CETL Blog

Blackboard Collaborate Ultra: Video/Audio Class Conferencing Online

If you have been paying attention to the workshop announcements for May/June, you may have noticed the following:

BlackBoard Collaborate Ultra: Information sessions

  • Lansdowne: Wednesday, June 5, 10:00-11:00am, LLC151
  • Interurban: 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, polling, and whiteboard/desktop sharing capabilities to support their teaching in real-time. Kaltura can be used as a stand-alone teaching tool, or can be integrated into a D2L course, and it works on computers and mobile devices (yes, even phones!)

Blackboard Collaborate Ultra rooms include a collaborative whiteboard tool that allows you to interact with students in real time, breakout rooms for smaller group discussions, and the ability to display desktop applications and web resources such as multimedia. In addition, an interactive recording can be created for each session allowing students the opportunity to review material at a later date.

Some specific activities which work well in Blackboard Collaborate Ultra are:

  • Facilitating live, online discussions around specific topics using video and audio, which can then be recorded so students can go back and review at any time
  • Showing students how to use different kinds of technologies through desktop sharing, and presenting polls at intervals to check comprehension
  • Breaking your class into smaller groups for discussions, then bringing them back to the main room for a debrief
  • Giving students space to do online class presentations using PowerPoint or a virtual whiteboard
  • Providing online office hours, or online space for student group work

More information about how you will be able to access Blackboard Collaborate Ultra will be coming in late April, and hands-on sessions will be offered in the spring. Go to https://decamosun.wordpress.com/2019/01/28/elearning-spring-workshops-open-for-registration/ to find out more.

If you have any questions about how and when you can have access to Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, or if you would like a demo or to talk to someone about how you might use Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, contact desupport@camosun.ca to arrange for a meeting with Bob Preston, or one of our instructional designers.

What’s this Kaltura I keep hearing about?

Kaltura is a streaming media tool that is coming to Camosun. This means faculty and students will now have a place to upload, create, and edit their course-related videos. Kaltura also integrates with D2L, meaning that you can upload, create and edit videos through D2L, and those files can then be viewed on a course page or in your course’s media gallery. It is this integration which we are launching first this spring.

Kaltura can be used to:

  • Upload images, video, and audio files to your course that you can then embed in the HTML editor (wherever it appears in D2L), or as a Topic link in the Content tool.
  • Do some basic editing of your video files right in D2L (note that we do recommend that more complex editing be done in video editing software, as the tools in Kaltura are limited in scope)
  • Create webcam and screen capture recordings (for example, create a voiceover PowerPoint presentation with picture in picture, or capture how to use a piece of software with audio)
  • Create interactive video quizzes (which can then be connected to your gradebook)
  • Collect video and audio assignments from your students
  • Add YouTube videos into your Kaltura media list – this means when you embed these videos, they will play without advertising or providing “helpful” suggestions for additional videos to watch.

In addition, you will be able to

  • Share videos with other instructors
  • Create playlists of videos for your course
  • Use closed-captioning to ensure your videos are accessible
  • Add tags so that your videos can be searched for
  • View analytics on who has watched a video, how long they spent on it, etc.
  • Add Creative Commons licencing to your videos

More information about how you will be able to access Kaltura through D2L will be coming in late April. And a series of hands-on sessions will be offered the first week of June. Go to https://decamosun.wordpress.com/2019/01/28/elearning-spring-workshops-open-for-registration/ to find out more.

If you have any questions about how and when you can have access to Kaltura, or would like a demo or to talk to someone about how you might use Kaltura, contact desupport@camosun.ca to arrange for a meeting with Bob Preston, or one of our instructional designers.

Characters to avoid in Document Filenames – a Student D2L Tutorial

So, today I thought I would post a short tutorial that is targeted more for students who are saving documents for uploading into D2L’s Assignment Dropbox.  However, the information in this post is good to keep in mind whenever you are saving files, whoever you are.

Scenario

This tutorial will cover what characters to avoid in filenames when saving your Word documents (or other assignment documents) for uploading into D2L. (NOTE: a file name is what you are asked to give your document when you save it, for example “BenAssigment1.doc”).

Because your files will be viewed by instructors who use many different operating systems (Mac, PC, etc.) and devices (desktops, tablets, smartphones, etc.), it is important to use characters in your document filenames that may will be compatible as across the board as possible.

So, DO NOT use the following characters and symbols in your filenames!

  • # (pound sign)
  • % (percent sign)
  • & (ampersand)
  • * (asterisk)
  • $ (dollar sign)
  • @ (“at” sign)
  • ? (question mark)
  • ! (exclamation point)
  • ‘ or “ (single or double quotes)
  • : or ; (colon or semicolon)
  • { or } (left or right bracket)
  • < or > (left or right angle bracket)
  • / or \ (back or forward slash)
  • Blank spaces

Also, keep these rules in mind:

  • Don’t start or end your filename with a space, period, hyphen, or underline.
  • Keep your filenames to a reasonable length, and make sure they are under 31 characters.
  • Always use lowercase (as most operating systems are case sensitive).
  • Avoid using spaces and underscores – use a hyphen instead.

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

Sending Quiz Marks to Gradebook after Quiz has Started/been Completed

This tutorial is for faculty who have previous experience using the Quizzes tool in D2L. For further information, please contact desupport@camosun.ca for assistance.

Scenarios

This tutorial will cover the steps involved when you wish to send quiz marks to the gradebook AFTER a quiz has closed, and also when you have forgotten to link a quiz to a grade item but with to link it before all students have completed the quiz.

Scenario 1: Linking the Quiz to a Grade Item and Releasing all the Grades after the Quiz has Closed

  1. Go to the Quizzes tool in your course.
  2. Click the arrow next to the title of the quiz you want to release marks for, and select Edit.Click the arrow next to the title of the quiz you want to release marks for, and select Edit
  3. In the Assessment tab, click the Grade Item drop-down menu, and select the grade item you wish the quiz to connect to (this assumes you have already set up your gradebook in D2L).

    In the Assessment tab, click the Grade Item drop-down menu, and select the grade item you wish the quiz to connect to (this assumes you have already set up your gradebook in D2L).

  4. Make sure Automatic Grade and Auto Export to Grades are DE-SELECTED (no arrows in their boxes). Click Save and Close.

    Make sure Automatic Grade and Auto Export to Grades are DE-SELECTED (no arrows in their boxes). Click Save and Close

  5. When you are ready to publish quiz scores to the gradebook, click the arrow next to the title of the quiz you wish to grade, and select Grade.

    When you are ready to publish quiz scores to the gradebook, click the arrow next to the title of the quiz you wish to grade, and select Grade.

  6. Click the select boxes in the Published column for all the attempts you wish to release grades for. Click Save and Close. When you go to your gradebook, you will see the quiz grades entered there for you.

    Click the select boxes in the Published column for all the attempts you wish to release grades for. Click Save and Close. When you go to your gradebook, you will see the quiz grades entered there for you.

Scenario 2: Linking the Quiz to a Grade Item and enabling Auto Export to Grades after the Quiz has started (but BEFORE it’s completed by all students).

  1. Go to the Quizzes tool in your course.
  2. Click the arrow next to the title of the quiz you want to print, and select Edit.

    Click the arrow next to the title of the quiz you want to release marks for, and select Edit

  3. In the Assessment tab, click the Grade Item drop-down menu, and select the grade item you wish the quiz to connect to (this assumes you have already set up your gradebook in D2L).

    In the Assessment tab, click the Grade Item drop-down menu, and select the grade item you wish the quiz to connect to (this assumes you have already set up your gradebook in D2L).

  4. Click the select box next for Auto Export to Grades (this will mean that grades will automatically be exported to the Gradebook for students who complete the quiz from this point forward). Click Save and Close.

    Click the select box next for Auto Export to Grades (this will mean that grades will automatically be exported to the Gradebook for students who complete the quiz from this point forward). Click Save and Close.

  5. Now you need to export grades for students who have already completed the quiz.
    1. Click the arrow next to the title of the quiz you wish to grade, and select Grade.

      When you are ready to publish quiz scores to the gradebook, click the arrow next to the title of the quiz you wish to grade, and select Grade.

    2. Click the select boxes in the Published column for all the attempts you wish to release grades for. Click Save and Close. When you go to your gradebook, you will see the quiz grades entered there for you.

      Click the select boxes in the Published column for all the attempts you wish to release grades for. Click Save and Close. When you go to your gradebook, you will see the quiz grades entered there for you.

Things to Remember

After Exporting grades to the gradebook, go to the Grades tool to make sure the grades are there!

Questions?  Contact desupport@camosun.ca.

March eLearning Workshops Reminders

Happy March!  I just wanted to take a moment to remind you of what is upcoming for eLearning workshops this month – register now to save your spot!

Introduction to ePortfolio in D2L (info session)

Friday, March 8th, 12:30-1:30 pm, LLC151

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!

Introduction to Blackboard Collaborate Ultra: Information Session

Monday, March 11th, 3-4 pm, 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.

Using WordPress for Student Blogs: Information Session

Thursday, March 14th, 3-4 pm, LLC151

WordPress is a blogging and website creation tool which is now available in the Canadian cloud, meaning that if you would like your students to build blogs and websites as part of their learning, we can now offer a solution which will be in compliance with the BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Come find out more about how to set up a site for yourself, and what you need to know to get your students started.

Registration:  https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/GDWH7WY

Creating a Mid-Point Grade Item in the D2L Gradebook

This tutorial is designed for faculty who have previous experience using the Grades tool in D2L. For further information, please contact desupport@camosun.ca for assistance.

Scenario

In this tutorial, I will cover the steps involved when you wish students to see a cumulative grade at a specific point in the term (typically the mid-point).  This is a common request at this time of year, so I thought you might like to learn more!

Steps

  1. Go to the Grades tool in your course, and make sure you are in the Manage Grades area.
  2. Click the New button and select Item.
    Click New and select Item
  3. Under Choose a Grade Item Type, select Calculated.Click Calculated
  4. Give your Grade Item a Name, select other parameters as required, then under Calculation, select the Grade Items you wish to include in your snapshot.Give your item a Name, then under Calculation, select the Grade Items you wish to include
  5. Scroll down, and under Calculation Method, select Milestone Grade Calculation. Then click Save and Close. Students will now be able to see what grade they have so far in the term.Select Milestone Grade Calculation, then click Save and Close

Things to Remember

You can also use the Milestone Grade Calculation to show a student their cumulative grade in the course at any point (i.e., using only selected grade items). What I mean by this, is that you can go back in and edit this item at any time to add more Grade Items to the calculation for students.

You can only create Calculated Grade Items if your grading system is Weighted.

BCcampus Inclusive Design Webinar Series

In case you haven’t heard, this month BCcampus has been running series of webinars related to Inclusive Design.

According to the Inclusive Design Research Center, “[i]nclusive design is design that considers the full range of human diversity with respect to ability, language, culture, gender, age and other forms of human difference. Designing inclusively results in better experiences for everyone.” With the addition of Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness policies at our institutions, and as we move more into the world of University Design for Learning (UDL) these webinars are a must for everyone to check out.

You can watch the recordings of the webinars, as well as peruse some great resource links on inclusive design and how to get started, by clicking on the links related to each of the webinars as listed for each of the Webinar headings.

Webinar 1: Part 1, Inclusive Design

Want to know more about what inclusive design is, and how it relates to accommodation and accessibility? Jess Mitchell from the Inclusive Design Research Centre discusses this and more in her presentation on Inclusive Design in which “[s]he touches on ideas like inclusion, design, transformation, innovation, access, diversity, equity, atypical, perspective-shift, data (quantitative and qualitative), anecdote, change, social justice, precarious value, intersectional, mismatch, multi-modal, and revolutionary.”

Webinar 2: Part 2, Presentations

Wanting to make your PowerPoint presentations more accessible, Josie Gray has some best practices for you in her presentation on Inclusive Design and Presentations. While the webinar addresses PowerPoint specifically, “the basic principles can be applied if you use a different presentation software. We talk about the technical aspects of setting up accessible slides, strategies to ensure all of the content on your slide is perceivable by people in the audience, and how making your slides available in multiple formats before your presentation can increase the impact of your presentation.”

Webinar 3: Part 3, PressBooks

Thinking about writing an Open Textbook? Josie Gray is back to give you some information on how to make your open textbook accessible in her presentation on Inclusive Design in PressBooks (soon to be available on the main BCcampus video site.

While “[t]his webinar [highlights] accessibility features of Pressbooks 
 [and] the importance of offering multiple formats, and other design choices that will improve the accessibility of your open textbook.”, the best practices presented are also applicable for other instances where you might be placing images, video, or audio in an online environment.

Webinar 4: Part 4: What Makes Something Inaccessible or Not?

As of the time of this post, there is still time to put the fourth webinar, “What Makes Something Inaccessible or Not?”, in your calendar. “This webinar aims to highlight overlooked or unrealized accessibility barriers by giving concrete examples of what might make something inaccessible and how that barrier might present for different people. By connecting the ideas of the previous webinars, we offer a way to think more critically about digital and print accessibility, especially as it relates to open textbooks and open educational resources. “

Go to the BCcampus Inclusive Design Webinar Series site for more information on how to access the webinar. If you miss it, no worries – the recording will be posted on the main BCcampus video site, where you will also find links to the many amazing webinars offered by BCcampus!

NEW in D2L: Assignment List Experience Opt-in Update!

If you use the Dropbox tool in D2L, you may have noticed a new option popping up for you. I wanted to let you know what this option will do, and how to turn it off if you don’t want to opt-in.

When you go to your Dropbox, you will see the following message appear:

Assignment List Experience pop-up

If you click Turn it on, the old table view will change from a table with the column headings: Total Submissions, Unread Submissions, Flagged Submissions, Due Date:

Old Assignment table view with column headings :Total submissions, Unread submissions, Flagged submissions, Due Date.

To a table with the column headings Completed, Evaluated, Feedback Published, Due Date. Note that the numbers now show the number of items along with the total number of students in the course site:

New Assignment table view with column headings: Completed, Evaluated, Feedback Published, Due Date

If you click Leave it off, you can always turn it on later, or if you click Turn it on, you can always turn it off later, by clicking on the little down arrow at the top right-hand of the Dropbox area:

To change the status of the list view (on or off), click the down arrow in the top-right.

Make your choice. You can always go back and change it later.

Click Leave it on of Turn it off.

Note that there may be a point at which this new view becomes the default. We currently don’t know when that may happen.

Introducing Lynda.com!

In case you didn’t know, Camosun has purchased a licence for Lynda.com that all faculty, staff, and students at Camosun have access to through the Library.

What is Lynda.com? Well, to quote the Research Guide on Lynda.com (https://camosun.ca.libguides.com/lynda), “Lynda.com is a leading online learning platform that helps anyone learn business, software, technology and creative skills to achieve personal and professional goals. There are over 4000 engaging, top-quality courses taught by recognized industry experts.”

Some cool things about how you can use Lynda:

  • You have access to the site 24/7 from on and off campus, and from a variety of devices.
  • Lynda not only has videos on how to use various software, it also offers courses on time management, teaching techniques, managing stress, communication strategies, etc.
  • You can embed Lynda videos into your D2L course. Click the Faculty/Teaching tab on the main Lynda.com guide (https://camosun.ca.libguides.com/lynda/teaching) and scroll down to find the Integrating Lynda Videos into D2L section on the right-hand side.

One thing to remember: if you are using Lynda to help you learn how to use some of the software we support in eLearning, such as D2L, Kaltura, WordPress, or Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, be aware that the way the softwares are configured at Camosun may differ from how they are presented in Lynda. If you have any questions about this after viewing Lynda videos on any of these tools, please contact desupport@camosun.ca and ask to talk to Bob Preston or an instructional designer for clarification.

If you have questions about or need help with Lynda.com, click on the Need More Help tab (https://camosun.ca.libguides.com/lynda/help).

Social Media Use in Education – Workshop Synopsis

Last May I ran some workshops related to social media and the use of online tools in teaching and learning. This month I am going to present a series of posts related to these workshops. This first post is a synopsis of the Social Media Use in Education workshop, which was promoted with the following blurb:  “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.”

Before beginning the discussions around what social media is and why you would use it to support your teaching, I wanted to find out what the participants knew about social media so I could start the conversation from where they were at. The two questions I asked to kick things off were:

  • What big question do you bring to this workshop?
  • What do you know about social media?

We decided social media is about:

  • Sharing and exchanging
  • Communicating, interacting, and collaborating
  • Networking
  • Managing relationships
  • Keeping in touch
  • Curating/collecting resources
  • Modifying resources
  • Bringing “the real world” into the classroom

Knowing this, we then discussed why faculty might want to integrate social media applications into their teaching. Some of the aspects social media brings to the table include:

  • Collecting and evaluating resources
  • Sharing works with small groups, the whole class, professionals in the field, etc.
  • Developing new resources through collaboration and teamwork
  • Transferring “control” to the students (fostering a sense of ownership over the course content)
  • Fostering peer-to-peer learning and critiquing
  • Supporting the development of transferable skills
  • Learning about community and social engagement
  • Opening the door to experts from outside of the classroom to see the students’ work
  • Bringing the world into the classroom

To give the participants some more specific ideas of what all this means, I showed some specific examples of social media tools:

Networking

Image sharing

Video sharing

Organizing and sharing information – Curation

Collaborative tools/Wikis

Blogs

But of course, we also needed to talk about specific ways that these tools can be used to support teaching and learning.  The following websites all have great examples of social media use in education:

Blogs

Twitter

Image and Video sharing

Facebook

Curating

Use of Collaborative tool like Google docs and Wikis in education

Of course, as with integrating any educational technology into your teaching, there are many considerations that need to be kept in mind as you investigate various online tools. For example:

  • Privacy – is the tool in compliance with BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and does it comply with Camosun’s privacy policy?
  • Accessibility – is the tool accessible to a range of abilities, devices, etc.?
  • Copyright and Intellectual property – who owns the content once it has been placed into the tool/environment in question?
  • Support – is there technical and training support available for you and for your students? Is there a cost? Who will pay for it?
  • Choice and evaluation – make sure to choose the right tool for the task/learning outcome, and evaluate the tools before committing to them.
  • Ask others – is anyone else at the college using this tool? What is their experience?
  • Plan, plan, plan, then design, pilot, revise. Start with one activity and one tool, then debrief – if things don’t work, maybe it wasn’t the tool – revise and try it again
  • Provide clear instructions to your students and be prepared to give them an alternate activity if privacy is an issue, or if they have technical challenges (i.e., what is Plan B?)

So, what kinds of things are the workshop participants going to try? Well, some of them are going to think a little more about why, or if, they want to introduce social media into their teaching at all, but at the very least will be talking more with their students about things they should be considering when engaging with social media themselves. As for specific tool use, a couple of the participants will be exploring Instagram Stories in their courses (Instagram stories are
). In addition, Etherpad and blogging struck a note with a couple of faculty, which is exciting since Camosun now has a WordPress instance of its own that students will be able to use after May of this year.  If you have used social media tools to support your teaching, I would love to hear from you.  Feel free to post your experiences in the Comments, or send me an email at schudele@camosun.ca.

Since I first ran this workshop, the face of social media has changed – tools come and go all the time.  This makes it a new workshop every year, so if you haven’t taken it before, or even if you have, I can guarantee you will learn something new when I run it again this spring!

Additional Resources