Your Logo Here From Student One to Blackboard A Snapshot of SCU Practices Presented by Schelly Gardner & Roger Murphy, Southern Cross University, NSW

Your Logo Here Session Objectives –Show how user driven business rules were built into the Bb6 snapshot process to maintain integration with the SCU portal –Show how SCU snapshot process was developed to manage site creation and access for more than just learning sites

Your Logo Here Session Objectives (cont.) Innovation –Integrating the snapshot with SCU portal to display Bb sites organised by site type, eg learning sites, information sites Results/Outcomes –Demonstrate how SCU snapshot, using an extensive list of Data Source Key’s, is used to deliver Bb sites with the SCU portal, organised by site type

Your Logo Here Session Outline About SCU System configuration ‘Pre-snapshot’ with BBCI 4.11 Transition to BB6 and current Snapshot process Bb Integration SCU built portal Ongoing issues Future goals

Your Logo Here About SCU Small, multi-campus regional university based on the NSW north coast –Distinct students in learning sites about 10,700 –Enrolment instances at about 25,000 –Academic staff approx 640 –Total learning sites about 1300 with about 50% actively used in teaching Overlapping Teaching Periods Semesters 1 and 2 Trimesters A, B and C Asian Semesters 1 and 2 Asian Trimesters A, B and C Summer Schools Research Periods With Blackboard since 2000, starting with Bb CourseInfo 4 then to Bb 6 in Dec 2003

Your Logo Here Current Configuration Blackboard Learning System Only –Release on high availability architecture –Oracle –Linux, Red Hat Enterprise 3 –In-House built portal using Kerberos authentication Staff, Students and Non-Standard Accounts Student Record System –Student One Version 3.2

Your Logo Here How we began BBCI until Dec 2003 Developed ‘pre-snapshot’ process (MS Access) to manipulate data from Student System (Student One) and manage site creation and site access Based on solid foundation of business rules –One learning site for each unit offered by the University –Managed student access to learning sites –Managed student access to school, course and information based sites Developed SCU portal which was integrated with BBCI using course categories to group sites by type Developed ‘Self Service Centre’ for support to staff to manage site access requests and view student enrolments

Your Logo Here How we began, (cont.) BBCI from 2000 until Dec 2003 Very Manual Administration –Site creation managed with batch files –Copied content for lecturers to newly created sites from previous teaching sites –Opened and closed site access based on specified dates and teaching period –Archived sites at specified dates

Your Logo Here Our objectives for transition Objectives - BB6 snapshot controller –Maintain and build on existing process –Maintain portal integration and ability to group sites by category/type –Automate Site creation and site access requirements ‘Specialised’ site access requests Archiving process Management of an increasing number of exceptions and variations to the rules

Your Logo Here Snapshot Controller vs Tool Snapshot Controller is defined by Institution’s: –Bb Version –Student record system –Authentication method –Infrastructure design –Business rules Snapshot Tool updates Bb database with text files created by the Controller

Your Logo Here Snapshot Controller (cont.) Bbsnap database –Receives data from Student and Kerberos systems –Oracle procedures (snapshot controller) Manipulate data from source data tables using support tables Exports data to text files on App Server –Blackboard Snapshot Tool updates the Blackboard Database Extensive use of Data Source Keys (DSK) –An identifier within Bb that identifies a subset of data –Used by Admin for the management of these subsets of data –Used to organise Bb sites on SCU portals

Your Logo Here PK1BATCH_UIDDESCRIPTION 149USERSBlackboard Users 150FLEXIBLEFlexible Study Periods 151TESTINGTesting/Demonstration 152TEMPLATESTemplates 153WORKGROUPSWorkgroups 154INFORMATIONSchool/Course Information 346SCHOOL_INFOSchool Based Information Sites 347COURSE_INFOCourse Based Information Sites 157PAST_STUDYPast Study Periods - Student Access 206CPDCPD units and enrolments 286ARCHIVED_ units and enrolments 267UNITS_2005_1Semester 1 Units UNITS_2005_2Semester 2 Units UNITS_2005_BTrimester B Units UNITS_2005_CTrimester C Units UNITS_2005_AT1Asian Trimester 1 Units UNITS_2005_AT2Asian Trimester 2 Units UNITS_2005_AS2Asian Semester 1 Units UNITS_2005_SSSummer School Units ENROL_2005_ATrimester A Enrolments ENROL_2005_BTrimester B Enrolments ENROL_2005_CTrimester C Enrolments ENROL_2005_1Semester 1 Enrolments ENROL_2005_2Semester 2 Enrolments 2005 SCU Data Source Keys (DSK)

Your Logo Here Snapshot Process ‘ Text files’

Your Logo Here Data Source Key = USERS –Our users DSK is much the same as everyone else – staff, students and nonstandard –Extensive use of nonstandard accounts to allow for staff industry partners, guest lecturers and students in industry and professional development programs access to Blackboard sites. Snapshot Process (cont.) ‘ Users’

Your Logo Here Data Source Key = UNITS_YYYY_X –Created with unit title and teaching period Eg ACC , ACC HK –Created from templates for each School –Sites Merged by default All availabilities and locations merged into a single site –Except for sites as per pre-defined support tables Unavailable by default, awaiting academic input Snapshot Process (cont.) ‘ Learning Sites’

Your Logo Here –Data Source Key = INFORMATION –Based on academic program, not driven by teaching period School Based Sites Course Based Sites Information Sites ‘Others’ –Archives –Past Study Periods –Flexible –Workgroups –Testing Snapshot process (cont.) ‘ Information Sites’

Your Logo Here –Learning Sites Based on student’s enrolment against a unit availability Data Source Key = ENROL_2005_2… ENROL_2005_AS2 –Course Based Sites Based on student’s admission to a course Enrolled in COURSE_INFO DSK –School Based Sites Based on student’s enrolment in a unit associated with a School Enrolled in SCHOOL_INFO DSK –Information Sites Based on academic requirements Enrolled in INFORMATION DSK Snapshot Process (cont.) ‘ Enrolments’

Your Logo Here School Based Sites Unit CodeStudent_ID Course CodeStudent_ID School Unit Code Student_ID Learning Sites Course Based Sites Snapshot Process (cont.) ‘ Data Sets’ Therefore creating enrolments using the following data sets

Your Logo Here Snapshot Process (cont.) ‘ Tables’ Bbsnap Database Support Tables For Learning Sites –Enrolment_Exceptions –Merge_rules –Location_Codes –Study_periods –Site_template For Information Sites –Course_based_sites –School_based_sites –Information_based_sites

Your Logo Here Snapshot Process (cont.) ‘Data flow’ Student One Database BBSNAP Database (Snapshot (Snapshot Source Support data tables) Kerberos Database SCU Snapshot Controller Blackboard Application Server (Snapshot tool)

Your Logo Here SCU Built Student Portal Using DSK’s, provides links to sites in sections, eg Learning Sites, Information Sites, Past Study Periods Sites not yet available to students are displayed and identified by icon

Your Logo Here SCU Built Student Portal

Your Logo Here Ongoing Issues Automate staff access to sites –Need to get reliable staff teaching data from student system –Reinstate ‘Self Service Centre’ to manage transitional period and then only nonstandard sites Server clean-up at end of each teaching period –Identifying unused sites for removal –Identify and clean up of nonstandard site access (CPD, past study periods) –Archiving cycle - when to move sites off server

Your Logo Here Future Goals Revamp and reinstate ‘Self Service Centre’ –With access from within a link in the control panel Move to a combined snapshot and event driven snapshot process

Your Logo Here Summary IF YOU ONLY REMEMBER 1 THING: –Solid business rules built into the snapshot process can be used to simplify and automate management of user expectations and requirements Follow up Contacts: –Schelly Gardner –Roger Murphy –Earl Whittaker (portal) –Guy Waugh (unix)

Your Logo Here Questions?