Blackboard 9.1Presented by:

Kim Shaver

Associate Director of Educational Technology

Assisted by:Alicia Harkless, Educational Technology Specialist, Troy University

Gayle Blodgett, Instructional Technologist, Illinois Central College

– Blackboard System will be down between Term 4 & Term 5, May 19th – 20th , for pre-maintenance in preparation for the upgrade to 9.1 in July.

– Blackboard training for 9.1 will begin in May and continue through the summer.

– Blackboard System will be down between Term 5 & Term 1, July 28th – 30th , for the upgrade to version 9.1.

Blackboard 9.1Schedule of Events

– The new 9.1 version of Blackboard features fewer clicks to navigate and to complete course setup options.

– It offers new and improved social learning tools such as blogs, wikis, and journals, easier navigation, and other Web 2.0 technologies that allow for greater interactivity and collaboration.

Blackboard 9.1What’s New?

“My Dashboard” tab is a new option that students can choose to display when they

login. The main “Blackboard Page” is still available for students to toggle back and forth.

Main Blackboard Page View New Dashboard View

Blackboard 9.1New Interface

Toggle between main page and new Dashboard

Blackboard 9.1Edit Mode

Toggle between main page and new Dashboard

Edit Mode

Drag & Drop

– The most important detail instructors need to know about Blackboard 9.1 is where to find the “Edit Mode” button.

– This is a toggle button that is located in the upper-right hand corner of each course area.

– With Edit Mode “ON” you can easily manage course content.

– With Edit Mode “OFF” you see your course in student view.

Blackboard 9.1Edit Mode

– Course content creation and editing tools are embedded throughout the course and no longer require the instructor to access the Control Panel. Instructors click on the Edit Mode switch to make changes from the course home page.

– All options in the Control Panel are also available from the main Course Menu.

– Instructors can use the drag and drop feature to

manage their course menu.

– Course menu items that do not contain any

content are automatically hidden from

student view but are visible to instructors

within the “Edit Mode.”

Blackboard 9.1Improved Course Management

Click on the drop down arrows to expand the menu and see the various options available under each area.

Blackboard 9.1Grade Center

• There is little change in the way the Grade Center operates.

• Changes have been made to allow instructors to grade items as they are viewed in the content areas without having to go back and forth between the assignments and the Grade Center.

• Student grades now remain

in the Grade Center even

after the student is disabled

from Blackboard.• Instructors can enter results,

scores, percentages, & other

forms of grading into the

Grade Center spreadsheet.• Grade Center loads faster.• Grade Center now supports

average and minimum &

maximum grade calculations.

Blackboard 9.1Assignment Feature

• There is no Digital Dropbox option in 9.1.

(instructors will still be able to access the DDB in older courses through a link)

• Improved Assignment Feature– Students can now self enroll in groups and submit projects

as a group, allowing the instructor to grade assignments as a group.

– Students can submit multiple attempts of the same assignment. Ex. the student can submit a draft and then a final document and the instructor can provide feedback for both and grades for both.

Blackboard 9.1Uploading Content

To upload a document, click on “Build Content” next select “Item

The “Create Assessment” menu allows you to link to or create graded items in Blackboard, such as tests and assignments

Control PanelThe Control Panel has been changed in terms of organization. Functions are grouped into eight categories (My Content, Course Tools, Evaluation, Grade Center, Users and Groups, Customization, Packages and Utilities, and the Help) along with a Help area.

Blackboard 9.1Interactive Tools

The “Interactive Tool” allows you to link to various collaborative/communication tools within Blackboard

•Blackboard 9.1 has built in private Blog and Journal tools that let students create and share ideas with their instructors or other students enrolled in a particular class.

•Group journals allow groups of students to reflect collaboratively and comment on their fellow group members’ findings. To maintain privacy, group members may add journal entries anonymously.

• Course blogs allow all users in a course to share their thoughts and work in one common area that everyone in the course can read and add comments. • New Blog feature replaces the Bb Homepage option.•Wiki’s are now available in the interactive tool area.

Blackboard 9.1Educational Technology Support

• Blackboard Support and Remote Proctor Support

have combined to form the Educational Technology Support group.

• All online users will now have access to Ed. Tech. support from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. (Central Time) 7 days a week.

• For assistance with Blackboard please email blackboardsupport@troy.edu.

• For assistance with Remote Proctor, please submit a ticket @ https://it.troy.edu/offices.html

Leaving you on a good note. . .•Blackboard has recently established a staging server for TROY that has been upgraded to version 9.1 and clones the production server through 10/T3.

• Instructors will have the opportunity over the next few months to work on this server to become familiar with 9.1.

•REMEMBER – this is not the production server so any work done on your previous courses within this environment cannot be transferred and will eventually be lost.

•The production server still contains your actual course sections, so you may use the staging server as a “sandbox” to alter and delete information.

•Keep in mind Bb version 9.1 has just been released so Blackboard Support has had little time to test. Please report any issues to kshaver@troy.edu.

•You may access the 9.1 staging server at http://troystaging.blackboard.com. You will use the same login information that you currently use for the production server.