Information Technology Services

By: Jonathan Coons

On this we should all agree: the revolution of smartphone adoption is over and it is no gross generalization to assert that each incoming SIUE student has a one. Given this, as educators, we should be past treating them like a nuisance fad, and we should be working to increase our students' knowledge so that they can properly leverage these ubiquitous tools. However, there is a gap in the ability of our students to be able to apply the actual capabilities of these devices,...

By:  Tori Reany

SIUE has adopted the Open SUNY Course Quality Review (OSCQR) tool to provide quality course reviews using evidence-based principles. Instructional designers are available for consultation at any time during the development of your course regardless of course delivery method – online, blended, or face-to-face, and they will use OSCQR to make recommendations on course design and content delivery. To request a consultation or course review, please complete the&...

By: Laura Million

Faculty, do you have students asking this question at the end of the semester? It's an unfortunate truth that some students wait until the end of the semester to check their grades and realize that they are not doing as well as they thought. Blackboard's Retention Center is one tool that can help faculty quickly identify and communicate with students who are falling behind (i.e. not logging in, missing deadlines, or falling short of specified course benchma...

By: Jennifer Albat and Laura Million

Have you ever seen a really great interactive learning module and said, “I wish I could have that in my course!”? Now it can be a reality. The ITS Instructional Design & Learning Technologies group have been working on several modules already that have been beneficial not only to academic courses but to Springboard and other department training initiatives, as well.

Our first major project began with the Office of Admissions. They needed a learn...

By: Niki Glick

I recently attended a conference focused on improving accessibility in higher education. One big takeaway for me was that accessibility isn't just about disability; it's about providing as many opportunities as possible for people to learn, often by identifying and reducing possible learning barriers. Captioning is an example of improving accessibility because, not only does it remove the barrier audio-centric content could pose to students with hearing impairments, it can add cl...

By: Jennifer Albat

Looking for teaching tips in higher education? Teaching in Higher Ed has some excellent podcasts on digital pedagogy, students, work/life, and teaching. The podcasts are broken down into those 4 categories for easy exploration. I highly recommend you give them a listen!

By: Laura Million

We receive reports from faculty reaching their quota limit in Blackboard. What does that mean? Each Blackboard course can hold up to 2GB of content in its Content Collection. Every file an instructor uploads to a course (.pdf, .docx, video and audio files, etc.) will remain in its Content Collection, even if it's deleted from Coursework or another content area. While 2GB might be plenty of space for course Word documents and PDF files, large Power...

By: Jodie Nehrt

One of the perks of Blackboard is the ability to export content from one semester to the next, or share it to another faculty member in your department. However, if you've ever completed an import only to discover that your Grade Center is suddenly cluttered with columns that confuse both you and the students, use this checklist before and after your import to ensure a smooth process (and less student emails asking for clarification).

Before Import:

1. Delete unneeded columns i...

By: Jennifer Albat

We have received inquiries about why folders in Blackboard are not displaying when Adaptive Release rules are set. In both cases, the faculty members were trying to use Adaptive Release settings to display folders during a certain time period. But this is not the intended purpose of the feature.

Adaptive Release was designed to be used in cases where 1.) you do not want content to be released until certain criteria have been met or 2.) you only want to show content to s...

ITS rolled out Microsoft Teams for faculty and staff this month.  Teams is a new chat-based workspace in Office 365 which allows you and your project teams to easily collaborate to achieve more.  All your favorite applications (Word, Excel, OneNote, etc.) are seamlessly integrated into Teams so that all files relevant to your project are organized and easily accessible from one platform.  

When it comes to project communication, a great deal of gro...

By: Emily Keener

How do students get books?

Books will be available through Textbook Service before Winter Session begins (by early December). If students are traveling over break, they should be sure to get all required books before leaving campus.

Blackboard courses have already been created for winter courses. Two things to know: 1. Courses listed without an instructor in CougarNet (instructor "TBD") will not have an instructor in Blackboard. I...

Teaching over Winter Session? Check out these tips for making the fast-paced semester go as smoothly as possible.  

1. Check Your Internet Access and Make a Backup Plan. 
   If you are traveling, call your destination ahead of time and ask about internet access. The best-case scenario: you'll have unlimited access to a wired connection; second best: unlimited access to a strong wireless connection (check travel sites for WiFi reviews), o...

By: Emily Keener

Videos provide a flexible way to connect with students and deliver course content, especially in "flipped" or online classroom settings. We have many options when it comes to storing and sharing videos, but with a 2 GB course limit in Blackboard, uploading large video files directly to Blackboard usually isn't the best choice. As an alternative, here are four options for video storing and sharing, each with a specific set of features - and caveats - for you to consider.&#1...

By: Jennifer Albat

Blackboard has some really great webcasts in their Blackboard Innovative Teaching Series (BITS). They feature faculty and other educational professionals who have integrated the use of Blackboard tools or other strategies to improve student learning. Register for a session and they will send you the recording if you are not able to attend. On the BITS registration page, you will also find previously recorded sessions. Check them out!

By: Jennifer Albat

Jodie Nehrt has been with Instructional Design & Learning Technologies since April 2018. She earned a Master of Science Degree in Library and Information Studies from Florida State University. Working with the School of Nursing, Jodie is dedicated to faculty and student support. She encourages the development of engaging learning activities through collaborative course design with a focus on consistency and ease of navigation for students and instructors. The School of N...

By: Laura Million 

Respondus, the test authoring tool, has been upgraded! Respondus sports a new, stylish user interface with the same convenience of the original tool. Go to the Knowledge Base article Respondus Upgrade – Fall 2018  for instructions to upgrade your version of Respondus.

For more information about Respondus as a test authoring tool, see the Knowledge Base article About Respondus.

As always, the Instructional Design and Learning Technologies Tea...

By: Jennifer Albat

For Faculty

Blackboard Ally is an accessibility tool that helps faculty identify and remove potential content barriers that can get in the way of learning. For example, Blackboard Ally alerts faculty when documents are missing headings or other formatting styles that make it easier for students to navigate content, especially students relying on screen readers to access Blackboard. Using a "stoplight" indicator system, Blackboard Ally measures course content against industry...

By: Jennifer Albat

It’s that time of year. The final check before grades are due. During finals week, Instructional Design & Learning Technology members field many questions about the Blackboard Grade Center. How do we do this so efficiently? Shhh…it’s a secret.

Not really, just a little trick we learned along the way.

First, you need to add yourself as a student using Student Preview.  This is the "eyeball" icon by the Edit Mode Button in the top right corner...

By: Niki Glick

Chances are, you've seen a SMART podium or SMART board (LCD) in a classroom on campus.  You know the ones I'm talking about: they look like screens or whiteboards you can write on with digital pens.  This technology is a key component to a flipped learning environment, as it allows you to create supplemental content that can be accessed outside of the classroom.  It also allows you to present lectures in a more dynamic, interactive, and engaging way ...

By: Emily Keener

Safari 11, which comes along with the latest Mac OS update, is causing issues for students and faculty attaching documents in Blackboard. Students using Safari 11 are currently unable to attach files to Blackboard Assignments, Turnitin Assignments, or to File Attachment test questions. Faculty using Safari 11 are unable to attach files to content Items. This article describes the issue further and describes workarounds; until a solution is found, the quickest workaround is t...

By: Jennifer Albat 

Ever wished you could log attendance inside of Blackboard? Now you can! With Blackboard's new Attendance tool, faculty can mark students as "present," "late," "absent," or "excused" for class sessions and assign points based on course policies. 

Once attendance has been enabled in Blackboard, a column is automatically created in the Grade Center. Points will sync to this column as attendance is recorded (e.g. "present" for 5 points, "absent" for 0 points...

By: Tori Reany

Zoom, the University's one-stop software for web conferencing, video recording, and webinar hosting, promotes collaboration in a number of ways. For example, Zoom's meeting links are easy to copy and share with others, which supports faculty who want to hold online office hours and students who want to work on group projects in real time. 

The ability to meet online provides more flexibility in scheduling and can maximize the time faculty/students s...

By: Jennifer Albat

I recently watched an inspiring webinar on adding humor to your online courses. It featured Lisa Panagopoulos, assistant director of faculty development for online learning at University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Why would you want to add humor in online classes? According to the webinar, online ourses can be “sterile, impersonal, remote, or dry.” With online courses often being heavy in text, viewing them can become cumbersome and digesting the material can be di...

The offices of Educational Outreach, Disability Support Services, and Information Technology Services are collaborating to bring Blackboard Ally to your Blackboard courses.

Blackboard Ally is a product that provides alternate formats for uploaded PDF, Word, PowerPoint, and HTML content, in order to meet the needs of diverse learners. For example, it can convert a text document to an audio file. It also assists faculty in making content more accessible by pointing out where formatting can be imp...

By: Emily Keener

Are you curious about using Poll Everywhere in your classes, departmental meetings, or other events? ITS offers one-on-one and group training sessions for faculty and staff interested in using the audience polling software. Please reach out to set up an option that's right for you.

Or, if you would just like to learn more about what Poll Everywhere can do, consider attending one of Poll Everywhere's weekly Getting Started webinars.

For more how-to materials on using Poll...

By: Niki Glick

Last month, I sat in on a classroom simulation where SIUE education majors practiced their teaching skills using SIUE's Virtual Practice Lab, formerly known as TeachLivE. The early education majors were teaching a group of 7-year-old "students" the definition of a new word. But the "students" in this simulation were actually adult actors in some other location, trained to emulate real elementary children: disrupting class by falling asleep, talking to their neighbors, and struggl...

By: Niki Glick

The Outlook Scheduling Assistant is a quick and easy way to schedule appointments with multiple participants. 

When you create a meeting in Outlook and add participants, the Scheduling Assistant allows you to view those participants' schedules in order to find a time when everyone is available. This reduces the amount of time going back and forth with team members trying to nail down a meeting time. 

Note:  Everyone with an siue.edu email address can view your ca...

By: Emily Keener

Blackboard and other campus technologies offer a number of tools that can enhance learning, but not all of them will be the right fit for your course. One framework that can help us make technology choices based on effective teaching strategies is David Merrill's First Principles of Instruction. In Merrill's synthesis of instructional research, the following (likely familiar) ideas emerged:

Problem-centered focus: Learning is supported when students are involved in solving rea...

By: Jennifer Albat

At this year’s Focus on Teaching and Technology Conference at UMSL, I attended a fantastic presentation given by Tami Eggleston, Professor of Psychology at McKendree University. It was titled: From Dull to Dynamic: New Ideas for Discussion Boards. She shared some great strategies about using discussion boards that I’ve summarized below:

• All discussion forums are not created equal. Depending on the question and the amount of time required to respond, assign poin...

By: Laura Million

Merging multiple sections of a course into one Blackboard shell is convenient when adding content, but managing the number of students can be overwhelming. You will save time by only uploading materials and assessments only once ... but then you realize how many students are actually in the combined course and realize that grading and communicating might be a nightmare. Yikes! Here’s a few tips to manage, organize, and get the most out of your merged course.

Grade Ce...

By: Chris Burcham

The SIUE Mobile app now includes a My Courses module, which shows all of your courses in one place. View grades, assignments, and announcements for courses in Blackboard. View general information about upcoming courses and final grades from previous semesters. Get push notifications when new grades, announcements or assignments become available. Find out more and download the app.