Blackboard Programs

The following is a sampling of the Blackboard programs offered by the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. Check our schedule of upcoming programs and contact us for more information.

Basic Blackboard Workshop Topics

Description:
Learn the basics of creating and developing a course in Blackboard, NIU's Web Course Management System. Participants will get an overview of course layout and navigation, have an opportunity to place materials in a sample course, and also get assistance with requesting their own Blackboard courses. Participants who wish to request their courses during the workshop must have an active NIU AccountID. [For information about NIU AccountIDs used in Blackboard, contact the IT Service Desk: ServiceDesk@niu.edu or 815-753-8100.] Advance registration is required.

Duration:
3 hours

Prerequisites:
None

Description:
This hands-on workshop is a follow-up to the Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard workshop. We will cover the specifics of developing a course in Blackboard, including personalizing course navigation, setting up a materials-delivery structure and creating discussion areas. Participants will work in their own Blackboard courses and should bring to the session any course materials they want to upload or work with during the workshop. Files need to be on a flash drive (readable in a USB port) or on a CD. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1.5 hours

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills, Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard or previous experience using Blackboard

Description:
Faculty, staff, and TAs are provided an excellent opportunity in Open Lab to ask specific questions about Blackboard and other teaching-related technologies. Staff from Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center will be on hand to address your questions individually. We cannot provide an overview of Blackboard at this session, but will be happy to answer specific questions about using Blackboard and other instructional technologies. No advance registration required.

Duration:
1.5 hours

Prerequisites:
None

Description:
Blackboard communities have most of the same features and functionality as Blackboard courses but are meant to be used for NIU activities other than courses scheduled through Registration and Records. NIU departments, organizations, committees, and communities can request a Blackboard community from ITS for a fee for the purpose of communication, collaboration, and/or training. This hands-on session, open to faculty, staff and graduate teaching assistants, will provide an overview of Blackboard community tools and features. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
2 hours

Prerequisites:
Knowledge of Web browsing and basic computing skills

Intermediate Blackboard Workshop Topics

Description:
The test and survey tools in Blackboard offer faculty a variety of useful options for online assessment. In this hands-on workshop, participants will have the opportunity to explore the various testing tools, create quizzes using a range of questions types and experiment with creating test and survey pools. We will discuss strategies for reducing online testing errors as well as issues involving academic concerns with online testing. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1.5 hours

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills, Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard or previous experience using Blackboard

Description:
The survey and testing features in Blackboard offer faculty a variety of useful options for online assessment. In this hands-on workshop, participants will have the opportunity to explore the various testing tools, create quizzes using a range of questions types, and experiment with creating test and survey pools. We will discuss strategies for reducing online testing errors as well as issues involving academic concerns with online testing. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
A1.5 hours

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills, Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard or previous experience using Blackboard

Description:
The discussion and file-sharing tools provided by Blackboard can enrich communication in the web-enhanced traditional classroom as well as in the online venue. These tools provide faculty with a wealth of opportunities for building course communities, encouraging academic discussion outside the classroom and collecting assignments electronically. This hands-on session covers the features of asynchronous and synchronous discussion, group discussion, and electronic file exchange. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1.5 hours

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills; Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard or previous experience using Blackboard

Description:
Electronic portfolios enable students and faculty to assemble, present, and share information online for documenting academic growth, career evaluation, and course preparation. The Blackboard Portfolio tool, bundled with the Blackboard Content System, allows users to collect and organize files and other digital content representative of their learning into custom Web pages. The portfolio can then be shared with individuals or groups of users. This hands-on session covers the features of Blackboard’s portfolio tool. Participants will have the opportunity to create their own portfolio and share it, both for viewing within a course and with users outside of their course and even outside NIU.

Duration:
1.5 hours

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills, Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard or previous experience using Blackboard

Description:
Using Blackboard, faculty can take advantage of several social communication tools, such as blogs, wikis and journals, to create interactive and collaborative activities for students. In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn the features and uses of the communication tools and practice creating, participating in and grading blogs, wikis and journals. Additionally, we will identify the types of activities that these tools can be used for. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1.5 hours

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills; Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard or previous experience using Blackboard

Description:
The Blackboard Grade Center is a useful tool for tracking student grades and helping students understand their progress throughout the semester, but it can also efficiently calculate final grades. NIU Faculty can then use the Grade Submission tool to publish grades from the Grade Center directly to MyNIU, saving even more time. In this hands-on workshop, we will discuss how to calculate final grades, including how to use the weighted total feature, share best practices, and answer questions about specific grading systems. Prerequisites: Attendance at Managing Student Grades with the Blackboard Grade Center or previous experience using the Grade Center. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1.5 hours

Prerequisites:
None

Description:
Do you sometimes dread the online Discussion Board? Research shows that Discussion Boards increase student engagement and learning, yet faculty may be overwhelmed by extensive use of the tool. In this online workshop, we will discuss pedagogical aspects of Discussion Boards, as well as, practical strategies that can be implemented in your courses to keep Discussion Boards manageable. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1 hour

Prerequisites:
None

Description:
The two major complaints we hear from students about group projects are (1) the problems of getting members together for meetings and (2) the inequity of effort among group members. Virtual groups, easily established using Blackboard, can address both of these legitimate concerns. Additionally, online groups can enrich class discussion and provide a virtual environment for sharing documents. This hands-on workshop will walk participants through the process of setting up Blackboard groups and will discuss some of the principles that make group projects successful. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1.5 hour

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills, Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard or previous experience using Blackboard

Description:
Video content is an increasingly common way to enhance your course content. In this hands-on workshop, you will explore how video can be used in your courses, such as faculty-generated video to supplement content or student-created videos for course assignments. Using MEDIAL (formerly Helix Media Library), you will also learn how you and your students can easily create videos directly from a webcam and share them with each other on NIU’s secure video-streaming server. Prerequisites: Blackboard I or previous experience using Blackboard.

Duration:
1.5 hours

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills, Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard or previous experience using Blackboard

Description:
Once the semester is over and all course materials are organized and posted in Blackboard, faculty can take steps to preserve the course for future use. While courses are not deleted for about 15 months, certain parts of each course, such as the Grade Center, should be downloaded and saved. This session will cover the save and copy features available through the Blackboard interface and offer suggestions for what types of activities faculty should routinely follow at the end of an academic term. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1.5 hours

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills; Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard or previous experience using Blackboard

Description:
Learn how to use the Breakout Groups feature within Blackboard Collaborate Ultra to facilitate small group discussions during an online session. During this face-to-face workshop we'll explore the options within a Blackboard Collaborate Ultra session for organizing students into small groups for discussion, including creating Breakout Rooms, assigning students to Breakout Rooms (both manually and automatically), moving whiteboard content into Breakout Rooms, and monitoring small group discussion. Prerequisite: You should be familiar with the new Blackboard Collaborate Ultra web conferencing tool. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
2 hours

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills; basic Web navigation skills

Description:
Have you ever asked yourself, “Can Blackboard do that?” The answer might be yes! Blackboard Learn has a wide range of functionality and features to address diverse teaching and learning needs, with more features added every year. It can be difficult to keep up! In this online session, we will look at a number of tools that you may be under-utilizing or may not be aware of, to simplify your teaching workflow and make you more efficient. Advance registration required.

Duration:
1 hour

Prerequisites:
None

Description:
The Interactive Rubric tool in Blackboard makes it possible for rubrics with click-and-score simplicity to be built into the grading workflow, increasing efficiency while also supporting consistent and high quality feedback. During this workshop we'll explore the Interactive Rubrics tool in Blackboard and sample interactive rubrics applied to various types of Blackboard assessments. We'll highlight the steps for creating an Interactive Rubric and applying it to an assignment for grading. We will also cover how to reuse a rubric within a Blackboard course or share with other faculty. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1.5 hours

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills and attendance at the Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard workshop or previous experience using Blackboard.

Description:
Many faculty consider live, personal interaction to be the most valuable element of quality teaching and learning experiences. Blackboard Collaborate is web conferencing/collaboration tool that faculty and students rely on to provide opportunities for live interaction and personal connection in online and blended courses. Blackboard recently released an updated version of Blackboard Collaborate, Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, which offers a modern and streamlined user-friendly interface, improved audio and video quality, and easy-to-use application sharing. In this hands-on workshop, you will be able to try the new Collaborate Ultra first-hand, and be among the first to explore it before it is available campus-wide in 2016. You do not need any previous experience with Blackboard Collaborate to quickly learn to present and communicate with Collaborate Ultra. Advance registration required.

Duration:
2 hours

Prerequisites:
None

Description:
Learn how to record, track and submit student grades using Blackboard Grade Center. In this hands-on workshop we will review the layout and functionality of the Grade Center and will cover such topics as recording grades using inline editing, entering comments, sending email from the Grade Center, adding calculated columns and categories, and customizing the default Grade Center look. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1.5 hours

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills; Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard or previous experience using Blackboard

Description:
Blackboard Mobile Learn is designed to provide students with instant access to their courses via mobile devices. Materials posted in Blackboard are seamlessly integrated with the mobile app, so you do not need to duplicate course development to enable mobile access. However, the capabilities of the application and of mobile devices limit the mobile experience and can frustrate students using the mobile app to access course materials. In this online workshop, we will discuss some best practices and helpful hints for building your Blackboard course to make it mobile-friendly and present some examples of how you can use the app to manage their courses. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1.5 hours

Prerequisites:
NBasic computer skills; Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard or previous experience using Blackboard

Description:
Blackboard Mobile Learn is designed to provide students with instant access to their courses via mobile devices. Materials posted in Blackboard are seamlessly integrated with the mobile app, so faculty do not need to duplicate course development to enable mobile access. However, the capabilities of the application and of mobile devices limit the mobile experience and can frustrate students using the mobile app to access course materials. In this online workshop, we will discuss some best practices and helpful hints for building your Blackboard course to make it mobile-friendly and present some examples of how you can use the app to manage their courses. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1.5 hours

Prerequisites:
Attendance at "Intro to Live Online Classes Using Blackboard Collaborate" or previous experience using Blackboard Collaborate.

Description:
Blackboard Learn can handle a variety of student assessment approaches including use of online testing and a range of assignment options. But did you know that using electronic assessments is also greener, and cheaper for students? By reducing the amount of printing that students are required to do, you can reduce the amount of paper and toner used, which is better for the environment. And, because students pay 7 cents per page they print, submitting paper copies of assignments can become expensive.

In this workshop, you will learn how to build surveys and tests, create electronic assignments, review student work for plagiarism, and develop grading rubrics. All of these tools provide opportunities for students to demonstrate what they have learned, and help you provide valuable feedback to students on their learning. Prerequisites: basic computer skills and attendance at the Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard workshop or previous experience using Blackboard. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1.5 hours

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills; Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard or previous experience using Blackboard

Description:
Learn the basics of how to customize the interface of your Blackboard course. In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn basic interface design principles and have the opportunity to create a customized course banner and buttons for use in their own Blackboard course. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1.5 hours

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills; Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard or previous experience using Blackboard

Description:
Learn how to move beyond presenting content from PowerPoint slides during an online session using Blackboard Collaborate. During this online session we'll explore the options within a Blackboard Collaborate session for showing your computer screen to students, including showing web pages, applications running on your computer, as well as Web pages. We'll also demonstrate how to also pass control to students and discuss best practices for incorporating screen sharing into your online sessions. Prerequisites: attendance at "Promoting Online Collaboration with Blackboard Collaborate" or previous experience using Blackboard Collaborate. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1 hour

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills and attendance at the Promoting Online Collaboration with Blackboard Collaborate workshop or previous experience using Blackboard Collaborate

Description:
Student group work can be an effective component in meeting and enhancing your course objectives. Unfortunately, the logistics of forming, supporting, and assessing groups can also present significant challenges. In this workshop, we will explore Blackboard's group feature and discuss related tools and strategies in order to address some of the more common difficulties when working with groups.

Duration:
1 hour

Prerequisites:
None

Description:
NIU faculty can use the Blackboard Grade Submission Tool to publish grades from the Blackboard Grade Center directly to MyNIU, saving time and reducing the opportunity for data entry errors. After submitting grades using this tool, faculty simply login to MyNIU to view the final grades and post them officially. This hands-on workshop will demonstrate the new Blackboard Grade Submission Tool and provide faculty who have been using the Blackboard Grade Center with step-by-step assistance in submitting their final grades from Blackboard to MyNIU. Staff from the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center will be on hand to individually address questions and provide assistance. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1 hour

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills, Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard or previous experience using Blackboard

Description:
One of the key factors in improving student retention is identifying students who may be at risk early and intervening before it is too late. The Retention Center, which is integrated into Blackboard, makes it easy for faculty to monitor student performance proactively and contact students who may need additional support. Student performance is tracked based on grade, activity level, access to the Blackboard course, and missed deadlines. In this online workshop, we will explore how the Retention Center can be used to track student performance and connect with students, to improve success and retention. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1 hour

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills and attendance at the Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard workshop or previous experience using Blackboard.

Description:
AThe online assessment tools of Blackboard can be utilized to facilitate meaningful and memorable learning activities for students. These online assessment tools include: surveys, test, quizzes, and electronic submission of assignments. What are the most efficient and effective uses of the Blackboard assessment tools? What recommendations exist for reinforcing academic integrity and providing meaningful feedback? Join us for this online discussion to answer these questions and share tips and best practices for assessing student learning using Blackboard. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1 hour

Prerequisites:
None

Description:
The announcement, discussion, and email features in Blackboard are just a few of the many tools available for faculty to communicate with students and foster collaboration during the course. What are the most efficient and effective uses of the Blackboard communication tools? Join us for this online discussion to answer this question and share tips and best practices for communicating with students using Blackboard. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1 hour

Prerequisites:
None

Description:
The built-in groups tools available in Blackboard make it possible for students to engage easily in online discussion, share files, chat, and email. However, simply placing students in groups in Blackboard and enabling these available tools is no guarantee that students will engage in meaningful group collaborations. What are the most efficient and effective uses of the Blackboard group tools? Join us for this online discussion to answer this question and share tips and best practices for creating and sustaining group activities using Blackboard. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1 hour

Prerequisites:
None

Description:
Do you want to know the secret to designing and leading effective Blackboard Collaborate sessions? In this one hour introductory online session, we will share tips for designing and leading engaging, interactive online sessions. You will learn the recommended techniques to prepare participants before they attend your live session. You will also learn how to communicate with and manage the interactions of your participants, best practices for designing online presentation content, and the importance of archives. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1 hour

Prerequisites:
None

Description:
Blackboard tools can enhance your productivity and efficiency as you teach your online course, as well as, help you support your students success. In this workshop, you will discover tips and strategies on how to use Blackboard Learn and Blackboard Collaborate Ultra to deliver a quality online course.

Duration:
1 hour

Prerequisites:
None

Description:
In Blackboard, every content item, interaction, and assessment can be aligned to custom-built Goals (student learning outcomes). Once aligned to assessments, including Assignments, Tests (and test questions), Rubrics, Discussion Forums, and Grade Center columns, you can collect data on student performance at the course and system levels to determine whether students are meeting the Goals. In addition, students can track their own progress against these Goals using the new Goal Performance Dashboard. These features can be used to build competency-based courses or to gather valuable data for program assessment and accreditation reviews. In this session, you will learn how to add alignments to course content and assessments and how to evaluate student achievement against the Goals. We will also discuss how custom Goals are added to Blackboard. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1 hour

Prerequisites:
None

Description:
In Blackboard, every item, interaction, and assessment can be aligned to system-wide standards, including both the NCATE and the Illinois standards. These alignments can help students see how course content and activities connect to these competencies. Alignments can also be used for course-level assessment to determine whether students are meeting the standards. Unfortunately, goals and standards must be added administratively, so the current selection is very limited. In this session, you will learn how to add alignments to course content and assessments and how to evaluate student achievement against the standards. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1 hour

Prerequisites:
None

Description:
The Blackboard Content Collection feature provides NIU faculty with an easy and efficient way to store, share, and manage their course content. The Content Collection feature fully integrates with the Blackboard System and provides an easy way for faculty to manage files, grant file permissions, and link the same files to multiple courses and sections without the need for duplication. This session will walk participants through the process of managing course content using the Blackboard Content Collection. Advance registration is required.

Duration:
1.5 hours

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills and attendance at the Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard workshop or previous experience using Blackboard.

Advanced Blackboard Workshop Topics

Description:
The Item Analysis feature helps you easily refine your tests and quizzes to ensure they are accurately measuring student performance. An at-a-glance summary of student performance allows you to evaluate the quality and validity of each question with difficulty and discrimination values. Its easy to identify ineffective questions. If it is appropriate, it is also easy to update the questions and automatically re-grade student submissions. In this online session, you will see the Item Analysis feature in action and learn how it can help you improve your assessments. Advance registration required.

Duration:
1 hour

Prerequisites:
Basic computer skills; Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard or previous experience using Blackboard

Contact Us

Center for Innovative
Teaching and Learning

Phone: 815-753-0595
Email: citl@niu.edu

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