New College Durham

Proprietary and Confidential Information of New College Durham.Copyright © 2003 by New College Durham

Blackboard- Beyond the installation

G.Wraith 3/12/2003

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New College Durham

Outcomes

• Straw pole?

• A simple case study

• Try not to make the same mistakes

• Adapt appropriately to your environment

• Feel free to ignore and do it your way

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New College Durham

Overview

• New College Durham overview• Blackboard overview – Integration set up• Implications of the Integrated set up

– Academic Staff– Support – Student– External users

• Uptake of Blackboard– Staff– Student

• Issues encountered, so far!• Conclusion

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New College Durham

History

• New College Durham - medium sized FE College

• Limited ICT Resources• No. of Staff• Levels of Expertise

• How we got here?• JISC Interoperability Pilots• Evaluation Process• Senior Management commitment to the process• Purchase and Implementation of Blackboard• Level 3 Integration with College Systems

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New College Durham

Snapshot Data Integration

BlackboardSnapshot

Tool(Insert, Update,

Delete)

Snapshot Controller*

NCD Systems

F/T Staff

P/T Staff

Timetable

Snapshot Generator

Blackboard Database

Server

* Snapshot Controller is “custom” software.

SnapshotData Files

MIS

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New College Durham

New College Durham Hardware and Software Configuration

File System

Course Management System

Blackboard 5Web Server

IIS 5Java Application Server

BEA WeblogicWebmail Server

MailspinnerVirtual Classroom

TutornetSnapshot Tool

RDBMSMS SQL Server 2000

RDBMSStores user, course, enrollment, staff assignment, discussion board, announcements, etc.

Web Browser

Microsoft IE 5+Netscape 4+

File SystemStores all uploaded documents (e.g., PowerPoint slides, Word, .wav files).

Application and Database Server

End-User’s Computer

Operating Systems• Windows 2000 Advanced Server

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New College Durham

Implications for Academic Staff

• Integration: to be or not to be?– Administration overheads for academic staff– Strategic policy decision at SMG– Aiming for an MLE

• Understanding the process!– No original data goes into Blackboard– The need to supply the existing systems with accurate

and up-to-date– Timely input of new data

• Course structure– Groups– Changes required by academic staff

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New College Durham

Implications for Students

• What they need to do to get logged into Blackboard

• A process to highlight any problems• Removing any barriers • A need for induction in the use of• A clear reason to use• Content, content, content

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New College Durham

Lifecycle of a VLE

• Strategic decision• Evaluation/selection/installation• Implementation

– Using the software– Document dump– Searching for appropriate materials– Content, content, content– Exploring the full functionality

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New College Durham

Implications for External Users

• All Blackboard users must be enrolled on a course within the MIS

• All Blackboard users must have a network ID and set a password on the network.

• Issues arising from these requirements– Feeder school projects– Blackboard Licensing

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New College Durham

Support

• User Support - staff• Application support - Blackboard• System support – integration• Blackboard support - ??

– System development at what cost?

• Surmounting the problem of a lack of support and resources– Regular group sessions– Cascading– Incentives

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New College Durham

Uptake of Blackboard

• Courses – 10922• Users – 20873• Staff – 644• Hits per Day – 1921• Average hits per month – 70,000• Average concurrent users per day –

150/200??

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New College Durham

Uptake of Blackboard by Staff

• Target uptake at implementation– Full-time staff– Part-time staff

• Issues influencing uptake– Pars– Existing workloads– Existing working practices– Barriers – Any excuse

• Strategy to overcome barriers

– Drivers - Inspection!!!

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New College Durham

Uptake of Blackboard by Students

• Accessibility• Type of course

– Distance learning– Part-time– IT

• Academic Staff– Those who embrace change– And those who do not.

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New College Durham

Issues in the 1st Academic Year

• Hardware• Software• Backup/Restore• Lost documents• Staff rights to the courses• Data accuracy• Data adjustments

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New College Durham

Lessons Learned

• Success– A fully integrated Learning delivery platform available

anywhere, anytime.– Persisting with Staff Development sessions– Not upgrading to V6 last summer

• Mistakes– No dedicated Blackboard support in College– Missed student induction in Year 1– Under estimated the “mission criticalness” of the

system

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New College Durham

Thank You

Any Questions