Blackboard 8 Upgrade!

Blackboard 8 is here! The Saint Mary's College campus will be making an upgrade to the new system this December 22nd, and there are training sessions available from Training Services. Check the training calendar for the time that works for you:

https://smcnet.stmarys-ca.edu/college_services/cats/help/training/courses/index.php

The new Blackboard 8 interface is much the same as the 7.3 version that we are now utilizing however there are upgrades to the grading system as well a new peer-review system. The Grade Center, formally known as the Gradebook, offers more functionality and operates more like an Excel spreadsheet. It is more flexible than the last version of Blackboard and you can add comments or send e-mails to your students directly within the new Grade Center. One of my favorite features of the Blackboard Grade Center is the early warning system. This feature was also available in 7.3 although not widely utilized. The Early Warning System allows faculty to set up various rules that will automatically send an e-mail warning to students who may fall beneath a certain grade point average in a specific course or fail to turn in a particular assignment on time.

In addition, there is a new Peer-review System in Blackboard 8. Now you can have students provide authentic assessment to their class members; a great benefit during collaborative projects or presentations. Students know that their postings will be read by the people in their class and that what they say can have a direct impact on the success of fellow students. I think that as people become more aware of this tool it will be more widely adopted. Let us know if you need help getting this feature to work for you.

Saint Mary's College and CaTS are on a mission to gain greater faculty participation with regards to our learning management system, Blackboard. In fact, a group has formed, called the "Blackboard Library Initiative", that seeks to inspire 100% on-line course presence. Professor Ed Tywoniak, in the Communications Department at SMC, takes this goal to the next level in saying that "not only do we strive for on-line course presence, we want to inspire 100% 'engagement' of faculty with Blackboard." Translation...we want to enhance face-to-face courses with the collaboration tools and on-line resources such as eRes to help maintain student involvement with course materials after class meetings on campus have been completed. For some this means posting complicated formulas for students to review on their own time, for others it means creating a class wiki or blog, uploading articles for students to read or posting links to websites that may offer fruitful research possibilities. There are many ways a Blackboard site can help with fostering greater levels of student engagement with course materials outside of class.

The reason behind the Blackboard Library Initiative are twofold. First of all, we need to be prepared in case of an emergency or other natural disasters should they arise. Lessons from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 demonstrated the importance of having a backup plan should a similar type of incident occur in California. We are in earthquake country; Let's face it, it is inevitable that at some point in the future, the Bay Area will experience another major earthquake. If we have the structure in place before such an incident occurs, we will be better prepared to continue classes via the internet. Providing such a back up plan means maintaining continuity for students who want to graduate on time, as well as a means for providing sustained revenue streams that the college desperately needs given the current financial climate.

We can maintain the essence of Lassalian teachings without sacrificing quality. The adoption of new technologies does not mean loosing the small liberal arts core that makes our campus unique. Technology, when used effectively, is a means for enhancing the traditions that SMC faculty and students appreciate while also helping to prepare students for a world that is more and more technologically advanced.