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Grand Valley State University
As Thanksgiving break approaches, the eLearning Technologies team would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude for all you do to support your students and enrich their learning experiences. In this issue, you'll find important updates on Winter 2025 Blackboard course availability, tips for organizing your Blackboard courses, and new features to explore. You'll also find a reminder about the 2025 upcoming Panopto retention and archival policy, an invitation to join our Online/Hybrid Teaching Learning Community, and information on upcoming professional development and drop-in support sessions. Thank you for your dedication and partnership; we're here to support you every step of the way!
In this issue:

2025 Blackboard Winter Course Availability

When you logged into Blackboard on Tuesday, November 12, you may have noticed that your Winter 2025 courses are now available. If you don't see your Winter courses in Blackboard, please contact your departmental coordinator to assign you as the instructor of record in Banner. Student enrollment will begin on December 16, 2024.
As you start thinking about your Winter courses, you may want to take advantage of the following common requests:

New Ideas and Features to Use When Designing Your Winter Blackboard Courses

Are you interested in refreshing your approach to organizing your Blackboard content or exploring new Blackboard features? We have six ideas that we would like to highlight:
  1. If you've been using folders, consider organizing your content in Learning Modules. Learning modules have navigation arrows allowing students to move forward and backward through the content without leaving the page. You can even force sequential viewing of the items. Learning Modules also allow you to add images to make them more visually engaging.
  2. Once you've course-copied your content from a previous semester, use the batch edit feature to update your due dates for your assignments quickly.
  3. Consider adding knowledge checks to your content to help students assess their understanding. Knowledge checks are great formative assessments to keep students on track with the content. Although they are nongraded, instructors have access to detailed metrics.
  4. Use enhanced documents to create two-column layouts and insert images to improve content presentation.
  5. The AI Rubric Design Assistant can simplify the process of creating a rubric. Rubrics help students understand what is expected of them and how to meet those expectations.
  6. Need to update your readings? The library search tool allows you to search for articles in our library databases from within Blackboard and add those resources directly to your Blackboard course.
Below are two sample video tours to provide additional ideas for structuring your Blackboard courses.
Created by Meagan Luttenton-Knoll, MGT 268
Created by Kelley Senkowski, EDT 627
Contact your eLearning liaisons for a consultation on using any of these features or reviewing your course for design tips.

Panopto Retention & Archive Policy

To adhere to our new license agreement, support storage management, and ensure access to important content, GVSU is implementing a Panopto Content Retention Policy in two phases.
Policy Timeline:
  1. Phase One – Archiving Unwatched Videos
    • Starting January 1, 2025, any Panopto videos not viewed in the last 13 months will be archived.
    • If needed, archived videos can still be restored, but the process can take up to 48 hours before the video is viewable.
    • Archived videos will remain in Blackboard Ultra.
  2. Phase Two – Deleting Unwatched Videos
    • Beginning February 1, 2026, videos that haven't been viewed for 3 years will be permanently deleted, helping keep the system clutter-free and efficient.
Your Next Steps
Please review your Panopto video content between now and January 1, 2025. It is recommended that you archive or delete content that is no longer relevant or useful. If you have special circumstances requiring exemptions from the video policy, please submit a Panopto help request to work directly with our Panopto administrators. For more details, visit our Panopto Policy FAQ or submit questions through the GVSU Service Portal.

Join the Online/Hybrid Faculty Learning Community

Whether you've been teaching online or hybrid courses for several years or are just getting ready to start your first semester teaching hybrid or online, faculty at all levels of expertise are welcome to join our Online & Hybrid Faculty Learning Community. Join us each month to:
  • Support new and experienced online/hybrid faculty through dialogue and samples
  • Explore best practices associated with online/hybrid teaching and learning
  • Identify emerging technological needs to support online teaching and learning
  • Share collective expertise across disciplines
Here's the schedule for the remainder of the Fall semester:
  • November 21 @ 3pm: updates in artificial intelligence (join using this Zoom link)
  • December 12 @ 3pm: Quality Matters; the Blackboard exemplary course rubric; Anthology Exemplary course awards (join using this Zoom link)
You can find more information on our Online and Hybrid Faculty Learning Community page.

Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities/Drop-In Support

Registration for our professional development offerings is conducted through Workday Learning instead of Sprout. The learning app is available in Workday, and our webinars can be easily viewed from our eLearning Webinars website.
After signing up, please allow up to 15 minutes to receive the Outlook calendar invitation, including the Zoom meeting link. Departments can also request that these webinar topics be customized and scheduled at their convenience.
Free Answers Every Wednesday - Drop-in!
The eLearning team is here to help you maximize the potential of our learning management system! Join our team every Wednesday for Blackboard Ultra Lunch and Learn virtual office hours, where eLearning staff will be ready to help you from 12 to 12:30pm using this Zoom link. If this time doesn't work, remember that your eLearning Liaison is always available for consultations.
New Blackboard Features
Enhanced Documents in Blackboard Ultra
Learn how to include knowledge checks, two-column layouts, and more in your Blackboard Documents!
12/19/24 • 1pm – 1:30pm
Blackboard Rubric Design Assistant
Blackboard has introduced a new Rubric Design Assistant to automatically generate rubrics directly in your Learn Ultra courses.
11/14/24 • 12pm – 1pm
Microsoft 365 Efficiencies Series
Microsoft Excel 101
12/4/24 • 11am – 12pm
Practical Ways to Enhance Your PowerPoint Presentation
11/21/24 • 1pm – 2pm
Quizzes and Surveys with Microsoft Forms
12/12/24 • 11am – 12:30pm
Leadership Roundtable: Innovation and Creativity in Leadership at GVSU
Sponsored by GVSU Human Resources
Hear from several GVSU leaders to discover how they foster innovation and creativity within their teams and areas. This panel will showcase real Grand Valley examples of leadership in action, where GVSU Core Competencies play a key role in empowering, supporting, and leading teams to spark innovation and drive creative solutions across the university.
12/3/24 1:00pm - 2:30pm; JHZ 1035 or Virtual

GVSU Assessment Conference

Sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center
Join us for GVSU's Assessment Conference on January 10, 2025, from 8:30am to 12:30pm at the Eberhard Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus! Hosted by the Office of the Provost and the Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center, this event is an excellent opportunity to share and learn about assessment practices from colleagues focused on curricular and co-curricular assessment. Presentation submissions on course or program assessments from all units are welcome; interdisciplinary approaches are always welcomed!
Please submit your proposals by Wednesday, December 4, 2024.
Or, simply RSVP to reserve your spot at the conference!
Join your colleagues and help us build our culture of assessment. We look forward to seeing you there!

Connect with eLearning!

If there's any way we can more effectively help you this semester, please let us know. You can also contact your eLearning Technologies liaisons or submit a consultation ticket.
Sincerely,
Kim Kenward, Director of eLearning Technologies
kenwardk@gvsu.edu
GVSU Information Technology
Visit our eLearning Technologies website
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