Author: eschudel

Top 10 Things for Faculty to Know about Blackboard Collaborate Ultra

What is Blackboard Collaborate Ultra?

Blackboard Collaborate Ultra (BBCU) is a synchronous classroom tool, which means that faculty now have an online tool with audio, video, chat, and whiteboard/desktop sharing capabilities to support their teaching in real-time. BBCU integrates with D2L, which means you can link students to your BBCU room and sessions from inside your D2L course. You can, however, also use BBCU without D2L by creating sessions and emailing session links to participants. To use BBCU outside of D2L, you will need to arrange to have an account created by contacting Bob Preston at prestonb@camosun.ca.

Talk to eLearning before Starting!

Because Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is a complex tool, we recommend you either attend a BBCU workshop or make an appointment with an instructional designer in eLearning prior to setting up and using BBCU in or outside of your D2L course site. Tutorials will be available in the On-Demand Training site, but they have been designed as reminders rather than as first-step learning tools. You will find contact phone numbers and emails on page 2!

Top 10 questions about Blackboard Collaborate Ultra

Where do I find BBCU in D2L?

BBCU is an External Learning Tool in D2L, meaning that you can add a link to it in the Content tool (using Add Existing Activity) or in any tool which has access to the HTML editor (using the Quicklink option).

Can my students use BBCU in D2L?

If you create a BBCU room with active sessions, your students can enter those sessions while they are open. You do not need to be in the session with your students, but you will need to consider if your students need Moderator, Presenter, or Participant access to the sessions by selecting the appropriate Guest Access for them. We have developed tutorials to support you with this.

Can I use BBCU without having to use D2L?

Yes. You need to contact Bob Preston (see above) to arrange for an account.

What do my students and I need to use BBCU?

You will need a computer with an internet connection and a browser, or a mobile device with an internet connection and either a browser or the Blackboard Collaborate app. In addition, you will need speakers and a microphone (preferably a headset if you are using your own personal device), as well as a camera/webcam, although a camera is not mandatory. BBCU has an audio/video setup wizard you can run when you enter a session, and you should advise your students to come into the session early to check their audio (and video if they are using it) to ensure they are ready when the session begins.

The more participants in the session, the more we recommend considering either disabling the ability for participants to use their cameras, or advising them to turn them off when they enter the session.

What if someone doesn’t have a camera or a microphone?

Participants can also utilize the text chat in the BBCU session, which means you or a co-facilitator should be moderating the chat to ensure you don’t miss any questions.

How many people can be in a BBCU session at once?

In theory, up to 500, but we would advise considering how much engagement you will be requiring of the students, and if you have a co-facilitator on hand to support you with a large group of virtual students, and less if you want a lot of engagement (although you can use breakout rooms to accommodate small group work). If you do not need your students to be visible, we recommend you consider either asking them to disable their cameras (and to mute their microphones when not speaking) or disabling their cameras (and microphones if necessary) when setting up the session.

If your students access a session set up in D2L, you will be able to see their names within the session. If you are creating a session outside of D2L, students will have to add their names as they enter, so you may want to remind them to do this so you know who all is there!

Can I have multiple sessions in BBCU?

Yes. You have one BBCU Room in a D2L course, but you can create multiple Sessions within that room.

Can students show presentations in BBCU?

Yes. You can change the role of a Participant to a Presenter (or even to a Moderator) at any point during a session. As a Presenter, a student can share files in the main BBCU area.

Can I create a recording of my BBCU sessions?

Yes. You can create a video recording of your BBCU sessions which you can watch from a link, or download (if you have enabled recording download when creating the session) and edit, and then upload to Kaltura for embedding in your D2L course site.

Where can my students and I get help with BBCU?

You and your students can get help with BBCU from eLearning. Contact desupport@camosun.ca to arrange for a consult with an instructional designer to get you started, or for technical support when you are in a BBCU session

Resetting Quiz Attempts – D2L Tutorial

Has one of your students accidentally started and/or submitted a quiz?  Are they unable to check their email because an unsubmitted quiz has blocked the email tool for them?  You can help by deleting their quiz attempt so they can start over, and this post will show you how.

For further information, please contact desupport@camosun.ca for assistance.

Steps

  1. Go to the Quizzes tool in your course.
  2. Click the arrow next to the title of the quiz you wish to grade, and select Grade.Select Grade
  3. Click the select box for the attempt you want to delete, and click the trashcan.Select the quiz and click the trashcan
  4. Click Yes in the Confirmation pop-up box.Click Yes
  5. Click Save and Close (this is VERY important when you need to update a published grade in the gradebook if the student has made MULTIPLE attempts).Click Save and Close

Things to Remember

If you delete an attempt (and have clicked on the Save and Close button in the Grade Quiz area) AFTER the quiz grade has been published to the gradebook, the grade in the gradebook should automatically update.

NOTE that the student’s grade will NOT be updated in the gradebook if you deleted the only attempt a student had made. In this case, you will need to go to the Grades tool and reset the student’s grade manually. When the student re-submits the quiz, that grade will automatically populate the gradebook.

Follow-ups from Some of My First D2L Workshops of the Spring

So, we are now in our second week of spring workshops. Workshops are one of my favourite things, giving faculty a place to come and talk about their practice, to find out what others are doing, and to trouble-shoot issues they may be having. I also learn a lot from them, and this term I am trying to take the time to follow up with all participants in the workshops I run with resources, answers to questions, and confirmation of anything I have committed to doing or finding out about for them.

Following-up sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s something I have not done very well over the years. So a new mantra for me is to follow-up now, and again in the fall with faculty who have taken the time to come to my workshops.

This also means I can share some of my following-up with you, so in the post, I will give you a bit of a glimpse into what came up in the workshops I have run so far, and what I have already followed-up on.

Last Monday was What’s New in D2L. In this session, I covered some of the upgrade highlights from the past year, including:

  • The new Dropbox Feedback notification options for students (thanks D2L – this was a huge request by faculty last year!)
  • Quizzes
    • New question creation interfaces for True/False, Multiple Choice, Short Answer, and Written Response question types
    • How to put Initial Text into Written Response questions within the new interface
    • Question Pools which have replaced Random Sections in a quiz
    • The new Dynamic Preview for Question Pools (when you set up a Question Pool in a quiz, you can now see what it will look like to students)
    • How to do static text and image information (for example, when you want a case study text to appear above a set of questions) now using Sections
    • Question Auto Save when students complete a quiz
  • Rubrics
    • The new Rubric Creation interface
    • How they now work in Dropbox, Discussions, and Grades – students can now see them before grading AND after
    • If you put Rubrics in Dropbox and Discussions, they will appear in the Grades tool (if Dropbox/Discussion is linked to the Grades)
  • Assignments
    • Assignment table language changes
    • Assignment submission types (that allow for submissions other than uploads!)
  • Discussions
    • Group threads now available
  • I also did some quick introductions to ReadSpeaker, ePortfolio, Kaltura, and Blackboard Collaborate Ultra which are all now available in D2L.

Lots has changed in D2L, and everyone seemed quite excited by the improvements!

Then Tuesday was Introducing D2L to your Students. Last year, the workshop discussion was around the actual introduction piece, but this year the discussion turned more towards keeping students engaged throughout the term, as well as finding ways to engage them in ethical considerations when working in an online environment. As for my commitments, I confirmed that I will:

  • Continue to build out and organize the D2L Student Guide, especially around the Camosun-related resources, and taking the group’s feedback and suggestions forward as I do so
  • Work on creating some scavenger hunt materials/suggestions, and work on an information site for tips to protect your privacy, etc. while using online tools for students (to support faculty in having those initial conversations with them).
  • Continue to bring up to leadership challenged with access to D2L for waitlisted students, and for students waiting for funding for registration into courses, so that these issues can be escalated as an issue of inclusivity.

Finally, yesterday was D2L Quizzes – How, Why, and the Daylight Experience, covering everything from creating questions in the Question Library, through creating Quizzes, previewing them, and grading them. There are some new features in the Quizzes tool, mainly around the creation interface for some of the question types, importing questions into the quiz from the Question Library, and using Question Pools versus shuffling questions.

My commitment was to find out from D2L when the rest of the questions creation interfaces will change, and to let the group know if (when) I hear something.  And also, I committed to exploring the exemption option in the Quizzes tool and let them know how that works.  Finally, I shared with them a Multiple Choice D2L question converter I showed them during the workshop, which can be found at:  https://ivanhernandez.com/software/d2lconvert.html.

So, off to a good start for workshops and follow-ups. Looking forward to the next!

Updates for eLearning Spring Workshops!!

I have some updates for you about our spring workshops – some new workshops, and a few cancellations.  If you were registered in a workshop that has now been cancelled, you will have been sent a notification.  Check out the workshop descriptions below, and register at https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/B7KYD8P

If you have any questions, or don’t see what you are looking for, email Emily Schudel at schudele@camosun.ca.

Lansdowne Workshops

D2L Quizzes – How, Why, and the Daylight Experience: Monday, May 13, 2:00-4:00pm, Room Ewing 110

  • This hands-on workshop will cover creating, managing, and grading quizzes and the question library in the new version of D2L, Daylight Experience. Basic familiarity with D2L is recommended for participants interested in this workshop.

Facilitating Discussions and Collaborative Work in D2L: Tuesday, May 14, 10:00-11:30am, Room Ewing 110

  • In this workshop we will examine a variety of online communication tools within D2L, and discuss various facilitation techniques that you can use to engage learners and promote collaboration online.

D2L Design Considerations for Mobile Devices: Tuesday, May 21, 2:00-3:30pm, Room Ewing 110

  • More and more students are using mobile devices (phones and tablets) to work in their D2L course sites. But how does it actually look to students? Bring your tablet and phones to this workshop, and try out some design techniques to make sure your students can get the most out of your D2L site on their own devices.

Fun with Rubrics: Friday, May 24, 9:00am-12:00pm, Room Ewing 110

  • This hands-on workshop will discuss best practices around designing a variety of rubrics and integrating them into your assessment, participation, and feedback strategies.  Note that we will set up a simple rubric during the session to practice using the tool, but participants are encouraged to bring their own rubrics for discussion with the group. Basic familiarity with D2L is recommended for participants interested in this workshop.

Creating Community in the Online Classroom: Online May 20-27 + Face-t0-Face Monday, May 27, 2:00-3:30pm, LLC151

  • What does it mean to create an online community for your students? What considerations do you need to keep in mind when developing online activities to support that online community? This blended workshop will give you the opportunity to engage in online community building, and to work with your peers face-to-face to develop strategies for integrating online community-building activities into your course. NOTE: the online component will run first, taking 1-2 hours to complete over a week, and will be followed by a 1½ hour face to face session.

Social Media use in Education: Wednesday, May 29, 10:00am-12:00pm, LLC151

  • Interested in integrating social media into your classroom?  This workshop will examine various social media tools used in the teaching and learning and discuss best practices.  In addition, participants will have the opportunity to share strategies on how social media can be incorporated into their own courses.

Getting Started with Readspeaker/TextAid in D2L: Thursday, May 30, 2:00-4:00pm, Room Ewing 100

  • ReadSpeaker offers text-to-speech solutions for websites, online course materials, e-books and digital documents. In this session, we will introduce you to the collection of ReadSpeaker tools we now have available within D2L courses and show you how you and your students can use and access these tools.

Getting Started with ePortfolio in D2L: Friday, May 31, 10:00am-12:00pm, Room Ewing 110

  • Looking for options for your students to collect and share documents, assessments, presentations, etc. with other students and faculty across their Program? Come find out how ePortfolio in D2L might support you!

Kaltura 1: Getting Started with Kaltura: Streaming Media at Camosun!  Monday, June 3, 2:00-4:00pm, Room Ewing 110

  • Kaltura is Camosun’s a streaming media tool (we sometimes call it Camosun’s YouTube). This means faculty and students now have a place to create, edit, and house their course-related videos. Kaltura also integrates with D2L. Come to this hand-on session to find out more about what Kaltura is, what it can do, and learn how you can use it for your courses.

Kaltura 2: Kaltura Media Capture: Creating Multimedia Magic!  Tuesday, June 4, 10:00am-12:00pm, Room Ewing 100

  • Are you interested in creating engaging media pieces for your courses?  Not sure where to begin?  Join Bob Preston for this hands-on workshop Kaltura Capture Space.

BlackBoard Collaborate Ultra: Information session: Wednesday, June 5, 10:00-11:00am, LLC151

  • Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is a synchronous classroom tool that is coming to Camosun. This means that faculty now have an online tool with audio, video, chat, and whiteboard/desktop sharing capabilities to support their teaching in real-time. Come find out more about Blackboard Collaborate and how it can be used, as well as when it will be available, at this information session.

Kaltura 3: Best practices around integrating media into D2L: Wednesday, June 5, 2:00-4:00pm, Room Ewing 100

  • This hands-on workshop covers the technical consideration of integrating multimedia into a D2L course, answering the questions: What do you need to keep in mind when integrating a multimedia piece into a D2L course? What are the benefits of linking versus embedding? Where can I store my video files?  Why can’t I just import media files into D2L?  How do I effectively insert audio files? When is copyright a consideration? Time will be set aside for you to integrate and test your multimedia components in D2L. Basic familiarity with D2L is recommended for participants interested in this workshop.

Interurban D2L Workshops

Designing for Engagement: Moving beyond Text and Images: Thursday, May 16, 10:00-11:30am, LACC135

  • Come learn how to transform your content to accommodate a variety of learning styles and abilities. We’ll begin with an overview of the content tool and its functionality to get you started with building content. We’ll then explore how you can transform various types of content including (but not limited to): PDFs, PPT and Word documents to a web-accessible format that improves the teaching and learning experience.

Getting Started with Kaltura, Thursday, May 16, 1:30-3:30pm, LACC235

  • Kaltura is Camosun’s a streaming media tool (we sometimes call it Camosun’s YouTube). This means faculty and students now have a place to create, edit, and house their course-related videos. Kaltura also integrates with D2L. Come to this hands-on session to find out more about what Kaltura is, what it can do, and learn how you can use it for your courses.

Introduction to Blackboard Collaborate Ultra: Information Session: Friday, May 17, 10:30-11:30am, LACC235

  • Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is a synchronous classroom tool that is coming to Camosun. This means that faculty now have an online tool with audio, video, chat, and whiteboard/desktop sharing capabilities to support their teaching in real-time. Come find out more about Blackboard Collaborate and how it can be used, as well as when it will be available.

Setting up Your Gradebook: Thursday, May 23, 1:00-2:30pm, LACC235

  • This hands-on workshop will focus on setting up your D2L Gradebook from start to finish. Please bring your course outline (or a breakdown of your assessment items) to the workshop if you wish to build your own Gradebook.

Quizzes & Leveraging Course Analytics in D2L: Friday, May 24, 10:00-11:30am., LACC235

  • This workshop will begin with an overview of how to create, customize and grade quizzes. Participants will also learn how to take advantage of the D2L’s robust analytics to enhance the learner experience and identify redesign opportunities.

 Exploring Different Ways to Use Rubrics: Thursday, May 30, 10:00-11:30am, LACC235

  • Come learn how you can streamline your assessment strategy, communicate expectations and feedback for your learners while also building in quality assurance measures and cutting down on manual marking. Various examples, lessons learned and planning tips will be shared. Participants will have the opportunity to build or refine a rubric.

Taking a Closer Look at Communication & Collaboration in D2L: Thursday, June 6, 10:00-11:30am, LACC235

  • Take a closer look at how instructors can use communication tools to connect with students and support collaborative learning experiences. 

Kaltura 2: Creating Media Magic using Kaltura Capture, Thursday, June 6, 1:30-3:30pm, LACC235

  • Are you interested in creating engaging media pieces for your courses in D2L? Not sure where to begin? Join Bob Preston for this hands-on workshop on Kaltura Capture. Learn the basics of creating and chaptering basic screencasts, PowerPoint presentations with voiceover, as well as creating video quizzes that you can link to the gradebook.

Editing Closed Captions in Kaltura, Tuesday, June 11, 9:30-11:30am, LACC235

  • In order to ensure your videos are accessible to a wide range of students, it is important to have accurate closed captioning. If you are planning to create and stream videos through Kaltura, the built in captioning software is only 70% accurate. This hands-on workshop will walk you through how to edit the captioning to ensure 100% accuracy. This workshop will also explore some best practices in video creation to support effective learning for students.

Conditional Release + Intelligent Agents: Thursday, June 13, 10:00-11:30am, LACC235

  • This workshop will provide participants with an overview of how conditional release and intelligent agents can support the development of personalized learning paths for students within your course.

Creative Applications in eLearning: Friday, June 14, 10:00-11:30am, LACC235

  • This workshop will showcase some creative ways to deliver content, engage learners and put a twist on some of the common teaching tools in D2L.

D2L Dropbox now called Assignments!

Looking for the Dropbox in D2L and not sure where it went? Well, with the latest upgrade, it has been renamed Assignments. We have posted a News item on the main D2L page for all faculty so you can let your students know. The tool works the same, it’s just the name that has changed.

If you want to keep the name Dropbox, you can change the name of the tool as it appears on your Navbar or My Tools drop-down menu NOT in the tool itself (which will still be named Assignments) through the following steps:

  1. Click Edit Course.

    Click Edit Course

  2. Click Tools (under Administration in the Category view).

    Click Tools

  3. Type a new name in the box next to Assignments and hit Enter. The name will change automatically wherever it appears on your Navbar once you go back to your course homepage.

    Change the name and hit Enter.

If you have any questions, let us know at desupport@camosun.ca.

D2L Dropbox now called Assignments!

Looking for the Dropbox in D2L and not sure where it went? Well, with the latest upgrade, it has been renamed Assignments. We have posted a News item on the main D2L page for all faculty so you can let your students know. The tool works the same, it’s just the name that has changed.

If you want to keep the name Dropbox, you can change the name of the tool as it appears on your Navbar or My Tools drop-down menu NOT in the tool itself (which will still be named Assignments) through the following steps:

  1. Click Edit Course.

    Click Edit Course

  2. Click Tools (under Administration in the Category view).

    Click Tools

  3. Type a new name in the box next to Assignments and hit Enter. The name will change automatically wherever it appears on your Navbar once you go back to your course homepage.

    Change the name and hit Enter.

If you have any questions, let us know at desupport@camosun.ca.

Two Additional Kaltura Workshops Added to our Workshop Schedule!

By popular demand, we are adding two additional Kaltura workshops to our schedule.  These workshops will take place at Interurban.  Please register at https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/B7KYD8P

Title: Kaltura 1: Getting Started with Kaltura
Time: 1:30-3:30
Date: May 16, 2019
Location: LACC 235

Description:  Kaltura is Camosun’s a streaming media tool (we sometimes call it Camosun’s YouTube). This means faculty and students now have a place to create, edit, and house their course-related videos. Kaltura also integrates with D2L. Come to this hands-on session to find out more about what Kaltura is, what it can do, and learn how you can use it for your courses.

Title: Kaltura 2: Creating Media Magic Using Kaltura Capture
Time: 1:30-3:30
Date: June 6, 2019
Location: LACC 235

Description:  Are you interested in creating engaging media pieces for your courses in D2L? Not sure where to begin? Join Bob Preston for this hands-on workshop on Kaltura Capture. Learn the basics of creating and chaptering basic screencasts, PowerPoint presentations with voiceover, as well as creating video quizzes that you can link to the gradebook.

If you have a laptop, please bring it to the session.

Questions?  Email Emily Schudel at schudele@camosun.ca

Two Additional Kaltura Workshops Added to our Workshop Schedule!

By popular demand, we are adding two additional Kaltura workshops to our schedule.  These workshops will take place at Interurban.  Please register at https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/B7KYD8P

Title: Kaltura 1: Getting Started with Kaltura
Time: 1:30-3:30
Date: May 16, 2019
Location: LACC 235

Description:  Kaltura is Camosun’s a streaming media tool (we sometimes call it Camosun’s YouTube). This means faculty and students now have a place to create, edit, and house their course-related videos. Kaltura also integrates with D2L. Come to this hands-on session to find out more about what Kaltura is, what it can do, and learn how you can use it for your courses.

Title: Kaltura 2: Creating Media Magic Using Kaltura Capture
Time: 1:30-3:30
Date: June 6, 2019
Location: LACC 235

Description:  Are you interested in creating engaging media pieces for your courses in D2L? Not sure where to begin? Join Bob Preston for this hands-on workshop on Kaltura Capture. Learn the basics of creating and chaptering basic screencasts, PowerPoint presentations with voiceover, as well as creating video quizzes that you can link to the gradebook.

If you have a laptop, please bring it to the session.

Questions?  Email Emily Schudel at schudele@camosun.ca

A New Final Grade Scheme in D2L

There is a “new” Grade Scheme available for you to apply to your Final Grades in D2L.

Well, “new” in that it was there before, but no one knew what it was. It’s now called Camosun Standard Grading Scheme, and you will have to apply it to your Final Calculated Grade in order to activate it. Camosun Standard Grading Scheme rounds up your final calculated grade percentages and applies a letter grade to them according to Camosun’s grading matrix.

Here’s how to apply this scheme to your Final Calculated Grade.

  1. Go to the Grades tool in your D2L course.
  2. From Enter Grades, or from Manage Grades, click on the down-arrow next to Final Calculated Grade (we will do this in the Enter Grades area), and select Edit.

    Click the down-arrow and select Edit.

  3. In the Grade Scheme drop-down menu, select Camosun Standard Grading Scheme, then click Save and Close.

    Under Grade Scheme, select Camosun Standard Grading Scheme, click Save and Close.

Things to Remember

If you have a Grade Scheme already applied to your Final Calculated Grade which says ERROR, you will need to change it to the Camosun Standard Grading Scheme.

If you are not happy with the rounding as applied by this scheme, you can change individual students’ grades in the Final Adjusted Grades column. See the tutorial Releasing Final (Adjusted) Grades in the On-Demand Training course for more information.

If you have any questions, contact desupport@camosun.ca.

 

eLearning Workshops Week of May 13th

And now, here is a list of the workshops we are offering next week.  You can register for these, and all our workshops, at https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/B7KYD8P  If you have any questions, email me, Emily, at schudele@camosun.ca.

Lansdowne Workshops

D2L Quizzes – How, Why, and the Daylight Experience: Monday, May 13, 2:00-4:00pm, Room Ewing 110

  • This hands-on workshop will cover creating, managing, and grading quizzes and the question library in the new version of D2L, Daylight Experience. Basic familiarity with D2L is recommended for participants interested in this workshop.

Facilitating Discussions and Collaborative Work in D2L: Tuesday, May 14, 10:00-11:30am, Room Ewing 110

  • In this workshop we will examine a variety of online communication tools within D2L, and discuss various facilitation techniques that you can use to engage learners and promote collaboration online.

Fun with Rubrics: Friday, May 17, 9:00am-12:00pm, Room Ewing 110

  • This hands-on workshop will discuss best practices around designing a variety of rubrics and integrating them into your assessment, participation, and feedback strategies.  Note that we will set up a simple rubric during the session to practice using the tool, but participants are encouraged to bring their own rubrics for discussion with the group. Basic familiarity with D2L is recommended for participants interested in this workshop.

Interurban Workshops

Open Education Resources: What, Why and How: Wednesday, May 15. 1:00-2:30pm, CBA210

  • At the heart of the Open Education movement lies the idea that publicly-funded knowledge and knowledge products (textbooks, curricula, lecture notes, tests, assignments, video, images) should be made freely available to the public (including students). As educators dedicated to the creation and transfer of knowledge this idea is appealing. But how does it work? What constitutes Open Education Resources (OER)? How are they licensed? Where can you find them? What are the best ways to use them? In this workshop we will explore how to use Open Education Resources to remove barriers to education.

Designing for Engagement: Moving beyond Text and Images: Thursday, May 16, 10:00-11:30am, LACC135

  • Come learn how to transform your content to accommodate a variety of learning styles and abilities. We’ll begin with an overview of the content tool and its functionality to get you started with building content. We’ll then explore how you can transform various types of content including (but not limited to): PDFs, PPT and Word documents to a web-accessible format that improves the teaching and learning experience.

Introduction to Blackboard Collaborate Ultra: Information Session: Friday, May 17, 10:30-11:30am, LACC235

  • Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is a synchronous classroom tool that is coming to Camosun. This means that faculty now have an online tool with audio, video, chat, and whiteboard/desktop sharing capabilities to support their teaching in real-time. Come find out more about Blackboard Collaborate and how it can be used, as well as when it will be available.