Presentation given at 2012 Durham Blackboard Users conference

1. DURHAM 2012 – Opening Pandora’s
Box and Riding the Tiger
Gary Clay
Staffordshire University

2. DURHAM 2012 – Opening Pandora’s
Box and Riding the Tiger
Gary Clay
Staffordshire University

3. Session outline:
• Blackboard @ Staffs – issues around
support
• The solution
• Concluding remarks

4. The Blackboard Jungle at Staffs
• Used since 2003
• Now mainstream /
ubiquitous (see next slide)
• LDI’s role
• Things you need to be
aware of

5. Growth of Blackboard at Staffs

6. The Blackboard Support Continuum
RED text = LDI’s view. Green = IS view.
Arrow to the left – view of LDFI’s remit, that to the right – view of IS’s remit.
Blackboard
infrastructure /
application

7. How ownership of support emerges
1. No exit strategy
2. Lack of
awareness
3. Frustration
4. By accident

8. Tangential Problems
1. Lack of clarity
2. Many ways to
raise support calls
3. Ambiguous
language
4. Staff thrown in at
the deep end
5. Arduous support
processes.

9. Rationale to overcome this
1. Clearer demarcation
of support
2. Clearer guidance for
staff
3. Upskilled staff
4. Support within
Faculties
5. Less bureaucracy /
delays
6. Reduction in non-
core activity for LDI

10. Moving Bb Support to the right places
1. User accounts
2. Course presence management
3. Course access
4. Training
5. Developing course pedagogy
6. Features not included
7. bugs

11. The Transfer Process
Meetings, meetings,
meetings

12. We held some stuff back…

13. Conclusions / reflections

14. Where next?

15. Closing remarks
Thank you!
g.m.clay@staffs.ac.uk