Students and faculty checking out their new classes on Blackboard this quarter may notice some new applications and features on Cal Poly’s learning management system.
One of the biggest upgrades will be the ability to receive information posted on Blackboard without having to actually access the system. Faculty will now have the option to e-mail announcements to students, making communication more efficient. Students will also have the ability to subscribe to a forum via RSS Feeds. Blackboard, which is accessed through the Cal Poly Portal, will automatically e-mail out reminders whenever a new thread is added.
Discussion boards will be more user-friendly. Students will be able to perform a search for specific threads in discussion boards instead of filtering through them. They will also be able to save posts as drafts and run spellcheck.
A new and improved grading center will help both students and faculty. For faculty, the grading center will act more like Excel, making it easier to calculate grades. They will also have the option of providing written feedback to clarify grades. Before, students would not know why they got certain scores on assignments or exams because they would only see a number and nothing else.
“With the new Blackboard, students will hopefully be a little more connected,” ITS consultant Tina Malone “I know that students will be on a computer off and on all day, but for them to have to go to Blackboard every single time can be a tedious thing. I know for sure that they are in their e-mail all the time.”
In order for Information Technology Services to upgrade to the new Blackboard 8 system, the program will unavailable between Tuesday, March 24 and Sunday, March 29. Fortunately these dates coincide with spring break.
“If students want to see what is coming up for spring, they will not be able to access their spring blackboard courses until the blackboard system is done with the upgrade and it’s up again, but a lot of faculty will either e-mail students before the quarter starts or they’ll wait until the first day of class,” said Malone.
ITS needs more time than usual to finalize this particular upgrade because both Blackboard’s software and hardware are being updated.
“We do have regular version updates and we do get better functionality, security and all those normal things that come with the software upgrade,” said Terri Bruns, coordinator of Collaboration Support for ITS. “But in this case we’re also bringing the hardware into a more modern state where we can manage it with more flexibility to ensure the best performance.”
According to ITS statistics, 1,149 faculty members had Blackboard turned on during winter quarter and 18,447 students were enrolled in at least one course that used it.
Blackboard gives faculty the ability to post learning resources online in a centralized location specific to class sections. Students can use the system to take online exams and quizzes, participate in discussion forums, read PDF files and view grades. Blackboard is eco-friendly as well because teachers can post resources instead of printing them.
“I think the concept of Blackboard is necessary,” said Malone. “Not necessarily Blackboard itself, but the ability for faculty to share resources with students is definitely something that needs to be available.”
The Blackboard support Web site, accessed through the My Cal Poly portal, has a comprehensive list of upgrades for spring.