Welcome to the last edition of the 2024 eLearning Technologies newsletter! We've compiled helpful resources to support your teaching as we wrap up the fall semester and prepare for a new year. You'll find details about scheduled Blackboard maintenance on December 18, fall semester Blackboard usage stats, and tips for closing out and preparing your courses for winter. We're also excited to highlight our upcoming virtual drop-in assistance on January 3 and announce a Save-the-Date for Speed TECHing on January 24 (think of it as speed-dating but for tech tools)!! Read on to stay informed and ready for a successful semester ahead!
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Blackboard Maintenance Scheduled 12/18/24 (12am - 6am)
Blackboard will be unavailable on December 18, 2024, from 12am to 6am due to scheduled maintenance for a database upgrade. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact IT Services by submitting a ticket through the Service Portal, emailing it@gvsu.edu, or calling 616-331-2101.
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Fall Blackboard Stats
We want to thank you for your continued commitment to using Blackboard as a vital tool in your teaching. Your efforts enhance the learning experience and play a critical role in student success and retention. With 92% of courses utilizing due dates, students benefit from timely alerts that help them stay organized and on track. Thank you for making a difference! We've also included some other fun statistics about our Blackboard usage:
- 86.92% of courses were made available to students
- Over 97% of faculty teaching Fall classes logged into Blackboard
- Over 99% of students taking Fall classes logged into Blackboard
- The highest number of concurrent sessions occurred on Sept 28 (193.6k sessions)
- The highest number of Blackboard logins occurred in September, with 2,919,207!
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Wrapping Up the Semester - A Few Closing Tips!
With final grades submitted and the fall semester still fresh in your mind, take a moment to reflect on your course and make notes about what you might want to adjust or improve for next time.
- Reflect and make some notes: Consider creating a folder or content item in your Blackboard course—hidden from students—to organize reminders about potential changes, new resources to incorporate, or ideas for enhancing the learning experience. Storing this information directly in your course will make it easily accessible when preparing for the next semester.
- Request a template site for future curriculum development: We encourage departments to consider using template courses to help their part-time faculty. Shared course templates promote instructional consistency and help facilitate smooth transitions during instructor changes. Course coordinators with the course leader role can add/remove part-time faculty as needed. Additionally, since templates aren't tied to a specific semester, they remain available for ongoing use and won't be archived after a particular term.
If you'd like to request a Blackboard template, use this request form in our Service Portal. The form also allows you to specify who needs access to the template so they can easily copy the content into their Blackboard courses.
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Winter Prep for Blackboard: Frequent Requests
Winter 2025 Blackboard courses became available on November 12, 2024, and faculty may want to take advantage of the following common requests for their prepping before the university goes on holiday break.
- Merge Course Request. Use this request to combine two or more sites into one parent site.
- Course Restore Request. Use this to restore a course from Blackboard archives no longer available online in Blackboard. Note: In Blackboard, faculty have access to courses for two years and one semester. eLearning has access to an additional three years of archived courses.
- Course Copy. Use this Knowledge Base article to learn how to copy content from one course to another.
- Consultation Request. Use this to schedule a consultation with your eLearning Technologies liaison for assistance with Blackboard or other eLearning technologies.
- Review our New Semester Checklist to help make sure you have everything ready to go for your students!
Note: Tickets submitted while the University is closed (12/23/24 – 1/2/25) will be processed in the order they are received on January 2, 2025. Please refrain from sending follow-up emails; they create duplicate tickets and may delay processing.
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Discussion Enhancement "New Post" Indicator
Each month, Blackboard releases new features or improvements to existing features. We'd like to highlight the "New Post" Indicator found in the December 6, 2024 release. The "new" indicator displays next to posts and replies that a user has not yet accessed. This helps direct engagement by making new discussion activities easier to find and access.
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The eLearning Technologies team will host virtual drop-in assistance on Friday, January 3, 2025, from 9am to 11am. No reservations are needed. Join us via this Zoom meeting link. If this time doesn't work with your schedule, you are encouraged to submit a consultation request to work with a member of eLearning.
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Discover new ways to elevate your teaching at Speed TECHing, an exciting professional development event for our GV faculty. Choose between two dedicated spaces: one offering personalized, one-on-one support and the other featuring quick, interactive technology demonstrations designed to inspire and empower your teaching practices. Think of it as speed-dating but with technology!!
The event will be held on January 24, 2025, between 9am and 12pm on the Pew campus. It will also include a virtual Zoom option for the Speed TECHing demonstrations. Classroom locations will be announced after the new semester begins.
Please note that registration is required. Please visit our website for a detailed breakdown of the Speed TECHing schedule and information about our one-on-one support available at this event.
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Assessment Conference
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.
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Other Professional Development Opportunities Available in January 2025
1/7/25 • 7pm – 8pm
1/8/25 • 3pm – 4pm
1/9/25 • 1pm – 2pm
1/10/25 • 1pm – 2pm
1/13/25 • 1pm – 2pm
1/15/25 • 11am – 12:15pm
1/15/25 • 1pm – 2pm
1/16/25 • 12pm - 1pm
1/16/25 • 2pm - 3pm
1/16/25 • 3pm – 4pm
1/21/25 • 11am – 12pm
1/29/25 • 1pm – 2pm
1/30/25 • 12pm - 1pm
Visit our eLearning website for a complete list of other eLearning Technologies professional development offerings for the 2025 semester. Registration is available in Workday Learning.
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Connect with eLearning!
The eLearning Technologies team hopes your fall semester ends well, your holidays are restful, and your teaching is continually rewarding.
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Sincerely,
Kim Kenward, Director of eLearning Technologies
kenwardk@gvsu.edu
GVSU Information Technology
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