TRENDS Presentation - eLearning @ GRCC with Blackboard

eLearning @ GRCC An Overview of the Blackboard Experience at Grand Rapids Community College

Eric Kunnen Coordinator of Instructional Technologies

The Learning Academy

Grand Rapids Community College

Grand Rapids, Michigan

[email_address]

616-234-3415

www.grcc.edu

About Grand Rapids Community College

One of 28 Community Colleges in Michigan

Established in 1914

Located in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Main Downtown Campus

2 Off Campus Technical Education Locations

Credit Enrollment 15,000

Non-Credit Enrollment 10,000

Issues & Needs

Faculty and students are driving instructional technology applications.

The education experience … campus activity is more than just what happens in the classroom (physical or virtual).

Increasingly, campus communication, sharing, and collaboration extends beyond the physical boundaries of the institution.

With multiple campus sites, multiple course delivery formats, and a high population of part time students, there was a need for an easy-to-use, unifying, scalable elearning and course management system…

Blackboard’s Academic Suite

Learning System

Enables institutions to connect users to online communities, deliver targeted content to diverse user groups and incorporate e-Commerce in the learning experience.

Enables instructors to create and manage course content, utilize publisher content, evaluate performance and communicate with students. Community System Content System Allows digital content to be shared, repurposed, and managed in diverse ways.

Blackboard @ GRCC

From Basic to Enterprise... Timeline

Basic CourseInfo/Learning System

August 1999 - Blackboard CourseInfo 4

April 2001 - Blackboard 5 Level 1

Enterprise Learning System

January 2003 - Blackboard 6 Learning System and Community Portal System

Current Deployment - Blackboard 7.1 Learning System, Community System, and eCommerce System

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From Basic to Enterprise Course Management System Requirements

Scalable (Mission Critical, Enterprise Level System)

Integration with SIS and other systems for Automation

Usability ( Ease of Use )

Flexibility

Customizable

Effortless & Efficient (Administrative and Faculty)

Indispensable

Role and Value to e-Education ( Relative Advantage )

Contributes to the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning

Blackboard @ GRCC

Blackboard is…

An online classroom for our online and hybrid courses.

A course web site for traditional courses.

A web-based environment for student organizations to share materials and communicate.

A resource for college employees to communicate and share materials.

A college wide professional development resource.

A survey and assessment tool.

An ecommerce system for parking, printing, door access, etc.

Blackboard Components

Learning System (Courses)

Community System (Organizations)

eCommerce/Transaction System (Cards)

Content System

Outcome System (Beta)

Learning System - Online Courses

Bb is the Classroom

30+ Courses Offered + 1 Non-Credit Workshop

Instructors Required to Attend Online Training Delivered with Bb

Orientation Course

Learning System - Classroom Web-enhancement

Content Management and Delivery

Assignments

Communication

Gradebook

Quizzing

In Class Organization and Presentation

Video

Learning System – Training, Support, and Professional Development

Training and Support

Online Course Development Training

Faculty Support

Tutoring/Department Communication

Student Technology Help Desk

Learning Academy (Professional Development via Portal/Course)

Training, Employee Orientation, FERPA, Blood Borne Pathogen etc.

Community System - Departments, Teams, & Committees

Content/Document & Idea sharing

Communication

Easy-to-use Web Publishing

Tracking

Off Campus Access to Information & Documents

A Few Examples

Academic Senate

Strategy Team

Faculty Laptop Project

Developmental Communication

FIPSE Grant

Registrar – Training Materials and Reference

Business Department – sharing materials, ideas, activities

English – communication, material/idea sharing

Video

eCommerce System - GRCC RaiderCard

Raider Card

April 2004

Bb Transaction System

Current Use

Door Access

Food Service

Parking

Vending

Printing

Library

Bookstore

Future Plans

eMarketplace

Payroll Deduction

Video

Blackboard’s Most Commonly Used Features

Announcements

Enables instructors to post important information.

Content

Ability to create learning units, upload course materials, and access a wide array of publisher cartridges.

Communication

Ability to send email, create discussion boards, instant message, grou pages, chat, etc.

Discussion Board

Other DB Features

Built-in discussion forum & thread grading .

A Rate postings option allows users to rate posts in the forum on a scale of one to five stars (peer review potential).

Users can save drafts until ready for posting.

The Subscribe to Thread option notifies users via email each time a new post is added.

Instructors can copy forums within and between courses and select whether the entire forum or only its settings should be copied to the new location.

Forums have an availability option that replaces the “archive” forum feature.

Moderation capability is available.

Assignments

Send and receive electronic assignments with feedback.

Download all submissions or only ungraded.

Gradebook & Multiple Attempt Tracking

Grading is managed in the gradebook.

Ability to turn off gradebook averages.

Overrides & Extra Credit

Instructors have the option to clear (or delete) the last/first/highest/lowest attempt or all attempts within a specified date range.

Control Panel & Quick Edit

Blackboard’s Enhanced Features

What’s New Module This module alerts students of any key changes or updates since the last time they logged in. Examples include: new announcements, new assignments, new discussion board posts, etc.

Review Status Content items include a setting that allows students to mark those items as “Reviewed”. The User Progress page reports which students have reviewed the content item.

Adaptive Release Provides the ability for an instructor to create custom learning paths through course content and activities. Content items, discussions, assessments, assignments, or other activities can be released to students based on a set of criteria including: date/time, specific individuals , group membership , institutional role, grade on a particular test or assignment, or Review Status .

Assessment Questions

Allows the creation of additional questions types within assessments.

Calculated Formula

Calculated Numeric

File Upload

Hotspot

Either/Or

Fill in Multiple Blanks

Jumbled Sentence

Opinion Scale/Likert

Quiz Bowl

Short Answer

Performance Dashboard A course tool that allows instructors to see key information and outcomes for all course users. The Performance Dashboard displays the last time each user logged in, their course role, Adaptive Release criteria, Review Status for content items, and grades. Instructors can sort the information by multiple criteria.

Additional Tools

Extending Blackboard With Building Blocks

Building Blocks Blackboard Open Source Community Sharing & 3 rd Party Integration