Making Collaboration Tools Work in

your Online Classroom

Troy University eTROY ColloquiumApril17-18, 2012

Troy University enabled Blackboard Collaborate during Term 2 of 2011

Blackboard Collaborate consists of several additional tools◦ Blackboard IM◦ Voice Board◦ Voice Direct◦ Voice Email◦ Voice Presentation◦ Voice Podcaster

Blackboard Collaborate

Departments Using Collaborate

32%

14%8%

14%

27%

5%

College of Arts/Science

College of Commu-nication

College of Education

College of Health/Human Services

Sorrell College of Business

Etroy Training

Course Usage Adult Education American Sign Language (ASL) International Relations World Affairs Public Administration Counseling and Psychology Finite Mathematics History

Incorporation

Student Presentations Instructor Lectures Signing /Foreign Language Office Hours Group Meetings Faculty Training Meetings between Departments

10 Ways to Engage Whiteboard Web Conferencing Recordings in Instant Message Instant Videos, Directly in Chat Customize Clipart Library Insight into Student Activity w/ Page Explorer Load Engaging Activities in Multiple Breakout Rooms Breakout Room Activities Made Simple w/Compound

Actions in your Plan Add Closed Captioning Give Your Test a Voice of its Own Voice Podcasts Delivered to Inbox or iTunes Library

Dual Interactive Platforms Troy University runs both Wimba and

Blackboard Collaborate Web-Conferencing platforms.

TROY has this option only until the end of 2014 Both platforms were enabled February 1, 2012

Due to technical issues Running both platforms allows instructors to

choose what interactive tool best fit their needs

Collaborate Issues Participants in Collaborate sessions are unable to call in to

attend unless eTROY purchases a separate telephone service that connects with Blackboard Collaborate. 

Instructors cannot save archived recordings in other formats without assistance in Collaborate.

The creation of Collaborate sessions or archives can only be altered by the individual who created it.

Archives disappear from Blackboard Collaborate’s “Previously Recorded” tab after a few days. 

Instructors cannot pre-load content into Collaborate eliminating the opportunity to “prep” before class sessions.

Unable to send external invites to multiple outside users

Resolved Issues

Instructors can pre-load content into Collaborate Classrooms using Publish.

Instructors can save archives as MP3 or MP4 using Publish.

External Invites to outside users.

Upgrade

Blackboard Collaborate announced an update to Collaborate. The release includes:

Performance Enhancements Introduction of Russian Translation Audio Translations for existing languages Audible Notifications

What New?Blackboard Service

Pack 8

Blackboard SP8

The Troy University Blackboard server will be upgraded to Service Pack 8 during the first week of August.

This will require at 2 days of downtime. The Blackboard Outcomes System will be a

part of this upgrade. Look for training material coming soon on SP8

Blackboard SP8 New features of SP8 include:

Merge Enrollments Multi-Section Management Activity Reports Automated Regrading Negative Marking Goal, Content Alignment, and Course

Performance Reports

Blackboard SP8http://troystaging.blackboard.com

Login credentials same as production for TROY faculty.

You will notice the green banner and bright yellow writing on the Test Server.

Test server will be available as a “sandbox” for you to work in SP8 until the upgrade in late July.

Look for training information on SP8 coming soon.

Questions???http://troystaging.blackboard.com