Bb Learn’s new bugs – Jan. 2017

Faculty, by now you have seen the new interface for Bb Learn and are preparing your courses for the spring semester 2017. If you have not yet noticed, there are a couple of bugs that you may not like. One is how you can “drag and drop” to reorder elements on a content page. It is not working as designed and we have complained loudly to Blackboard to fix it. Remedies are in progress and will be deployed as soon as ready. The Technology and Learning Program folks can help you now!

See image below or come in for a visit, the basement of Meriam Library, room 003.

 

Another bug is how the Gradebook does not fill the width of your computer screen. This is quite annoying. We are going to manipulate that setting so that it will fill the screen.

Please make note of any other bugs you see and let us know so that we can pass them on to the Blackboard developers. Call us at 898-6167 or email TLP at tlp@csuchio.edu, and let us know.

We are very happy that this new version meets accessibility requirements better than before. Your students will appreciate that, too!

Links to Lynda.com are fixed within Bb Learn!

CSU. Chico Faculty:  using Lynda.com tutorials is a great source of help to our students. Earlier this fall the internal links to Lynda.com tutorials were not working properly, and we shared with you a work-around. The issue has been repaired, and now the shortcut links work great! If you need any assistance with this, don’t hesitate to contact the Technology and Learning Program (or TLP). We are located in the basement of Meriam Library, room 003. Come visit us, or call x6167, or email tlp@csuchico.edu. We are here to serve you and help simplify instructional activities for your students.

 

Lynda.com Tutorials within Bb Learn

Using Lynda.com tutorials has become quite popular these days for helping students learn a task or two at Chico State. Faculty may go directly to the tutorial they want to share, and copy the complete link. Paste that link into your assignment or content page in Bb Learn’s course. The full URL will work for your students.

If you need any help, don’t hesitate to call the Technology and Learning Program (TLP) for assistance at 898-6167.

Start here for your first time to visiting Lynda.com from CSU Chico, http://www.csuchico.edu/lynda.

 

Voice Tools are no longer supported by Blackboard Learn

The Technology and Learning Program (TLP) and Distributed Learning Technologies (DLT) want to inform our Chico State faculty about a couple important changes that will affect you and your students’ workflow this semester, 2016.

Blackboard Learn is constantly working to upgrade their system and in this case to remove Java related tools, Mostly this is a GOOD Thing. But Voice Tools are no long going to be available for use.

This includes:

• Voice Authoring
• Voice Board
• Voice Email
• Voice Podcaster
• Voice Presentation

Blackboard will not support these tools past August 31, 2016 which is the official end of life. Most of the use cases here may be covered by Kaltura or Blackboard Collaborate Ultra. Please contact TLP for a consultation with one of our talented Instructional Designers (ITCs) for assistance.

Exemplary Online Instruction with QOLT instrument now

CSU Chico Exemplary Online Instruction Program for 2016

Exemplary Online Instruction (EOI) awards are CSU, Chico’s way to locally recognize instructors who have met the criteria outlined in the CSU instrument, Quality Online Learning and Teaching (QOLT). This instrument replaced Chico’s own Rubric for Online Instruction two years ago. We still recognize exemplary online instructors through this method, found online here.

For those new to the QOLT instrument, visit this website, which will introduce you to the CSU QOLT program.

To nominate a course for Exemplary Online Instruction recognition at Chico State:

1. Submit a QOLT Self-Assessment:
   Laura Sederberg by email or in person before July 1, 2016. Self-Assessment link — complete the online self-assessment, and request a copy to be sent to you via email. Forward that email to Laura Sederberg.)
2. Faculty will be asked to do a one-hour course presentation to our local Chico State Peer Review Committee, to be conducted before September 1, 2016.
3. Recognition:
   This will take place at the Annual CELT Conference October 8-9, 2016. Recipients will receive a Poster, a Certificate and letter from the committee signed by the Provost.

Questions can be directed toward Laura Sederberg, Chair of the EOI Peer Review Committee, or contact Chico’s Faculty Development Center.

Textbook Alternatives Project (TAP) update

Faculty, if you are interested in participating in TAP 4, please visit our website, applications are available from this site and are due on Sept. 12, 2016, for the coming academic year.

Our faculty have saved Chico State students $440,000 dollars over the last three years by implementing open educational resources (OER), and by removing expensive textbooks from students’ limited budgets. Twenty-nine faculty have participated and recently gathered for a celebration and received certificates of recognition signed by the Provost in Spring 2016. There is continuing good news that TAP 4 is assured to continue at Chico State by receiving another $20,000 in funding from the Chancellor’s Office. See the Chico Affordable Learning Solutions website, for more information.

The Steering Committee for Chico Affordable Learning Solutions, CAL$, is composed of Zach Justus, Interim Faculty Development Director; Patrick Newell, Library Dean; James Tyler, Reference Librarian; and Laura Sederberg, Manager of TLP.

An exciting opportunity exists for Chico State to save our students money through the Grant provided by the California State Assembly. AB 798 provides for CSU campuses or Community Colleges to apply for up to $50,000. There are some stipulations attached. Read more about this opportunity here. The Faculty Senate at Chico State approved campus resolution to increase student access to high-quality open educational resources and reduce the cost of textbooks and supplies for students in course sections for which open educational resources are to be adopted to accomplish cost savings for students.

Faculty, if you are interested in participating in TAP 4, please visit our website.

Academy e-Learning Cohort 8 applications due Feb. 12

If you are at all interested to join your fellow colleagues in attending the Academy e-Learning institute this coming June, I urge you to visit the website today, www.csuchico.edu/academy. You will find an introduction, invitation, and are able to fill out the application.

If you have questions and want to ask for advice as you fill it out, feel free to drop in to Sylvester’s this Friday, Feb. 12 from 12-1:00pm where we will have folks from the AeL Advisory Committee available to talk with you.

After seven successful years with AeL, we are really good at getting to the heart of your needs in what to do and how to do it, to redesign your course. Faculty mentors, as well a technical experts and instructional designers will attend and help you through this fun and creative process.

Laura Sederberg, Manager of the Technology and Learning Program.

Distributed Learning Technologies (DLT) and TLP

Distributed Learning Technologies (or DLT) is the unsung hero behind Blackboard Learn, Bb Collaborate, and so many other technologies we use in teaching our students today at CSU, Chico.

TLP focuses on how to use the tools; DLT ensures those tools are up and running.

Check out their website and their webpage for service interruptions, where you can stay up-to-date on any interruptions in campus technology services.

They are a silent but “heavy-lifting partner.” 

They provide behind the scenes technical support for the Learning Management System (Blackboard Learn) and our distance learning service, Bb Collaborate. They also extend the functionality of our learning management system through  “building blocks” or “plug-in” services; such as publisher content, Kaltura Streaming Media Server, Turnitin, etc.

Manager, David Rowe has focused heavily on standardizing systems support and providing enhanced application stability.  Before this role, Dave was the Chico’s Data Warehouse Lead for a few years after moving back to Chico from Humboldt State University. Working with Dave are Miroslav Lulic (team lead), Thomas Somma, and Robert Utter.

The LMS Advisory Board (team) is comprised of DLT and TLP and also are joined by: Classroom Services, and IT Support Services. In the spirit of transparency with the campus community all of our weekly meeting notes are published online. We are proud of this strong partnership and are pleased to be working with such dedicated individuals.

Quality Assurance for Blended & Online courses

CSU Academic Technology Services is offering several workshops on using the Quality Online Learning & Teaching (QOLT) rubric to ensure quality course design. Please visit the flyer for details on the workshops available. Many are offered online this year.

Chico State has adopted their instrument known as QOLT or Quality Online Learning and Teaching, which has replaced Chico’s own Rubric for Online Instruction. The good news is that there are stipends available for faculty to participate in reviewing their course against this new rubric and get help from a mentor in the QOLT program. Contact Ben Seipel if you are interested to participate. He is our QA Coordinator here at Chico State.Ben is from the Department of Education. He has worked with other faculty mentors here at Chico, along with CELT and TLP to provide a rich experience for faculty.

Besides a stipend, you may apply to the QOLT Evaluation Program next spring. There are awards given to the winners from the CSU contest, as well as our own Chico Exemplary Online Instruction (EOI) awards program. This past year’s EOI recipients are: Dorothy Kennedy, Ben Seipel, and Kate Transchel. We will recognize them formally at the CELT Conference Luncheon this year, in early October.

Visit the CELT website for more details, or feel free to email Ben Seipel, Zach Justus or Laura Sederberg with questions.

TLP is now under Faculty Affairs with Faculty Development

Organizationally, the Technology and Learning Program (TLP) is moving under the leadership of AVP Wenshu Lee, and working closely with the newly developed unit of Faculty Development. TLP reports to Wenshu Lee, Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs. The Interim Director of Faculty Development is Chico Professor, Zach Justus.

This move is a welcomed transition to working more closely with the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT). We have worked together over the last 15 years, but it was from more disparate organizations. With all of us working closely with Chico’s faculty, and influencing and supporting Academy e-Learning over the last 7 years, it was a natural reorganization to make. We are happy to let you know about this change, and although we still reside in the basement of Meriam Library plans are underway to move us all into a more centralized location together. More about what all this means later, as time allows the transition to occur.

One thing we want to offer to faculty is a more flexible schedule for consultations with our Instructional Designers and more opportunities for workshops on weekends or later into the evening as your needs dictate. Please let us know how we can better serve you and our 21st century students.

Laura Sederberg, Manager of TLP