Project ASTRO Advanced System Tracking and Reporting A Building Block Development Project and Open Source Initiative 2007 Greenhouse Grant Award Recipients Santo Nucifora Manager, Systems Development and Innovation Seneca College Toronto, Canada [email_address] Eric Kunnen Coordinator of Instructional Technologies, Distance Learning Grand Rapids Community College Grand Rapids, Michigan [email_address]

2007 Greenhouse Grant Award

Recipients

Santo Nucifora

Manager, Systems Development and Innovation

Seneca College

Toronto, Canada

[email_address]

Eric Kunnen

Coordinator of Instructional Technologies, Distance Learning

Grand Rapids Community College

Grand Rapids, Michigan

[email_address]

Project ASTRO – Overview Goal - To build an open source community based advanced reporting tool and Blackboard Building Block that will empower institutions to become more accountable and able to use data-driven decision making to enhance, optimize, and advance Blackboard Academic Suite usage in teaching and learning. Purpose - To collect system activity information and provide reports on how Blackboard is being used by faculty, staff, and students which will inform stakeholders and provide data to improve the engagement of end users, increase adoption , and encourage deeper use of the Blackboard Academic Suite by faculty, staff, and students. Key Functions Track Automatic tracking (via Blackboard Building Block) of system activity including courses, organizations, users, and tools. Report Easy point and click access to advanced reports. Discover Ability to measure trends and analyze usage. Share Capability to embed data, share reports, and inform key stakeholders. Act Features to identify, target, and engage users via email notifications.

Goal - To build an open source community based advanced reporting tool and Blackboard Building Block that will empower institutions to become more accountable and able to use data-driven decision making to enhance, optimize, and advance Blackboard Academic Suite usage in teaching and learning.

Purpose - To collect system activity information and provide reports on how Blackboard is being used by faculty, staff, and students which will inform stakeholders and provide data to improve the engagement of end users, increase adoption , and encourage deeper use of the Blackboard Academic Suite by faculty, staff, and students.

Key Functions

Track Automatic tracking (via Blackboard Building Block) of system activity including courses, organizations, users, and tools.

Report Easy point and click access to advanced reports.

Discover Ability to measure trends and analyze usage.

Share Capability to embed data, share reports, and inform key stakeholders.

Act Features to identify, target, and engage users via email notifications.

Project ASTRO – Timeline February 2007 Proposal Submitted November 2007 Requirements, Scanning, USF (Glen Parker) April 2008 Face to Face Meeting at Seneca, Listserv July 2008 Project Update, Poster Session, HTML Mockup July 2007 Awarded at BbWorld December 2007 Conference Call Bb and UMBC (John Fritz) June 2008 Survey - James Cook University, Australia (Anne A’Herran) February 2009 Projected Completion

February 2007 Proposal Submitted

November 2007 Requirements, Scanning, USF (Glen Parker)

April 2008 Face to Face Meeting at Seneca, Listserv

July 2008 Project Update, Poster Session, HTML Mockup

Project ASTRO – Potential Value Usage Statistics – Ability to better determine which parts of the system are the most frequently used and less frequently used, thereby providing targeted promotion and training of specific tools or features that would benefit both faculty and students. (Student/Faculty Engagement, Adoption, Retention, and Satisfaction) Accountability – Ability to provide metrics that can be obtained from the system to determine accurate statistics on usage for stakeholders requiring data-driven decisions and measures. (Department Action Plans, Continuous Quality Improvement) Planning - Data obtained will enable institutions to better prepare and optimize system configuration, manage upgrades, monitor performance, and investigate infrastructure hardware purchases for future growth. (Upgrade Management and System Growth) Return on Investment - Data gathered can help determine and allow for the maximization of Blackboard use by faculty, staff, and students. (ROI and Accountability)

Usage Statistics – Ability to better determine which parts of the system are the most frequently used and less frequently used, thereby providing targeted promotion and training of specific tools or features that would benefit both faculty and students. (Student/Faculty Engagement, Adoption, Retention, and Satisfaction)

Accountability – Ability to provide metrics that can be obtained from the system to determine accurate statistics on usage for stakeholders requiring data-driven decisions and measures. (Department Action Plans, Continuous Quality Improvement)

Planning - Data obtained will enable institutions to better prepare and optimize system configuration, manage upgrades, monitor performance, and investigate infrastructure hardware purchases for future growth. (Upgrade Management and System Growth)

Return on Investment - Data gathered can help determine and allow for the maximization of Blackboard use by faculty, staff, and students. (ROI and Accountability)

Project ASTRO – Current Status Wire Frames and HTML Mockup for Peer Review Listserv Communication Requirements and Feedback Development of Data Collection Engine

Wire Frames and HTML Mockup for Peer Review

Listserv Communication

Requirements and Feedback

Development of Data Collection Engine

Project ASTRO – Future Release to Open Source – Extend and Expand Application Blackboard CommunityLINK Potential? – Build an online repository of report data that can be populated by the ASTRO Blackboard Building Block to allow institutions to do benchmarking , promote collaboration , information exchange , and sharing of best practices.

Release to Open Source – Extend and Expand Application

Blackboard CommunityLINK Potential? – Build an online repository of report data that can be populated by the ASTRO Blackboard Building Block to allow institutions to do benchmarking , promote collaboration , information exchange , and sharing of best practices.