Category Archives: Training

Weekly Bb9 Training + Mini Video Tutorials

ITCS will be offering Bb9 training each week on either a Tuesday or a Wednesday.   Here is the schedule.  If you want to sign up for a training session you will need to click this link to sign up.

To register for training:

  1. Navigate to http://www.ecu.edu/cs-itcs/training.cfm
  2. Log in using your PirateID.  Off-campus users sign on by typing the following: INTRA\PirateID
  3. Choose a class link on the calendar.
  4. Click the “Sign Up/Unregister” button (top of the details dialog).

Weekly Email and Videos – Each week or so we will be sending out an email (The Weekly Word) with a bit of information about a new feature in Bb 9.  We will keep a running list of all of the videos here for your viewing pleasure.

January 2011 videos:

  • Bb 9 – The Migration
  • Bb9 vs Bb8. In this 4 minute video I go over some of the basic differences between Bb8 and Bb9.  The areas covered are the navigation menu, the control panel location and the ability to drag and drop in Bb9 to re-order the navigation area, announcements and content folders and items.
  • Bb9 Navigation – In this 2 minute video you will get an overview of the new navigation area in Bb9.
  • The Edit Button - Learn how to toggle between the faculty and student view of your course (ECU video).
  • Bb9 Course Tools – Short video describing how to set tool availability in Bb9 (ECU video).

February 2011 videos:

  • The Bb9 Content Area – Learn about the new content area in Blackboard 9.  New interface and some new choices.
  • The Groups Area in Bb9 – Learn about new types of groups that are now available for you to take advantage of in Bb9.
  • Grade Center – Take a look at the Grade Center. A few changes.

March 2011 videos:

April 2011 videos:

VIRTUAL TRAINING:

Blackboard 9 Upgrade Information Page

Welcome to the Blackboard 9 upgrade project information page.  We will continually update this page through the upgrade process with news, information and links.

What: ECU is upgrading its course management system to Bb9 in May of 2011.  We have formed two groups to assist with these tasks.  The first group is the Steering Committee. This group is assisting in shaping the training, documentation and the look and feel of Bb 9.  The second group is the Pilot Group.  We currently have 21 faculty with 38 sections ready to teach, starting in the Spring 2011 semester.  This group has been trained. Support documentation has been created and provided to assist them using this new platform.

When: The Blackboard 9 pilot starts January 2011.  Other significant Bb9 pilot  dates are listed below.

  • 5/2010 – 8/2010  Bb 9 server propped up and configured.
  • 8/2010 Staging pilot group trained.  Two faculty teaching three sections.
  • 9/2010 Pilot group and Steering Committee formed.  Both groups have met and have been trained in Bb9.
  • 9/2010 ECU Instructional Technology Consultants training.
  • 9/2010 Yammer group created for both the Pilot and Steering Group.
  • 10/2010 Work was started on the Bb Faculty manual.  The document was completed 12/01/2010.  See the link below.
  • 11/2010 Training videos created.
  • 11/2010  Banner feeds have now created the Bb 2011 pilot courses; they are also populating them.
  • 11/2010  Blackboard section collapse tool was, and is, still being tested.
  • Faculty Manual Completed
  • 12/2010 Working on skinning the inside of Bb9 along with the login page before the end of the semester.
  • 12/2010 Working on getting all of the training dates on the books before we leave for break.
  • 12/2010 Bb Mobile is not working.  See all of the details here.  The mobile version ONLY works for Bb9 right now.
  • 1/10/2011 The pilot is now live.
  • 1/11/2011 Sent out the first of our weekly emails about Bb9 across the ECU community.  Click HERE to review a list of all of the email topics, videos and training dates available so far.
  • 1/12/2011 Our first of many open to the public Bb9 training sessions (Austin 309)  See the link above for more information.
  • 3/1/2011 Mid term survey sent out to the pilot group.  3/15/2011  Survey closed
  • 3/10/2011 Restore server is up and running
  • 3/12/2011 testing the course collapse tool on the Bb8 and Bb9 restore systems.
  • 3/15/2011 testing the course collapse tool on production Bb8
  • 3/18/2011  All summer Bb sites released into the system
  • 3/25/2011 All fall sites added into the system ( not enrollments)
  • 4/5/2011 Working with the multimedia center on the login page and color schema of Bb9
  • 4/10/2011  Working w/ Blackboard on a redbar error, login error and discussion grader error
  • 4/25/2011  Propped up a new Bb9 server and all of the errors have gone away. So far we have logged in and out 240 times w/ different users and browsers
  • 5/2/2011 Login page is about done and so is the skinning.  Looking good
  • 5/2/2011 Working on both the faculty and the student modules .  Right now we have Bb Mobile Learn, Student Bookstore, Support and Training, Updates, New Features and Disability Support Services
  • 5/10/2011 – Upgrade started.
  • 5/11/2011 Upgrade should be done today.  Once the upgrade is complete QA testing will begin.
  • 5/13/2011 WE ARE ALIVE.  Blackboard 9 is live !!!!!!!!!!!!  After 18 months of work we are officially a Bb9 campus.

Why: Blackboard 9 offers new features what will enrich the experience for both faculty and students.  Some of the new features include Blogs, Journals, Wikis, drag and drop and new Group Features. If you want a full list of the new features click THIS LINK to review and download the Bb9 faculty manual.

Where: The pilot server URL is http://bbdev.ecu.edu. All spring sites are loaded on this server, BUT you should not use these sites for teaching in any circumstance unless you are in the pilot.  See the list of the pilot participants.

Questions: If you have any questions about Bb9 or the pilot, do not hesitate to call or email Matt Long at longm@ecu.edu / 252-328-9074  or Cindy Bowers at bowersc@ecu.edu 252-328-9167 .

Blackboard Training information.

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Hello All  -
Blackboard training is starting this week using the online  Centra platform.  Next weeks training  will be all face to face .  Here are the dates, times and all of the information you will need to attend these sessions.  Training like this will be offered each week from here on out through the end of the semester.

Blackboard Training Face to Face

2/9
12pm – 1pm
1:30pm – 2:30pm
3pm – 4pm

2/10
9am – 10am
10:30am – 11:30am
11:30am – 12:30pm

2/11
9am – 10am
10:30am – 11:30am
11:30am – 12:30pm

To sign up for these session login into Onestop.  Click UNIVERSITY TRAINING and search for “Blackboard 8 Grade Center Training (Face 2 Face)”.  Find the date and time that works for you and sign up.

Blackboard Grade Center Training live on Centra. To attend you will need a working headset.

2/3 10am – 11am
2/4 10am – 11am
2/4 11:15am – 12:15pm
2/5 10am – 11am

To join this online live training session just click the following URL. https://de207.centra.com:443/GA/main/0000004b2b7500000124bdbf5ea38ec3

All you need to do is enter your ECU email account.  If you already have a Centra account it will ask for your password.  If you don’t have a Centra account enter your ECU email and Centra will then ask for your first name, last name and display name.  That’s all you need to do.

Please start the login process at least 15 minutes before the actual session start time OR even the day before to make sure everything is working normally.

To sign up for these session login into Onestop.  Click UNIVERSITY TRAINING and search for “Blackboard 8 Grade Center Training (Centra)”.  Find the date and time that works for you and sign up.

Also, my team is going to be spending a good amount of time making making short video clips usingCamtasia on parts of the new grade center features that create the most questions during our training this semester.  If you have a question about the gradebook we can create a video for you (and everyone else) to use.  If you have a question about the new gradebook please just post it in the comment area  of this blog post.

Spring 2010 Welcome and a thanks

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Hello ECU Faculty -
I hope you all had a fantastic winter break. I know I did (besides the ice storm in Boone,NC and no power for 2 days but that’s another story). :-)
Below you will see a checklist of sorts for the beginning of the semester. Please review and email me if you have any questions. Welcome back !

  1. Make your course available – Be sure to do this.  If you don’t your students will not see your Spring 2010 Bb site.  Here is how.  Control panel / Click Settings / Click Course Availability / Toggle to YES /  Click Submit. You will need to do this for each of your Spring 2010 sites
  2. Enrollments – We will be  updating Bb with enrollments multiple times each day through the drop add period.
  3. Course Content - If you still need the Blackboard Team to rollover content or collapse sections you can request that process here.  http://ecu.edu/blackboard
  4. Fall 2009 Sites - I will make all of these unavailable this weekend.
  5. Problems - If you have any questions regarding Blackboard you can contact your Instructional Technology Consultant for local support or contact my team for phone or email support. (Matt Long – longm@ecu.edu / 252-328-9074 or Matt Powell – powellma@ecu.edu / 252-7371264) More on this topic in a moment.
  6. Training - I will be announcing training over the weekend. We plan to do group training in Austin 309 and Centra training throughout the semester. If you are interested in my visiting your unit for training  please email me and we will schedule a date and time.
  7. Bugs - If you notice any odd behaviors in Bb please report them to me.  I’m working closely with systems to review these “bugs” and search for a fix with Blackboard.
  8. A huge thanks !! - James Cook was provided a career opportunity that he could not pass up near the end of 2009. I’m sad to report that he no longer works at ECU.  He will be missed and his contributions will not soon be forgotten.  If you would like to say “thanks” do so in the comments area of this blog post. His position will be filled in the coming weeks. I will keep you all posted on this subject.

Well, I guess that’s about it.  I will be updating this blog site weekly with any news that I think will be helpful in your use of Blackboard. I will do my best to limit the amount of emails I send out.  But, you will be getting a good amount as we launch into the Spring 2010 semester.   Thanks so much and welcome back !

Matt Long
http://twitter.com/ecubb

Bb Training Opportunities, Online or In-Person

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Training on the new Gradebook Center features continues next week.  On December 1st, 2nd, and 3rd we will hosting a total of 6 Centra sessions on the new gradebook features that you will see after the upgrade. There will be online and in-person training in Austin 309.  The upgrade will be happening late December.
The times of the training are the following.

12/01/09 (located in Austin 309)

  • 8:00am-9:30am
  • 10:00am-11:30am

12/02/09 (Online Via Centra)

  • 1:30pm-2:30pm
  • 3:00pm-4:00pm

12/03/09 (located in Austin 309)

  • 8:00am-9:30am
  • 10:00am-11:30am

You will need to login to Onestop and click the University Training link to sign up and choose the session that works best for your schedule.
|You can access all of the current videos on the new Gradebook Center HERE.

Bb Training Opportunities – Centra and others

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Training on the new Gradebook Center features continues this week.  On the 23rd and 24th we will hosting a total of 6 Centra sessions on the new gradebook features that you will see after the upgrade. The upgrade will be happening late December.
The times of the training are the following.

11/23/09

  • 9:00am-10:00am
  • 10:30am-11:30am
  • 1:30pm-2:30pm

11/24/09

  • 2:00pm-3:00pm
  • 3:30pm-4:30pm

You will need to login to Onestop and click the University Training link to sign up and choose the session that works best for your schedule.

Also, we will have more sessions on Austin 309, face to face sessions within Units and more Centra sessions this semester.
|You can access all of the current videos on the new Gradebook Center HERE.

Here is  a short video with more detail about your training opportunities.