Notes to Faculty

June 12, 2007

As we wrap up this academic year, I wanted to touch bases with you on a few items of interest regarding Blackboard. As you know, we implemented a new system this year, with new processes for course creation, enrollments, and so forth. Thanks to the hard work of our IT department, this has generally worked very smoothly. We have also had some updates to the system during the term, and will likely have more over the summer.

Here are brief but important notes regarding Blackboard:

• The old server for the previous version of Blackboard has remained available to allow instructors to copy materials from previous courses. This server is barely hanging on and will be retired and shut down on July 16. If you still need any of these materials, please visit http://blue.eou.edu and export the courses or materials you need by early July.
  
  
• Last weekend we had to perform some emergency maintenance on the database for Blackboard. This included removing history of when people logged in, etc. So information in the course statistics or performance dashboard will not be accurate. If you need this information, let me know, and I may be able to get at it through our backup.
  
  
• With an update a couple of months ago, we were able to fix the problem of essay responses in tests disappearing when you click on Save. Coincidentally, that update also enabled Macintosh owners to use the Visual Text Box Editor (formatting buttons for text boxes) using the Safari browser. Note, however, that not every feature for this text box editor is available in Safari.
  
  
• Have you ever had the problem in your grade book that items are out of order, or that the first few items are numbered "1", and you can't seem to fix it? This is an issue with our database for some courses. If you have this problem, send an e-mail to bbadmin@eou.edu - including information about which course has the problem - and we'll ask our database administrator to fix it.
  
  
• I participate in a national focus group for Blackboard, and sometimes get early information on projects they're working on. I can't share all the specifics (including timing), but I can tell you that they are hard at work on much-requested usability improvements to the Discussion Board and the Gradebook.
  
  
• Use of Respondus to create tests for Blackboard and Respondus LockDown Browser to administer the tests securely is catching on. If you haven't tried them yet, you should! Take a look at http://www.eou.edu/bbhelp/respondus.html for more information.
  
  
• As part of automating the creation of courses, we set up the system to automatically create "combined" shells for cross-listed courses. This has had its pros and cons. We are currently re-evaluating this process, and may discontinue it in favor of an easy method of requesting the combination of any courses (such as multiple sections of the same course, cross-listed courses, etc.) Watch for news on this prior to fall term.
  
  
• As part of our effort to encourage students -- both on-campus and off -- to use the learning resources available to them, there is now a link to the EOU Pierce Library in the menu for all courses (beginning summer term). You are, of course, able to remove this item through the Manage Course Menu option.
  
  
• Supporting faculty and students over the last year, we have found a couple of strategies that very often clear up a number of technical problems using Blackboard. Most often, we recommend updating your Internet browser software and Java software to the latest version for your computer. For Java, go to http://www.java.com and click on the "Free Java Download" button. For browser software, we recommend Firefox (available at http://www.getfirefox.com), from the makers of Netscape and Mozilla. For assistance with installing or updating software on a campus computer, contact the IT Help Desk. The one drawback to using Firefox (and this may be fixed in some versions) is that it has a security "feature" which prevents you from using the copy and paste commands in text boxes. There are solutions to this. When copying and pasting from Word to Blackboard, for example, I use the keyboard shortcuts instead of the toolbar buttons (ctrl-x, c, and v for cut, copy, and paste). The keyboard shortcuts bypass the security issue of the buttons. Alternatively, you can fix Firefox to allow the buttons. It is possible to create and edit the necessary configuration file, but I found a much easier way. Download this "add-on" from Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/852 Then in Firefox, go to the Blackboard site, then choose "Tools... AllowClipboard helper" in Firefox's menu bar. This will suggest adding Blackboard.eou.edu to the list of allowed sites. Click on Allow, then restart Firefox. Then the full copy and paste function will be available, without opening up security issues for other sites.
  
  
• Saving the biggest news for last: you or your students may have noticed that we are not staffed to provide technical support in the evenings or weekends. This can be an obstacle to student and faculty success. So we are investing in third-party support through a national company with deep knowledge of Blackboard and Respondus. This will be available 24/7 through an 800 number, online chat, and a knowledge base on the web. We expect to have it available by the start of summer term, and will announce it in Blackboard and other ways. We're very excited about this development and anticipate it being a very helpful resource to everyone using Blackboard.

Thank you for your support and for helping to make Blackboard a valuable tool in teaching and learning for campus and distance courses.

Curt Whittaker, M.A.
Dir. of Instructional Support/Instructional Design
Division of Distance Education
Eastern Oregon University