As we prepare to conclude the semester, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks for your ongoing dedication to integrating technology in ways that enrich student learning.
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This winter semester, Blackboard usage has reached new heights!
- 97% of faculty teaching winter courses logged into Blackboard
- 99% of students taking winter courses logged into Blackboard
- The highest number of concurrent logins occurred on Jan 28, 2025, with 185.3k sessions
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And it's not just Blackboard seeing tremendous growth—Panopto usage has also reached new milestones, reflecting a strong embrace of video to enhance instruction and student engagement. This winter marked our highest-ever semester for Panopto views since fully transitioning to the platform, with an impressive 113,056 total hours watched. Notably, it's the only non-COVID semester to surpass 100,000 hours of viewing.
We're excited to see this momentum continue into the spring and summer months. If you're looking to enhance your use of technology, the eLearning team would be delighted to partner with you, whether through a one-on-one consultation or by inviting you to one of our upcoming professional development webinars.
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Making Spring/Summer Blackboard Courses Available – A Slight Change
If you teach this spring or summer semester, remember to make your Blackboard course available to your students. A minor interface change was made in March to enhance usability. Course access is managed through the Course Settings. See the upper right corner of your course page.
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Select the "open" radio button.
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Need Help Getting Grades from Blackboard to Banner?
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Panopto Archives – Tips & FAQs
To comply with our new license agreement, support storage management, and ensure access to important content, GVSU implemented a Panopto Content Retention Policy on January 1, 2025.
As a reminder, Phase 2 of this policy will begin February 1, 2026—after which videos that haven't been viewed for 3 years and have been in the archive for 13 consecutive months will be permanently deleted, keeping us in compliance with our new license agreement.
We began communicating this policy on October 30, 2024 with a targeted email to users who would have their content archived at the start of Phase 1. We've also talked about this policy in several eLearning Newsletters as well as the IT Division Newsletter. We plan to continue sending out reminders about the policy throughout the year to ensure we communicate this change as much as possible.
If you have special circumstances that require some of your videos to be exemped from the 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.
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April 30 — Publisher Integration Updates
If you use digital course content from Macmillan or Norton, take note of the date April 30. On that date both Macmillan and Norton will receive important updates for how their services work with Blackboard. Macmillan has a migration tool that should convert any course content using the old integration. The Norton update is introducing a new 'deep linking' option in the Content Market. If you use either of these publishers, please check your course contents after the updates.
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May 15 — Global Accessibility Awareness Day
Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is an annual worldwide event held on the third Thursday of May to raise awareness about digital accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities. Join us virtually on May 15 between 10am and 12pm to receive assistance on learning how to run an accessibility report in your course and how to use Blackboard Ally to make content accessible. Drop in for 10 minutes or stay for two hours—whatever fits your schedule!
At this event, you'll have the opportunity to collaborate with experts from University Libraries, Student Accessibility Resources, eLearning Technologies, and University Marketing to learn best practices for making your digital content accessible.
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May Blackboard Enhancements
Blackboard provides a series of enhancements at the beginning of each month. The updates available on May 2, 2025 will include three things that we'd like to highlight: "View Submissions One Time", "Text-Based Columns", and "Auto-Generate Image Descriptions for Accessibility using Blackboard Ally".
Allowing students to "view submissions one time" becomes available as a new test setting for instructors to configure. When students complete the test, they can review their answers and receive detailed feedback, including which questions were answered correctly. The "view submissions one time" option lets instructors provide students with immediate feedback while maintaining test security.
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To access this setting option, select "Available after submission" in the Assessment results section of the Assessment Settings, then choose "View submission one time" from the dropdown. This dropdown is available only if "Allow students to view their submission" is selected. See also the Knowledge Base article on View-Submission-One-Time Test Results Setting.
Text-Based Columns
Starting May 2, 2025, instructors will be able to create custom text-based columns in the Gradebook. A text-based column enables instructors to input qualitative feedback, status indicators, or non-numeric grades, such as "Completed", "Missing", "In Progress", or "Needs Revision". This can be especially helpful when tracking assignments that aren't graded traditionally, such as participation, attendance, or drafts. Text-based columns exclude the following:
- Point values (automatically set to 0 points)
- Due dates
- Categories
- Gradebook calculations and related calculations
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The Alt Text Assistant
As we continue to strive for better accessibility with our digital content, the Blackboard Ally AI "Alt Text Assistant" helps faculty to process images and provide suggested descriptions. Instructors will need to review the proposed text and can either edit the generated description or delete it to enter their own manually.
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Request for Proposals Needed by 6/30/25!
Before you head offline for the spring/summer semester, the eLearning team recognizes that many of you excel at integrating technology into your teaching and learning practices. We would be delighted to have you consider submitting a proposal for a roundtable discussion, poster session, or breakout session at the GV Technology Summit, scheduled for October 2, 2025.
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Faculty Spotlight
Quality Matters: Randalynn (Randy) Hajek, Assistant Professor Clinical Dietetics
Quality Matters (QM) is a nonprofit organization that provides a nationally recognized framework for quality assurance in online and blended learning. It's best known for its rubric-based peer review system used to evaluate the design of online courses and ensure they meet rigorous, research-supported standards. In this video, hear from Randalynn (Randy) Hajek, Assistant Professor Clinical Dietetics, as she explains what she appreciates about QM and how she's applied the QM Standards to her own course design.
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If you'd like to learn more about Quality Matters, be sure to take a look at the next article.
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QM FTLC Learning Community
The eLearning team is proud to once again be partnering with the Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center to offer a faculty learning community focused on Quality Matters. In this special May intensive learning community, participants will gain experience applying internationally recognized and research-driven standards for online and hybrid courses. They will explore each of the eight standards that make up the 7th edition of the Quality Matters rubric and apply those standards to one of their existing courses. Meetings will include a discussion of the QM rubric's content and a dialogue among participants based on their experiences teaching in both digital and non-digital environments.
- Monday May 12 – Friday May 16, 2025
- 9am – 12 pm
- 1pm – 3pm: optional focused working time
- DCIH, room to be announced
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Windows 11 Training Reminders
You may have received a notification that your computer has been scheduled to upgrade to Windows 11 over the next few months. Be sure to review the Windows 11 website for detailed information. Our team has also scheduled training to provide an overview of Windows 11, including preparation steps, file backup via OneDrive, and action items to ensure a smooth transition.
This training will provide a brief overview and detailed instructions on preparing your device, steps to back up your files via OneDrive, action items to help facilitate a smooth transition, and an overview of what's new in Windows 11.
5/7/25 • 1:00pm – 2:00pm
5/14/25 • 1:00pm – 2:00pm
6/18/25 • 1:00pm – 2:00pm
6/25/25 • 1:00pm – 2:00pm
7/9/25 • 1:00pm – 2:00pm
7/23/25 • 1:00pm – 2:00pm
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Special Event - XR and AI in Action: A Hands-On Workshop with BodySwaps and Ludenso
The benefits of extended reality (XR) and artificial intelligence (AI) in education are increasingly recognized—but how can you produce content that is specific to your course, learners, and objectives?
Join the Interprofessional Simulation Center and IT Innovation + Research for a hands-on workshop exploring and evaluating the latest in educational XR and AI.
You'll learn how to design and deploy custom AI-enabled roleplaying simulations using BodySwaps, which are experienced on Meta Quest virtual reality headsets, smartphones, and personal computers. Then, see how the emerging technology Ludenso platform can turn your own course topics into interactive augmented reality lessons with annotated 3D models—instantly.
Come see what's possible and join us in an engaging conversation around imagining how immersive technologies such as XR and AI can enhance your teaching and training!
- Tuesday May 13, 2025
- 11am – 12pm
- DCIH 260 - Creative Innovation Lab
333 Michigan Street NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503-3314
To officially register for this workshop, please complete this form.
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May Professional Development Opportunities
The Spring/Summer semesters are a great time to think about new approaches to using technology or updating your curriculum. Explore a month of engaging and interactive webinars designed to support your teaching and professional development. All registrations are managed through Workday Learning. Visit our eLearning Webinar website or scan the list below to explore the upcoming schedule of offerings and access the registration link quickly in Workday Learning.
Blackboard Topics
Sponsored by GVSU eLearning Technologies
5/1/25 • 7pm – 8pm (note the evening option geared for our part-time faculty)
5/2/25 • 2pm – 3pm
5/6/25 • 11am – 12pm
6/19/25 • 7pm – 8pm
Anthology/Blackboard Sponsored
5/14/25 • 11am – 12pm
6/3/25 • 11am – 12pm
Anthology/Blackboard Sponsored
5/15/25 • 11am – 12pm
6/4/25 • 11am – 12pm
Anthology/Blackboard Sponsored
5/7/25 • 11am – 12pm
5/27/25 • 11am – 12pm
6/12/25 • 11am – 12pm
Anthology/Blackboard Sponsored
5/20/25 • 11am – 12pm
6/5/25 • 11am – 12pm
Anthology/Blackboard Sponsored
5/1/25 • 11am – 12pm
5/21/25 • 11am – 12pm
6/10/25 • 11am – 12pm
Sponsored by GVSU eLearning Technologies
5/19/25 • 11am – 12pm
Digital Pedagogy Topics
Sponsored by GVSU eLearning Technologies
5/1/25 • 1pm – 2pm
5/6/25 • 1pm – 2pm
5/5/25 • 1pm – 2pm
5/7/25 • 11am – 12pm
Video, Screen Capture, and Interactive Digital Media Topics
Sponsored by GVSU eLearning Technologies
5/5/25 • 11am – 12pm
6/9/25 • 11am – 12pm
6/5/25 • 11am – 12pm
Microsoft 365 Topics
Sponsored by GVSU eLearning Technologies
5/28/25 • 1pm – 2pm
6/11/25 • 1pm – 2pm
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Connect with eLearning!
There are many benefits to working with eLearning. We can assist in optimizing Blackboard course structure, enhancing online and hybrid learning experiences, and incorporating innovative tools to foster active learning. You are encouraged to contact your eLearning Technologies liaisons or submit a consultation ticket at your convenience.
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Sincerely,
Kim Kenward, Director of eLearning Technologies
kenwardk@gvsu.edu
GVSU Information Technology
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