Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Blackboard Unavailable Winter Break

Dear Colleagues,

Blackboard will be unavailable December 24 – January 1 as part of the upgrade to the new Blackboard.

Move content to your spring courses now or after January 1.

Until December 24, we have two versions of Blackboard:

Fall 2015 courses are in our current Blackboard 
Spring 2016 courses are in the new version of Blackboard Learn 
Summer 2015 and earlier courses are also in the new Blackboard
Dev shells are mostly in the current Blackboard. NOTE: Dev shells will be moved to the new Blackboard in January, so may not be immediately available in January. If you need access a dev shell in January, contact the Call Center ASAP to have it moved to the new Blackboard.
 
If you need to move content from fall 2015 to spring 2016 courses shells before the holiday break, you will have to use Export/Import. 
 
If you need to move content from an older course, we recommend that you use Export/Import in the new Blackboard rather than Course Copy. There are problems with Course Copy that result in duplication of files in course shells and cause bloated courses that slow the system down.
 
The old Blackboard will not be available after December 23.  In January, if you are missing a course in the new Blackboard, contact the Call Center.  IT will still have access to the older version in January. 

Helpful links and more:

Recorded Webinar on the new Blackboard (on YouTube)
More workshops to come in January from Academic Innovations.
Check out the new features of the Blackboard Learn October 2014 release
If you need to do any work in summer 2015 courses or earlier (i.e., incompletes), please work in the new Blackboard to ensure no data is lost. Contact the Call Center if you have any questions about this.

Best wishes for the holidays,
Lee
Lee Maria Henrikson
Instructional Designer
UAA Community and Technical College
Building Alaska's Workforce




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Tuesday, December 01, 2015

CTC Ed Tech News December 1, 2015

Dear Colleagues, 

Here are a few reminders for you:

Blackboard Upgrade is coming… let's be ready

1.    NOW – December 23, 2015

  • Spring 2016 courses are now available in the new version of Blackboard Learn at https://blackboard.uaa.alaska.edu
  • Fall 2015 courses will remain in our current Blackboard at https://classes.uaa.alaska.edu through December 23
  • If you need to move content from fall 2015 to spring 2016 courses shells before the holiday break, you will have to use Export/Import
  • Older courses (spring 2012 – summer 2015) are being added to the new Blackboard environment
  • If you need access to a dev shell in January, contact the Call Center to have it moved to the new Blackboard now

2.    December 24, 2015 - January 2, 2016

  • Blackboard unavailable while IT completes the upgrade

3.    January 2, 2016 

  • The new Blackboard environment available with all regular courses
  • You can course use course copy to move content to your spring 2016 courses
  • Dev shells may still need to be added to the new Blackboard.  If you need access to content in a dev shell in January, contact the Call Center ASAP to have it moved to the new Blackboard

4.    Helpful links and more

End of semester surveys - get data to help you improve your course next time

For any course with 11 or more students, an IDEA survey is generated.  For those courses, I recommend you complete the Faculty Information Form (FIF) for each course. Here are directions for completing the FIF. UAA Faculty Services has more information on the IDEA survey.
 
I recommend that you add your own open-ended questions to the IDEA survey. Faculty Focus had some great question stems:
Your insights into your learning in this course can help me see our course from your side of the desk. Please respond to any three of the statements below (more if you'd like). Submit these anonymously; I will use them as I plan for my courses next semester.
In this course …
  • it most helped my learning of the content when…because…
  • it would have helped my learning of the content if…because…
  • the assignment that contributed the most to my learning was… because…
  • the reading that contributed the most to my learning was… because…
  • the kinds of homework problems that contributed most to my learning were…because…
  • the approach I took to my own learning that contributed the most for me was…because…
  • the biggest obstacle for me in my learning the material was… because…
  • a resource I know about that you might consider using is…because…
  • I was most willing to take risks with learning new material when… because…
  • during the first day, I remember thinking…because…
  • what I think I will remember five years from now is…because…

You can use these questions in the survey in Blackboard or Qualtrics if your class is too small for an IDEA survey (10 students or less).
Lee Maria Henrikson
Instructional Designer
UAA Community and Technical College
Building Alaska's Workforce




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Monday, November 09, 2015

CTC Ed Tech November 9, 2015

Dear Colleagues,

Please share this newsletter with your adjunct faculty. They don't always read my emails and this one is important.

Spring 2016 courses are available Monday, November 9 in the new version of Blackboard Learn.  The new Blackboard will be at https://blackboard.uaa.alaska.edu. It's a separate instance of Blackboard.

Fall 2015 courses will remain in our current Blackboard at https://classes.uaa.alaska.edu.  If you need to move content from fall 2015 to spring 2016 courses shells, you will have to use Export/Import.

I am available to all CTE programs to provide workshops on the new Blackboard and how to import course data into the spring courses.  Please contact me to arrange.

2015 Blackboard upgrade detail

November 9, 2015 - December 23, 2015

  • Two instances of Blackboard (current and new) available
  • Spring 2016 courses are in the new Blackboard. See job aid on moving content to spring 2016 courses
  • Older courses (spring 2012 – summer ) will be added to the new Blackboard environment
  • Fall 2015 courses remain untouched in current Backboard
  • Note: courses copied to the new Blackboard will continue to be available to faculty in the current Blackboard (spring 2012 - summer 2015 courses)

December 24, 2015 - January 2, 2016

  • Blackboard unavailable while IT completes the upgrade

January 2, 2016

  • The new Blackboard environment available with all courses
  • Some dev shells may still need to be added to the new Blackboard

Helpful links and more

5th annual UAA eTech Fair Nov. 9 – 13

  • Lots of great sessions- check out the schedule
  • All online – via Collaborate
  • All by UAA faculty and staff
  • Register in advance or just show up
  • Added bonus: Quality Matters online seminars in the schedule
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Monday, November 02, 2015

CTC Ed Tech News November 2, 2015: Blackboard Upgrade

Dear Colleagues,

This is a one topic newsletter:  The Blackboard upgrade. Here's the latest on what's happening. I will be scheduling workshops on moving data from fall 2015 courses to spring 2016 course in the coming weeks, in coordination with Academic Innovations and the other instructional designers at UAA.

2015 Blackboard Upgrade Timeline

UAA's Blackboard Learn system will be upgraded to the Learn 9.1 October 2014 version in stages from November 2015 to January 2016. All courses will be moved to the new system during the upgrade. You may work in spring 2016 courses starting November 9, 2015.

November 9, 2015

·          New upgraded Blackboard website will be available (yes, we will have 2 separate Blackboard websites in November and December)

·       Spring 2016 courses available in new environment
·       Spring 2015 and summer 2015 courses available in new environment  

·       Fall 2015 courses remain in the current system

November 9, 2015 - December 23, 2015

·         Two instance of Blackboard (current and new) available.

·       Faculty may work on spring 2016 courses in the new Blackboard. See job aid on moving content to spring 2016 courses
·       Older courses (spring 2012 - fall 2014) added to the new Blackboard environment

·       Note: courses copied to the new Blackboard will continue to be available to faculty in the current Blackboard (spring 2012 - summer 2015 courses)

December 24, 2015

·       Current Blackboard taken offline for good

·       New Blackboard taken offline to finish upgrade and data migration

December 24, 2015 - January 2, 2016

·        Blackboard unavailable

·       Fall 2015 courses added to new environment
·       Some/all dev shells added to new environment

·       Final configuration work on new Blackboard

January 2, 2016

·       The new Blackboard environment available with all courses

·       Some dev shells may still need to be added to the new Blackboard

Please note:

·          Workshops and online documentation will be available

·       If you need to do any work in summer 2015 courses or earlier (i.e., incompletes), please work in the new Blackboard to ensure no data is lost. Contact the Call Center if you have any questions about this.
·       To move data from fall 2015 courses to spring 2016 course before December 24, you will need to export the data from the fall course and import it to the spring course.
o   Create an export file in your fall course
o   Download the generated .ZIP file
o   Log into the new Blackboard environment
o   Import .ZIP into the desired Spring 2016 course

Note: After January 2, 2016 course copy will be available for all courses including fall 2015.

Please let me know if you have any questions,

Lee
Lee Maria Henrikson
Instructional Designer
UAA Community and Technical College
Building Alaska's Workforce




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