
Blackboard Team

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

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/

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

Bb Regularly Scheduled Maintenance – September 12 and September 26 – 4pm to midnight
This is a friendly reminder that Blackboard maintenance is the second and fourth Friday of the month from 4pm to midnight.

JournalLX (Bb blog tool) Pilot will end December 2008
It was announced at the beginning the 2008 spring semester a blog tool had been made available in Blackboard as a pilot project. The pilot will end at the end of the 2008 fall semester. It appears at this point the tool is not being used by many faculty. If you would like to try the tool it can be found in a Bb course by going to the course Control Panel, clicking on any content item (Ex. Course Documents), selecting the Select drop-down box on the far right, selecting Blog, and clicking on Go. If you would like to know more about this tool, please send an email to blackboard@vcu.edu requesting someone contact you about using the blogging tool in Blackboard.

If you have used the Bb blogging tool, please send your feedback to Sheila Chandler at sdchandl@vcu.edu.

Bb Known Issues – Where to Find?The Blackboard Team has updated the “Known Issues” entries in the Blackboard FAQ, they can be found at http://faq.vcu.edu/ts/index.php?action=show&cat=41.

News from Center for Teaching Excellence
The Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) is in the beginning stages of growing a network of faculty who are Mac users, interested in sharing their learning, providing examples of interesting and creative uses of the Mac to enhance teaching and learning, and being a support network for each other. The CTE hopes this initiative will provide special learning opportunities and become a valuable resource to VCU faculty who are Mac users. Please contact Bud Deihl (wdeihl@vcu.edu) if you are interested in participating in this initiative.
There will be a special seminar on Tuesday, September 9 (9 - 11 AM), which will provide interested faculty members with the opportunity to explore how the landscape of learning is changing in the 21st century, and how Apple products can support innovative practices and learning experiences. For details and online registration, go to: http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/training/course_detail.asp?ID=6127

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/

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

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.

=========================================================================

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

=========================================================================

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)

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

For more information about the service go to: http://faq.vcu.edu/ts/index.php?action=artikel&cat=13&id=175&artlang=en

Bb Policies posted on-line
The Blackboard policies have now been posted to the FAQs. Check them out at http://faq.vcu.edu/ts/index.php?action=show&cat=5.

2008 Summer courses will be set to Unavailable status the week of September 1
We will set all Bb Summer 2008 courses to an "Unavailable" status the week of September 1, 2008. This is done so that the Summer 2008 courses will no longer be available to students. The courses will continue to be accessible to instructors. Please note this process sets the course to unavailable and you as the instructor on the course can make it available again if needed (Control Panel – Settings). If you wish to ensure that your Summer 2008 course remains available to students, you may send an email to pasmith2@vcu.edu prior to September 1 with the course id (e.g. PSYC-101-001-2008Spring). This will ensure that the availability of your course is not modified.

Bb courses for 2005 Summer, 2005 Fall & 2006 Spring were archived during the summer
The Bb archive policy is to have two years of courses on the production system (2006 Summer to 2008 Spring) and three years archived. The archive process takes place during the summer. If at any time you need an archived course restored, send a request to the Technology Services Help Desk at http://www.ts.vcu.edu/helpdesk or blackboard@vcu.edu or 828-2227 and please include the course id and semester you taught the course.

Softchalk LessonBuilder Upgraded to Version 4
Softchalk LessonBuilder has been upgraded to Version 4 and is available to download. To download the new version or download for the first time do the following:
1. Login to Blackboard
2. Click on My Blackboard Tab
3. In the My Faculty Downloads box click on Lesson Builder (Softchalk) V4
4. Click on Download for Windows (Win) or Mac
5. Enter you VCU eID and Password to access the download site
6. Follow the download instructions

If you are interested in learning more or attending training session for Softchalk LessonBuilder contact the Center for Teaching Excellence (cte@vcu.edu).

Bb 7.3 Documentation (new version after May 16, 2008 upgrade)
Blackboard was upgraded on May 16, 2008. For documentation on what is new or changed; go to the Blackboard Content System tab, click on Institution Content, and click on Bb Tip Sheets. The items labeled with 7.3 have information related to updated/enhanced features.

Respondus Version Upgraded and License Renewed
Respondus has been upgraded to version 3.5.4e and the annual license has been renewed. To ensure that you have the latest version select “Help” (while in Respondus) from the menu bar at the top of the screen. Then select “Check for updates”. To verify that your installation of Respondus is configured to automatically update, select “File”, “Preferences” and make sure the box beside “Automatically check for program updates” is checked.

Reminders (might be new information if you are first time user):

Making your 2008 Fall course(s) available to students
Remember to make your Fall 2008 course(s) "Available" in the Blackboard system when you are ready for your students to see the course. All courses are set to "Unavailable" when you first create them. Courses that are "Unavailable" are not visible to the students in the course. To set your course to be available to students, please do the following:
1. From the Control Panel of the Course, choose Settings.
2. From Settings, choose Course Availability.
3. Set the course to be Available and Submit.

Combining course rosters for Multiple sections or Cross-listed courses
If you are teaching multiple sections of a course or a course is cross-listed and you would like to have the enrollments for all of the sections combined into a single Blackboard course, please submit an on-line help desk ticket at http://www.at.vcu.edu/helpdesk/ or email blackboard@vcu.edu. In the email, please tell us the name of the course that you have created in Blackboard and the specific course sections that you would like to have directed into that course. For example:

"Please combine sections 001, 002, 003 and 004 of PSYC-101 into the Blackboard course PSYC-101-001-2008Fall."
Or
“Please Combine WMNS-101-001-2008Fall into the Blackboard course PSYC-101-001-2008Fall”

It usually takes a business day for the roster to update after you have made your request for combined sections or cross-listing, and after you have created the course in Blackboard.

Download Gradebook from Prior Semester course(s) for your Personal Copy or Upload Grades
To save your own personal copy of the Bb gradebook (we highly recommend you keep a copy), perform the following steps:

1. From the Control Panel of the Course, click on Gradebook
2. Click on Download Grades
3. Select Delimiter Type (Comma or Tab, if you use Microsoft Excel either will be OK).
4. Click on Submit
5. Click on Download
6. Click on Save (save to your desktop computer)

This file can be opened in Excel.

You can download your gradebook at any time during the semester, open it in Excel, make changes to an existing column or add a column. Then you can upload it back into Blackboard.
To upload grades:

1. From the Control Panel of the Course, Click on Gradebook
2. Click on Upload Grades
3. Follow the instructions on the screen

Blackboard Maintenance Schedule (Next date: August 8, 4pm to midnight)
This is a reminder that the Bb system will be taken down the second and fourth Friday of each month from 4pm to midnight to perform maintenance. Go to this link to see actual dates: http://www.vcu.edu/ls/BbSchedMaint/Index.htm. Please remind your students of these dates.

Wimba Voice Tools and LiveClassroom Maintenance Schedule
Wimba Voice tools and LiveClassroom are hosted by Wimba and so their maintenance scheduled is determined by the license agreement. As outlined in Wimba’s ASP license agreement, Wimba adheres to a maintenance window of Sunday from 1 a.m. ET to 6 a.m. ET. The following notice was received from Wimba: “During the month of August, however, additional maintenance requires the possible expansion of this window from 1 a.m. ET to 8 a.m. ET with possible downtime of up to two hours.”

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/

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

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

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/