Michelle's Research on Blackboard

The following is posted on behalf of Michelle Pilati:
Hello all! I had a long conversation with Jim yesterday and now understand why there was a perceived urgency about this whole issue. I'm sure he'll be sharing this with all of you who are present on Thursday. He also cleared up a misperception that I had - the reference he made to 24/7 support was not of wholesale support, but about the VC Staff having direct access to support from BB - so that if you had a technical problem they would be able to get assistance from experts ASAP. (Jim, please correct if I am misrepresenting this.) Jim indicated that he was trying to set up an additional opportunity to showcase BB. He also explained to me why he didn't see Angel as an option. While I understand his point, I still have some questions on that that I will share with him. Even after we make a CMS choice, there is still an issue of timing and how to transition - so there are many issues to be discussed. I look forward to hearing what transpires on Thursday. While some faculty may want to delay changing and using 2 systems is possible, I would argue quite strongly that this is really bad for students and that this should be avoided at all costs. Training and migration have to happen before one can do live with a new system - and both take time. When students have 2 places to find courses, some students don't do that finding - and it places an undue burden on the VC Staff to support 2 systems. Below and attached are some answers to my questions about BB 7. Comments in CAPS are my comments on the comments. Have a great day,Michelle





From: Davis, Haydn
RE: BB 7Hi Michelle, I think that WebCT has a superior gradebook component compared with Blackboard. Now, with Blackboard's purchase of WebCT maybe that component will be integrated with the next update of Blackboard. We are using Bb v. 7.2 and the grading interface is pretty much as you describe. I'll try to answer your questions below. 1. What does the grading interface look like? How many clicks does it make to grade?

In the version that I know, one must do the following:Control Panel > Gradebook > Looking at a screen of numbers, one has to find a ! that indicates something is submitted and not graded. I click on that and then have to go through a whole series of clicks before I get my grading done. See the attached. When an assessment consists of objective items (i.e. multiple-choice items) the assessment is graded and the score entered automatically; when there is a subjective component, an exclamation mark is entered for the grade as you stated. I didn't find an attachment with your email but grading can take several steps.

SOUNDS LIKE THE GRADING IS STILL CLICK-HEAVY - BUT THE GRADBOOK IS MUCH IMROVED, AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE ATTACHED.

2. Is there an option to add or subtract points from the total score and indicate a reason? In WebCT I can indicate a penalty or a bonus on any assessment, along with an explanation.You can manually override a score and provide a comment - see attachment.

3. Can one do a simple copy and paste when a student is submitting or I am making comments? Currently, I have to do control V and C - and the interface is really buggy. There is also a general lack of control when making any post.Blackboard has an Assignment Manager tool that simplifies submissions and grading of submissions. I'm not sure if that's what you talking about or not. I SUSPECT THIS MEANS THINGS ARE STILL BUGGY.

4. Can I be informed via my normal E-Mail when work is submitted, posting is done in discussion, or a message is sent to me?When you set up Discussion Board Forums, if you enable "subscribing" then all users will be sent an email notification when someone posts to a subscribed thread. In the current version of Bb you only get an email notification (not the post itself). However, in Bb 7.3 you will receive the actual post.I HAVE FOUND THAT THOSE WHO USE BB RELY HEAVILY ON EXTERNAL E-MAIL, NOT THE INTERNAL MESSAGING SYSTEM. THIS IS ANOTHER QUESTION TO ASK - AND THOSE OF YOU INVOLVED WITH THE BANNER IMPLEMENTATION MAY KNOW THE ANSWER - ARE WE GOING TO BE ISSUING STUDENT E-MAILS? THIS NOTE ABOUT BB 7.3 IS GOOD NEWS - AND THEY ARE ACTUALLY NOW WORKING ON 7.4 - THIS THEN LEADS TO FURTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT TRANSITIONING - IF BB IS THE WAY TO GO, WOULD IT MAKE SENSE TO STAY WITH WEBCT AS LONG AS POSSIBLE SO THAT THE THE VERSION OF BB WE MOVE TO IS EVEN BETTER. IF, FOR EXAMPLE, WE CONTINUED IN THE VERSION OF WEBCT WE ARE NOW USING THROUGH FALL 08 - AND MOVED TO BB S09, FOR EXAMPLE. TRAINING AND SO-ON COULD BEGIN AT ANYTIME, BUT ACTUALLY TEACHING COULD BE DELAYED UNTIL THE SYSTEM IS EVEN BETTER. FOOD FOR THOUGHT..

5. Is the messaging system a real one? Does the student know when they have a message? In the current system, they have to go into the messages system and check their inbox - there is nothing to flag that there is a new message or new posts. I have not found the internal messaging system to be helpful as one has to be online in Blackboard for it to be useful.BB FOLKS TEND TO NOT VIEW THE MESSAGING SYSTEM IN WEBCT THE WAY THAT THOSE WHO USE WEBCT DO. I SUSPECT THAT THIS MEANS THAT THE MESSAGING SYSTEM IS NOT WHAT WE ARE USED TO IN WEBCT - BUT IT WAS JIM'S UNDERSTANDING THAT BB WANTED THIS TECHNOLOGY - SO MAYBE THEY ARE GOING THAT WAY. I'VE FOUND THAT THOSE WHO ARE USED TO INTEGRATED EXTERNAL E-MAIL DON'T QUITE APPRECIATE THAT VALUE AND PURPOSE OF TRULY INTEGRATED WITH-IN CMS MESSAGING. HOPEFULLY THE SOFTWARE FOLKS DO. ;)

6. Can I see the file structure? In WebCT, if I make an edit to a document, I can upload it to the same folder and then update the course - that new document is then visible. In the BB that I know, I have to delete the document and upload a new one - never knowing where it went.When you upload a word processing file or pdf document you must reupload any changes you make to that document. For that reason I have almost all my documents as FrontPage files and simply post a link to the file in my Bb class. That way, when I modify my FrontPage document, but keep the same name, the link in my Bb class will point to the revised document (therefore no uploading is necessary). With the Content Manager (a separate Bb component that we haven't purchased) it is more similar to what you are used to.HE HAS OPTED FOR A WORK-AROUND - THIS SEEMS TO BE A TREND.

7. Do conditional settings transfer from one course shell to another? In the BB I know, I have to redo these every term.The Adaptive Release settings in Bb do not transfer from one course to the next.PERSONALLY, FOR ME, THIS IS HUGE - THE

ADAPTIVE RELEASE FEATURE IS A RELATIVELY NEW ONE - CAN'T IMAGINE WHY THEY WOULD NOT BE PLANNING TO ALLOW SETTINGS TO ROLL OVER..

8. Can pools of questions be created after the fact? In the BB I know, I have to upload questions as a pool. In WebCT, I can add a question to an assessment and then pick and choose my alternates. I can also very quickly and very simply make corrections to questions - in BB this process is crazy - I have to figure out what pool a question is in and then find that question in that pool. I don't have a single quiz interface where I can see the titles of each question and readily view them.I'm not sure I followed this question. You speak of uploading questions as a pool - where are these questions coming from? You can make modifications to assessments fairly easily (by adding Qs from previous assessments or pools - see attachment). I'm pretty sure that's not what you were asking about . . .

THIS SUGGESTS THAT BB STILL HAS A WAY TO GO IN SIMPLIFLYING THE BUILDING OF QUIZZES AND SUCH..