Blackboard 9.1 Presented by: Kim Shaver Associate Director of Educational Technology Assisted by : Alicia Harkless, Educational Technology Specialist, Troy University Gayle Blodgett, Instructional Technologist, Illinois Central College

–Blackboard System will be down between Term 4 & Term 5, May 19 th – 20 th, for pre-maintenance in preparation for the upgrade to 9.1 in July. –Blackboard training for 9.1 will begin in May and continue through the summer. –Blackboard System will be down between Term 5 & Term 1, July 28 th – 30 th, for the upgrade to version 9.1. Blackboard 9.1 Schedule of Events

–The new 9.1 version of Blackboard features fewer clicks to navigate and to complete course setup options. – It offers new and improved social learning tools such as blogs, wikis, and journals, easier navigation, and other Web 2.0 technologies that allow for greater interactivity and collaboration. Blackboard 9.1 What’s New?

“My Dashboard” tab is a new option that students can choose to display when they login. The main “Blackboard Page” is still available for students to toggle back and forth. Main Blackboard Page View New Dashboard View Blackboard 9.1 New Interface Toggle between main page and new Dashboard

Blackboard 9.1 Edit Mode Toggle between main page and new Dashboard Edit Mode Drag & Drop

–The most important detail instructors need to know about Blackboard 9.1 is where to find the “Edit Mode” button. –This is a toggle button that is located in the upper-right hand corner of each course area. –With Edit Mode “ON” you can easily manage course content. –With Edit Mode “OFF” you see your course in student view. Blackboard 9.1 Edit Mode

–Course content creation and editing tools are embedded throughout the course and no longer require the instructor to access the Control Panel. Instructors click on the Edit Mode switch to make changes from the course home page. –All options in the Control Panel are also available from the main Course Menu. –Instructors can use the drag and drop feature to manage their course menu. –Course menu items that do not contain any content are automatically hidden from student view but are visible to instructors within the “Edit Mode.” Blackboard 9.1 Improved Course Management Click on the drop down arrows to expand the menu and see the various options available under each area.

Blackboard 9.1 Grade Center There is little change in the way the Grade Center operates. Changes have been made to allow instructors to grade items as they are viewed in the content areas without having to go back and forth between the assignments and the Grade Center. Student grades now remain in the Grade Center even after the student is disabled from Blackboard. Instructors can enter results, scores, percentages, & other forms of grading into the Grade Center spreadsheet. Grade Center loads faster. Grade Center now supports average and minimum & maximum grade calculations.

Blackboard 9.1 Assignment Feature There is no Digital Dropbox option in 9.1. (instructors will still be able to access the DDB in older courses through a link) Improved Assignment Feature –Students can now self enroll in groups and submit projects as a group, allowing the instructor to grade assignments as a group. –Students can submit multiple attempts of the same assignment. Ex. the student can submit a draft and then a final document and the instructor can provide feedback for both and grades for both.

Blackboard 9.1 Uploading Content To upload a document, click on “ Build Content ” next select “ Item The “Create Assessment” menu allows you to link to or create graded items in Blackboard, such as tests and assignments Control Panel The Control Panel has been changed in terms of organization. Functions are grouped into eight categories (My Content, Course Tools, Evaluation, Grade Center, Users and Groups, Customization, Packages and Utilities, and the Help) along with a Help area.

Blackboard 9.1 Interactive Tools The “Interactive Tool” allows you to link to various collaborative/communication tools within Blackboard Blackboard 9.1 has built in private Blog and Journal tools that let students create and share ideas with their instructors or other students enrolled in a particular class. Group journals allow groups of students to reflect collaboratively and comment on their fellow group members’ findings. To maintain privacy, group members may add journal entries anonymously. Course blogs allow all users in a course to share their thoughts and work in one common area that everyone in the course can read and add comments. New Blog feature replaces the Bb Homepage option. Wiki’s are now available in the interactive tool area.

Blackboard 9.1 Educational Technology Support Blackboard Support and Remote Proctor Support have combined to form the Educational Technology Support group. All online users will now have access to Ed. Tech. support from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. (Central Time) 7 days a week. For assistance with Blackboard please For assistance with Remote Proctor, please submit a

Leaving you on a good note... Blackboard has recently established a staging server for TROY that has been upgraded to version 9.1 and clones the production server through 10/T3. Instructors will have the opportunity over the next few months to work on this server to become familiar with 9.1. REMEMBER – this is not the production server so any work done on your previous courses within this environment cannot be transferred and will eventually be lost. The production server still contains your actual course sections, so you may use the staging server as a “sandbox” to alter and delete information. Keep in mind Bb version 9.1 has just been released so Blackboard Support has had little time to test. Please report any issues to You may access the 9.1 staging server at You will use the same login information that you currently use for the production server.