Teaching & Learning Technology at UIC
Designing Learning Spaces
October 2009

Teaching & Learning Technology at UIC - a Mid-Fall Update

• Blackboard Learn 9 Next-Generation pilot underway
  • for more info, visit ITL home at www.accc.uic.edu/itl
  • click on Blackboard Learn 9 Next-Generation under ITL News
  • click on Blackboard 9 Next-Gen faculty Intro sessions
    
    
• new ACCC Flash Media Streaming Server (FMSS) - available campus-wide
  • visit the ITL Flash Streaming Support Website
    
    
• campus-wide access to the entire library of Lynda.com online training tutorials
  • see www.accc.uic.edu/training.html
  • see also www.accc.uic.edu/itl/lynda (unannounced)
    
• new UIC Student Multimedia Lab (SML)
  • essentially, an ITL for students
  • SML Website: www.accc.uic.edu/sml (unannounced)
    
    
• support for student Response Systems (aka "clickers)
  • ITL support Website: www.accc.uic.edu/itl/clickers.html
    
    
• support for campus-wide lecture capture systems
  
  
• personal and group blogs and wikis (outside of Bb course sites)
  • aka same Blackboard site blogs and wikis UI
  • ITL support Website
    
• Next up: ACCC Fusion (ETA: 1Q2010)
  • a social networking environment for UIC faculty, staff and students
  • akeen of a private, semi-private, semi-public or public Facebook
  • providing a rich Web 2.0 communication & collaboration environment
  • email itl@uic.edu if interested in testing it in January

With the transitioning from the Realmedia Streaming server to the Flash Media Steaming Media Server certain file types will no longer be supported.

To find out more please visit the Adobe support page.

ACCC is pleased to introduce its new Blackboard Learn 9 Next-Generation Pilot System, available today.

Blackboard Learn 9 is a totally redesigned/rewritten Blackboard teaching and learning environment with an intuitive Web 2.0 interface, drag-and-drop simplicity, context-sensitive menus, notification dashboards, new collaborative learning tools, blogs, journals, enhanced homework assignment collection, personalized customization, opt-in email notifications, Facebook and iPhone alerts, and significant accessibility improvements.

We urge all UIC faculty and teaching staff to familiarize yourselves with Blackboard 9 this Fall, before we switch the entire campus to Blackboard 9 in late December.  Blackboard 9 looks very different than all previous Blackboard systems you have ever used.

For more information, Blackboard 9 training and a demo site, please visit the ACCC Instructional Technology Lab (ITL) Blackboard Learn 9 Next-Generation support Website at www.accc.uic.edu/itl/bb9.html or contact the ITL at itl@uic.edu, 312-996-9824 or preferably at bb9@uic.edu.

See also, Blackboard's own www.blackboard.com/release9 Website for on-demand system overviews and tutorials.

Blackboard 9 is really cool.

ACCC e-Rooms (aka Centra) Web Conferencing - Troubleshooting Tips

What do I need to participate in an e-Rooms session?
You will need to install the Centra java client.  The Centra java client is supported on Macs and PCs.

My Centra client software doesn’t load, what should I do?
If this is your first time, you will get a pop-up message asking you to install the Centra client software.  If you did not receive a pop-up message, make sure you have pop-up blockers turned off for http://erooms.uic.edu.

Also, ensure that your Web browser is configured with Java and JavaScript enabled (this is true for most Web conferencing systems, for Blackboard and most other complex Web-based environments).

Windows Vista users, check to have “Access Control” to allow the Centra java client to load.

How do I participate in an e-Rooms session?
Most likely, you are given a participant's e-Rooms URL (which is the easiest) or instructions to find the event directly on the ACCC e-Rooms Centra server and self-enroll for the e-Rooms session using your CentraOne account.  

Some intructors at UIC like to pre-enroll their entire class to their Centra sessions.  If you need a CentraOne account and don't have one, create yourself an account at http://erooms.uic.edu.  CentraOne accounts are not automatically created like you do with Blackboard.

Once logged in, you will see “My Schedule” that list any pre-enrolled sessions you are enrolled in.  If none are listed, you can click on “Enrollment” and look for your instructor’s session.

I forgot my password, how do I retrieve it?
From the login screen click on the “Forget your password?” link to get an email of your lost password.

I cannot hear the presenter talk.
Everytime you launch the Centra client software, you must run the Centra Audio Wizard to check your speakers, headphones, microphone and/or headset with mic to verify that your personal computer's audio components are working correctly.  Run the Centra Audio Wizard ahead of time, at least a couple of hours before the actual e-Rooms session, to allow time to fix your computer if necessary.  Make sure you have not told Windows to mute your speakers either.

Why does my Centra client software keep crashing?
Close other CPU-intensive applications on your computer before participating in an e-Rooms session.

Also, use a hardwired Internet connection (especially, if you are one of the presenters!).  Wireless network connections can flake out at any moment - hardwired network connections are best when using real-time continuous network applications like Web and video conferencing during extended periods of time (i.e. more than just a few minutes).

Blackboard SafeAssign will be intermittently unavailable while undergoing maintenance on Saturday, October 10th and Sunday, October 11th.  Users will not be able to submit assignments to Blackboard SafeAssign, during this maintenance period.  No action is required by users during this period of unavailability. This proactive maintenance will improve the stability, capacity and performance of SafeAssign following this downtime. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Best Practices for Online Quizzing in Blackboard

Information for instructors

• Online tests (like Blackboard's) are not meant for high-stakes examinations!
• Instead, think of online quizzes as short "open book, open computers, cell phones on hand" end-of-chapter exercises designed to give students and instructors immediate feedback or for emphasizing some key concepts. An ideal Blackboard quiz should have just a few questions, only take a few minutes to complete and only have a very small grade value. Offer little online quizzes as often as you wish but don't misuse the technology
  
  

• Break a single long exam marathon into several shorter five-minute-long series of little online tests
  Doing so, minimizes the risk of problems caused by distant learners intermittently losing their Internet connections (which happens frequent enough).

• Do not use time limits on online tests at all
• Research shows that time limits are useless and unnecessarily stress the students.
  
  
  
• If a student grade shows up as an "!" mark or book icon in the Blackboard Grade Center, after the quiz is taken, it is probably because the student did not hit Submit or tried to back track on a question - students can not do this. If you continue to receive a "!" or book icon for multiple students consider using Blackboard's Multiple Attempts feature to display the grade for the last attempt (assuming the last attempt is not a locked "in progress" one.
  
  
  
• If a grade is a book icon, it is because on the most recent attempt, a completed quiz was not submitted.
• A Best Practice in online assessments is to allow enough time for students to finish the quiz without logging out.
  
  

Information to provide for students

• Avoid using the Back button, once a test has begun.
• Avoid using the navigation buttons on the left side menu once the test displays on your screen.
  
  
  
• Do not hit the Back button on your browser. The Blackboard system works best by utilizing the navigational elements within Blackboard.
• To move on to the next question click the arrowhead on the right bottom of the page (you do not need to hit Save).
  
  
• Students should take the quiz while on campus or at a location with a fast Internet connection. Students with a slow (dial-up) connection may face difficulities submitting a quiz. If you use a dial-up modem to connect to the Internet, turn off call waiting. If you receive a phone call and call waiting is on, Blackboard will assume that you have completed the quiz and erase any answers you have entered.
  
  
  
• Public Wi-Fi wireless connections are also extremely unreliable, expecially, when taking a long exam.
  
  
  
• Make sure your browser(s) are up to date.
• Avoid opening other browser windows while taking a Blackboard test.
  
  
  
• To minimize the risk of connection interruption, students can:
  
  • Open a second browser window and use it to generate some traffic every few minutes to keep the connection active. To open a second browser window go to the File Menu and select Open New Window. Open a site and then click in it every few minutes. That should keep your server from timing out.
    
    
    
• Pop-up blocker software may block a quiz from opening. If an assesment is set to open in a new window, pop-up blocker software prevents a new window from "popping up."
  
  
  
• To minimize the risk of connection interruption, students can
  
  • Open a second browser window and use it to generate some traffic every few minutes to keep the connection active
  • Contact their ISP to understand the time-out restrictions
  • Refer to their modem or Dial-up Settings documentation to learn how to disable call-waiting or other services that may cause interruption
    
    
    
• If the connection is terminated a student should
  • NOT close the assessment browser window
  • Attempt to re-connect immediately
  • If the browser is not closed and the connection can be re-established, the student may be able to successfully submit the quiz. Obviously, this would not apply to a power failure or system crash.
    
    
    
• A student may be locked out of a test if:
  
  • the Internet connection fails
  • your computer is accidentally turned off (e.g. power failure)
  • you are inactive during the test for too long– After a period of inactivity the test will time out.
  • you press the Back button on your browser
  • you resize your Browser window
  • call-waiting during the assessment
  • any number of other errors occur
    
    
    
• Obvious, but, after completing online quizzes, remember to hit Submit.