Our Oracle database was recently upgraded to a newer version, more secure, more reliable and much faster, also now correcting a bug which prevented creating empty forums/threads/posts.

The Campus Pack was recently upgraded to version 3, which fixed the current (and future) year setting, along with some useful improvements according to the official Learning Objects release notes.

The quiz timer bug was fixed last week for those that were using Internet Explorer 8 while taking quizzes in Blackboard. IE 8 will still remain not supported until we upgrade to Blackboard Learn 9.

With the addition of the Flash Media Server (FMS) we've been working on making the process simpler for people to use.  First step was to make it easier for people to upload content on the server.  We synced up a directory on WebDisk labeled "Streaming" to be paired off with a directory on the FMS.  That way people wouldn't need to use an FTP program to load their content on the server.  It also gives better control of who can modify the content in a particular directory.

We are currently working on creating a flash video player to playback a flv file (flash video file) on FMS.  Typically a user has to use Flash CS4 Pro to created the swf file that plays back the flash video.  We've been working on making a general use swf file that anyone can use by just specify the flv file in the HTML code parameters.

Here is a sample of what we've developed so far:

In the next week or two we will have a working version and will make it readily available for people at UIC to use.

The ACCC Instructional Technology Lab (ITL) is offering a number of Blackboard introductory and advanced training sessions for faculty and teaching staff, through the end of Week 4.

 Advanced topics include using Web 2.0 tools for online student activities and delivering multimedia-rich educational content for traditional on-campus classes as well as blended and online learning.

 To attend any of these sessions, simply email the ITL (at itl@uic.edu) indicating the session that you will be attending (session title, date and time).  All sessions are being held on the East campus, at the ITL-East, located on the first floor of the Richard J. Daley Library in room LIB 1-310, south wing, facing SEO.

 The following session schedule is also listed on the top right of the ITL home page (www.accc.uic.edu/itl), under ITL News:

 Week 2 :: Week of Monday, August 31

• Monday 8/31  1-2pm  East campus, ITL-East -  Intro to Blackboard
• Monday 8/31  2-3pm  East campus, ITL-East -  Teaching with Blackboard: Advanced Topics
  
  
• Tuesday 9/1  1-2pm  East campus, ITL-East - Intro to Blackboard
•  Tuesday 9/1  2-3pm  East campus, ITL-East - Teaching with Blackboard: Advanced Topics
  
  
•  Wednesday 9/2 1-2pm East campus, ITL-East - Intro to Blackboard
•  Wednesday 9/2 2-3pm East campus, ITL-East - Teaching with Blackboard: Advanced Topics
  
  
•  Thursday 9/3  1-2pm East campus, ITL-East - Intro to Blackboard
•  Thursday 9/3  2-3pm East campus, ITL-East - Teaching with Blackboard: Advanced Topics
  

Week 3  :: Week of Tuesday, September 8

• Tuesday 9/8  1-2pm East campus, ITL-East - Intro to Blackboard
• Tuesday 9/8  2-3pm East campus, ITL-East - Teaching with Blackboard: Advanced Topics
  
  
• Wednesday 9/9  1-2pm East campus, ITL-East - Intro to Blackboard
• Wednesday 9/9  2-3pm East campus, ITL-East - Teaching with Blackboard: Advanced Topics
  
  
• Thursday 9/10  1-2pm East campus, ITL-East - Intro to Blackboard
• Thursday 9/10  2-3pm East campus, ITL-East - Teaching with Blackboard: Advanced Topics
• Thursday 9/10  3-4pm East campus, ITL-East - Online Activities: SoftChalk LessonBuilder
  

Week 4 :: Week of Monday, September 14

• Monday 9/14  1-2pm East campus, ITL-East - Intro to Blackboard
• Monday 9/14  2-3pm East campus, ITL-East - Teaching with Blackboard: Advanced Topics
  
  
• Tuesday 9/15 1-2pm East campus, ITL-East - Intro to Blackboard
• Tuesday 9/15 2-3pm East campus, ITL-East - Teaching with Blackboard: Advanced Topics
  
  
• Wednesday 9/16 1-2pm East campus, ITL-East - Intro to Blackboard
• Wednesday 9/16 2-3pm East campus, ITL-East - Teaching with Blackboard: Advanced Topics
  
  
• Thursday 9/17 1-2pm East campus, ITL-East - Intro to Blackboard
• Thursday 9/17 2-3pm East campus, ITL-East - Teaching with Blackboard: Advanced Topics
• Thursday 9/17 3-4pm East campus, ITL-East - Online Activities: SoftChalk LessonBuilder

The ACCC Instructional Technology Lab (ITL) is available to UIC faculty and staff either by appointment or without an appointment during ITL-East and ITL-West Walk-in Hours:

• ITL-East (East campus) Walk-in Hours -  Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 1-5pm
  The ITL-East is on the East campus, on the first floor of the Richard J. Daley Library (Room LIB 1-310), south wing, directly facing SEO.

• The ITL-West (West campus) Walk-in Hours - Thursdays and Mondays from 1-5pm
  The ITL-West in on the West campus at 1940 West Taylor, in Room 181 BGRC, on the first floor of the Benjamin Goldberg Research Center.

The ITL telephone number is 312-996-9824.

If ITL Walk-in Hours days/times don't work for you or if you need some highly specialized assistance, please request an ITL appointment by clicking on Making Reservations at the top left of the ITL home page -- www.accc.uic.edu/itl.

The Instructional Technology Lab and ACCC have a tool that allows you to quickly and easily to create interactive web pages for your e-learning course. It's easy, quick, and your lessons will look like a professional designer created them. You can engage your students with lessons including:

• pop-up text annotations
• self-assessment quizzes
• and interactive learning games
  • cross word
  • drag and drop
  • flash card
  • hot spot
  • labeling
  • ordering
  • photo album
  • seek a word
  • slideshow
  • sorting
  • timeline
    

You can then package your lessons for delivery via your Blackboard course site. Would you like to record the responses from the interactive games and automatically populate your Blackboard Grade Center? You can also do this using SCORM compliant exports and imports. To find our more information please visit our SoftChalk LessonBuilder page at:

www.accc.uic.edu/itl/softchalk.html

With the start of the semester we are seeming some old problems begin to crop up again.  One of them is the issue of Powerpoint lectures converted into an Impatica format. 

Impatica converts a narrated Powerpoint presentation into a streamable Java presentation.  The problem that arises is a result of users updating their version of Java.  When the newer version is installed the Impatica presentations become useless.  A user attempting to view the presentation will only hear audio and no lecture slides.

To get around this problem the instructor needs to get a new version of Impatica and re-impaticize the Powerpoint presentation. 

In the case of an instructor not having a copy of the original we recommend that users instead revert to an older version of Java (Java 1.6.0_07).  To download an older version of Java you can visit the following link older Java version.

Impatica has also documented a solution which you can find on their knowledgebase site.

Update:

Mac OS X (Snow Leopard) upgrade ships only with Java 1.6, which breaks narrated presentations compressed and packaged with Impatica. 

The digital dropbox will be discontinued once we upgrade to Blackboard 9

so you may want to start using the alternative options now instead.

• Option 1) Instead of having students upload files to the digital dropbox you can use the Assignment Manager (or Safe Assignment if you prefer to run papers through a plagiarism database as well). This way you can easily retrieve the digital files through the Grade Center and even grade, indicate errors etc. and re-upload the files for students to download and to view corrections.
  
  
• Option 2) If you are truly looking for a "Digital Dropbox", or file storage repository, you can still create a similar function by using WebDisks and creating a folder for a particular assignment and providing access to the necessary parties (Class A, Registered Users, etc.). For more information please visit: www.accc.uic.edu/itl/webdisks