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:

New Blackboard login page (https://blackboard.uaa.alaska.edu)

Current Blackboard login page (https://classes.uaa.alaska.edu)

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

907-786-4903

http://ak-lee.blogspot.com

UAA Community and Technical College

Building Alaska's Workforce

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

• New Blackboard login page (https://blackboard.uaa.alaska.edu)
• Current Blackboard login page (https://classes.uaa.alaska.edu)
• Check out the new features of the Blackboard Learn October 2014 release
• Workshops available online and on the main campus
• 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. 

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…

(from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/philosophy-of-teaching/a-new-twist-on-end-of-semester-evaluations)

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

907-786-4903

http://ak-lee.blogspot.com

UAA Community and Technical College

Building Alaska's Workforce