Chalkboard to Blackboard in 8 Months-Strategies for Faculty and Instructors

1. Chalkboard to Blackboard in 8 Months-Strategies for Faculty and Instructors Kenley Obas & Agnes Helen Bellel, Ph.D.

2. Alabama State University • Located in Montgomery, AL • Historically Black Institutions • Total Enrollment: 5,666 • Produces the largest number of African American teachers in the nation. • 328 faculty members

3. The Dilemma • No Campus-Wide Course Management Software • College of Business running Bb Basic 5 for their Students only • Students and Faculty frustrated with lack of CMS • Many students entering with CMS experience • Too many renegade course web sites • .com sites

4. Our Needs • Full Integration • Need to integrate with SCT plus and Active Directory • System that Allows Faculty to focus on teaching and content • Not managing a roster and enrollment • Ease of use

5. Possible Solution • Do Nothing? • Purchase a CMS • WebCT • Many Faculty used previously • Moodle • Free • Open Source • Blackboard • Recommended by our Distance Learning Committee • Already being utilized on campus

6. Our Selection • Blackboard • Host ourselves • Hire Global Services • Integration of SCT • Integration of Active Directory • Conduct a Pilot • Participant Selected by Deans of College

7. Bb Roll-out Timeline

8. The Pilot • 30 members • Member from each college • Appointed by Dean • Would become Blackboard Liaison • Survey • Based on instrument used by UT at Austin • 30 page report for University Administration

9. The Pilot • Participated in a Blackboard course • Included two 3 hrs Training Sessions • Posting to Discussion Groups • Using collaboration tools • Reviewing Documentation

10. Training and Documentation • Training Session • 2.5 hour training session • Conducted by College • Documentation • Collaborated with other institutions • Why re-invent the documentation • Create Support Website

11. System Status • Running Learning System 6.3 • Window 2003 • 8000 users • 3521 course

12. Bb Integration Workflow 1 3 2 Bb Controller Extracts SCT Mainframe 4 1 – SCT generates the FOCUS/Report. 2 - Uses a transfer utility to deliver the files to the Blackboard Server on a shared drive 3 – The Controller then locates the ‘pushed’ files on the Blackboard server 4 – The Controller integrates the information nightly into the Blackboard database Bb Database

13. Bb Integration • Snapshot • Imports SCT SIS data in Blackboard • Courses • Users • Catalog • Runs once a day • FTP’ed to Blackboard Server from SCT

14. Blackboard Spearheading Change • Student Email • Wireless Access • Increase in Computer Labs • Digital Storage

15. Challenges • Faculty acceptance • Don’t see the need • Storage • Only 60 GB • Support • Help Desk not ready to support • Lack of Blackboard System Admin

16. Challenges • Still have not fully integrated Active Directory • Removing other Blackboard System

17. The Future • Purchased and Installed Community/Portal • Working with Library to Purchase Content Management System

18. Current Look

19. Considerations Before Planning • -Adult Learners • -Curriculum Development • -Instructional Techniques to meet all learners • -Assessment and Evaluation Strategies • -Teaching Adults

20. “Online” Adult Learners • Online adult learners bring a diversity of perspectives and abilities to the class.

21. Strategies to Motivate Online Learner • Strategies include: method of instruction, using peer reviews and group activities that may be with the students in the course or in the educational communities, which will enhance interactive social skills as well as comprehension of subject matter.

22. Strategies for Online Instructions: Course Design -Give thought to the overall design for the course -Work backwards- clearly define what is expected of the students to learn by the end of the course.

23. -State the departmental expectations of your course. -Begin planning well in advance to work around problems -Goals should be planned at three levels -Goal Levels (essential, desirable, and optional) -Must achieve the goals to meet the faculty’s/instructor’s responsibilities -Note: If you fall behind, you may delete optional or desirable. Course Design (cont.)

24. Course Design (cont.) • Permit students to bring life experiences into the online learning environment. Most students tend to perform best when content is related to previous or personal experience.

25. Course Design (cont.) • -Design a procedure to evaluate whether the students have attained the course goals and objectives • -Determine the testing procedures and grading policies • -Make sure the course meets ADA approval and Section 508 for students with disabilities.

26. Consideration of Student Population: • -Character of the student population of the course. • -Schedule of the course (time of the course, season, and time of the year) • -Course required or elective • Students’ motivation for taking the course • -Students’ background and their learning style and study habits • -Faculty’s/Instructor’s teaching style.

27. Consideration of Student Participation • Are the students used to working independently? • -Collect work/assignments frequently and respond/give feedback quickly to ensure that students will have success in the course. • -Conduct summative and formative evaluation • -Construct a flexible plan which can accommodate surprises that may arise

28. Course Outline • -Students learning should build on itself • -Reading materials should be more than textbook. Other material may include articles that further illustrate applications or offer alternative points of view. Use the virtual library. • http://www.lib.alasu.edu/library/virtual_ref.html

29. Course Outline (cont.) • -Study the academic calendar. • -Develop a week-by-week sequencing of topics, readings, assignments, quizzes and examinations. • -Check for school holidays and other events.

30. Course Outline (cont.) • -Have a colleague give feedback on your online course . • Is there enough material to challenge the students intellectually and keep their interest? • Is there flexibility for students to make suggestions and be incorporated in the course?

31. Course Outline (cont.) • Is there recognizable relationship between internet topics, lectures, assigned readings, and student assignments?

32. Syllabus • -Make sure all or part of the syllabus is available to the students at all times. • -State at a minimum, course description, goals, objectives, course prerequisites, hardware and software requirements, a list of assignments and due dates, notice of exam and their dates, grading with detailed explanation on submission of (late) assignments and penalties, bonus points (optional) as incentives, other policies, virtual office hours, location, email, emergency contact, telephone number (s), mail address, address of the course web site, and helpdesk contact • -State policies for “make-up”, “resubmit”, or no submission of assignments

33. Self-Reflection on the Facilitation of Learning • Were my goals reached for this course? • Were the instructional strategies clear? • Did the students have a clear understanding of the content? How satisfied am I with their progress? • What key areas should I target for improvement? • What can I do to improve the online teaching of this course- content- online support-course design?

34. Resources • http://ctl.standford.edu/teach/handbook/design.html • http://www.worldwidelearn.com/online-courses/teaching-online.htm • http://jjconline.jjay.cuny.edu/faculty/teachonine.html • http://www.byu.edu/fc/fds/pycguides/pycguide.html • http://depts.washington.edu/cidrweb/TLBulletins/2(3)Discussion.html

35. Contact Info • Kenley Obas • Academic Computing Coordinator • kobas@alasu.edu • Dr.  Agnes Bellel • Associate Professor of Instructional Technology • abellel@alasu.edu