The academic year is in full swing, and we're thrilled to share that 86% of our faculty have made their Blackboard sites available to students. We're eager to unveil many remarkable developments from eLearning Technologies Digital Studios in this month's newsletter. These include extended operating hours, the introduction of innovative services like podcast creation, and personalized assistance for designing interactive learning modules. Additionally, we'll equip you with valuable tips for communicating with students in Blackboard Ultra, guide you on submitting your feature requests to the Blackboard/Anthology exchange, remind you about reasons to use our Service Portal, and review upcoming professional development opportunities.
In this email newsletter:
| |
|
Digital Studio Updates
Did you know we have three Digital Studios equipped with high-end technology and the latest multimedia software/hardware—including lightboards, interactive module creation, and podcasting technology?
Our studios, located in CHS411, KHS4474, and Pew SCB1103, are managed by Noah Campbell and Kyle Macciomei, and are staffed by our nine incredible student technicians. Most studios are now open five days a week, and faculty can request Digital Studio services, including consultation appointments, by submitting a ticket at the GVSU Service Portal.
| |
Meet your Digital Media Developers
| |
New September Feature Releases in Blackboard
Improvements and new features are added to Blackboard Ultra monthly. If you'd like to know what's new for September, take a look at this month's release notes for the complete list of enhancements. We'd like to draw your attention to these four:
Royalty-free images from Unsplash and AI. Ultra can now help you choose images either by searching through Unsplash's library of images or by generating images through artificial intelligence. This feature is available for course banners and adding images to Learning Modules.
| |
Auto-captioning is now automatically enabled for Gradebook feedback so that if you are recording audio or video comments, your students can also view the auto-generated captions.
Batch editing improvements. All of a course's content items are now visible on a single page in the Batch Edit view. Folders and Learning Modules can be expanded or collapsed, allowing you to select multiple items throughout your course site.
| |
Communication tips for Blackboard Ultra
Blackboard Ultra does not currently show you your students' email addresses. We have had conversations with Anthology's product development team about adding email addresses to the course roster, and we hope to see that in a future monthly update. We understand that managing the messaging tool can be challenging and that many of you would prefer the ability to turn off the messages tool in your Blackboard organization or course. If you wish to turn off messaging, please see this Knowledge Base article.
Please note that when you turn off messaging, a small envelope icon will still appear next to instructors' names in your "Course Faculty" area. This button will allow students to send a message-as-email to their instructors. However, this email does not come from the student's own address and faculty cannot reply directly to that email.
Remember, instructors can download their student's GVSU email addresses from Banner. Use the class list tool in Banner to download the Excel file, which includes student email addresses.
| |
Anthology/Blackboard Idea Exchange
Anthology (Blackboard's parent company) has created an Idea Exchange website for requesting feature enhancements. We strongly encourage faculty to sign up for the Idea Exchange, post your own suggestions, and vote on feature requests others have made. Blackboard employees regularly visit the Idea Exchange and often provide updates about which new features will be implemented.
| |
3 Reasons for Using the Service Portal
The Service Portal offers numerous benefits to the Grand Valley community. Here are three of the most critical functions:
- Streamlined Requests. The Service Portal centralizes submitting tickets, tracking requests, and searching for resources all in one location. Did you know that emailing it@gvsu.edu automatically generates a ticket for you!?
- 24/7 Availability. The Service Portal is accessible round the clock, allowing you to submit requests, report issues, or search for resources anytime. Use the eLearning Technologies service links to create tickets that asks for the information we need to complete your request more efficiently.
- Self-Service/Knowledge Base Articles. The Service Portal offers a vast Knowledge Base so that you can find solutions to common issues quickly. The Knowledge Base provides information on everything from password resets, applications/software resources, to information security and much more! We have an extensive collection of Blackboard Ultra and Panopto resources under the eLearning Technologies Knowledge Base.
| |
Upcoming Webinars
The eLearning team offers a variety of webinars covering a wide array of teaching and technology topics. Most sessions are facilitated in a live webinar format using Zoom to make it incredibly convenient. Review our Webinar page to see a complete list of offerings. Upcoming opportunities are linked below for easy registration.
Digital Pedagogy
Blackboard
Digital Media
Respondus
October 11, 2023 • 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Bookings
| |
Please get in touch with us for assistance!
| |
Sincerely,
Kim Kenward, Director of eLearning Technologies
kenwardk@gvsu.edu
GVSU Information Technology
| |
|
| podcast by Jamison Wieser from Noun Project / Question by Adrien Coquet from Noun Project / feedback by Vectorstall from Noun Project / moving by Adrien Coquet from Noun Project / door open by shashank singh from Noun Project / wellness by Adrien Coquet from Noun Project / reminder by conchan from Noun Project / explain by Iconographer from Noun Project / Six by Adrien Coquet from Noun Project / Tour by Colourcreatype from Noun Project / key by Aaron K. Kim from Noun Project / closed by Gregor Cresnar from Noun Project / cleaning by Nubaia Karim Barsha from Noun Project / new by jiskan427 from Noun Project / leaf by Deepz from Noun Project / foundation by M. Oki Orlando from Noun Project / working together by Khoirin from Noun Project / Accessibility by mikicon from Noun Project / Toolbox by Danil Polshin from Noun Project
| |
|
|
