News and information about the Office of Learning Technology for AY 2014-2015

1. and Blackboard Learn 9.1
Update from the OLT

2. Dr. Anastasia (Staci) Trekles, OLT Director and
Clinical Asst. Professor
TECH 206 - x5734
Lab and student workers, TECH-298 (hours
vary)
Reach all of us at pncolt@pnc.edu - we’ll get
back to you ASAP

3. Looking to integrate
technology into your
course in some way?
Face-to-face, hybrid, or
distance courses can
benefit
Consider the many
options available, in
addition to BlackBoard:
https://www.pnc.edu/dis
tance/tutorials/
Looking for instructional
support or design help?
Review our workshop
archive:
https://www.pnc.edu/dist
ance/workshop-materials-
archive/

4.  Updated in May 2014 – several new
features!
 Email in BlackBoard – CHECK with students
to be sure they receive your emails – refer
them to Helpdesk (x5511) if they are not
 New workshops and more available online
at http://www.pnc.edu/distance

6. Our student support page:
http://www.pnc.edu/distance/student-support/
Online course available to all students
available in BlackBoard under “PNC
BlackBoard Orientation” from My
BlackBoardTab

7. http://www.pnc.edu/distance
 Lots of tutorials, help, advice, and more
Online course under “PNC BlackBoard
Training” from My BlackBoardTab – available
24/7 to all faculty
http://help.blackboard.com
 Excellent collection of tutorials on demand for
nearly any task

8. A holistic and personalized approach to
professional development in online/blended
learning and teaching
Work with a Faculty Guide, receive help and
formal feedback on course quality
ANY course qualifies – new, existing,
traditional, online, hybrid
Faculty get to know one another better
across disciplines

9. • Inform students (in syllabus)
• May affect:
• Assignment submissions
• Testing windows

10. New instructors can have a delay in
access due to Human Resources
processes – if you cannot log in at
http://www.purdue.edu/onepurdue your
account is not active yet
120-day password change requirement -
reset your password anytime, even from
off-campus, at
https://www.purdue.edu/apps/account/A
ccount

11. Course availability – ALL instructors MUST
make their course(s) available to students for
the term.
Course copy –You may copy a master course
or previous Learn course from one semester
to the next
See https://www.pnc.edu/distance/learn-tutorials/
for video and text guides!

12. Announcements
 Can be moved, edited, release and expire automatically
Email in BlackBoard
 CHECK with students to be sure they receive your emails –
refer them to Helpdesk (x5511) if they are not
Alternative communication tools
 You can use a “Q&A Forum” (already built into your
course) for general questions
 Invite students to ask “open” questions so that other
students may benefit
 Leave email for personal/grade-related discussions
between student and instructor

13.  Weight grade columns
 Color code
 Anonymous grading
 Inline document
grading for
assignments
 Improved discussion,
wiki, blog, and journal
grading interface

14. Early warning system and Retention Center
 Find out who is struggling and send notifications
 Typically there is 5-8% point gap between the
retention rate of on-line students as compared
with traditional on-campus classes.
 Online students tend to receive lower grades
and drop their classes at a higher rate.

15. Use timing, randomizing, no backtracking, and forced
completion as settings on tests
Trade high-stakes objective tests for portfolios,
discussions, projects
Show examples of what good work is and what is
expected
Require student presentations (even online – through
Adobe Connect, Skype, Google Hangouts)
Use SafeAssign to check for plagiarism in written
work
For more: http://www.pnc.edu/distance/cheating

16. Important to ensure that
your students are able to
access all of your
content
Videos may need
captions and/or
transcripts
Check with publishers -
provide alternate
resources where possible
Learn more:
http://www.pnc.edu/dist
ance/web-accessibility

18. Workshops and Webcasts
Walk-in Assistance
Technology Mentorship
Program
Social media
Web-based Video
Tutorials/PDF Guides
Check our calendar:
https://www.pnc.edu/dist
ance/olt-calendar/

19. Dr. Anastasia (Staci) Trekles, OLT Director and
Clinical Asst. Professor
atrekles@pnc.edu
pncolt@pnc.edu
File a ticket at http://services.pnc.edu
Call us at 785-5734
Visit us in TECH 206 and TECH 298