This document outlines a 3 hour session on using Blackboard Scholar, a social bookmarking tool. It is divided into several topics: an introduction to social bookmarking and Blackboard Scholar, how to use Blackboard Scholar's features, how it can be integrated into a course, potential student activities, challenges of the contribution model, and follow-up activities. The session includes presentations, demonstrations, discussions, and hands-on activities to help participants learn about and start using Blackboard Scholar.

1. Duration Topic To Cover How
10 minutes Introductions • Outline and objectives for session
• Draw attention to follow on activities
• Slides
• Verbal
20 minutes What is Blackboard
Scholar?
• What is Social Bookmarking?
• Tagging Resources
• Folksonomy/taxonomy
• What is Web 2.0?
• Other Social Bookmarking systems/services
• Blackboard integration (educationally focused)
• Whole group discussion
• Slides
• Verbal
• Short video
35 minutes How does
Blackboard Scholar
work?
• Account creation
• Installation of ‘Scholar It’ bookmarklet
• Bookmark resources using tags
• Orientation of system
• Searches and streams
• Search strategies
• Managing bookmarks and streams
• Hands on
• Whole group discussion
• Slides
• Demonstration
Blackboard Scholar: Contribution Oriented Approaches
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2. Duration Topic To Cover How
20 minutes Scholar as a course
tool
• Registration of Blackboard course
• Addition of existing course links in Scholar
• Deployment of Scholar course home
• Scholar bookmarks (content type)
• Scholar streams (content type)
• Demonstration
• Slides
• Whole group discussion
15 minutes Break
40 minutes Scholar activities
with students
1. Students identify, contribute and critique discovered
resources
2. Then critique the resources discovered by another
3. Findings shared on course discussion board
4. Tutor weaves and summarises discussions
5. Used as spark for the next cycle or to strengthen areas
1. Tutor defines and publishes thematic tags that map onto
the key concepts/texts/experts of the course
2. Students contribute and extend the resources for the
course
3. These resources captured and pulled into course
through streams
• Split group discussions
• Whole group discussion
• Slides
• Demonstration
Blackboard Scholar: Contribution Oriented Approaches
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3. Duration Topic To Cover How
25 minutes Challenges of
contribution oriented
approach
• Change in role for tutor
• Evaluation and assessment
• Student expectations
• Plagiarism and privacy
• Whole group discussion
• Slides
15 minutes Follow on activities • Detail the purpose and structure of the follow on
activities
(A) Complete Scholar profile
(B) Consider tags/tag combinations that you may use for
a course (post to course discussion board with brief
explanation)
(C) Import bookmarks from existing locations (browsers or
other systems)
(D) Identify other Scholar users of interest (post brief who/
where/why on course discussion board)
(E) Activate Scholar at course level in one of your courses
• Whole group discussion
• Slides
Total: 3 hours
Blackboard Scholar: Contribution Oriented Approaches
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