We currently have a problem with the security certificate for www.courses.miami.edu. You are likely to see a warning message, until we get the problem corrected. You can safely continue to the web site, even though your browser indicates the certificate problem. We are working on it, and will let you know when the problem is resolved.
Bill Vilberg
Blackboard is saying that resubmissions are one of the causes of the long delays in Safe Assign processing. If you are waiting for a Safe Assign report, please do not resubmit the item.
If a report isn't available after 72 hours (3 days) please let us know so we can document it and check things out. Please provide the course, assignment, and whether the report was requested via direct submit. We have limited access to information inside Blackboard, but we will do what we can.
Blackboard continues to report that the delays will be less than 24 hours as soon as the backlog gets processed. We will see. The current situation is, of course, completely unsatisfactory, and is one of the things leading us to reevaluate our long term commitment to Blackboard.
Bill Vilberg - bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255
http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more
Hello Bb Users
Please be informed that we are once again experiencing issues with SafeAssignment. In addition, on Friday Dec. 9th, 2011 between the hours of 02:00 am to 04:00 am US Eastern, Blackboard will be performing preventative maintenance on SafeAssign. During this 2 hour period, the Blackboard Safeassign client applications will not be unavailable.
We apologize for the inconvenience, and please feel free to contact the help desk if you have any issue or concern at 305-284-3949 or email at blackboardhelp@miami.edu.
Thanks,
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949
We are processing an increasing number of requests from faculty members to restore their Blackboard course sites to a previous date. Such a restore takes a number of days to accomplish, at best, and can only be done to the state of a nightly backup. So if grades are added and then the grade column is deleted the same day, there is no way to recover them.
Some services, such as SafeAssign, add further complexity to the situation. SafeAssign stores papers on an external server which deletes the information immediately. It is very difficult or impossible to restore information that has been deleted from SafeAssign.
Please pause before deleting anything in Blackboard. Think of the consequences of what you are doing. If you are not sure how to proceed, consult with the Blackboard Help Desk at either 205-284-3949 or blackboardhelp@miami.edu.
We will do all we can to help you if you make a mistake, but there are limitations to what we can do. Help us and yourself by pausing before deleting anything in Blackboard to make sure that you won't regret your actions.
Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement Center
Information Technology
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
305-284-3944
Hello Bb Users,
Unfortunately, SafeAssign Services are again temporarily experiencing delays due to high usage. This might result in longer paper processing times. This is a recurring issue at the end of each semester due to high amounts of papers submitted to SafeAssign.
Blackboard regrets any inconvenience this may cause.
We will update you as soon as we receive notification from Blackboard of any change.
If you have any issues or questions, please feel free to call us at 305-284-3949 or email at blackboardhelp@miami.edu.
Thank you,
Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949
I don't really experience what you promised below. It has been over 30 mins., and today's uploads seem to be just as slow as on Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
I was forced to work on Black Friday and Saturday to upload my class of 40 students and see the results of Safe Assign within the 30 mins. interval.
Furthermore, the waiting of 24-hours (or until after midnight) after you have deleted a student's work before you can resubmit the revised paper for the check is also an inconvenience Blackboard should address. (Yes, a few students can actually make the necessary changes to "qualify" within a few short hours, when given the second chance.)
Kaufui Vincent Wong
Professor and Faculty Senator
U. Miami
________________________________
From: UM Blackboard Announcements [BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU] on behalf of Ramos, Ricardo [r.ramos3@MIAMI.EDU]
Sent: Monday, November 28, 2011 10:08 AM
To: BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU
Subject: [BB] Safe Assignment delays update
Hello Bb Users,
Please be informed SafeAssign Services high load situation has been resolved and paper processing is back to normal processing times. Blackboard regrets any inconvenience this may have caused.
If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact us at 305-284-3949 or email at blackboardhelp@miami.edu<mailto:blackboardhelp@miami.edu>.
Thanks,
Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949
Hello Bb Users,
Please be informed SafeAssign Services high load situation has been resolved and paper processing is back to normal processing times. Blackboard regrets any inconvenience this may have caused.
If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact us at 305-284-3949 or email at blackboardhelp@miami.edu.
Thanks,
Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949
Looks good to me and simplifies the log in process.
Lyndon Godsall Ed.D, Ed.S, M.Ed, B.Ed
Instructional Designer
305-284-2710 Office
954-647-4634 Cell
l.godsall@miami.edu
On 11/18/11 3:45 PM, "Vilberg, William R." <bill.vilberg@MIAMI.EDU> wrote:
>Blackboard users,
>
>We are proposing some changes to the Blackbaord login selection page.
>This is the page that you use to select either the CaneID or the
>Blackboard login page. Before implementing them we wanted to run the
>changes by you to see if you have any problems with them. The first two
>are fairly minor, but we specifically want to know how the third change
>might affect your use of. Please let us know if any of these will have an
>affect on how you use Blackboard.
>
>You can see images of the current and proposed login selection pages at
>http://goo.gl/S09LY
>
>These are the changes being proposed:
>
>1. You can press ENTER/RETURN to use your CaneID username and password.
>(Since that is what most people do, it should speed up the process of
>logging in.)
>
>2. The text has been changed to, hopefully, make the options clearer
>("Login with" instead of "I have a ") and to direct people to the CaneID
>login page (larger text and bold text style on the primary path).
>
>3. The "Guest login" option has been removed. (Everyone accessing the
>Blackboard system will need to login.)
>
>If any of these will (negatively) impact your use of Blackboard, please
>let us know.
>
>No change will take place until after finals, but we need to get things
>scheduled now.
>
>Thank you,
>
>Bill Vilberg
>Technology Enhanced Learning
>bill.vilberg@miami.edu
>786-250-2255
We are proposing some changes to the Blackbaord login selection page. This is the page that you use to select either the CaneID or the Blackboard login page. Before implementing them we wanted to run the changes by you to see if you have any problems with them. The first two are fairly minor, but we specifically want to know how the third change might affect your use of. Please let us know if any of these will have an affect on how you use Blackboard.
You can see images of the current and proposed login selection pages at http://goo.gl/S09LY
These are the changes being proposed:
1. You can press ENTER/RETURN to use your CaneID username and password. (Since that is what most people do, it should speed up the process of logging in.)
2. The text has been changed to, hopefully, make the options clearer ("Login with" instead of "I have a ") and to direct people to the CaneID login page (larger text and bold text style on the primary path).
3. The "Guest login" option has been removed. (Everyone accessing the Blackboard system will need to login.)
If any of these will (negatively) impact your use of Blackboard, please let us know.
No change will take place until after finals, but we need to get things scheduled now.
Thank you,
Bill Vilberg
Technology Enhanced Learning
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
786-250-2255
Hello Bb Users
SafeAssign Services are temporarily experiencing delays due to high usage. This might result in longer paper processing times. Blackboard regrets any inconvenience this may cause.
We will inform you as soon as the service is back to normal.
Thanks,
Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949
Hello Bb Users,
Please be informed that we just recently added all the spring classes into Blackboard and should be available to all enrolled in a class.
If you need any additional information, please feel free to contact our Blackboard Help Desk at 305-284-3949 or email us at blackboardhelp@miami.edu
Thanks,
Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949
Hello Bb users,
Blackboard mobile learn is back online and ready to be used again.
Please let us know if you have any question or concern by calling us at 305-284-3949 or email us at blackboardhelp@miami.edu.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Thanks,
Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949
Bb users
Please be advised the Blackboard mobile learn version is not working at this moment. We are working with Blackboard to restore the service as soon as possible.
We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949
For example, I attended the talk today on "Innovation for the 21st Century." It was both educational and inspiring. I wish more people would have been there, beyond the engineering faculty and students. Hopefully that will happen over time.
I am using Google Calendar to manage these items. You can see all the items on the calendar by going to the "News" tab in Blackboard and choosing the "@ The U" sub-tab. If you have events that you think would be appropriate, please let me know.
Guidelines:
* Should be an academic event, such as a lecture or presentation
* Should feature a person of importance (someone who has won awards of some kind or is at least slightly famous)
* Should be at a level that everyone can attend, from first year students on up
* Should be free (at least for students)
* Should be on the UM campus
* Should have a web page with more information about the event
Information Required
* Date of event
* Time
* Location
* Name of speaker
* Title of speech
* Web page for more information
Bill Vilberg
Another little "trick" I have been using is to add a tool/email to the
course home. Everyone seems to use email and I just added it to most
peoples course home to help them save time.
Lyndon Godsall Ed.D, Ed.S, M.Ed, B.Ed
Instructional Designer
305-284-2710 Office
954-647-4634 Cell
l.godsall@miami.edu
On 9/6/11 4:05 PM, "Vilberg, William R." <bill.vilberg@MIAMI.EDU> wrote:
>Blackboard users,
>
>------ 1. No "Send as Email" Option with Announcements -----
>
>You may have noticed that the "Send as email" check box is no longer in
>the announcements in Blackboard. The workaround is to make the
>announcement, copy the message, go to the Control Panel > Course Tools >
>Send Email. Paste the message in there and send it to all users. This
>takes a few extra steps, but it accomplishes the job.
>
>----- 2. Sometimes the "Send Email" option, in the Control Panel's
>"Course Tools" section, is off the bottom of the screen -----
>
>In order to send an email to all the users in your class, you expand the
>"Course Tools" in the Control Panel and select the "Send Email" tool.
>Depending on the size of your screen, "Send Email" might be off the
>bottom, with no scroll bar to get down to it. This is a side effect of
>the way things open and close without redrawing the page. They forgot to
>recalculate the page size each time they open or close an item in the
>menu bar. The workaround is to close the course menu temporarily, raising
>the Control Panel and letting the "Send Email" appear. Confused? Watch
>the two minute video at http://goo.gl/ccLLT to see both the problem and
>the workaround.
>
>Forgive me for using "echelon" in place of "chevron" in the video. I
>realized my mistake, and decided "Good enough is good enough" and "Good
>is good, but done is better." So rather than redoing the recording I am
>sending it out as-is with the hope you will forgive my misuse of the
>terms.
>
>Bill Vilberg, bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255
>
>http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more
------ 1. No "Send as Email" Option with Announcements -----
You may have noticed that the "Send as email" check box is no longer in the announcements in Blackboard. The workaround is to make the announcement, copy the message, go to the Control Panel > Course Tools > Send Email. Paste the message in there and send it to all users. This takes a few extra steps, but it accomplishes the job.
----- 2. Sometimes the "Send Email" option, in the Control Panel's "Course Tools" section, is off the bottom of the screen -----
In order to send an email to all the users in your class, you expand the "Course Tools" in the Control Panel and select the "Send Email" tool. Depending on the size of your screen, "Send Email" might be off the bottom, with no scroll bar to get down to it. This is a side effect of the way things open and close without redrawing the page. They forgot to recalculate the page size each time they open or close an item in the menu bar. The workaround is to close the course menu temporarily, raising the Control Panel and letting the "Send Email" appear. Confused? Watch the two minute video at http://goo.gl/ccLLT to see both the problem and the workaround.
Forgive me for using "echelon" in place of "chevron" in the video. I realized my mistake, and decided "Good enough is good enough" and "Good is good, but done is better." So rather than redoing the recording I am sending it out as-is with the hope you will forgive my misuse of the terms.
Bill Vilberg, bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255
http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more
This is probably too deep an analysis of Blackboard, Inc. for many of you, since you just use Blackboard and are not interested in the company itself. Some of you may find it interesting. I did.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/290299-blackboard-a-tale-of-2-companies
Don't expect any reaction from me. We are still trying to live through the start of the fall semester. We had almost twice as many requests for assistance (tickets) this August as we had last August. Some of that is attributable to the upgrade, some to problems with our snapshot process, some to better ways to offer support, but most of the increase is because more and more faculty are taking advantage of the availability of the Blackboard Learn 9.1 system. Good job!
Bill Vilberg, bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255
http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more
The assessment problem has been resolved. Everyone should be able to get to assessments now.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
Our Blackboard system is managed by the Blackboard company. At 5:00 pm yesterday I informed them of the problem accessing assessments from some browsers on some computers. At 11:00 they had resolved the problem. They discovered an add-on (Building Block) that was somehow causing the problem. We were not using its features any more, so the make it unavailable and verified that everything was working. I just verified it myself with three different browsers on both Mac and Windows. They are all working at this point.
If you see any errors or anything else that we need to know about, PLEASE click on the "Help" link at the top of any Blackboard page and fill out a ticket to let us know about the issue. You are using the system in ways that we may not have thoroughly tested. Let us know about problems so that we can get them resolved for you and for everyone else. Thanks.
Bill Vilberg, bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255
http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more
If you have online quizzes or tests, stay tuned for more information. We have generated a ticket with Blackboard and will follow up with them on tomorrow and keep you posted.
Bill Vilberg
Hello Bb Users,
On July 5th, the University of Miami upgraded Blackboard, the class site system, to Version 9.1. The new version has been designed to increase student engagement and faculty efficiency.
== FACE TO FACE TRAINING SESSIONS ==
To help with the transition to the new system, we have scheduled multiple training sessions. "Getting Comfortable with Blackboard 9.1" is designed for people who have used Blackboard 8.0 and need to quickly get up to speed on 9.1. "Introduction to Blackboard" is designed for people who have not used Blackboard before and need to start at the beginning. Multiple offerings of both trainings are available.
See the schedule and register for a training session at http://iacevents.org
== ON-LINE VIDEO ==
We have also created a nine minute video to explain the six major new features in this new version. This video will help you quickly get started with your class site, if you had experience with Blackboard 8.0.
View the video at: http://snurl.com/sixthings
These six important features are covered in the video:
1. The new "Edit" button
2. The new "Hide and Show Control Panel" button
3. The new "Chevrons" or "Contextual Menus"
4. The new "Control Panel"
5. The new "Drag and Drop" reordering
6. The new "Create Menu" button
== CONTACT THE HELP DESK ==
Our help desk team is available to answer any of your questions. We can be reached by phone at 305-284-3949 or by email at blackboardhelp@miami.edu.
Let us know what we can do to help you use Blackboard at its fullest.
Blackboard Support Team: Bill, Alex, Rick, and Kelley Instructional Advancement Center
305-284-3949
Hello Bb Users,
Please be informed there are some important maintenances and upgrades coming up. Here is a list and dates for them:
· ARES Course Reserve Upgrade and Maintenance
The library Course Reserve (Ares) service will be temporarily unavailable between 1:00 pm -5pm on Aug. 10th due to a system upgrade.
· SafeAssign Upgrade and Maintenance
Blackboard is upgrading SafeAssign so that it will increase the reliability and performance of the SafeAssign product.
The SafeAssign service will be unavailable on Saturday August 13, 2011 from 8:00 AM US Eastern (GMT -4) until Saturday August 13, 2011 at 11:59 PM US Eastern (GMT-4).
During this outage, SafeAssign will be unavailable. End-users will not be able to submit papers through SafeAssign during the planned downtime and will receive an error message if they attempt to do so. SafeAssign Originality Reports will not be available to Instructors or Students during the planned downtime, nor will Instructors be able to access SafeAssign DirectSubmit.
If you have question, please feel free to contact our Blackboard help desk by calling 305-284-3949 or by email at blackboardhelp@miami.edu .
Sincerely,
Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949
Hello Bb Users,
In July, the Blackboard class web site system at UM was upgraded from 8.0 to 9.1. This is a major improvement in the interface and workflow of the system.
The Instructional Advancement Center will provide training sessions on the Gables Campus for people who are already familiar with Blackboard 8.0 and need to learn how to work in Blackboard 9.1.
We are also offering complete training on 9.1 for people who have NOT used Blackboard before. These training classes are offered before and during the fall semester. Please visit our events page http://www.iacmiami.org , click on upcoming events and register for a training session that is convenient for you.
Classes are also offered on the Medical Campus by appointment 305-284-2008
For additional information please contact Kelley Seaman 305-284-2008 or k.seaman@miami.edu
Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949
Hello Bb Users,
Please be informed the classes for Fall 2011 are now available under “My Current Courses”.
If you have any question or concern, call the blackboard help desk at 305-284-3949 or email at blackboardhelp@miami.edu
Thanks,
Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949
Bill
If you see problems, or have questions, let us know. I will be monitoring my email overnight. From 9-5 on Tuesday, call the Blackboard Help Desk at 305-284-3949 with any questions.
If you have not gone to a Blackboard 9.1 upgrade training, and are using the system NOW in a class, see if you can sign up for one of the upcoming trainings on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will really make the migration easier for you. You can find the available times at the http://iacenvets.org web page. No need to log in. Just look in the upcoming events and click on the event to register.
More dates and times will be added soon for people getting ready for the fall semester.
You Blackboard team,
Rick Ramos
Bill Vilberg
Alex Zaldivar
We are waiting for them to hand the system over to us so that we can customize and configure it. Then it will be released for your use. I will keep you informed of developments.
Bill Vilberg, 786-250-2255, http://vilberg.com
Bill Vilberg - bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255
http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more
If you cannot see this email, click or copy and paste in your browser the following link: http://www6.miami.edu/bb/helpdesk/email_upgrade/upgrade%20announcement%20email.htm
Dear Bb Users
I have some exciting news. We will be upgrading to Blackboard Learn™, Release 9.1 over the 4th of July weekend. Here are just a few things that are built into Release 9.1:
In Release 9.1, exciting new social learning and teaching tools foster more logical, visually impactful, and active learning opportunities for students, helping them stay connected to their educational experience 24 hours a day. Features like wiki’s, gradable blogs, and Mashups are part of Release 9.1.
New capabilities in Release 9.1 will save educators and organizational leaders’ time and effort, making it easier to focus on student achievement and retention. Enhanced grading workflow, an assessment manager, and learning modules for course organization allow instructors to be more efficient.
Blackboard is offering more assistance than ever before to help us better understand how to take advantage of all the new features in Release 9.1. A couple of the valuable new resources that you may be interested in checking out are:
• A New On-Demand Learning Center with free access to video quick tutorials and Getting Started Guide
• The University of Miami Blackboard Help Site with links to Blackboard's video quick tutorials and more: http://iacinfo.org/index.php?title=Blackboard_Course_Management_System
Please take some time to look at the attached “What’s New in Release 9.1” brochure. It will give you some more detail about the innovative new features we are about to experience.
Regards,
The UM Blackboard Support Team
Rick Ramos, Blackboard User Support Manager
Alex Zaldivar, Blackboard System Manager
Bill Vilberg, Director of Instructional Advancement
305-284-3949
If you cannot see this email, click or copy and paste in your browser the following link: http://www6.miami.edu/bb/helpdesk/email_upgrade/upgrade%20announcement%20email.htm
Dear Bb Users
I have some exciting news. We will be upgrading to Blackboard Learn™, Release 9.1 over the 4th of July weekend. Here are just a few things that are built into Release 9.1:
In Release 9.1, exciting new social learning and teaching tools foster more logical, visually impactful, and active learning opportunities for students, helping them stay connected to their educational experience 24 hours a day. Features like wiki’s, gradable blogs, and Mashups are part of Release 9.1.
New capabilities in Release 9.1 will save educators and organizational leaders’ time and effort, making it easier to focus on student achievement and retention. Enhanced grading workflow, an assessment manager, and learning modules for course organization allow instructors to be more efficient.
Blackboard is offering more assistance than ever before to help us better understand how to take advantage of all the new features in Release 9.1. A couple of the valuable new resources that you may be interested in checking out are:
• A New On-Demand Learning Center with free access to video quick tutorials and Getting Started Guide
• The University of Miami Blackboard Help Site with links to Blackboard's video quick tutorials and more: http://iacinfo.org/index.php?title=Blackboard_Course_Management_System
Please take some time to look at the attached “What’s New in Release 9.1” brochure. It will give you some more detail about the innovative new features we are about to experience.
Regards,
The UM Blackboard Support Team
Rick Ramos, Blackboard User Support Manager
Alex Zaldivar, Blackboard System Manager
Bill Vilberg, Director of Instructional Advancement
305-284-3949
If the outage caused problems and you need our help, please call 8-3949 or 305-284-3949 off campus.
Bill Vilberg, bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255
http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more
"Blackboard Managed Hosting is currently experiencing an unexpected event at the Data Center that is affecting multiple clients. It appears that your institution is affected by this problem. While there is currently no ETA for resolution, Blackboard Engineers are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible"
We will keep you informed.
Bill Vilberg
8-3944 or 786-250-2255
Bill
8-3944 or 786-250-2255
> http://www.cnbc.com/id/42667338?__source=yahoo|headline|quote|text|&par=yahoo
Bill Vilberg - bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255
http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more
Someone from Instructure will be on campus this THURSDAY to do demos for faculty focus groups. There will be two sessions, one from 12:30 pm to 1:45 pm and a second one from 2:00 pm to 3:15 pm. Since you have experience with Blackboard, it would be great if you could attend one of the sessions and compare Instructure Canvas to Bb.
To register for either session (registration is required) go to the http://iacevents.org web page.
To learn more about Instructrue Canvas, go to http://goo.gl/HV5Yv for information from outside of Instructure, including a link to a YouTube video, or go to http://www.instructure.com for material from instrcuture.
I hope a number of you will be able to sign up for one or the other session. You feedback will greatly influence our future plans.
Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
786-250-2255
http://iacinfo.org - Access to the information you need, WHEN YOU NEED IT.
In some cases we just need a group of people for opinions and ideas. In other cases we will ask a few people to get together as a focus group to look at something and provide feedback. This will NOT be a major time sink. If should take less than 30 minutes a week, unless you agree to be in a focus group. Those take an hour and 15 minutes.
We are looking for a range of users from beginners who use Backboard very little to people who are using multiple aspects of Blackboard as part of the student's learning experience. Over the summer participation will be almost exclusively via email or other electronic form, so you don't need to make any commitment to be in the heat and humidity of Miami all summer long.
If you are willing to be on the advisory committee, please reply to this message and I will be in touch with you. We would like about 30-40 advisors, so the load can be spread around a group of people. Please volunteer if you can.
Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
786-250-2255
http://iacinfo.org - Access to the information you need, WHEN YOU NEED IT.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
If you have any serious problem with Blackboard being upgraded (and therefor unavailable) the weekend of July 2-3, 2011, please let me know NOW.
DETAILS:
Our Blackboard system is scheduled to be upgraded from 8.0 to 9.1 on Saturday, July 2nd, and Sunday, July 3rd of this year. That is the first weekend of Summer School 2. Our plan is to take the system down, have Blackboard upgrade it, and bring it right back up. Since the 4th is a holiday, that should give us some time in case we need it, before students will hit it on the 5th. The system will be completely unavailable during the upgrade. Faculty using the system will want to review their class sites on the 4th or early on the 5th to make sure everything is correct.
This will be an "in place" upgrade. All courses, accounts, content, grades, etc., will be there when the upgrade is completed. The two things that will happen are: (1) the system will be down on July 2nd and 3rd and (2) the system will come up with the new Blackboard 9.1 interface. Some things will look different and, especially for the instructors, some things will work differently. It will be better, MUCH better, than the current system.
Having been a faculty member years ago, I know how frustrating it can be to have something change and have to adapt to it. We will do everything that we can to make the change go as smoothly as possible. We will have an on-line course to certify people who want to learn all about version 9.1. We will have videos for people who just want to know how to do certain things. We will have training sessions where we demonstrate how to do things and then you can try it yourself. We will have handouts that cover certain common tasks. We will have special sessions just to show the three or four major differences between 9.1 and 8.0. We will have people standing by as soon as the system comes up on the 3rd to work with you and explain or resolve anything that you need.
We selected July 2-3 after careful review of alternatives. We can't do it between the spring and SS1 terms because there is only one day between them. Same thing between SS1 and SS2. There are two weeks between SS2 and the start of the fall semester, but I have a standing rule that we won't make changes to Blackboard during the two weeks before fall semester starts. That is the time that most faculty are working to create syllabi and get their class web sites set up on Blackboard. I won't make any changes then unless they are absolutely required for security or to fix some issue. SS1 has many more classes than SS2 so it would be better to do it during SS2 rather than SS1. It will still have an impact, but not as great. We have programs such as the Global Academy and EMBA that are year round, so no matter when we do the upgrade they will be affected. We hope that getting it done in two days will not adversely affect those programs. We also hope that by making the announcement as early as possible, they will be able to make alternative plans, if necessary. Given our analysis, we came to the conclusion that July 2-3, the first weekend of SS2, is the best time to do it.
So, if you have any serious problem with Blackboard being upgraded (and therefor being unavailable) the weekend of July 2-3, 2011, please let me know NOW.
Lots more information will follow. Once the date is decided, we can move ahead with other things.
Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
786-250-2255
http://iacinfo.org - Access to the information you need, WHEN YOU NEED IT.
In order to support the EMBA class schedule, we have added to Blackboard the Summer 1 and Summer 2 classes for 2011. The 2011 Summer 1 classes (-113) have been added to your "My Current Courses" list, if you are teaching any of these and they have been entered into the course registration system. The 2011 Summer 2 classes (-114) are available from your "Courses" tab on Blackboard, with the same restrictions. You may begin setting them up at your pleasure.
Bill Vilberg
----- Call our Blackboard Help Desk (305-284-3949) for assistance -----
Blackboard continues to be used at UM by an incredible number of students and faculty. For example here are some numbers from this week.
--> People who logged in on Tuesday: 8,756
If one person logged in multiple times, that person is counted ONCE in this report. Given the fact that Blackboard is used predominately by undergraduates, and that we have around 10,000 undergraduates, that is an amazing number, in my opinion.
--> Assessments taken on Tuesday: 4.318
This is the total number of assessments submitted. A student who is taking a self-assessment, and allowed multiple attempts, would increase this number once for each attempt. It is exciting to see how many of you are using the assessment tool in Blackboard as part of your course design.
--> Discussion Board posts in the past week: 1,938
Almost 2,000 posts are added to the Blackboard discussion boards in class web sites every week.
Congratulations to all of you for the excellent use you are making of the Blackboard class web site system at the University of Miami. You should be proud of these numbers. If you get the chance, please share them with your colleagues. There are still some people at UM who don't know what Blackboard is, or assume that no one is using it. These numbers tell a different story. The numbers might convince some people to consider using Blackboard or to begin using it in new ways.
If you are interested in learning to use assessments, discussion boards, or any other exciting part of the Blackboard system, please call the Blackboard Help Desk at 305-284-4949. The wonderful people there will be more than happy to help you
Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
786-250-2255
http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more
Hello Bb Users,
Blackboard has fixed the issue with the safe assignment and you should now be able to review the reports.
Please give us a call if you are experiencing any problem at 305-284-3949
Thank you,
Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949
Hello Bb Users,
Blackboard will reboot the Safe Assign Server tomorrow morning between 1AM and 2AM. You will still be able to access Blackboard but some tools such as collaboration will not be available.
Please call the Blackboard Help Desk if you have any question at 305-284-3949.
Sincerely,
Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949
Hello Bb Users,
The problem with SafeAssign has not been fixed yet and Blackboard explained that it will require a reboot of the server. They have a planned maintenance window set for Friday morning but we are trying to get it done tonight.
We will continue to update you if anything new comes up.
We again apologize for the inconvenience,
Sincerely,
Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949
Hello Bb Users,
The safe assignment tool is still not operational. Blackboard is working to resolve the issue.
We will let you know once the service is back up.
We apologize for any inconvenience.
Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949
Bb Users,
Please be informed SafeAssignment is generating an error when trying to submit or view a paper. The issues is not specific to the University of Miami, other Universities are affected as well.
Blackboard is working to get the service restored as soon as possible.
We will keep you informed of any update.
We apologize for the inconvenience,
Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949
I just received word of a webinar on the Respondus Lockdown Browser. We have a site license for this browser at UM. You can set a quiz, test, or self-assessment in Blackboard so that it can only be taken in the Lockdown Browser. While the Lockdown Browser is in use the computer cannot go to other pages, print the test, copy the text, or do other similar things. It is not perfect, since the student can have another computer that they use to look up answers, or even use a smart phone, but it helps. And it means that everyone is using the same browser for the activity, which reduces the number of problems that might occur.
If you are interested in learning more about the Respondus Lockdown Browser, watch the video we have posted at http://tinyurl.com/lockdownvideo or else sign up for one of the webinars from the Respondus company as listed below.
Bill Vilberg, bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255
----- BEGIN INSERT -----
Hello,
Join this free, live demonstration and learn how to reduce student cheating during online tests in Blackboard, ANGEL, Moodle, or Desire2Learn. See why so many institutions are using Respondus LockDown Browserwith online tests to prevent students from printing, copying, going to other URLs, accessing other applications, or exiting the test before it has been submitted.
Introduction to Respondus LockDown Browser (45 minutes)
- Tuesday, February 1st at 4 pm ET (1 pm PT) – Register
- Wednesday, February 2nd at 1 pm ET (10 am PT) – Register
Space is limited for each session, so register soon!
For additional information on Respondus LockDown Browser, visit our website at http://www.respondus.com/lockdown.
Regards,
The Team at Respondus
www.respondus.com
----- END INSERT -----
We recently celebrated Jennifer Clister's fourth year here at UM as manager of the Blackboard system. It is with mixed feelings that I tell you that she is leaving to take a job at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. as of the end of January.
She has done an incredible job here, so it will be impossible to replace her with anyone nearly as competent. I am certain of that, since, in the short term, I will be assuming her duties. She has taken on a wide range of tasks and done them impeccably. We will miss her greatly.
JOY: Her husband is already in D.C. at his new job there, and Jennifer is anxious to join him. She has a wonderful new position, and I am happy for her. I also am proud to have a UM employee hired at another institution of higher education. One of the ways that our prestige grows at UM is by people learning more about us. Jennifer will be a wonderful ambassador.
I wanted to let you know so that you could share in her joy and perhaps let her know how much we appreciate her work here and how proud we are to have worked with her here at UM.
Have a great semester.
Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
786-250-2255
http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more
Hello Bb Users
We are pleased to announce we have scheduled several Blackboard trainings in the upcoming weeks. For a list of dates, please visit our web page at www.miami.edu/iac then click on “Events”.
If you have any question, feel free to call our help desk line at 305-284-3949 or email us at blackboardhelp@miami.edu
Thanks,
Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949
