NIU presented on their strategy for offering online professional development for faculty using a cross-platform approach. They chose to deliver their Teaching Effectiveness Institute online using Blackboard and its mobile apps. This allowed more faculty to attend, saved travel costs, and modeled effective online teaching practices. Lessons learned included the success of the online format, need for backup activities, and managing time between sessions. Their next steps are to repeat the model, reuse content, try new formats, and possibly invite outside speakers.

1. Offering Online Professional
Development for Faculty Using a
Cross-Platform Strategy
Blackboard Never Stop Learning Tour - Chicago
May 23, 2013

2. Presenters
Jason Rhode
Assistant
Director
Jeff Geronimo
E-learning Design
Coordinator
jrhode@niu.edu
@jrhode
jgeronimo@niu.edu
@jeffminor

3. Agenda
NIU’s cross-
platform
strategy
Practices
Lessons
Learned
Next Steps

4. NIU’s cross-platform strategy
NIU’s cross
platform
strategy
Practices
Lessons
Learned
Next Steps

5. Northern Illinois University

6. » Main campus in
DeKalb, IL located 65
miles West of
Chicago
» Total enrollment:
21,869 (Fall ’12)
» 1,185 instructional
faculty
» Student to faculty
ratio: 18:1
» 39 academic
departments; 57
undergraduate majors;
80 graduate programs
» 95% of undergrads and
79% of grad students
are from Illinois
» 685 international
students from 116
countries
About NIU

7. Blackboard Usage at NIU
» 98% of students
» 82% of instructional
Faculty/Staff/TAs
» 53% of course sections
» 4 course sections per
student on Blackboard
As of Fall 2012:

8. Use by Individual Students
Usage % for fall ‘12 with 22,009 enrolled is 97.5% of total number of students
21,473

9. Use by Individual Faculty/Staff/TAs
82.75% of all those who teach use Blackboard for credit courses, fall ‘12
1,449

10. Number of Credit Course Sections
53.3% of all scheduled course sections among the 4,947 sections use Bb, fall ‘12
*Course sections range from face-to-face courses with online components to “online courses”
2,637

11. Number of Course Enrollments
Approx. 4 courses that use Blackboard per student, fall ‘12
87,430

12. Blackboard Mobile Learn
App students can install on their smart phone or tablet to access their
Blackboard course, receive notifications, and participate in course activities

13. Blackboard Mobile Learn
24,276 unique users during past year
Total Logins
Logins by Day of the Week Logins by Hours of the Day

14. Blackboard Collaborate Mobile
Available to NIU faculty since
released in 2012
Building Block update installed
to enabled recently-released
Android app

15. Center Staff

16. niu.edu/facdev
niu.edu/facdev

17. @facdev
@facdev

18. niu.edu/blackboard
niu.edu/blackboard

19. Teaching Effectiveness Institute (TEI)
offered twice/year, typically f2f, sometimes invited speaker

20. More Info About TEI at NIU
niu.edu/facdev/programs/history.shtml
1
2

21. Why Online TEI?
» Feedback from previous attendees asking
for “online” version
» Interest in exploring flexibility of the online
delivery format
» Opportunity to model collaborate online
learning experience using available
synchronous and asynchronous tools

22. F2F vs. Online Attendance – Sp ‘13
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Day 1 AM (F2F) Day 1 PM (F2F) Day 2 (Online)
Spring 2013 TEI Participants
51
46
58

23. Savings…by the Numbers
Average number of miles, round-trip, that would
have been driven by each participant
if everyone had driven to campus

24. Savings…by the Numbers
Total number of miles, round-trip, that would
have been driven by participants if everyone
had driven to campus

25. Savings…by the Numbers
Gallons of gasoline saved, assuming average
mpg (23.8) of average vehicle sold in U.S. in
2012 if everyone had stayed home

26. Savings…by the Numbers
Cost of gasoline saved, assuming cost of
$3.93/gal. in the DeKalb area
if everyone had stayed home today

27. Savings…by the Numbers
Pounds of carbon dioxide emissions saved
if everyone had stayed home today

28. Savings…by the Numbers

29. Model Best Practices

30. Practices
NIU’s cross-
platform
strategy
Practices
Lessons
Learned
Next Steps

31. Picked Topic
niu.edu/facdev/programs/20130111.shtml

32. Used Bb Community
1
2

33. Completely Mobile-Compatible

34. Roles for Staff
presenter,
live discussions,
discussion board
Dan
Cabrera
Jeff
Geronimo
Janet
Giesen
Tracy
Miller
Cherie
Quillman
Jason
Rhode
Stephanie
Richter
presenter,
live discussions,
discussion board, twitter
host, moderator,
live discussions,
discussion board
tech assistance, live
tweeting @facdev,
discussion board
technical support,
live discussions,
logistics
coordinator, presenter,
live discussions,
discussion board, twitter
presenter,
live discussions,
discussion board, twitter

35. Additional Resources

36. Give-aways

37. Consistent Design Template

38. Badge for Recognition

39. Custom Clickable Icons (48x48)
Recommended Mobile Apps
Links to Activities and Resources
Computer
System Check
Blackboard
Mobile Learn
Bb Collaborate
Mobile
NIU
Mobile
Intro to Bb
Collaborate
Bb Collaborate
Live Sessions Discussion Blog
Journal Wiki
Tweets
#niu #tei13
Presenters
& Staff Download
s
Badge
Online
Archive
Mobile
Archive

40. Available for Ongoing Conversations

41. Archives Available of Live Sessions

42. » Picked topic
» Used a community
» Chose to make
entirely mobile-
compatible
» Decided on roles for
staff
» Additional resources
» Give-aways
» Used consistent
design template for
presentations
» Offered “badge” for
recognition
» Available after institute
for ongoing
conversations
» Archives available of all
live sessions, accessible
in community
Summary of Decisions Made

43. Process for Designing / Developing
» Built using mobile-friendly design practices
– Course fully-accessible via Bb Mobile app
– Activities in live sessions (avoided web
tour, used polling)
– Use of guest links for Bb Collaborate
sessions to make it easier to access via
mobile

44. Moble-friendly Course

45. Mobile-friendly Live Sessions

46. Guest Links for Bb Collaborate

47. Online and Mobile Archives

48. Process for Designing / Developing
» Opened community 1 week early for
preliminary access and intro activities
» Used “Announcements” feature and email
to notify participants about sessions
» Use time availability feature to only show
current sessions link in a content area
» Online evaluation at the end of the institute
» Online and mobile archives available

49. Showcase Course Features
Course Links to important initial
content areas

50. Schedule
Course Links to folders in
Session Resources

51. Presenters and Staff
Added as Items with Icons hidden to
allow more flexibility with content and
positioning

52. System Check & Mobile Apps
Added as External Links with custom
icon images in
description, clickable, with text
description floating

53. Live Sessions & Recordings
Used date/time availability settings to
automate making available new
sessions

54. Session Resources

55. Evaluation

56. Announcements

57. Conversations

58. Help

59. What’s Next

60. Mobile Preview – Smart Phone
youtu.be/kI993l4XPZE

61. Mobile Preview – Tablet
youtu.be/ypZXhpL-xm0

62. Lessons Learned
NIU’s cross-
platform
strategy
Practices
Lessons
Learned
Next Steps

63. Feedback from Faculty Participants
“The online delivery of this
subject was critical to my
understanding of how it feels to
be the learner as well as the
design required from a faculty
perspective.”

64. Feedback from Faculty Participants
“It was really convenient to have
this (institute) online, and I think
it showed what Blackboard
Collaborate can do. I learned a
lot and have new ideas for the
upcoming semester.”

65. Feedback from Faculty Participants
“This was wonderful! The flow
was easy to handle and I stayed
engaged throughout the day. I
LOVED being able to attend
from home.”

66. Feedback from Faculty Participants
of faculty participants indicated they would
attend another online institute in the future

67. Lessons Learned
1) Online format was very successful
2) Raised awareness of potential for using
cross-platform strategy in teaching and
learning
3) Modeled many features of Bb Collaborate
and Bb Mobile Learn
4) Need to plan better backups (have backup
activities if there is a lull)

68. Lessons Learned
5) Have plan for managing time between live
sessions (left 30 mins between live
sessions, but hadn’t planned who would
stay in the session to see that everyone
was removed so archive could begin
processing)

69. Next Steps
NIU’s cross-
platform
strategy
Practices
Lessons
Learned
Next Steps

70. Next Steps
1) Repeat model in the future, build upon
2) Possibly reuse content / framework that
could be replicated using mobile-friendly
best practices
3) Consider other online formats (multi-
day, extended conversations, etc.)
4) Perhaps have invited speakers present
instead of our staff (save $ on travel
expenses for invited speakers)

71. Any questions?
Jason Rhode
Assistant
Director
Jeff Geronimo
E-learning Design
Coordinator
jrhode@niu.edu
@jrhode
jgeronimo@niu.edu
@jeffminor

72. Download Session Slides
slidesha.re/niubbpd

73. NIU Case Study
Download PDF from
j.mp/niubbcase