Re: [BB] CAS authentication is back

I'm not entirely pleased with the new BB myself. Every time there is an update it seems to get worse (like Facebook?). I wonder about how much we are paying for this product, and how many people are using the fancy features. I think it's worth a collective rethinking.

Dr. Giovanna Pompele

Women's and Gender Studies Program and English Dept.
University of Miami
252 Memorial Drive Ashe Bldg, Rm 321
Coral Gables, FL 33146

305 662 2453

On Sep 19, 2012, at 10:04 PM, Harry, Elizabeth G. wrote:

I agree!

Beth Harry, Ph.D.,

Professor and Chair, Department of Teaching and Learning

Co-Director, Project INCLUDE

School of Education, Merrick Bldg., Room 222

University of Miami, 5202 University Drive

Coral Gables, FL 33124-2040

office: (305)284-5363

fax: (305)284-6998

---

From: UM Blackboard Announcements [BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU] on behalf of Kubalkova, Vendulka [vkubalkova@MIAMI.EDU]
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2012 12:16 PM
To: BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU
Subject: Re: [BB] CAS authentication is back

Dear Colleagues,

I have used BB since it was introduced years ago and in fact two of my classes were some years counted as number 3  and 4 in the total count of the use of BB.  So I was a dedicated user but the the "advances" of the Bb technology has gone beyond my capability. 

So this year I have given up.  Totally.

The thing is completely ridiculous.  It keeps telling me that I don't have admin privileges, or it says error and I write a long letter in announcements and it throws me out - and wipes out the message.  I tried to put up my resume and the format of it was so ridiculous that I deleted it:  a page document was on three lines with the lines going a mile to the right and no visible way of how to format.  I posted a banner  after trying for ages until I figured out that it takes only a png format.

So:  I have given up.  I upload everything in my dropbox for which I pay out of my pocket.  I invite students to participate in it (for free).  I upload materials and they upload their assignments including PP which this BB "Rolls Royce"  I suspect could not handle.

I will use only the function through which I will be emailing to the class and brief announcements to be emailed to the class - brief for fear that the system will kick me out and wipe out the message in the process.  It also took me a while  how to operate the discussion board and blogs which too was shrouded in mystery - I will stop using it and use some other private software if that too somehow packs up.

I long for the return of BB about 5 models ago which was user friendly, did not have all of the tricks which I seriously doubt anybody can use.  I suggest that you do a faculty survey and roll back to a usable version.  and make sure that you ask whether faculty actually use it beyond posting a syllabus.  I urge whoever is in charge to reconsider this annual upgrading since this last version in my view is totally useless.

Thanks

Dr.V.Kubalkova

Professor of International Studies

On Sep 5, 2012, at 11:51 AM, "Ramos, Ricardo" <r.ramos3@MIAMI.EDU> wrote:

Hello Bb Users,

 

CAS is now working and you should be able to log into Blackboard.

 

Thank you,

 

Rick Ramos

Department of Information Technology

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

 

<image001.png>

 

 

Re: [BB] CAS authentication is back

I agree!

Beth Harry, Ph.D.,

Professor and Chair, Department of Teaching and Learning

Co-Director, Project INCLUDE

School of Education, Merrick Bldg., Room 222

University of Miami, 5202 University Drive

Coral Gables, FL 33124-2040

office: (305)284-5363

fax: (305)284-6998

---

From: UM Blackboard Announcements [BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU] on behalf of Kubalkova, Vendulka [vkubalkova@MIAMI.EDU]
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2012 12:16 PM
To: BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU
Subject: Re: [BB] CAS authentication is back

Dear Colleagues,

I have used BB since it was introduced years ago and in fact two of my classes were some years counted as number 3  and 4 in the total count of the use of BB.  So I was a dedicated user but the the "advances" of the Bb technology has gone beyond my capability. 

So this year I have given up.  Totally.

The thing is completely ridiculous.  It keeps telling me that I don't have admin privileges, or it says error and I write a long letter in announcements and it throws me out - and wipes out the message.  I tried to put up my resume and the format of it was so ridiculous that I deleted it:  a page document was on three lines with the lines going a mile to the right and no visible way of how to format.  I posted a banner  after trying for ages until I figured out that it takes only a png format.

So:  I have given up.  I upload everything in my dropbox for which I pay out of my pocket.  I invite students to participate in it (for free).  I upload materials and they upload their assignments including PP which this BB "Rolls Royce"  I suspect could not handle.

I will use only the function through which I will be emailing to the class and brief announcements to be emailed to the class - brief for fear that the system will kick me out and wipe out the message in the process.  It also took me a while  how to operate the discussion board and blogs which too was shrouded in mystery - I will stop using it and use some other private software if that too somehow packs up.

I long for the return of BB about 5 models ago which was user friendly, did not have all of the tricks which I seriously doubt anybody can use.  I suggest that you do a faculty survey and roll back to a usable version.  and make sure that you ask whether faculty actually use it beyond posting a syllabus.  I urge whoever is in charge to reconsider this annual upgrading since this last version in my view is totally useless.

Thanks

Dr.V.Kubalkova

Professor of International Studies

On Sep 5, 2012, at 11:51 AM, "Ramos, Ricardo" <r.ramos3@MIAMI.EDU> wrote:

Hello Bb Users,

 

CAS is now working and you should be able to log into Blackboard.

 

Thank you,

 

Rick Ramos

Department of Information Technology

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

 

<image001.png>

 

 

[BB] Blackboard Manager position is open

Blackboard and Ed-Tech list members,

If you know anyone that you think would be a good fit, the Blackboard Application Manager position at the University of Miami is open. Applications will be taken through Sept 17 or, if not filled by then, until the position is filled. The position is posted at http://www.miami.edu/careers as position #030745. The official title for the position is "System Analyst (Blackboard)." 

UM is a Blackboard managed hosted school of 15,000 students, with 15,000 unique users per week on our Blackboard Learn 9.1 SP 8 system. We started with Blackboard in 1999 and have the Enterprise/Community system. We are looking at adding Collaborate and Content Management. We use Blackboard almost completely for web enhanced courses, not distance learning.

If someone is interested in providing excellent service to an amazing faculty and student body, this may be the opportunity that person is looking for. Thanks for sharing it with anyone you know who might be a good candidate.

Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement Center
Information Technology
University of Miami, FL
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
786-250-2255

Re: [BB] CAS authentication is back

Dear Colleagues,

I have used BB since it was introduced years ago and in fact two of my classes were some years counted as number 3  and 4 in the total count of the use of BB.  So I was a dedicated user but the the "advances" of the Bb technology has gone beyond my capability. 

So this year I have given up.  Totally.

The thing is completely ridiculous.  It keeps telling me that I don't have admin privileges, or it says error and I write a long letter in announcements and it throws me out - and wipes out the message.  I tried to put up my resume and the format of it was so ridiculous that I deleted it:  a page document was on three lines with the lines going a mile to the right and no visible way of how to format.  I posted a banner  after trying for ages until I figured out that it takes only a png format.

So:  I have given up.  I upload everything in my dropbox for which I pay out of my pocket.  I invite students to participate in it (for free).  I upload materials and they upload their assignments including PP which this BB "Rolls Royce"  I suspect could not handle.

I will use only the function through which I will be emailing to the class and brief announcements to be emailed to the class - brief for fear that the system will kick me out and wipe out the message in the process.  It also took me a while  how to operate the discussion board and blogs which too was shrouded in mystery - I will stop using it and use some other private software if that too somehow packs up.

I long for the return of BB about 5 models ago which was user friendly, did not have all of the tricks which I seriously doubt anybody can use.  I suggest that you do a faculty survey and roll back to a usable version.  and make sure that you ask whether faculty actually use it beyond posting a syllabus.  I urge whoever is in charge to reconsider this annual upgrading since this last version in my view is totally useless.

Thanks

Dr.V.Kubalkova

Professor of International Studies

On Sep 5, 2012, at 11:51 AM, "Ramos, Ricardo" <r.ramos3@MIAMI.EDU> wrote:

Hello Bb Users,

 

CAS is now working and you should be able to log into Blackboard.

 

Thank you,

 

Rick Ramos

Department of Information Technology

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

 

<image001.png>

 

 

[BB] CAS authentication is back

Hello Bb Users,

 

CAS is now working and you should be able to log into Blackboard.

 

Thank you,

 

Rick Ramos

Department of Information Technology

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

 

 

 

[BB] CAS authentication problem

Hello Bb users,

 

We are experiencing issues with CAS preventing access to Blackboard. We are working with the UM users support team  to restore service as soon as possible. We will let you know when it is back up.

 

We apologize for the inconvenience.

 

Thanks,

 

Rick Ramos

Department of Information Technology

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

 

 

 

[BB] My Current Courses is fixed

Dear Bb Users,

 

The issue with “My Current Courses” is fixed and you should now be able to see your courses for the current semester.

 

We apologize for the inconvenience it may have caused.

 

Thanks,

 

Rick Ramos

Department of Information Technology

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

 

 

 

[BB] My Current Courses Module

Dear Bb Users

 

The module "My Current Courses" where classes for the current semester are displayed in the Blackboard home tab is not working at this moment. Instead you will see a list of all the courses you are enrolled in Blackboard. We are working to solve this issue as soon as possible.

 

Thank you,

 

Rick Ramos

Department of Information Technology

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

 

 

 

[BB] FW: re: Classroom Technology Training session in Memorial room 115 from 2:20pm - 3:20 pm On Friday August 24th

Dear Blackboard Users:

 

The general purpose classrooms in Memorial, the Learning Center, and the Residential College Classrooms feature some wonderful technology that can be used to enhance teaching. This session will demonstrate the features of the rooms, from the lights and telephone system to the writing tablet and video cameras. All teachers using these rooms are encouraged to attend the scheduled demonstrations.

 

The training session will be in the Dooley Memorial Classroom 115 from 2:20 pm to 3:20 pm, Friday August 24th. For additional information please contact Dale Deas 305-284-3263 or Marie White 305-284-6239.

 

We hope to see you there!

 

Instructional Advancement Center

Blackboard Course Management System

 

 

 

Re: [BB] Classroom Technology Training session in Memorial room 115 from 2:20pm - 3:20 pm

Dear Blackboard Users:

 

The general purpose classrooms in Memorial, the Learning Center, and the Residential College Classrooms feature some wonderful technology that can be used to enhance teaching. This session will demonstrate the features of the rooms, from the lights and telephone system to the writing tablet and video cameras. All teachers using these rooms are encouraged to attend the scheduled demonstrations.

 

The training session will be in the Dooley Memorial Classroom 115 from 2:20 pm to 3:20 pm. For additional information please contact Dale Deas 305-284-3263 or Marie White 305-284-6239.

 

We hope to see you there!

 

Instructional Advancement Center

Blackboard Course Management System

 

 

 

Re: [BB] Set up your Course Site

Actually, we CAN do an augment of a course site that was already merged or vice-versa. Check with Alex.

I think the restriction is that we cannot augment the same course into two different master sites. So if Accounting has already set up an augment to put all of their sites into a master site, and then SBA wants to put everything in SBA in a master site, it won't work. At least I think that was a real restriction. But we just did both an augment and merge of the same courses for Dr. Ram in Engineering.

-- 

Bill Vilberg

8-3944 or 786-250-2255

On Friday, August 17, 2012 at 3:53 PM, Ramos, Ricardo wrote:

Hello Bb Users,

 

With the beginning of every semester, you might like to have your course to be setup in a specific way. Below are services we offer for your courses, please take a look at them and let us know if you are interested in any of them:

1.      Course Merge

If you teach multiple sections of a course, it may be easier to combine them into one Blackboard course site, rather than have a separate site for each section. With the merged site, you can post your course material once rather than posting it in every section's site separately. To have us create a merged site, request a "course merge".

Note: Access to the original courses site will be lost so make sure to let us know if there is any material you would like to copy over to the newly created merged site. User records, such as discussion board posts, grades, and assessment attempts will not be copied.

2.      Course Augment

There is also the option to do a "course augment" which will maintain all of your original course sites and add one additional master site with all of the students from your various sections. With the "course augment" option you can use the master site to post course material in one location, and reserve the individual course sites for assignments or tests specific to each course section.

 Note: We cannot do an augment of a course site that was already merged or vice-versa.

3.     Course Copy

  If you have material from a prior semester that you would like to copy to the new semester, you can call us to do a course copy for you or you can follow the steps at the link below to do it yourself:

http://goo.gl/uq1qU

Note: You need to be enrolled as an instructor in both courses sites in order to perform a Course Copy. User records, such as discussion board posts, grades, and assessment attempts will not be copied.

4.      Teaching Assistant enrollment

Teaching assistants are not added automatically to your class. They have to be entered manually. You can have us do it for you or you can do it yourself using the instructions at the following link:

http://goo.gl/ON85r

Please feel free to contact us for any issues you might have. Our business hours are from Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and our phone number is 305-284-3949 or you can email us at blackboardhelp@miami.edu

 

Rick Ramos

Department of Information Technology

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

 

 

 

[BB] Set up your Course Site

Hello Bb Users,

 

With the beginning of every semester, you might like to have your course to be setup in a specific way. Below are services we offer for your courses, please take a look at them and let us know if you are interested in any of them:

1.      Course Merge

If you teach multiple sections of a course, it may be easier to combine them into one Blackboard course site, rather than have a separate site for each section. With the merged site, you can post your course material once rather than posting it in every section’s site separately. To have us create a merged site, request a "course merge".

Note: Access to the original courses site will be lost so make sure to let us know if there is any material you would like to copy over to the newly created merged site. User records, such as discussion board posts, grades, and assessment attempts will not be copied.

2.      Course Augment

There is also the option to do a "course augment" which will maintain all of your original course sites and add one additional master site with all of the students from your various sections. With the "course augment" option you can use the master site to post course material in one location, and reserve the individual course sites for assignments or tests specific to each course section.

 Note: We cannot do an augment of a course site that was already merged or vice-versa.

3.     Course Copy

  If you have material from a prior semester that you would like to copy to the new semester, you can call us to do a course copy for you or you can follow the steps at the link below to do it yourself:

http://goo.gl/uq1qU

Note: You need to be enrolled as an instructor in both courses sites in order to perform a Course Copy. User records, such as discussion board posts, grades, and assessment attempts will not be copied.

4.      Teaching Assistant enrollment

Teaching assistants are not added automatically to your class. They have to be entered manually. You can have us do it for you or you can do it yourself using the instructions at the following link:

http://goo.gl/ON85r

Please feel free to contact us for any issues you might have. Our business hours are from Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and our phone number is 305-284-3949 or you can email us at blackboardhelp@miami.edu

 

Rick Ramos

Department of Information Technology

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

 

 

 

[BB] New first year students are NOT in Blackboard at this time

Blackboard users,

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

If you send an email today from your Blackboard class site to all the students in that class site, first year students who are new to UM will not receive the email. If you wait and send the email this coming Monday, everyone in your class site at that time (which will then include the first year students who are new to UM) will receive the eMail.

BACKGROUND

New first year students at UM see their schedules on MyUM two days before the first day of fall classes. Blackboard matches that release date. New first year students will be placed into their Blackboard course sites on the Sunday night/Monday morning before classes begin.

A difference between MyUM and Blackboard is what you can see. On MyUM you can see the class rosters, as I understand it, before the students can see their schedules. On Blackboard you can see the students in your class sites at the same time that students can see their schedules. So if you want to see who is in your class right now, including new first year students, go to My UM. If you want to send an email to everyone in your class, and you have any new first year students, wait until Monday to send the email.

-- 

Bill Vilberg

8-3944 or 786-250-2255

[BB] Emails re Lore

Blackboard users,

A message about the Lore learning management system (LMS) is being sent to professors at UM. I have included a copy below. Lore is in no way associated with UM. We are still using Blackboard as our LMS. The goal of the message, I think, is to make it look like we switched to Lore. We didn't.

Bill Vilberg - bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 8-3944

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lore <team@lore-mail.com>
Reply-To: Lore <team@lore-mail.com>
Date: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 4:17 
Subject: ________ , welcome to Lore

Dear ________ , Lore is a new alternative to learning management systems that's now available at University of Miami. It's free and this spring professors at over 600 schools used it for their courses. Like well-known social networks, class discussions on Lore are lightweight and fun. Students have given professors feedback that it helps make courses memorable. On Lore you also have tools for grading, sharing course materials, and keeping a calendar that are incredibly easy to use. Right now Lore is only available by invitation but but we're starting to open access for the fall. If you'd like to give it a try, your invitation is here. Hope you like it — The Lore Team

Click here to unsubscribe. Lore, PO Box 1018, New York, NY, 10013.

[BB] Blackboard New Look and Feel!

Hello Bb Users,

 

On August 8^th 2012, Blackboard at the University of Miami will have a new look to take full advantage of our recent upgrade to Service Pack 8 (SP8). The new version will improve the experience for students, and instructors.

 

FACE TO FACE TRAINING SESSIONS

 

To help with the transition to the new look and feel, we have scheduled multiple training sessions. "Blackboard Upgrade Information Session "New Look and Feel"" is designed for people who have used Blackboard and need to quickly get up to speed with SP8. "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==

 

Blackboard has created several videos to explain the new features and improvements in this new version.

 

-New Themes (Video Demo: http://goo.gl/NKd1h) (Help Page: http://goo.gl/R1Z2b)

 

- Quick Setup Guide and Course Structures (Help Page: http://goo.gl/ZoMTD )

- Course-to-Course Navigation (Video Demo: http://goo.gl/QTuok) (Help Page: http://goo.gl/hnIXZ)

- Activity Reports (Video Demo: http://goo.gl/dCcSP) (Help Page: http://goo.gl/w9SiU)

- Improved Adaptive Release: (Video Demo: http://goo.gl/R7Jrx) (Help Page: http://goo.gl/ReGpc)

 

- Timed Assessments Enhancement: (Video Demo: http://goo.gl/yBoVy) (Help Page: http://goo.gl/kvDcu)

 

- Automated Re-grading: (Video Demo: http://goo.gl/qVmK1) (Help Page: http://goo.gl/ZCt4o)

- Negative Marking: (Video Demo: http://goo.gl/gpOl0) (Help Page: http://goo.gl/vWv4s)

- Interactive Rubrics: (Video Demo: http://goo.gl/qX6cd) (Help Page: http://goo.gl/w0NEM)

 

- Needs Grading Tool Enhancement: (Video Demo: http://goo.gl/oKlg0) (Help Page: http://goo.gl/Ktaol)

==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

 

 

 

Rick Ramos

Department of Information Technology

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

 

 

 

[BB] Internet Explorer 9 problem with UM Blackboard system

Blackboard users,

Based on our current testing, it appears that Internet Explorer 9 cannot be used to login to Blackboard. We are working on this problem. In the meantime, you might try a different browser such as Firefox, Chrome, or Safari.

We will update you tomorrow on the status of this issue.

Bill Vilberg - bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255

http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more

[BB] Blackboard maintenance completed

Dear Faculty,

Please be advised the Blackboard system is now available and you can access it again at https://www.courses.miami.edu

We greatly appreciate your patience,

Thank you,

 

Rick Ramos

Department of Information Technology

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

 

 

[BB] Blackboard maintenance

Dear Faculty,

 

Please be advised the Blackboard system is now unavailable. For updates on the current status go to the following web site: http://upgradenotes.weebly.com/

 

We will inform you if we encounter any issue and another notification will be sent once the system will be back up.

 

We greatly appreciate your patience,

 

Thank you,

 

Rick Ramos

Department of Information Technology

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

 

 

 

 

[BB] Maintenance on the Blackboard System

Dear Faculty,

 

Please be advised the Blackboard system at the University of Miami will NOT be available starting Friday July 20^th 2012 at 10 PM, It will be back on-line on Monday, July 23, by 7:00 am. We will be performing an upgrade of our current version of Blackboard SP5 (service pack 5) to SP8. The look and feel will remain the same at this moment.

 

We will send a notification before the system goes down and once the system comes back up. For updates on the status go to this web site: http://upgradenotes.weebly.com/

 

Thank you,

 

 

Rick Ramos

Department of Information Technology

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

 

 

 

[BB] Subscribe

 

 

Barbara A. Wood, MLIS

Librarian Assistant Professor

Department of Health Informatics

Calder Memorial Library

University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

P. O. Box 061950 (R950)

Miami, FL  33101

Phone: (305) 243-3999

bwood@med.miami.edu