by Mike Lovell
Guest post by Eric Kunnen, Director of Distance Learning and Instructional Technologies, Grand Rapids Community College, and a member of the Ask Dr. C program, a free question and answer service for Blackboard users.
The use of technology like Blackboard often boils down to awareness and, in the end, communication is key. Often, faculty need to know “why” to use a certain tool and, from there, the “what” and “how” of features can follow.
This post is intended to provide some ideas and strategies to communicate effectively with faculty at your university or college.
Step 1: The Message
The first step to enhancing adoption of any technology is to spend some time thinking through what topics, techniques, and tools are important to the teaching and learning process. This can include your own perspectives, things you have learned at conferences, like Blackboard user groups or BbWorld. It can also be as simple as asking faculty what technologies are useful to them and what kinds of training they would like to see offered. To get a holistic view of faculty perception, I often recommend deploying an online survey to collect feedback from instructors.
by Mike Lovell
Guest post by Brian Morgan, Assistant Professor, Integrated Science and Technology Department, Marshall University, and a member of the Ask Dr. C program, a free question and answer service for Blackboard Users.
There have been hundreds of articles published in the last few years on creating a “green” learning environment. If you are trying to do everything you can to help in this effort, you should consider using Blackboard to assist in reducing the paper in your classroom and office. I’ll cover a number of techniques, which involve using Blackboard Learn to go green, below.
Encouraging Faculty to Do More Online
Even with technology as prominent as it is today, some faculty still feel trepidation when offering any part of their courses online. Many still do not understand that online environments, such as Blackboard, are secure and that no one is truly going to steal their intellectual property. At Marshall University, the Information Technology department has created the MUOnline Design Center, staffed with instructional technologists and designers, to assist faculty in converting their materials to a digital format. These individuals also work with faculty to encourage new techniques in online teaching and the development of materials for the digital age.
by Mike Lovell
I’ve followed my healthy obsession of learning management system (LMS) evaluations to South Africa, this time, settling my gaze on Stellenbosch University and their recent evaluation of Moodle, Sakai, and Blackboard Learn™ 9.1.
To start, I spoke with JP Bosman, Senior Advisor of eLearning, and Johann Kistner, IT Director, at Stellenbosch University, to walk through their decision making process and understand, in detail, the undertaking of their evaluation from detailed feature parity analysis to final decision.
Stellenbosch University Crest
Pectora roborant cultus recti.
[A Sound Education Strengthens the Spirit.]
by Mike Lovell
Guest post by Harold Powers, Project Manager, University System of Georgia, and a member of the Ask Dr. C program, a free question and answer service for Blackboard users. Harold flies gyroplanes and is building a Zenith 750 in his spare time, too.
As an LMS administrator, have you ever been asked about what you do at work? It’s pretty difficult to explain, right?
Although responsibilities vary from campus-to-campus, I think many of us have similar workflows and, with that in mind, I’ve divided them into three major categories. This might, once and for all, help explain what we do for a living!
by Mike Lovell
By the end of 2009, Brunel University had come to a crossroads with their flagship learning management system. Their options were clear; either, recommit to Blackboard, the owners of their WebCT virtual learning environment or, alternatively, migrate to an open source platform used by some institutions in the UK.
I spoke with Alex Osmond, Project Manager of VLE Transition at Brunel University, to sift through their internal and external documentation and, most importantly, pick the brain of someone who was involved in one of the toughest decisions an e-Learning Department can face.