New College Durham Proprietary and Confidential Information of New College Durham. Copyright © 2003 by New College Durham Blackboard - Beyond the installatio n G.Wraith 3/12/2003
Dec 14, 2015
New College Durham
Proprietary and Confidential Information of New College Durham.Copyright © 2003 by New College Durham
Blackboard- Beyond the installation
G.Wraith 3/12/2003
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New College Durham
Outcomes
• Straw pole?
• A simple case study
• Try not to make the same mistakes
• Adapt appropriately to your environment
• Feel free to ignore and do it your way
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New College Durham
Overview
• New College Durham overview• Blackboard overview – Integration set up• Implications of the Integrated set up
– Academic Staff– Support – Student– External users
• Uptake of Blackboard– Staff– Student
• Issues encountered, so far!• Conclusion
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New College Durham
History
• New College Durham - medium sized FE College
• Limited ICT Resources• No. of Staff• Levels of Expertise
• How we got here?• JISC Interoperability Pilots• Evaluation Process• Senior Management commitment to the process• Purchase and Implementation of Blackboard• Level 3 Integration with College Systems
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New College Durham
Snapshot Data Integration
BlackboardSnapshot
Tool(Insert, Update,
Delete)
Snapshot Controller*
NCD Systems
F/T Staff
P/T Staff
Timetable
Snapshot Generator
Blackboard Database
Server
* Snapshot Controller is “custom” software.
SnapshotData Files
MIS
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New College Durham
New College Durham Hardware and Software Configuration
File System
Course Management System
Blackboard 5Web Server
IIS 5Java Application Server
BEA WeblogicWebmail Server
MailspinnerVirtual Classroom
TutornetSnapshot Tool
RDBMSMS SQL Server 2000
RDBMSStores user, course, enrollment, staff assignment, discussion board, announcements, etc.
Web Browser
Microsoft IE 5+Netscape 4+
File SystemStores all uploaded documents (e.g., PowerPoint slides, Word, .wav files).
Application and Database Server
End-User’s Computer
Operating Systems• Windows 2000 Advanced Server
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New College Durham
Implications for Academic Staff
• Integration: to be or not to be?– Administration overheads for academic staff– Strategic policy decision at SMG– Aiming for an MLE
• Understanding the process!– No original data goes into Blackboard– The need to supply the existing systems with accurate
and up-to-date– Timely input of new data
• Course structure– Groups– Changes required by academic staff
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New College Durham
Implications for Students
• What they need to do to get logged into Blackboard
• A process to highlight any problems• Removing any barriers • A need for induction in the use of• A clear reason to use• Content, content, content
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New College Durham
Lifecycle of a VLE
• Strategic decision• Evaluation/selection/installation• Implementation
– Using the software– Document dump– Searching for appropriate materials– Content, content, content– Exploring the full functionality
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New College Durham
Implications for External Users
• All Blackboard users must be enrolled on a course within the MIS
• All Blackboard users must have a network ID and set a password on the network.
• Issues arising from these requirements– Feeder school projects– Blackboard Licensing
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New College Durham
Support
• User Support - staff• Application support - Blackboard• System support – integration• Blackboard support - ??
– System development at what cost?
• Surmounting the problem of a lack of support and resources– Regular group sessions– Cascading– Incentives
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New College Durham
Uptake of Blackboard
• Courses – 10922• Users – 20873• Staff – 644• Hits per Day – 1921• Average hits per month – 70,000• Average concurrent users per day –
150/200??
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New College Durham
Uptake of Blackboard by Staff
• Target uptake at implementation– Full-time staff– Part-time staff
• Issues influencing uptake– Pars– Existing workloads– Existing working practices– Barriers – Any excuse
• Strategy to overcome barriers
– Drivers - Inspection!!!
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New College Durham
Uptake of Blackboard by Students
• Accessibility• Type of course
– Distance learning– Part-time– IT
• Academic Staff– Those who embrace change– And those who do not.
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New College Durham
Issues in the 1st Academic Year
• Hardware• Software• Backup/Restore• Lost documents• Staff rights to the courses• Data accuracy• Data adjustments
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New College Durham
Lessons Learned
• Success– A fully integrated Learning delivery platform available
anywhere, anytime.– Persisting with Staff Development sessions– Not upgrading to V6 last summer
• Mistakes– No dedicated Blackboard support in College– Missed student induction in Year 1– Under estimated the “mission criticalness” of the
system