Okay, you know your stuff, you have been teaching it for years and you know how to teach it. So... what should you do next, as you increase the use of teaching and learning technology in your classes?  Below are just a few of my top recommendations :: as always, if you need help with any of this, contact the ACCC Instructional Technology Lab. The ITL will gladly assist you in exploring and implementing these and many other teaching and learning technology applications that match your pedagogical style and curriculum needs.

• Keep things simple and organized
  Your class home page, be it on Blackboard or elsewhere, should be easy to use. Organize your class materials in folders by chapter, by week, by subject, by something, but make it easy for students to navigate their way through your Website and to easily find class notes, assignments and anything else you want students to see.
  
  
• Provide your content preferably in HTML, PDF or plain-text
  HTML is the universal language of the Web.  It is always best to create all Web content, including class materials, in HTML, ...in Web accessible HTML, using LessonBuilder, Dreamweaver, or any other Web authoring tool.  Microsoft Word is not a Web authoring tool, but it can also save documents in HTML.  Why HTML? Because all Web browsers can display HTML pages without the need for plug-ins or Web browser add-ons.
  
  PDF documents are the 2nd best option, especially, for class handouts that will most likely be printed. Note: scanning or photocopying handouts into PDF generally produces huge (read: the worst) PDF files, which take long time to download and print. If you are scanning paper documents to create PDF, make sure you compress the PDF documents in Acrobat Standard or Acrobat Professional.  Compressing PDF files is a five (6) mouse click process that can easily bring down a 50MB PDF document to 2MB or something a lot more reasonable.
  
  The third best choice is to make your class materials available in plain-text.  Why not?  Easy to author, easy to read, easy to print, 100% Web accessible.  A lot of UIC instructors choose this route :: they go into Blackboard and instead of uploading files into their organized folders (hint hint), they simply type away or copy-and -paste. Also, note that Blackboard's text-input Web screens also accept HTML ("smart text" in Blackboard's parlance); thus, with a couple of HTML tags for setting heading styles, bullet lists and hyperlinks, for example, you can easily compose compelling syllabi and class materials directly on Blackboard.
  
  HTML, PDF or plain-text -- those should be your options.
  I purposely do not suggest distributing Microsoft Word (.doc) files, PowerPoint (.ppt) files, or other proprietary file formats that not only give your intellectual property away (in editable source format to boot), but MS-Word, PowerPoint and vendor-specific file formats sometimes pose difficulty for students to open these files.  Students may have old or very old versions of MS-Office, or your MS-Word document might be incompatible with the student's Mac or Windows versions of MS-Word. 
  
  
  As last resort, use Microsoft Office built-in Web publishing capabilities; Word might generate terrible HTML and PowerPoint creates HTML that is not very Web Accessible, but this is still better than simply uploading .doc and .ppt files.  Fortunately, Microsoft Windows users can download the free Illinois Web Accessibility Wizard for Microsoft Office which produces very good HTML, and HTML that is 100% Web accessible -- get this free MS-Office for Windows add-on at ACCC's e-Sales.  In any event, do your best not to publish class documents in proprietary file formats. 
  
  
• Try something new
  Incorporating new materials, new ideas and Web activities, as simple as these may be, can energize your class and engage students in learning. So, after you have used Blackboard for a semester, and after you have easily mastered how to post announcements, email your class, publish the syllabus, class materials and external links, and post grades in the Grade Center, what else should you do?
  
  
  
  • how about narrating (with your voice) a couple of review presentations prior to exams for on-demand use?
  • or... synthesizing your lectures in short mini-lectures (7 minutes or less) with voice for on-demand reinforcement (remember to also provide presentation handouts in PDF in case students want to take some notes as they listen or watch your multimedia presentations)
    
    
  • slightly redesign your class to incorporate significant use and participation in class discussion forums
  • invite a colleague or subject expert to hang out on your class discussion boards for a couple of weeks
  • upload old exams so students can practice or see the type of quizzes to expect
    
    
  • make available short end-of-chapter self-assessment exercises online (5 questions, 5 minutes to complete)
  • use your own class blog (like this one)  to maintain a class journal and keep your students informed
  • assign students to build their own blogs for a journal project, modern progressive term papers, so to speak. Podcasts optional
    
    
  • assign collaborative writing projects to groups of students, using wikis
  • speak into the mic - use Wimba Voice Tools to directly record voice announcements, voice recordings or short Podcasts on Blackboard. You can also record your audio offline and simply upload the MP3 files onto Blackboard.
    
    
  • use audio Podcasts - record your lectures (some or all) and upload them easily to a class WebDisk for only your students to hear
  • use LessonBuilder or StudyMate to author interactive Web activities, like image or word drag-and-drop exercises, word puzzles, etc.
    
    
  • create short video clips or link to videos from other experts in the field to add yet another element of engagement
  • authoring video, however, is not easy :: narrating PowerPoint presentations can be just as effective and it is infinitely easier to do
    
    
    
• Build it and they will not come
  Putting a class Website up is not enough.  You need to nurture your class home page (or Blackboard course site).  Post class announcements regularly, add some external links from time to time, use the discussion board regularly to answer questions and provide further guidance and mentoring, hold virtual office hours, run review sessions... there is a rather large number of things that instructors, faculty (not just TAs) can and should do to stay involved and in close contact with the students.  Students need to feel your presence to remain engaged. 
  
  
• Know your technology
  Whether it is during a traditional on-campus lecture or online, do your best to know the technology and to be comfortable with it.  The ITL can certainly help you with all of that. Why, if you are tenured, or tenure-track, ITL consultants will even come to your office or meet you anywhere on campus to help you with anything we do, and we do quite a lot.  Knowing and embracing the technology that you use is important because you don't want to waste precious lecture time, contact time, but also because students can get disenchanted fairly quickly when they see instructors and TAs struggling with technology -- understandable, really, since most of our students started using computers before Kindergarten.