Blackboard: Tool Tips
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Presentation to colleagues to explain which tools I use in Blackboard, how and why I use them, benefits and challenges.
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Blackboard: Tool Tips
- 1. Contact: lmathers@dmu.ac.uk Blackboard: Tool tips Lucy Mathers Department of Media Technology Faculty of Technology
- 2. Which tools & why? Blogs& Wikis Spaces within Blackboard for students to post ideas, videos, references, coursework… Students can control the presentation of and take responsibility for the material they post
- 3. Which tools & why? Announcements with course links & send as email option Regular content items Keep students engaged, reminders, Blackboard as a portal
- 4. How used Blogs Can only be seen by tutor Individual, personal reflection Wikis Can be seen by everyone on the module Share ideas, materials & references Posting group coursework Gather feedback from peers
- 5. How used Announcements (32 sent in 24-week module)
- 6. How used Add content items regularly Newest items at the top (like facebook) Announcements Module Information Assessment Lectures & Labs Blogs & Wikis Self Study Books & Links Coursework Q&A Staff Information Email More menu links or buttons = fewer clicks to access content
- 7. Challenges Use of tools not a timesaver, but Easy to automatically schedule content items Announcements No more “Where’s the … ?” Students know where to find what they need
- 8. Challenges ? Students’ technical knowledge & use of tools Be prepared to provide technical support Introduce tools from week 1 Prompt them to add materials At end of lectures Self-study tasks Coursework “next task” items
- 9. Challenges Students misunderstand purpose of using the tools Explain what’s in it for them (be honest) Be consistent in your use Refer to their work, e.g. signpost examples of good practice ?
- 10. Benefits Allows flexibility in delivery Extra sessions when students are struggling Move on when students understand Students feel part of the module Keeps students engaged Some prepare for lectures (know materials will be there) Improved marks, perhaps?
Editor's Notes
- Spaces for student contributions to the module (and posting of their coursework).Responsibility and control for presentation of materials as well as flexibility as to when they post materials.
- These are the tools I use to keep Blackboard ‘alive’ and a place that students keep coming back to. This has helped keep students engaged.Have had students coming to the lecture having done some work in advanceBecause ‘lectures’ usually contain activities, sometimes I post examples of their work after the lecture as a way ofcompleting the topic and as a reminder of what they did / achieved. Sometimes they keep the work and choose whether they think it useful to post on the blog / wiki themselves.
- They can choose the best place for their work: blog = private, wiki = public (everyone on module)PrivateBlogs a security issue – for those working in a group, gives the ability for them to have their say without influencing / being influenced by the others a safe environment – for those who lack confidence, are unsure of the accuracy of their work or a space to “make mistakes”
- Some announcements contain information relating to more than one category (why the numbers don’t add up to 100%)!Coursework information – feedback, questions & answers, how to submit work, deadline reminders, links to mark schemes etc.Additional subject links – any supporting information for lectures / labs, relevant examples of other multimedia work, links to web pages, references etc.Students work posted – student work carried out in lectures has been posted on Blackboard for them to review.Support / Availability = when I will be around, reminders they can email me if they need help, surgery session information, coursework q & a…Course link attached, means I attached a course link to an announcement so they can click on it (if they are viewing the message in Blackboard) to access the content directly – means they don’t have to search around in the content areas for it.
- If students engaged & checking Bb regularly, then they want the easiest way to access the information.Place newest content items at the top of their content areas (this technique is used in social media applications,Like facebook, with which most students are familiar)Don’t make them click too many times from the menu to get to the content (the deeper the links, the more likely to “get lost”)Consider adding new links from the menu instead.Customise the menu links appropriately - do you need to have “Learning Materials”?Think about the order of the links (or buttons) in the menu, what will they need to access the most? Put those items nearer the top.When adding new menu links, better to add them at or near the bottom, don’t mess up the order too much.
- Don’t assume the students know how to upload images, documents, format text, add a hyperlink. Introduction from week 1 very important, give them a small task, perhaps complete as a group and post together. e.g. listing key words relating to the module and then providing definitions from different sources.Use face-to-face sessions (e.g. end of lectures) to tell them when to add materials and guide them onwhat they might add, early self study tasks are useful.
- Important for students to know what they will get out of it. If you aren’t completely sure, then the students will pick up on that.If it’s a bit of an experiment then be honest with them – but again explain why you wanted to try it.Refer and use what they have posted, the work they complete, show examples of good practice
- For some lecturers flexibility is not useful, being flexible definitely impacts on time, stops some items from being automatically scheduled. There is definitely a good vibe on my module and students are always ready to contribute, some have even prepared forthe sessions (lectures) which allows for reinforcement of learning, discovery of inaccuracies / misunderstandings orthe topics being investigated at a deeper level.Students are engaged, good lecture attendance, regular work posted on Blackboard, discussions of links posted, students finding and sharing more examples, students undertaking more research (than previously on module).Improved marks? – we will have to wait and see… evidence of feedback being used in coursework to improve coursework marks – difficult to say about exam marks, as different cohort to last year, with a different mix of students from different courses.