tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61914329494233282382024-03-08T11:59:16.264-08:00Tech Tips and UpdatesUsing technology to teach and learn at Northern Virginia Community CollegeNikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6191432949423328238.post-79905048230366183162009-02-09T03:23:00.000-08:002009-02-09T03:53:46.568-08:00Student Accounts for Faculty and Staff in Blackboard<span style="color:#660000;"><strong>Your "student" account is now working in Blackboard.</strong></span><br /><span style="color:#000000;">For all faculty and staff with Blackboard accounts, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">VCCS</span> has activated your "student" account. To use your student account, you will need to do the following:</span><br /><ol><li>As faculty or staff, go into your course through My NOVA or directly through the Blackboard login page - <a href="http://learn.vccs.edu/">http://learn.vccs.edu/</a></li><li>Add username_student (remember username=your username in Bb)to your course roster by going into the Control Panel>User Management>Enroll User>enter username_student in the Search box>click Search>check Add box next to user> click Submit>click OK.</li><li>Log out of Blackboard.</li><li>Log into Blackboard using the Blackboard direct login - <a href="http://learn.vccs.edu/"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">http://learn.vccs.edu</span></strong></a> <strong>Your student account will NOT work by logging into Blackboard through My NOVA.</strong></li><li>When the Blackboard portal page opens, you will be looking at the portal page as a student would see it.</li></ol><span style="color:#000000;">The student account allows you to see your course as your students see it and to see some of the features that only students have, such as the student <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">webpage</span>. This may be helpful as you build your Blackboard course or add <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">assignments</span> to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">existing</span> courses. It is also very useful for demonstrating the student only features, too.</span>Nikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.com47tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6191432949423328238.post-17704641842633375152009-02-06T09:14:00.001-08:002009-02-06T15:15:49.870-08:00Student Accounts for Faculty & Staff Using Blackboard<span style="color:#660000;"><strong><span style="color:#660000;">Soon all</span> faculty & staff with Blackboard courses will have a student account!</strong></span><br /><span style="color:#000000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#000000;">As of <strong><span style="color:#006600;">Sunday, February 8</span></strong>, in addition to your faculty/staff account, all faculty and staff with Blackboard courses will have a <span style="color:#006600;"><strong>student account</strong> <span style="color:#000000;">to use for</span> <strong>demonstration and course testing purposes.</strong></span></span><span style="color:#000000;"><br /></span><br />The format for the account is<br /><br /><ul><li><strong><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Username</span></strong> - <strong><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">username</span>_student - </strong>For example, if I am John Doe, a faculty member, with a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">VCCS</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">username</span> of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">nvjdoe</span>, then my related "student" account is <strong><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">nvjdoe</span>_student</strong>. </li><li><strong>Password </strong>-same as your password you have now when you log into Blackboard as a faculty or staff.</li></ul><p><strong>NOTE:</strong> As of today, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">VCCS</span> started including student IDs with the nightly download to Blackboard. So student IDs are now available in the field that by default already existed in the Grade Center.</p>Nikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6191432949423328238.post-73437068627214962852009-01-26T13:57:00.000-08:002009-01-26T14:36:02.313-08:00Blackboard New Features<strong><span style="color:#660000;">Blackboard Grade Center</span></strong><br /><span style="color:#000000;">The biggest change in Blackboard 8 is the Grade Center. It has a new look and feel with many new features. NOVA's <a href="http://tac.nvcc.edu/blackboard/faculty/">Blackboard Support Website for Faculty and Staff </a>has many helpful resources for you to learn how to use the new <a href="http://tac.nvcc.edu/blackboard/faculty/assessment/gradecenter.htm">Grade Center</a>. Here you will find a TAC <a href="http://tac.nvcc.edu/blackboard/faculty/assessment/GradeCenterBasics.pdf">Quick Guide</a>, <a href="http://blackboard.com/sites/release8/">video</a> and selected Blackboard <a href="http://tac.nvcc.edu/blackboard/faculty/assessment/GettingStartedwithgradecenter.pdf">print documents</a>. TAC is offering workshops on all of our campuses titled "<a href="http://tac.nvcc.edu/tactraining/sp09/#6">What's New in Blackboard</a>" that features the tips and tricks of using the Blackboard Grade Center. Be sure to register!</span>Nikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6191432949423328238.post-40296281886584117312009-01-26T13:52:00.000-08:002009-01-26T13:57:32.926-08:00Blackboard 8.0 Issues<strong><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#660000;">Blackboard 8.0 was successfully installed on January 2, 2009.</span></strong><br />Since the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) has successfully installed Bb 8, the VCCS has been working out some kinks. We have had several reports involving partial copies of Blackboard exams, quizzes, assignments for the Spring 2009 semester. For example, when a course with four exams was copied, only two of the exams were copied with exam questions. The other two were there, but blank.<br /><br />We urge you to check your courses now to see if your assessments, ssurveys and assignments are complete and in place. It is very important to correct this before students attempt to take tests, especially in our the Testing Centers.Nikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6191432949423328238.post-50502310638230171162008-12-22T10:25:00.000-08:002008-12-22T10:40:49.437-08:00Blackboard Upgrade on Schedule<strong><span style="color:#660000;">Blackboard 8.0 will be fully operationally when you return from the holiday break!</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#660000;"></span></strong><br />Blackboard 8.0 is being installed throughout the day on <strong><span style="color:#660000;">January 2, 2009.</span></strong> On this day do not make any changes to your Blackboard courses for the SP 09 semester; any changes made on January 2 may be lost. You should be able to resume your work in Blackboard on January 3, 2009. You may also continue to work on your SP 09 Blackboard courses up to January 2.<br /><br />When you return from the holidays, Blackboard 8.0 will be fully operational. The major change is the old Gradebook has become the Grade Center. TAC will be holding workshops at the PUP Conference and throughout the beginning of the Spring 2009 Semester to help you with using the Grade Center. Check out the TAC website at <a href="http://tac.nvcc.edu/">http://tac.nvcc.edu/</a> for the training schedule.<br /><br />The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) is also sharing a wiki with a collection of known issues with the Grade Center. TAC will be adding a quick guide on troubleshooting the Grade Center to the Blackboard Support Website based on materials in the wiki.Nikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6191432949423328238.post-87976349963069012942008-11-21T12:22:00.000-08:002008-11-21T12:39:04.794-08:00Blackboard 8.0 is Coming Soon!<strong><span style="color:#660000;">Blackboard 8.0 Is Arriving January 2, 2009!</span></strong><br /><br />The VCCS is upgrading to <strong>Blackboard 8.0</strong> on January 2, 2009. The plan is to have Blackboard 8.0 fully operational for the SP 09 semester. You will be able to continue to work on your courses for Spring 09 throughout the process. No Blackboard URLs will change. You will continue to have access to Blackboard through My NOVA. Unlike the last upgrade, this one will not require a migration of all the content.<br /><br />The major difference in the Blackboard 8.0 version is the Gradebook. The Gradebook has been replaced with the <strong>Grade Center</strong> that has new functionality. For more information about the new Grade Center check out the overview information and tutorials on the <a href="http://tac.nvcc.edu/blackboard/faculty/resources/blackboard8.htm">TAC Blackboard 8.0 Grade Center site. </a><br /><br /><strong>Training on the new Grade Center</strong> will be offered at the Power Up Your Pedagogy Conference and during the first weeks in January on all of the campuses.<br /><br />When you are ready to <strong>copy your course into your Spring 09 Blackboard course shell,</strong> check out the <a href="http://tac.nvcc.edu/blackboard/videos/CopyCourse.html">video about how to copy your course</a>.<br /><br />Remember that you have available for you use the <a href="http://tac.nvcc.edu/blackboard/student/">Blackboard Support Site for Students </a>and the <a href="http://tac.nvcc.edu/blackboard/faculty/">Blackboard Support Site for Faculty & Staff</a>.Nikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6191432949423328238.post-91082532225851267862008-08-05T10:30:00.000-07:002008-08-05T10:54:44.830-07:00FA 08 Blackboard Course Shells & Student Batch Enrollment<p><span style="color:#660000;"><strong>Information about Copying Content into your FA 08 Blackboard Course Shell(s) and Automatic Student Enrollments in your FA 08 Bb Courses . . .<br /></strong></span><br />Before every new semester begins, our NOVA Blackboard administrator, Michelle Gee (mgee@nvcc.edu), creates Blackboard course shells for each course listed in the <em>Schedule of Classes</em> and associates each with the appropriate faculty member who will be teaching that course, if the faculty member has been designated. <strong>All of the Bb course shells for FA 08 have been created.<br /></strong><br /><strong>Now is the time for you to copy your old course content into your FA 08 Bb course shell(s) if you need that content.</strong> A video for how to copy course content from one Bb course to another can be found at <a title="http://tac.nvcc.edu/blackboard/bb7faculty/copycourse.html blocked::http://tac.nvcc.edu/blackboard/bb7faculty/copycourse.html" href="http://tac.nvcc.edu/blackboard/bb7faculty/copycourse.html"><strong>http://tac.nvcc.edu/blackboard/bb7faculty/copycourse.html</strong></a><strong><br /></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#660000;">Other important information:<br /></span></strong><br />1. Our NOVA Blackboard administrator continues to batch enroll your students into your Blackboard FA 08 courses. </p><p>2. The initial enrolllment of students begins on Aug 19 and continues every two days until classes begin. The first two weeks of classes student enrollments are processed daily. After that point, students are processed every other day.<br /><br />3. Remember that even after your students are enrolled, you must make your FA 08 Bb7 course “Available.” Enrolled students will not be able to participate in your courses until you make them “available.”<br /></p><p>4. To make a Bb FA 08 course available, go to the <strong>Control Panel > Course Options > Settings > Course Availability > Set Availability<br /></strong></p><p>5. After you log into Blackboard, if you do not see your Blackboard course shells on the opening page, then contact Michelle Gee (<a title="mailto:mgee@nvcc.edu blocked::mailto:mgee@nvcc.edu" href="mailto:mgee@nvcc.edu">mgee@nvcc.edu</a>), so she can associate that course with your name.<br /></p><p>From time to time, the VCCS may have to make some updates to the new Bb7 servers. Please remember that if you cannot get into Blackboard, close your browser and open the browser again, retype the URL, and click enter.<br /></p><p>If you want to leave a comment here, go to the green bar at the end of this posted entry and click on “Comments.” You can then write your comment or question and click on the orange “Publish Your Comment” button. I will respond.</p>Nikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6191432949423328238.post-53443471421847935762008-01-17T11:40:00.000-08:002008-01-17T12:58:17.161-08:00Blackboard 6 Servers Are Shutting Down<strong><span style="color:#660000;">Important Blackboard 6 Notice from the VCCS . . .</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#660000;"></span></strong><br />The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) is planning to <strong><span style="color:#003300;">shut-down the Blackboard 6 servers permanently on Friday, January 25</span></strong>. If you have any old Blackboard courses or organizations on the Bb 6 servers and you want to keep their content, you have until Friday, January 25 to export/import that content from Bb6 to Bb7. <strong>Remember</strong> that all of your Bb course and organization content from SP 07, SU 07, and FA 07 has already been migrated to the Blackboard 7 servers.<br /><br />If you need another Bb 7 course or organization shell to use so you can complete the export/import process for old courses, send our NOVA Bb Administrator an email requesting the Bb 7 course shell (Michelle Gee <a href="mailto:mgee@nvcc.edu">mgee@nvcc.edu</a>). Remember that you already have your SP 08 Bb course shells in Bb 7 and many of you have already completed the export/import process from Bb6 to Bb7 for those courses.<br /><br /><br /><p>Use the print or video demo to help you move any content from the Bb6 servers to the Bb7 servers.<br /></p><ul><li>Use the print directions found at <a title="http://www.nvcc.edu/home/nvsimpc/bb/exportimport.mht" href="http://www.nvcc.edu/home/nvsimpc/bb/exportimport.mht">http://www.nvcc.edu/home/nvsimpc/bb/exportimport.mht</a> or </li><li>Use the video demo found at <a href="http://tac.nvcc.edu/robert/blackboard6_7/blackboard7.html">http://tac.nvcc.edu/robert/blackboard6_7/blackboard7.html</a></li><li>You need the Flash Player plug-in for the video to work. If you are using the most recent Explorer, it comes with Flash. If you need to download it, you can get it at <a title="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=" href="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash&ogn=EN_US-gntray_dl_getflashplayer" ogn="EN_US-gntray_dl_getflashplayer">http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash&ogn=EN_US-gntray_dl_getflashplayer</a> or contact your campus Information Technology Manager.</li></ul><p>Finally, make sure you have made your SP 08 Bb7 course “Available” after your students are enrolled. Enrolled students will not be able to participate in your courses until you make them “Available.” </p><p><strong><span style="color:#660000;">To make a Bb SP 08 course available, go to the Control Panel > Course Options > Settings > Course Availability > Set Availability</span></strong>. Click the button next to the <strong>Yes</strong> under Set Availability and click <strong>submit</strong>.</p><p>Be sure to leaave any comments by clicking on the Comments link below this entry.</p>Nikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6191432949423328238.post-61859698053962656252008-01-11T07:53:00.000-08:002008-03-18T09:37:51.281-07:00Automatic Student Enrollments in your Sp 08 Blackboard Courses<strong><span style="color:#660000;">Automatic Enrollment of your Students in SP 08 Bb7 Courses Has Begun. . .</span></strong><br /><br />The good news is that now our NOVA Blackboard administrator has been given the okay to batch enroll our students into our Blackboard 7 SP 08 courses. As noted in previous Blackboard communications, the batch enrollment of students began yesterday on January 10. It will continue through the end of the day today, January 11. We thank you for your patience as everyone is working as fast as possible to complete this task.<br /><br /><strong>Remember that even after the students are enrolled, you must make your SP 08 Bb7 course “Available.”</strong> Enrolled students will not be able to participate in your courses until you make them “Available.”<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#660000;">To make a Bb SP 08 course available, go to the Control Panel > Course Options > Settings > Course Availability > Set Availability.</span></strong><br /><br />From time to time, the VCCS may have to make some updates to the new Bb7 servers. Please remember that if you cannot get into Blackboard, when you try again, be sure to open the browser again, retype the URL, and click enter.<br /><br />If you want to leave a comment to this blog entry, go to the green bar at the end of this posted entry and click on “<span style="color:#009900;">Comments</span>.” You can then write your comment or question and click on the orange “<span style="color:#ff6600;">Publish Your Comment</span>” button. I will respond.Nikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6191432949423328238.post-64755691793460884852008-01-03T08:13:00.000-08:002008-01-03T08:53:18.865-08:00Blackboard 7 migration is almost completed!<span style="color:#660000;"><strong>the latest on Bb 7 . . . .</strong></span><br /><strong><span style="color:#660000;"><span style="color:#000000;"></span></span></strong><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><span style="color:#000000;">The Blackboard 7 migration has been ongoing during the holidays. As of today, the following has been completed:<br /><strong><br /><span style="color:#660000;">All faculty have Spring 08 Blackboard course shells for use for their SP 08 courses.</span></strong> If you discover that you do not have a Bb course shell for one of your courses and you need one, please contact Michelle Gee</span> <span style="color:#000000;">(</span><a href="mailto:mgee@nvcc.edu"><strong>mgee@nvcc.edu</strong></a> <span style="color:#000000;">),</span> <span style="color:#000000;">so she can associate the shell with your name.<br /></span><strong><br /></strong><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Use the print or video demo to help you move any content into these Bb 7 SP 08 course shells.</strong> </span></span><br /><ul><li><span style="color:#660000;"><span style="color:#000000;">Use the print directions found</span> <span style="color:#000000;">at</span><strong> </strong><a title="http://www.nvcc.edu/home/nvsimpc/bb/exportimport.mht" href="http://www.nvcc.edu/home/nvsimpc/bb/exportimport.mht"><strong>http://www.nvcc.edu/home/nvsimpc/bb/exportimport.mht</strong></a><strong> or</strong></span></li><li><span style="color:#660000;"><span style="color:#000000;">Use the video demo found at</span> <strong></strong><a href="http://tac.nvcc.edu/robert/blackboard6_7/blackboard7.html"><strong>http://tac.nvcc.edu/robert/blackboard6_7/blackboard7.html</strong></a><strong><br /></strong><span style="color:#000000;">You need the Flash Player plug-in for the video to work. If you are using the most recent Explorer, it comes with Flash. If you need to download it, you can get it at</span> <a title="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=" href="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash&ogn=EN_US-gntray_dl_getflashplayer" ogn="EN_US-gntray_dl_getflashplayer"><strong>http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash&ogn=EN_US-gntray_dl_getflashplayer</strong></a> <span style="color:#000000;">or contact your campus Information Technology Manager.<br /><strong></strong></span></span></li></ul><p><span style="color:#660000;"><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>All faculty and staff must export/import their materials into their Bb 7 SP 08 courses because of the new method for creating courses in Bb 7.</strong> If you experience any major problems, please contact Michelle Gee or me.<br /></span><strong><br />All Fall 07 Blackboard courses have been migrated to the Bb 7 servers.</strong> <span style="color:#000000;">Please check out those courses if you still are using them to be sure that everything migrated correctly. Be sure that all of your students, discussion forums, assignments, information, etc. were migrated correctly.<br /></span><strong><br />Faculty, staff, and students should now use My Nova on the NOVA homepage or </strong><a href="http://learn.vccs.edu/"><strong>http://learn.vccs.edu</strong></a><strong> to access their past SP 07, SU 07, and FA 07 Bb courses if they need to use any of these.</strong> <span style="color:#000000;">Students completing incompletes for SU 07 or FA 07 or completing an ELI course for those semesters should be using the new Bb 7 servers now. The usernames and passwords remain the same.<br /></span><strong><br />All Fall 07 Blackboard courses on the Bb6 servers have been made unavailable to your students now. <span style="color:#000000;">DO NOT make them available and continue to use them.</span></strong> <span style="color:#000000;">We do not know when the VCCS staff are shutting down the servers and the servers are no longer supported. You can still export/import any materials you want from there if something is missing in Bb 7.<br /></span><strong><br />Blackboard course organizations were migrated last night. Michelle Gee, our NOVA Blackboard administrator, has made all of the NOVA organizations available today.</strong> <span style="color:#000000;">Organization content system content has NOT been migrated.</span></span></p><p><strong><span style="color:#006600;">By January 10, our NOVA Blackboard administrator will automatically enroll your students in your SP 08 Bb 7 courses.</span></strong></p>Nikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6191432949423328238.post-32042831625439015302007-12-20T08:30:00.000-08:002007-12-20T14:54:52.360-08:00Change of URL for Blackboard 7<strong><span style="color:#660000;">Accessing Blackboard 7</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#660000;"></span></strong><br /><span style="color:#000000;">Beginning today, Thursday, December 20, when you click on <strong>My Nova</strong> on the NOVA homepage, you will access Blackboard 7. You will notice a new header for this version. If you use <a href="http://learn.vccs.edu/"><strong>http://learn.vccs.edu</strong></a> to access Blackboard, you will now access Blackboard 7 at that address.</span><br /><br />If you want access to your Blackboard 6 courses, you will access them at <a href="http://bb6.vccs.edu/"><strong>http://bb6.vccs.edu</strong></a><strong> </strong>If you cannot access the URL, be sure to close your browser, open it again, retype the URL (be sure that NO www is in the URL), and hit enter. The same username and password work in both Bb6 and Bb7.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Within the next two weeks, all FA 07 Bb 6 courses will be migrated to Bb 7 along with your students and grades. This will allow students to continue to complete any incomplete FA 07 courses on the new Blackboard 7 servers. </strong><br /><br />Remember that SP 08 Blackboard 7 shells have already been created so you can export/import materials from previous courses into your SP 08 Bb7 shells if you want to do so now.<br /><br />Also, note that year-old Blackboard courses are automatically archived and deleted by the Virginia Community College System at the end of every semester. So Fall 06 Bb courses are being deleted by default now by not being migrated to the Bb7 servers.Nikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6191432949423328238.post-78549380809542984362007-12-14T15:25:00.000-08:002007-12-20T13:07:50.465-08:00More Blackboard 7 News<p><strong><span style="color:#660000;">Announcing some good news</span></strong> <strong><span style="color:#660000;">. . .</span></strong><br /><br />With the arrival of Blackboard version 7, all faculty and staff now automatically have Blackboard user accounts and all faculty have Blackboard shells for every course for the SP 08 semester. These Blackboard shells are generated as “unavailable” so no student can see any of those shells unless a faculty member develops them and makes them available. However, if faculty want to use them for support for a classroom course, for a hybrid course, or for a distance course, they can simply begin to develop the shell without having to request it.<br /><br />Below are some reminders for those currently using Blackboard:<br /></p><ol><li><strong><span style="color:#006600;">Beginning December 20</span></strong> <strong><span style="color:#000066;">when students and faculty click My Nova, they will access <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Bb</span> 7 and NOT <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Bb</span> 6.</span> </strong>If students have an incomplete and need to continue working on their FA 07 course or if they are enrolled in an ELI course that continues beyond December 20, students will either see their course in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Bb</span> 7 or be told to go to <a href="http://bb6.vccs.edu/">http://bb6.vccs.edu/</a> to find their course. </li><li><strong><span style="color:#006600;">January 10</span></strong> <strong><span style="color:#000066;">all students will be batch enrolled into SP 08 Blackboard courses.</span></strong> They will not have access to SP 08 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Bb</span> courses until that time and only if the faculty has made the course available. </li><li><strong><span style="color:#000066;">All faculty and staff can be working on their SP 08 Blackboard courses in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Bb</span> 7 right now</span></strong>. Until December 20, use the following URL to access your SP 08 Blackboard course shell – <a href="http://bb7.vccs.edu/">http://bb7.vccs.edu/</a> Use the same <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">username</span> and password that you currently use with your <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Bb</span> 6 courses. </li><li><strong><span style="color:#000066;">To move content into your current SP 08 Blackboard course shell from previous semesters use the Export/Import feature.</span></strong> Follow the directions posted at <a href="http://www.nvcc.edu/home/nvsimpc/bb/exportimport.mht">http://www.nvcc.edu/home/nvsimpc/bb/exportimport.mht</a> or view the video demo at <a title="http://tac.nvcc.edu/robert/blackboard6_7/blackboard7.html" href="http://tac.nvcc.edu/robert/blackboard6_7/blackboard7.html">http://tac.nvcc.edu/robert/blackboard6_7/blackboard7.html</a> . ALL faculty must now do their own export/import because of the new <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">VCCS</span> method of creating <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Bb</span> course shells.</li><li><strong><span style="color:#000066;">Blackboard organizations will be migrated to Blackboard 7 </span><span style="color:#006600;">beginning December 20 and for the following several weeks.</span></strong> The migration will be completed for all <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">VCCS</span> colleges during this time. Once your organization has been moved, you will find it by clicking on My Nova.<br /><br /></li></ol>Nikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6191432949423328238.post-88821456810827142452007-12-11T15:13:00.000-08:002007-12-11T15:29:47.680-08:00A Few More Notes on the Blackboard 7 Migration<strong><span style="color:#660000;">Take Note . . .</span></strong><br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#006600;">Remember</span></strong> - <strong>Faculty will be able to work on their SP 08 Blackboard course shells in Bb7 and view FA 07 courses on both systems throughout the entire migration period.</strong> To access your SP 08 Bb7 course shell, use <a href="http://bb7.vccs.edu/">http://bb7.vccs.edu</a> until December 20 and then use My Nova or <a href="http://learn.vccs.edu/">http://learn.vccs.edu</a>.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>All faculty and staff who want to move content from a previous Blackboard course shell into their SP 08 Blackboard course shell must use the export/import feature and move the content themselves.</strong><br /><br />Please inform your students with incompletes in FA 07 Blackboard courses or in ELI courses that continue beyond December 20, that they will experience a short period (15 minutes to 2 hours) sometime in that two week period where their course will not be available. We will not be able to tell them exactly which day that will be because the VCCS is migrating all of the VCCS courses at once during that time period.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#006600;">After January 4</span></strong>, <strong><span style="color:#000066;">Bb 6 may no longer be available</span></strong>, so if faculty have incompletes for students from prior semesters and want to keep a record of their grades in Blackboard, you will need to export the gradebook into an Excel spreadsheet to keep a record.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#000066;">If you want to use a single Bb course site for multiple sections</span></strong> (i.e. nursing) or courses, such as combined ADJ107/SOC236, you will need to contact Michelle Gee <a href="mailto:mgee@nvcc.edu">mgee@nvcc.edu</a> , so Michelle can setup a special batch enrollment.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#000066;">For ENG 111/9,</span></strong> you will now see two courses in Bb 7 – one for ENG 111 and one for ENG 09. If you do not want to have the two different Blackboard courses, then keep ENG 09 unavailable and use only the ENG 111.Nikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6191432949423328238.post-77240572488929844302007-12-11T14:59:00.000-08:002007-12-12T15:44:11.094-08:00More on the Blackboard 7 Migration<strong><span style="color:#660000;">Important New Information about Blackboard Courses! </span></strong><br /><br /><ol><li><span style="color:#006600;"><strong>Beginning December 20</strong></span> <strong><span style="color:#000066;">when students click My Nova, they will access <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Bb</span> 7 and NOT <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Bb</span> 6.</span></strong> <strong>If students have an incomplete</strong> and need to continue working on their FA 07 course or if they are enrolled in an ELI course that continues beyond December 20, students will either see their course in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Bb</span> 7 or be told to go to <a href="http://bb6.vccs.edu/">http://bb6.vccs.edu/</a> to find their course.</li><li><strong><span style="color:#009900;">Beginning December 20 and for the following two weeks</span></strong>, <span style="color:#000066;"><strong>the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">VCCS</span> will be migrating all FA 07 courses with students and grades included into <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Bb</span> 7.</strong></span> For students still participating in a FA07 course, it will only be unavailable for a short period of time when it is actually being migrated from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Bb</span>6 to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Bb</span>7 – 15 minutes to 2 hours on one day during the two week migration window. This allows faculty to have access to this content as well as students with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">incompletes</span>.</li><li><strong><span style="color:#000066;">Faculty will be able to view FA 07 courses on both systems throughout the migration and work on SP 08 Blackboard course shells throughout the entire time,</span></strong> but during and after FA 07 courses are migrated to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Bb</span>7, they will be made unavailable on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Bb</span>6 and the title will be changed to say something like “MOVED TO <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Bb</span>7,” so no changes can be made in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Bb</span>6 version.</li><li><strong><span style="color:#009900;">January 10</span></strong> <strong><span style="color:#000066;">all students will be batch enrolled into SP 08 Blackboard courses</span></strong>. They will not have access to SP 08 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Bb</span> courses until that time and <em>only</em> if the faculty has made the course available.</li><li><strong><span style="color:#000066;">All faculty and staff can be working on their SP 08 Blackboard courses in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Bb</span> 7 right now.</span></strong> The migration of FA 07 Bb6 courses into Bb7 will not affect the use of Bb7 for working on your SP 08 Blackboard course shell. Until December 20, use the following URL – <a href="http://bb7.vccs.edu/">http://bb7.vccs.edu/</a> to access your SP 08 Bb couse shell. <em>Use the same <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">username</span> and password that you currently use with your <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Bb</span> 6 courses.</em> </li><li><strong><span style="color:#000066;">To move content into your current SP 08 Blackboard course shell from previous semesters use the Export/Import feature.</span></strong> Follow the directions posted at <a href="http://www.nvcc.edu/home/nvsimpc/bb/exportimport.mht">http://www.nvcc.edu/home/nvsimpc/bb/exportimport.mht</a> or view the video demo at <a title="http://tac.nvcc.edu/robert/blackboard6_7/blackboard7.html" href="http://tac.nvcc.edu/robert/blackboard6_7/blackboard7.html">http://tac.nvcc.edu/robert/blackboard6_7/blackboard7.html</a> ALL faculty must now do their own export/import because of the new method of creating <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Bb</span> course shells.</li><li><strong><span style="color:#006600;">After December 20</span></strong>, <strong><span style="color:#000066;">you can use My Nova on the NOVA homepage or </span></strong><a href="http://learn.vccs.edu/"><strong><span style="color:#000066;">http://learn.vccs.edu</span></strong></a><span style="color:#000066;"><strong> to access your SP 08 Bb course shells</strong>.</span> If for any reason, you need to access Bb courses from previous semesters, you will use <a href="http://bb6.vccs.edu/">http://bb6.vccs.edu/</a> to access them.</li></ol>Nikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6191432949423328238.post-71941585303367165162007-11-15T11:42:00.000-08:002007-11-15T17:37:02.845-08:00Export/Import Process for Moving Bb Course Materials into Your SP 08 Bb 7 Course Shell<strong><span style="color:#006600;">Good news! A Blackboard course shell has been created for all Spring 2008 courses</span></strong>. Most faculty and staff should see a SP 08 Blackboard course listed on the opening <a href="http://bb7.vccs.edu/"><strong>Blackboard7 page</strong> </a>after you sign in if a course has been associated with you in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">NovaConnect</span>. This shell is yours to explore and use; it is always unavailable to others until you make it available and add users to the Blackboard course. This spring semester will be a good time for those who have not used Blackboard to get started. Training sessions will be offered on all campuses. Check the <a href="http://tac.nvcc.edu/"><strong><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">TAC</span> site</strong> </a>in January to register for training.<br /><br />To move the content from a previous SP 07, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">SU</span> 07, or FA 07 Blackboard course into the new SP 08 Blackboard7 course shell, please follow <strong></strong><a href="http://www.nvcc.edu/home/nvsimpc/bb/exportimport.mht"><strong>these directions to help you to do this</strong></a>.<br /><br />The directions will demonstrate how to export course materials from Blackboard6 and import course materials into your new SP 08 Blackboard7 course shell. These same directions can be used to export course materials from a SP 07 or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">SU</span> 07 Blackboard course already in the new Blackboard7 to the SP 08 Blackboard7 course shell.Nikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6191432949423328238.post-86977765152874059902007-11-14T15:08:00.001-08:002007-11-15T20:55:53.329-08:00What's New in Blackboard 7 TrainingNow is the time to explore the latest version of Blackboard - Blackboard 7! If you had a SP 07 or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">SU</span> 07 Blackboard course, you will find it in the new Blackboard 7. To explore Blackboard 7, you will need to use the temporary URL - <a href="http://bb7.vccs.edu/">http://bb7.vccs.edu/</a> .<br /><br />Blackboard 7 training for current Blackboard users is currently taking place on the all of the campuses. The title of the training session is "What's New in Blackboard 7." You can register for any session on any campus by clicking the online <a href="http://tac.nvcc.edu/tactraining/FA07/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">TAC</span> Training Registration</a>.<br /><br />Remember that to use Blackboard 7, you must click on <a href="http://bb7.vccs.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp">Blackboard 7 temporary URL</a> .<br /><br />After December 20, Blackboard 7 will have its <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">permanent</span> URL at <a href="http://learn.vccs.edu/">http://learn.vccs.edu/</a> and the current version of Blackboard - Blackboard 6 -being used this Fall 2007 will be located at <a href="http://bb6.vccs.edu/">http://bb6.vccs.edu/</a> until the end of January 2008.<br /><br />Remember that your current Fall 2007 Blackboard courses remain on the Blackboard 6 servers and can continue to be accessed through My NOVA.Nikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6191432949423328238.post-42573048561365101522007-11-01T22:54:00.000-07:002007-11-02T11:30:54.962-07:00Blackboard 7.3 has arrived!<strong>Welcome to Blackboard 7.3.</strong> The Virginia Community College System (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">VCCS</span>) has successfully implemented the Blackboard 7.3 Enterprise version. After 9:00 a.m. on <strong>Monday, November 5</strong>, faculty and staff will be able to access Blackboard 7.3 by going to the temporary URL - <a href="http://bb7.vccs.edu/"><strong>http://bb7.vccs.edu/</strong></a>.<br /><br /><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#003300;">What you need to know</span></em></strong><br /><br /><ol><li><strong><span style="color:#660000;">You will continue to use Blackboard 6 with your students for the rest of Fall semester</span></strong> by using the URL <a href="http://learn.vccs.edu/">learn.vccs.edu </a>or by clicking on my NOVA on the NOVA website, as you currently do.</li><li><strong>November 5 after 9:00 a.m</strong>., Blackboard 7.3 is available to only faculty and staff at the temporary URL - <a href="http://bb7.vccs.edu/">http://bb7.vccs.edu/</a></li><li>Your <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">username</span> and password are the same for both Blackboard 6 and Blackboard 7.3; they have not changed.</li><li><strong>December 20, 2007</strong>, students will have access to Blackboard 7.3 through My NOVA and the URL <a href="http://learn.vccs.edu/">http://learn.vccs.edu/</a>.</li><li><strong>December 20, 2007</strong>, the official URL for Blackboard 7.3 will become <strong>learn.vccs.edu</strong>, the temporary URL bb7.vcc.edu will disappear, and Blackboard 6 will be accessed through bb6.vccs.edu.</li><li>Spring 2007 and Summer 2007 courses have been migrated to the new Blackboard 7.3. Fall 2007 courses will be migrated to the new system after December 20.</li><li><strong>After December 20, 2007</strong>, courses that were set up as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">organizations</span> will be migrated to Blackboard 7.3.</li><li><strong>After December 20, 2007</strong>, to the Content System will be restored.</li><li>The opening page of Blackboard will not have all the modules on it that it had before. NOVA is in the process restoring all the modules by Thanksgiving.</li><li>The only building block available is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Wimba</span>. During the Spring 2008 semester, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">VCCS</span> will be <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">working</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">on the</span> following building blocks: Learning Objects (this includes blogs and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">wikis</span>), <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Classtop</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">iTunes</span> U, and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">SafeAssign</span>. More to come later on these!</li><br /></ol><p><span style="color:#660000;"><strong>Important Note:</strong> <em>By mid-November, the NOVA Blackboard administrator will have created course shells for all Spring 2008 courses. <span style="color:#000000;">These shells will be empty and will not contain any copied content. You will now have the choice of adding new content, or exporting/importing content from your previous Blackboard courses into the course shells. Instructions for how to do this will be provided at that time.</span></em></span><br /><br /></p><p><strong><em><span style="color:#003300;">What you need to do</span></em></strong></p><ol><li>Check your courses that were migrated to the new servers to see some of the new features in Blackboard 7.3. The Spring 2007 and Summer 2007 courses only were migrated to the new system. There are no student enrollments in these courses, so there are no grades or work. </li><li>Identify any issues involving the imported courses and either enter comments in this blog or email Cathy Simpson at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">TAC</span>.</li><li>Become familiar with the Instructor Manual located in Help box on your course Control Panel.</li><li>Check the <a href="http://tac.nvcc.edu/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">TAC</span> site</a> next week to register for face-to-face training to take place this month on your campus. The training sessions will focus on the new features. This initial training is for those currently using Blackboard.</li><li><strong>After mid-November</strong>, export/import Fall 2007 or Spring 2007 Blackboard courses into your Spring 2008 course shell or begin to add new content to build your SP 2008 Blackboard courses.</li><li>Check this blog regularly for updates that will be posted here.</li></ol><p><span style="color:#003300;"><strong><em>Issues that have already been identified</em></strong></p></span><span style="color:#003300;"><ol><li></span><span style="color:#000000;">There are some known</span> problems with migrated <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Wimba</span> content. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">VCCS</span> is working on this.</li><li>Links you had to the Content System will not work until after December 20. </li><li>The Control Panel can be slow to load; Blackboard is working on this.</li></ol><p><em><strong><span style="color:#003300;">Some of the new Blackboard features</span></strong></em></p><p>You will find several new instructional features in Blackboard 7.3, including Adaptive Release, which provides instructors the ability to create custom learning paths through course content and activities, and the Performance Dashboard, a tool for tracking student progress across all course activities. Blackboard Forums (discussion boards) have been completely redesigned to include options for grading, moderation, and peer review, and instructors planning to use discussions are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the new forum design prior to the start of the term. Other enhancements include: </p><ul><li>The ability to import test questions created outside of Blackboard </li><li>The ability to import and export individual tests </li><li>Visual Text Box Editor (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">VTBE</span>) support for MAC users </li><li>Second language support for eight languages </li><li>Tutorial movies designed to help users learn Blackboard </li><li>Windows Vista and Office 2007 compatible<br /><br /></li></ul><p></p>Nikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6191432949423328238.post-22731994434949793522007-09-05T09:13:00.000-07:002007-11-02T07:10:15.610-07:00Social Networking - BlogsBlogs can be very useful to share information with others. The subject of this blog is exploring blogging in learning and teaching. I want to share today some interesting blogs that I recently learned about:<br /><ul><li>The Unofficial Apple Weblog - <a href="http://www.tuaw.com/">http://www.tuaw.com/</a></li><li>Rough Type - <a href="http://www.roughtype.com/">http://www.roughtype.com/</a></li><li>Barry Dahl's Ed Tech Blog - <a href="http://barrydahl.blogspot.com/">http://barrydahl.blogspot.com/</a></li><li>hp Teaching, Learning, & Technology in Higher Education - <a href="http://h20325.www2.hp.com/blogs/highered">http://h20325.www2.hp.com/blogs/highered</a></li></ul><p>Now it is your turn. Please feel free to add to this list of useful blogs for faculty who are using technology in learning and teaching.</p>Nikkia Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727886265548276260noreply@blogger.com24