email : Webview : Grow and thrive this spring with Blackboard Ultra

As we jump back into the second half of this semester, eLearning Technologies is excited to partner with you to help you make the most of your remaining weeks with virtual office hours, requested consultations, and professional development opportunities. Looking ahead, mark your calendars for Monday May 13, 2024. You're invited to join us at a special event, "From Surviving to Thriving – Taking Blackboard Ultra and Microsoft Outlook to the Next Level!" This relaxed half-day event promises conversations, immediate takeaways, and a free lunch!

In this email newsletter:

5/13/24 - Save the Date - Half Day Conference - FREE Lunch!
Spring/Summer Blackboard Courses Available
Winter 2024 Blackboard Stats
How's your Gradebook Look?
Microsoft 365 Training
Other Professional Development Opportunities
Schedule Time with Your eLearning Technologies Team Members

5/13/24 - Save the Date! From Surviving to Thriving – Taking Blackboard Ultra and Microsoft Outlook to the Next Level!

In May 2024, we will celebrate the first anniversary of our Blackboard Ultra migration. We sincerely appreciate your commitment to using Blackboard Ultra with our students. In our ongoing efforts to support faculty transitioning to Ultra, we are excited to announce a half-day event that promises conversations, immediate takeaways, and free lunch!

Theme: Taking Blackboard Ultra and Microsoft 365 to the Next Level

Venue: Seidman 1008

Date and Time: Monday May 13, 2024 • 10am – 2pm

This event will feature dedicated pedagogical topic tables for group discussions and opportunities for hands-on immediate application.
Lunch will be provided, and faculty are encouraged to bring their laptops.
Participants are encouraged to switch tables every hour with breaks in between, but faculty can move sooner. Please feel free to come and go as needed.
We aim for this event to serve as an opportunity for faculty to broaden their understanding of all the latest Blackboard Ultra features and learn a few Microsoft Outlook email time-saving tips.

Here's a breakdown of the dedicated table topics:

Table 1: Meeting student needs for accessibility and accommodations.
Table 2: Using learning analytics to inform course design and improve student outcomes
Table 3: Using a course mapping tool for aligning course objectives to content to enhance course organization.
Table 4: Updating content using the library search tool and Opportunities to work with GV librarian liaisons
Table 5: Designing and integrating digital media content
Table 6: Quality Does Matter – Unpacking the 7th edition Quality Matters rubric and immediate takeaways
Table 7: Digital Literacy: What it Means and resources/services to support students and faculty
Table 8: What's coming w/Blackboard Ultra - Review the latest roadmap and speak with Anthology representatives
Table 9: Time-saving tips for organization and management in Microsoft Outlook
Tables 10–14: Open area for food and conversations with colleagues

More details about this event can be found on this website. Please note that registration is required so that we can collect catering information.

Spr/Sum 2024 Blackboard Ultra Courses

As of March 11, 2024, faculty listed in Banner as the instructor of record for the Spring and Summer semesters will have access to their Blackboard Ultra courses. If you don't see your course, please contact your department coordinator.

Before you begin building your Spring/Summer course site, we would like to highlight a few frequent requests that will help you for the next semester.

Merge Course Request: Use this request to combine two or more sites into one parent site.
Copying Content Between Blackboard Classic and Blackboard Ultra: Refer to this self-service article to review how to copy content from Blackboard Classic to a Blackboard Ultra course. eLearning can no longer copy content for instructors, but your eLearning Liaisons can provide guidance.
Copying Content Between Blackboard Ultra Courses: This article will walk you through how to copy all course content from one Blackboard Ultra course to another. eLearning can no longer copy content for instructors, but your eLearning Liaisons can provide guidance.
Course Restore Request: Use this to restore a course from Blackboard archives that is no longer available online in Blackboard. Course archives are available for three full academic years.

Please note that student enrollments will be added to Blackboard courses beginning April 15, 2024.

Winter 2024 Blackboard Stats

86.72% of our faculty have made their Blackboard courses available to students this winter semester. That's the highest percentage of available courses compared to past winter terms, including during the pandemic.

Your students appreciate accessing course content and tracking their progress and grades. In case you missed it in last month's newsletter, see this article and this video to learn more about what students say about Blackboard Ultra.

How's Your Gradebook Look?

Did you spend some time over break grading, and do you need help organizing your Blackboard Gradebook? We will be holding drop-in hours for questions and assistance near the end of the semester to make sure you're all set with final grades, but your eLearning Technologies liaisons are always available to meet with you anytime. Please fill out this consultation request form to schedule an appt at your convenience. For how-to Knowledge Base articles, see Setting up your Gradebook.

End of Semester Gradebook Drop-in Office Hours

4/16/24 • 9:00am – 11:00am • Zoom Link
4/16/24 • 1:00pm – 3:00pm • Zoom Link

Microsoft Office 365 Training

Did you know that eLearning Technologies offers more than Blackboard training? Want to sharpen your Microsoft Office 365 skills? Join Steph Balaskas (IT Training Specialist) virtually throughout March and April on a Microsoft road trip to learn more about Microsoft 365, learn some tricks for managing your email and Outlook calendar, and get introductions to Microsoft Bookings and Microsoft Teams.

Email Management in Outlook (Windows)

4/18/24 1pm – 2pm

Outlook calendar Tips & Tricks (Windows)

3/14/24 11am – 12pm

Outlook Basics for Macs

3/26/24 11am – 12pm

Microsoft Bookings Essentials

4/10/24 1pm – 2:30pm

Getting Started with Microsoft Teams

4/16/24 11am – 12pm

4/25/24 1pm – 2pm

Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities

The eLearning team offers a variety of webinars covering a wide array of teaching and technology topics. Sessions are facilitated in a live webinar format using Zoom to make them highly convenient. Review our Webinar page for a complete list of offerings. Upcoming opportunities are linked below for easy registration. Departments can also request webinar topics be customized and scheduled for convenience. Sprout registration links are included in the webinar's title to make registering easy.

Creating Instructor Presence with Panoptc

3/13/24 10am – 11am

Using Panopto in Blackboard Ultra

3/13/24 12pm – 1pm

Time Management Strategies for Online and Hybrid Instructors

3/15/24 11am – 12pm

Media Assessments: Transform Your Existing Assignments into Student-Created Video

3/18/24 1:00 – 2pm

How to Build Quality Navigation Into Your Course and Design Considerations (5 Steps for Course Design Series)

3/19/24 1pm – 2pm

Tech Check - Strategies for Instructor and Student Success Using Technology (5 Steps for Course Design Series)

4/16/24 1pm – 2pm

Schedule Time with Your eLearning Technologies Team Members

Feel free to connect with our eLearning Technologies team throughout the semester to schedule a consultation. Our team comprises instructional designers, instructional technology project specialists, digital media developers, system analysts, and dedicated graduate assistants focused on digital learning. Locate your assigned eLearning Technologies team members on our eLearning Technologies Support by Colleges website. Reach out through email or phone, or conveniently submit a consultation request via our Service Portal.

Let us know how we can assist you!

Sincerely,

Kim Kenward, Director of eLearning Technologies
kenwardk@gvsu.edu
GVSU Information Technology

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