Blackboard Unavailable Dec. 23 - Jan. 5

Spring 2017 courses in new UA Blackboard

Spring 2017 and spring and summer 2016 course shells are now in the UA Statewide Blackboard at classes.alaska.edu. My advice: Set up your spring 2017 classes now in the new site. Log in with your usual username & password.

·      Build your spring course shells now:

o   To copy content from spring or summer 2016 to a spring 2017 course, use course copy in UA Blackboard

o   To copy content from fall 2016, log in to the UAA Blackboard, export and download the course zip file and then log in to UA Blackboard to import into the spring 2017 course

o   Export from fall 2015 or earlier courses at bbarchive.uaa.alaska.edu 

·      Recommended: Make a backup of each spring 2017 course by exporting a copy and saving it to your computer

·      All 2016 and 2017 courses (including fall 2016) will be available in UA Blackboard on January 6, 2017

·      Help: IT Services Call Center at 786-4646 or 877-633-3888, option 1

I will be available through December 23 to assist you or answer questions about the new Blackboard.

Guiding the Learner Through Your Course

When meeting with instructors about course design, I often bring up the concept of using weekly folders and putting all the directions and activities for the week in the folder. Students generally like it.

I was reminded of why I recommend this by an email from Tom Kluhmann. Tom calls this providing instructions at the point of need. I like it because the directions are right there with the tasks/activities and are at the right time and place for the learners to use. The learners don't have to go find the instructions elsewhere. Tom points out, too, that the learners are not overwhelmed with content and instructions at the beginning and they have time to develop a sense of the course. The downside is that this can take more time to plan and build. To make this process easier, I use a template for the unit that includes the learning goals, readings, and activities for the unit.

In contrast, some instructors provide all the instructions up front, typically in the syllabus or a separate schedule. These documents are typically created as part of the planning process, so this is easy to implement.  The disadvantages are that it can be overwhelming to the learners, they may not understand all the instructions at that time, and they have to keep going back to that source document.

If you are interested in weekly folders, there is an export file of weekly folders in the *CTC Faculty Resources Blackboard shell.  You can download it and import it into a course.

CTC Ed Tech News Nov. 17, 2016

Dear Colleagues,

First off, plan now for spring course shell development:

Blackboard unavailable

12/23/16 to 1/5/17

Spring 2017 courses in new UA Blackboard

Spring 2017 and spring and summer 2016 course shells are now in the UA Statewide Blackboard at classes.alaska.edu. My advice: Set up your spring 2017 classes now in the new site. Log in with your usual username & password.

·      Build your spring course shells now:

o   To copy content from spring or summer 2016 to a spring 2017 course, use course copy in UABlackboard

o   To copy content from fall 2016, log in to the UAA Blackboard, export the course and then log in to UA Blackboard to import into the spring 2017 course

o   Export from fall 2015 or earlier courses at bbarchive.uaa.alaska.edu 

·      Recommended: Make a backup of each spring 2017 course by exporting a copy and saving it to your computer

·      All 2016 and 2017 courses (including fall 2016) will be available in UA Blackboard on January 6, 2017

·      Help: IT Services Call Center at 786-4646 or 877-633-3888, option 1

Gmail: archive vs. delete - the Smackdown

Gmail stores all your filed mail in a folder (or label) called "All Mail."  Email messages can be in "All Mail" with the label "Inbox" for example. All messages not in the trash label or in the spam label are in "All Mail."  When you are removing a message from your Inbox, you can Archive it or Delete it.  

Archive simply removes the "Inbox" label – the message remains in "All Mail."  When you delete a message, the label "Inbox" is removed, and the message is moved from All Mail to Trash.  Dragging a message to a folder has the effect of removing the "Inbox" label and adding the folder name as a label.  

Be careful when moving messages on your phone – the Archive option is easier to access than the Delete option (at least on my iPhone).

 Accessible Videos, Part 2

We are required by Federal law to provide alternative formats for students who cannot access course materials that do not provide accommodation for their disabilities.  This means for students who can't hear a video, we can close caption (best choice), provide a transcript, or provide an equivalent alternative.  

If you can, start with videos that are already close captioned. When looking for videos in YouTube to use in your course, add "-cc" to your search items.  The search results will only include videos that are already close captioned.

End of Semester Surveys

The end of semester surveys for classes with 11 or more students opens on November 28.  You have until November 27 to add questions to the survey.  See the IDEA dates on the Faculty Services website andcontact them if you have any questions about the survey.

If your class has 10 or fewer students, you will need to collect end of semester data from your students on your own.  Qualtrics is a good tool – it's similar to Survey Monkey.

CTC Ed Tech News November 1, 2015

Dear Colleagues,

Lots going on: the new Blackboard is up and ready for you- with your spring 2017 course shells..  The eTech Fair is next week. Relax, enjoy the ride, and learn something new! 

SIBL is Here (Single Instance of Blackboard)

Woohoo!

The new single instance of Blackboard (SIBL) is now available with your spring 2017 course shells. Log on at classes.alaska.edu with your usual username and credentials.

Spring and summer 2016 courses are already in SIBL. 

Getting ready for spring

·      If you are rolling content from spring 2016, you can do a course copy in SIBL

·      If you are rolling content from fall 2016, you will have to log in to the UAA Blackboard, export the course and then log in to SIBL to import the course data –or wait until January when you can do a course copy.

See the Edutip on Course Copy and Export/Import.

Something to think about

You can work on your spring courses in a dev shell in our current Blackboard (request a dev shellfrom IT Services). You can work on them in SIBL.  In both cases, I recommend exporting a copy just in case.

Please note

·      Both SIBL and our Blackboard will be unavailable Dec 23, 2016 – Jan 5, 2017.

·      Fall 2016 courses will be available in SIBL on Jan. 6, 2017

·      All 2015 and older courses will still be available in https://bbarchive.uaa.alaska.edu/ until they reach their 3-year deletion

·      All dev shells will still be in classes.uaa.alaska.edu on Jan. 6, 2016.

·      Add-ons such as Collaborate, VoiceThread and Atomic Learning won't work in SIBL until January

eTech Fair

It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's the UAA eTech Fair 2016, coming to a computer near you …live next week. It's a great way to learn more about teaching with technology from the comfort of your office. 

Check out the schedule, register, and show up (at your computer). 

I'll be offering three sessions:

·      Gmail Unveiled

·      Lecture Capture in YouTube with Google Hangouts on Air

·      Curriculum Mapping Demystified

·      Stump the Instructional Designers: Google Edition (with other instructional designers

Gmail Only Has 3 Folders

"What," you say, "I have all my folders from Outlook."  Ah, but they are no longer truly folders.  They are… labels," I'll explain.

The three folders in Gmail are:  All Mail, Trash, and Spam.  All the other "folders" that you had in Outlook are now really "labels."  The big difference is that an email message can have multiple labels, but it can only be in one folder (with or without any labels).  Check it out for yourself.  Find "All Mail" in the menu on the left and scroll down the email list. Some of them have the label Inbox beside the name.  Here's a lesson on labels in Gmail if you're curious.

Next newsletter:  Archive vs. Delete in Gmail – the Smackdown

Warmly, 

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 October 24, 2016

Dear Colleagues,

In this high tech world, we are forced to reframe our work or be eternally frustrated. Technology, for better or worse, has changed how we work. For better and worse, it's always changing. This means we're always having to adapt and learn. It can be frustrating. Here are some options to ease the pain.

eTech Fair November 7- 12 (Monday-Saturday)

The eTech Fair is an online conference by and for UAA faculty and staff. Get more information or sign up to host a session here. Sessions are still being finalized, but topics include Google Apps for Education, Online Course Facilitation, Accessibility, ePortfolios, Blackboard, and High Impact Practices. I will be facilitating a few sessions. This is an a la carte conference, just sign up for the sessions that interest you.

Gmail secrets revealed

Last newsletter I wrote about how to add a preview pane to Gmail. This week, I urge to you explore your Gmail settings. Click the gear in the upper right corner of the Gmail window and select Settings from the drop down list. Look at the general settings. Scroll down to add a signature file or a vacation notice. Customize the other options to match your preferences. Click the Save Changes button at the bottom when you're done.

Accessibility

We are required by Federal law to not discriminate against a student with a disability. This means if a student can't access the class materials due to her disability, an alternative must be provided.

There are several ways to accomplish this with videos. The first is closed captioning. If you use YouTube videos in your class, start by looking for videos that are already captioned. In your search list, look for the boxed cc in the video description.

​

Flipped classroom strategies

To me, the flipped classroom idea is all about active learning in the classroom. Students do homework- reading, watching recorded lectures, etc. and come to class prepared to apply and extend that learning. The real challenge for most faculty is the design of the classroom learning activities. Faculty Focus published some ideas last month. I have also used a variant of the Final Word protocol. At UAA, some faculty have implemented Team Based Learning.

Warmly,

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 October 10, 2016

Dear Colleagues,

Lots to share this week:  professional learning opportunities, an update on Blackboard, and a reminder about emergency alerts at UAA.

Gmail Lunch & Learn Monday October 17 at Noon

I confess, I just started using Gmail recently – as a Mac user, I was able to use the Mac Mail client to access Gmail and it had the added advantage that I could see all my old UAA email. On the minus side, I sometimes sent mail from the old UAA account (which didn't work!)

So, I decided to make the migration to Gmail.  I've learned a few things that I think will be useful to you.  Bring your lunch to UC 145 on Monday, October 17 at noon to learn more about using Gmail effectively.

Please, email me any specific questions you have about Gmail.

Here's one tip to entice you:  Enable the preview pane in Gmail to look more like Outlook. Go to Mail>Settings>labs>Preview Pane>enable.

​And, you can toggle the preview pane on and off:

​

​eTech Fair

The UAA Instructional Designers and Academic Innovations are bringing you the UAA annual eTech Fair this year. The Fair will feature a variety of sessions – all online in either Collaborate or Google Hangouts the week of November 7-12. We want to know what you want to learn about the Google Apps we now have at UAA. Please help us by completing this quick surveyby Friday, October 14.

 Look for the eTech Fair schedule in the next couple weeks.  

Blackboard Update

Today I have access to the new UA-wide Blackboard for testing and learning materials development. Yes, it's here!

The plan is for all faculty to have access to the new Blackboard on October 31. All of your 2016 courses will be in the Single Instance of Blackboard, as well as your 2017 course shells.  2015 and earlier courses will still be available in BBarchive.uaa.alaska.edu.  

Emergency Alerts

It's time to start preparing for weather and other events that can disrupt teaching. UA alerts sends closure and emergency notices to your email address or text address listed in UAOnline. Please make sure your information is current.  Please note: 

•     In the event of bad weather, UAA announces any potential closures by 6 a.m. for day classes and by 4 p.m. for evening classes.

•    The main UAA web page contains current closure notices and local radio stations also carry announcements.

CTC Ed Tech News October 3, 2016

Dear Colleagues,

Another semester is rolling by. It's a good time to take stock while you can still make changes to your courses.

Midterm Evaluations

You don't have to wait until the end of the semester to collect feedback from your students. Find out now, while you could still change something, what's working and not working to support their learning in your course.  

I like to use Qualtrics, our survey tool, to collect the data. You can also use the survey tool in Blackboard or a Google Form.

Here's some inspiration: Robert Talbert shares his strategies, approaches, and reasons for collecting more frequent feedback from students.  His questions are simple and he explains to the students what he's doing or not doing based on the feedback. Student feedback is a great source of information on how to improve teaching. 

 

Annual eTech Fair

Coinciding with Distance Education Week, Nov. 7-11, the eLearning Workgroup and the UAA Instructional Designers are hosting an a la carte series of webinars on educational technology topics. Look for more details in the coming weeks, including a survey on your learning needs for the Google suite of applications.

 

Sign Your Blackboard Emails

With the new Blackboard, the from: field is not always visible. I recommend signing all emails from Blackboard and all announcements that are emailed to students.  

 

Accessible Videos

We have a legal requirement to provide an alternative for the audio in videos. There are three options: close captioning, providing a transcript, and providing an alternative activity. In the weeks and months to come, I'll be sharing resources on close captioning. This is a serious issue for the university. This EduTip from Academic Innovations provides some background.

CTC Ed Tech News August 15, 2016

Wow, it's that time already.  We're getting back to the university.  Here is some information to get you back in the groove.

Course Copy in Blackboard Learn

We have two instances of Blackboard Learn at UAA.  All 2016 courses are in classes.uaa.alaska.edu. 2015 courses and earlier are in bbarchive.uaa.alaska.edu. You can use course copy to load content from your spring 2016 course shell to fall 2016 course shell. To get content from 2015 and earlier courses, you'll need to export from the course in bbarchive.uaa.alaska.edu and import to classes.uaa.alaska.edu. Here's an edutip (that I wrote!) that explains the process.

EduPass Conference by Academic Innovations and CAFE

Sunday, August 21- Tuesday August 23, 2016 at the Learning Resource Center (LRC), UAA Campus

Register to receive an email to select the workshops you would like to attend. Workshops include: 

• Blackboard 101 
• eWolf ePortfolio 101
• Course Architecture: Choosing a Platform
• Facilitating Online Courses using BB Collaborate
• Flip your Online Course: Active Learning in BB Collaborate
• Course Navigation & Design
• Crucial Course Components: Set Up Students for Success
• Rethinking Content & Design: Open Educational Resources
• Supporting Learning and Engagement through Gamification 
• And more

Register here

Secure Online Test Proctoring

UAA will be piloting Software Secure's Remote Proctor Now this fall, with rollout in spring 2017. Remote Proctor Now does not require students to commute to approved physical proctoring centers, but instead, allow students to take assessments anywhere that has a reliable internet connection and a web camera with the flexibility of 24/7. Remote Proctor Now will be at the EduPass conference all three days and doing a demo on Tuesday, August 23 at 12:30 in SMH 107 (Math Emporium). If you are interesting in piloting in a course, (there are just 1-2 openings left) please contact Keith Berggren at eLearning and Distance Education.

Updated Academic Calendar

UAA has a slightly revised academic calendar this year. Of interest is that the Labor Day holiday for students is only one day and that the Thanksgiving holiday for students is only Thursday and Friday. That's right... the day after Labor Day and the day before Thanksgiving are regular class days. See the registrar's dates and deadlines calendar  (click on FALL 2016 button).

CTC Ed Tech News January 4, 2016

Dear Colleagues,

Well, we have a New Year and a new Blackboard. And few other new things to spice up our winter days.

Faculty Workshops

Academic Innovations is hosting two days of an ePathways Faculty Makerspace Conference. Check out the schedule and attend one or more sessions at the Learning Resource Center on the main campus. I will be offering the Blackboard Ninja Workshop on Tuesday at 1 p.m.

Upgrade status

The new Blackboard is up and running. There were some issues today (Monday) with courses disappearing, but hopefully that's fixed. All the dev shells were moved over during break, so everything should be there. I heard one report of a missing dev shell; so if you think you're missing a Blackboard course shell, call the Call Center.

The student accounts for faculty no longer work, instead use the new Student Preview mode. I prefer to keep the student data to follow it through the semester.

Syllabus

I have created a syllabus template for CTC faculty. You may download the file here. Edit it to suit your needs.

New Call Center Hours

The Call Center has updated their hours of operation:

• Mon - Fri: 7 a.m. - 10 p.m.
• Sat & Sun: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• Local: (907) 786-4646
• Toll-free: (877) 633-3888
• Email: callcenter@uaa.alaska.edu

Course Copy

Here's an update on how to do a course copy in the new Blackboard. 

Warm wishes,

Lee

Lee Maria Henrikson

Instructional Designer

907-786-4903

http://ak-lee.blogspot.com

UAA Community and Technical College

Building Alaska's Workforce