Teaching with Blackboard Podcast - NIU. BlackBoard 9: links and resources. I’m really looking forward to our upgrade to Blackboard version 9 this summer. I’ve had a play on the BB development website (last year!) And on the test server here at BU, and I want to like it … I really do! So, do I like it? I’m not sure yet, and I want to be fair to the system and the people who have worked, and are continuing to work tirelessly, to get it installed, configured, and integrated with our internal systems.
In the meantime I’m going to post a series of links and resources I find about Blackboard version 9 here, the good and the bad (I haven’t found any ugly ones yet, but a few of the bad ones are fairly damning!). If you have any links or resources you’d like to add to the list then please email me and I’ll include them (with your name as referral) or just leave a comment with the details below and I’ll publish it. Additional Links/Resources: Blackboard On Demand – links and videos from Blackboard:ondemand.blackboard.com (thanks to alextronic) Blackboard's 'Next Generation' Software Gets Mixed Reviews - Wired Campus.
The most recent releases of Blackboard’s course-management system promise an updated look, greater ease of use, and new features for social learning. So far some users are impressed, while others are disappointed in what they see. Blackboard released viersion 9 last year (with version 9.1 out a few weeks ago), but some colleges are only now adopting the latest generation of the company’s product, waiting for the summer to make the switch. The company, which has faced complaints by critics for poor service and aggressiveness toward its competitors, has said that the product line is part of its “next generation” approach. “It looks so different, it’s startling,” said Erica Schurter, a software-support analyst at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, which adopted Blackboard 9 for this year’s summer courses. But as faculty members adjusted to the change, she said, they appreciated the cleaner look and feel. Return to Top. LU Blackboard 9 Upgrade. Blackboard 9 @ USC.
Blackboard 9 (Blackboard) Blackboard Training - Denison University. Blackboard 9 How-To Helpers : Training and Documentation : Eller Information Technology : Eller College of Management : The University of Arizona. Eller College Home > Eller IT > Training and Documentation > Blackboard 9 How-To Helpers Blackboard 9.1 Quick Start Guides and Documentation The Blackboard Quick Start Guides and Documentation are designed to assist both Faculty and Students with using the Blackboard system. In addition to this documentation, Blackboard also offers a variety of video tutorials available on the Blackboard OnDemand Training Center website. Please check the topics below for more information. Student Quick Start Guides Faculty Quick Start Guides The Grade Center. Laura gekeler: Why HigherEd is rejecting Blackboard ... I have to write this post. Even though I personally have the best of experiences with many individuals at Blackboard.
In fact, I'll list them. These people are the best. Dedicated. Fun. Not so much Michael Chasen. Events and contacts and news reports over the past 2 years, since Notre Dame did its last course management system evaluation, have made this Blackboard ..hm, not a fan exactly (that would imply I've drunk the koolaid), but Blackboard friend*, into a voice marginalized here at Notre Dame. In the user group, VistaSWAT, I hang out with, other institution admins don't tolerate it well if you say too many nice things all in a row about Blackboard. Even the non-Vista clients are murmuring.
Here's what I think it's about based on the word on the street. Higher education is about collaboration and service to the community at large. Maybe the man on the street paved with blackboard is just uninformed. Like this: Like Loading... Blackboard Brings LMS App to iPhone. News Blackboard Brings LMS App to iPhone Ed tech developer Blackboard has released a new LMS tool for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. The free app, Blackboard Learn for Apple iPhone, allows users to access information in their Blackboard accounts and to receive notices through their iPhones. The new app is Blackboard's first entry into iPhone development. It lets users receive alerts about grades, tests, and assignments and access various other kinds of information and resources, such as course materials, rosters, course maps, and other educational tools.
Students can only receive information from courses in which they're registered, and administrators have the option of limiting or blocking access to certain types of information. "Many students and learners today live in a mobile world, and now they can learn in one too," said Michael L. Blackboard Learn for Apple iPhone is available now through the App Store. Blackboard and Echo360 Lecture Capture.
Remember Dr. Mark Jones from yesterday's post? Well, he's part of the senior management team at Echo360. Also yesterday, Blackboard and Echo360 announced a partnership that will enable Echo360's personal version of their Lecture Capture system to be distributed FREE with Blackboard software. I suppose that means seamless uploads to one's Blackboard CMS? And seamless playback? Probably all this seamlessness applies only to the NG product since the agreement will take effect Spring 2009. Like this: Like Loading... Bb Product Development Survey. Oh this was cool… I almost forgot to blog about it I was so bowled over by actually being asked how important to me are certain built-into Vista features (Cross-listing, hierarchical admin roles, reporting at hierarchical levels on crosslisted courses, SIS integration, etc.)
I mean, it sounded like Blackboard might be prioritizing development based on what we customers say is important to us. (Don’t speak this outloud, it may break the mojo). At the very least, the hue and cry raised by the Vista/CE clientbase has reached the very ears of the NG Product Development Team and they are acknowledging we are important. Dare I hope we are not merely being placated? I dare! Like this: Like Loading... Blackboard Announces Free Tool to Interconnect Its Software With Moodle, an Open-Source Competitor. Blackboard has taken another step toward making the next version of its course-management system work alongside open-source competitors. The company announced today that it is working with Iowa State University to create a software plug-in for the company’s course-management system so that it can integrate with Moodle, a popular open-source alternative. The move comes just three months after the company announced the creation of a similar connection tool for Sakai, another open-source course-management system.
The new software tool, called the Learning Environment Connector for Moodle, will let students access course Web sites created with Moodle from within the Blackboard software interface. The goal is to let students see all of their course information in one space, regardless of which software was used to produce the Web pages. The tools are designed to work with the next versions of the company’s software, which it is calling Blackboard NG, for next generation. Return to Top. Recording: Blackboard NG Presentation at Palmetto. Blackboard’s NG Strategy. A few weeks back, I got an invitation from Matt Small to get a tour of Blackboard NG.
Given all the rumors and speculation around it, I was obviously interested. I particularly wanted to know how much of it exists in code today and how much is vapor. So I took Matt up on his offer, and got a tour from him and John Fontaine. And while I didn’t quite get a full answer to the vaporware question, I did learn a lot of other interesting stuff about the platform and Blackboard’s strategy. Fixing What’s Broken The NG strategy has both defensive and offensive components to it. At this point I asked how much of this would be shipping in Blackboard 9 and how much was coming later. The Enterprise Play John and Matt also talked about their multiple language translations, which can be applied at the site-wide level or the course level. Next we got into integration and interoperability. On the technical side, Blackboard is going to have at least three integration methods. Other Strategery.