Supporting Multiple Teaching and Learning Styles with the Blackboard

Academic Suite™

Presented by Melissa Anderson, Pedagogical Advisor, BlackboardKate Bishop, Solutions Engineer, Blackboard April 13, 2005

Today’s Agenda

• Session Objective:– To show how the Blackboard Academic Suite

enables faculty to teach and students to learn efficiently

• Results/Outcomes– Interactive discussion and sharing of best

practices, covering • the teaching and learning experience using Blackboard®• the development and management of course content,• multiple approaches to collaboration, communication and

assessment,• and, the strategic use of ePortfolios and learning

objects/repositories.

Today’s Approach

Dialogue

DemonstrationInformation

Our Teaching Community

The Networked Learning Environment

A true networked learning environment exists when any student or teacher can:

– view instructional content

– collaborate with educators

– evaluate academic performance

– access any learning resources at any time

to achieve their educational objectives.

MISSION CRITICAL

EXPLORATORY

TIME

SUPPORTED STRATEGIC TRANSFORMATIVE:THE NETWORKED

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Phase I Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5

Driving forces behind the Networked Learning Environment

Educational & Industry Standards

Client Input

Open Development Environment

Client Input

• Optimized for incorporating feedback: Application Packs– Rapid development cycles enable quick responses

to our clients and the market– Product updates with new features and maintenance

enhancements released quarterly– Clients encouraged to upgrade when they see fit

• Blackboard develops its products by working closely with our clients and partners– Client Listserves– User Groups– Blackboard® Days in Region– Client-Blackboard Strategy Sessions (100+ each year)– Support and Enhancement Requests– The Blackboard Idea Exchange™

Blackboard incorporates industry and technology standards focusing on:● Usability and accessibility ● Content interoperability● Data integration ● Authentication

Supported Standards:508 Compliance (Accessibility) ADL SCORM 1.2 LMS-RTE3 ADL SCORM 2004 (under development) NLN MS LRN IMS Metadata IMS Content & Packaging IMS Question & Test Interoperability IMS Enterprise IMS ePortfolios (under development) RSS Channels uPortal / JA-SIG LDAP Kerberos Shibboleth ATHENS (UK) A-Select (NL)

Kerberos

LRN

RSS Channels

Educational and Industry Standards

• Blackboard's open architecture - Building Blocks™ - enables you to:– develop your own product extensions– leverage partner-developed applications – integrate with existing institution systems– leverage industry standards and open source initiatives

• Blackboard Developers Network:– a freely available SDK (software development kit)– over 125 academic institutions and commercial vendors as

members– an annual Developers Conference

• More than 115 community-developed applications available in our Blackboard Building Blocks™ catalog

An Open Development Environment

36 Capabilities

Instructor EfficiencyCourse ManagementTeaching & Learning ToolsVersioningSyllabus BuilderWorkflowDisk Space & Bandwidth ManagementSystem Integration

Anytime, Anywhere AccessMulti-Language SupportMulti-Institution Branding & Management e-CommercePersonal Information ManagementWireless / PDA e-MarketplaceEnterprise ScalabilityStandardsPortal Web ServicesBuilding Blocks (Open APIs)

Access to High Quality ContentContent & File ManagementLearning Object CatalogRole-based Information DeliveryContent AuthoringChannels / ModulesCollaborative Web-enabled File Storagee-Reserves

Student Centered LearningDiscussion BoardAdaptive Releasee-PortfoliosGroup ProjectsLearning UnitsOnline Textbook Content (Course Cartridges)Virtual Classroom / Collaboration ToolCommunity Building Tools

Evaluation & Outcomes ManagementAssessments & SurveysGradebookReporting & Performance DashboardAssignments

Content Management in the Networked Learning Environment

• Faculty-created content can either reside in a specific course or in a content manager, allowing for maximum efficiency and flexibility.

• Content can be shared in a number of ways: individually, through sub-areas designed for a specific purpose or across the institution via a learning object repository.

Content Presentation

• Control identification and sequencing• Release content based on varying

criteria (date, user, group, item status, attempt, or grade)

• Cross-link content within and across courses

• Allow content viewing alongside (and within) synchronous or asynchronous discussions

Content Management

• Store and share any type of content

• Use Web Folders (WebDAV) to load mass content, and to edit content inline

• Leverage a visual text box editor for editing and embedding content

• Use more content, click less

Content Resources

• Publisher partners provide 2000+ course cartridges

• Access the MERLOT catalogue

• Share learning objects with other institutions

Communication in theNetworked Learning Environment

• Communication occurs throughout a users’ participation in a course (or within the larger networked community).

• Communication tools must be accessible to anyone at all times, as designated by the instructor and/or facilitator.

Asynchronous Communication

• Use email addresses, or leverage an internal messaging system

• Search threaded discussion boards

• Support anonymity in discussions as needed

• Integrate voice-based communications through Blackboard Building Blocks partnerships

Synchronous Communication

• Reduce complications with a simple text-based chat

• Facilitate content/collaboration sessions with a virtual classroom

• Use Private Messaging as needed

Group Communication

• Set aside areas devoted to small-group collaboration and communication

• Easily create and manage groups through Blackboard Building Blocks utilities

Collaboration in theNetworked Learning Environment

• Providing collaboration around content is critical to teaching and learning success.

• Collaboration practices must allow for the granular dissemination of rules and permissions, as well as the use of tools that maximize efficiency.

• These tools must be available to anyone within the learning community.

Learning Objects and Repositories

• E-Portfolios support collection and presentation of academic or professional work

• The Learning Object Catalog is controlled by designated managers, but allows for easy submission from faculty content collections.

Assessment in theNetworked Learning Environment

• The assessment of student achievement should be supported by tools that are flexible enough to fit all teaching styles and approaches, yet structured enough to meet a department’s or institution’s strategic goals.

Quizzes, Tests and Surveys

• Reduce in-class time spent on quizzes, and eliminate tedious multiple-choice grading – the results of all objective assessments are automatically reported to the Gradebook

• Deploy tests with whatever parameters you wish, within a wide matrix of options

• Create question pools to share test banks with colleagues, and facilitate test reuse

• Implement anonymous surveys (now with Likert scale questions!)

Collect Assignments

• Provide an easy way for students to submit written work online, and use a suite of utilities to facilitate management of all that material

• Check for plagiarism via a Blackboard Building Block partner

Review Student Outcomes

• View or download responses and analysis for quizzes, tests, surveys and assignments

• Sort the gradebook by category, item, or student

• Leverage the Performance Dashboard for a snapshot of all activity, progress, and results from one student

Manage and Evaluate Grades

• Use a variety of scales, grade types, and category weighting

• Export the Gradebook to Excel for advanced calculations, analysis, charts, and mapping trends over time

• Export grades to other databases

• Grade discussion participation via a Blackboard Building Block partner

Demonstration