January 2022

Did My Blackboard Announcement Go Out by Email?

It seems like a simple question, but we have gotten questions about this and have had some misperceptions ourselves. So, after going down a rabbit hole, we’d like to set the record straight about having Blackboard announcements go out to students by email.

Instructors need to check the box

Contrary to our previous understanding, Blackboard announcements do not go out to students as emails unless A) You check the box or B) They have adjusted their notification settings. If you want students to get your announcements by email, you need to check the box. We recommend doing this.

Students can change their notification settings

Any Blackboard user can change their personal notification settings so they get announcements by email regardless of whether an instructor has checked the box or not. It may be worthwhile to provide students with instructions for how to do this.

Lastly, please note that any notifications related to due dates only apply to courses where the instructor is using Blackboard’s system due dates. It does not apply to any due dates that are indicated only in the description or instructions for an assignment. For complete details about Date Management, please refer to our Date Management Guide (pdf).

Upload Zoom Recordings to Panopto

Did you know that Zoom recordings are not designed for long term use? Due to the high cost of storage, GW IT is encouraging all faculty and staff to upload meeting recordings to a dedicated streaming service if you intend to use them for longer than a semester.

You may see references to Echo 360 on GW’s main website, but SHMS uses Panopto as its streaming media server. It is easy to use and serves as a great way to preserve talks from guest speakers or panel discussions.

From the Zoom website, download your meeting as an MP4 file.

Panopto page Create button drop-down menu options: panopto for windows, panopto capture, upload media, playlist, new folder. Upload media is highlighted in yellow.

Next, log into Blackboard and navigate to the course with which you want to share the video. If you haven’t already enabled Panopto in your course, follow these instructions.

From the Panopto page in your course, click the Create button and select Upload media from the drop-down menu.

Find the MP4 file of the Zoom recording that you just downloaded and drag it into the drop zone. The file will upload and process.

Panopto video upload dialog box. Folder name: IMPACT Sandbox at the top. Underneath is a gray shaded box where one drags and drops their media files for uploading. Below that are the media files with an upload and processing progress bar.

Once the video has processed, you can share it with students as you would any other Panopto video. By:

Copying the URL and adding it to an Announcement, Module, or email
Using the Panopto Video Embed function
Clicking the “Add content” button when editing a content item in Blackboard

Online Brainstorming

a group of student sitting around a table facing a wall with colored post-it notes. a femail student rearranges the post-its with feedback from the group

We’ve recommended Jamboard before and we liked a recent article from the University of Michigan that provides techniques for using it for student brainstorming activities. The article discusses how “in on-site classes, students might write or draw on whiteboards, take notes on paper, and use colorful sticky notes. Using Zoom with Google Jamboard allows students to have an interactive discussion in much the same way.” It also provides some guidance to ensure their session is well-organized and runs smoothly.

Faculty and staff might consider using the same techniques to discuss possible research or other projects.

Online Brainstorming: Techniques for using Google Jamboard

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