UPDATE! Basic Blackboard for BU (Spring I, Spring II, Summer 2012)

Many changes coming our way - but that doesn't mean we don't need a solid base of understanding as to where we are right now with Blackboard. Yes, BU will be moving "up" to Blackboard 9.1 in the Fall of 2012, but until then, getting a stronger sense of our current version (8. something), helps us all be able to serve our students better while making our "working lives" less stressful.

Please watch this video with the knowledge that you can always revisit it for refresher tips. No one can master everything after a single viewing of a training video, but you can gain a sense of what is possible and what is problematic.




This video is also viewable at the following url - but note that you will need to resize the window that pops up to make it "fit" on your computer screen: http://brandman.adobeconnect.com/basic_bb_8/

Adding/Embedding YouTubes (Nov, 2011)

This video walks through the most recent information in how to add a link to a YouTube into BB as well as how to embed it into your course shell.

Here is the link to access it off of YouTube directly: http://youtu.be/d2EgsbL1SZk

Building Groups Inside a WIKI

This video walks you through the easy way of creating groups in a WIKI.

Intro to the Grade Center in Blackboard

Once you get it- it all makes sense, but yes, at first, the Grade Center can seem very confusing.

And I promise- the next movie will have specifics on how to best work with grading the discussion boards.

Straight Talk 4 Faculty - Synch vs Aysynch

You can tell I was getting a cold in the audio here (lol), but the content is still "healthy".

Straight Talk 4 Faculty- Blogs

Looking at blogs as learning tools:

Straight Talk 4 Faculty- WIKIs

Looking at how WIKIs (specifically those embedded into Blackboard) support authentic learning.

Straight Talk 4 Faculty - Discussion Boards

This video discusses the pedagogy/andragogy we can/should bring to our use of discussion boards (threaded chats).

WIMBA in a "Y Community"

Nothing fancy here- but it does walk you through the steps of preparing to use WIMBA with your course community and then give you several tips for ensuring that when you are "inside" this virtual environment, the experience will be positive (or at least- not painful).

WIKIs

This video walks you through how to work with a WIKI built into Blackboard.

Basic Blackboard - Getting in, icons, and uploading or modifying a doc

If you want to see how far we've come since the fall of 2010- you can watch both videos. However, if you have any semblance of a life that you'd like to get back to, a better choice would be only to watch THIS VIDEO (available at: http://tech4teachingandlearning.blogspot.com/2012/02/update-basic-blackboard-for-bu-spring-i.html) - the updated version of our Introduction to Blackboard, rather than the one posted below.

Welcome fellow Brandman instructors!

This blog will host a series of small videos. Please remember, everything posted here is homemade. I'm hardly a great filmmaker. My goal is to share various tricks and tips I've learned from my 10,000,000 hours of working with various tech tools to improve online teaching and learning.

If you create something and would be open to sharing it with our community- please- send me the link!

This is a work-in-progress. I'll be posting new videos and relevant resources on a fairly regular basis. If you have a topic you'd like covered, please let me know and I'll do my best to provide something to help.

Best!
Dr. K