In this post, Dr. Jerry Johnson, professor in the School of Social Work, was interviewed by Kim Kenward, Hunter Bridwell, and Noah Campbell from the eLearning Team.
As a social work instructor who was convinced back in March that he wasn’t going to be able to teach online, Dr. Johnson, enrolled in a Foundations of Online and Hybrid Course Development course in May and worked with Kim Kenward, to envision how technology could be leveraged in his teaching.
Over the summer, Hunter Bridwell talked with Dr. Johnson about setting up a variety of digital technologies to create a small, but mighty, home studio above his barn, to help engage with his students in synchronous sessions with Blackboard Collaborate Ultra. Specially, Dr. Johnson uses a remote controlled video camera, a wireless headset, and a good old fashioned whiteboard during his live teaching sessions.
Further, he is also using Panopto to create asynchronous lecture content. Dr. Johnson has also investigated the use of a Swivl device through the Technology Showcase at GVSU.
An institutional dashboard of the overall “health” of the accessibility documents that have been uploaded by faculty into Blackboard at the institutional and course level.
On demand instructor guidance and help information for faculty on how to improve the accessibility of their uploaded files.
Automated conversion of instructor uploaded files into alternative formats for students such as: ePub, electronic braille, audio only, HTML, Tagged PDF, and OCRed PDF.
Since January 1, 2020 through November 23, 2020, here are a few highlights around the use of the system by faculty and students.
Overall Ally Usage
In the Fall semester:
Total Courses 4,135 | Content 451,402 | Accessibility Score 67.3%
Most severe accessibility concern = documents that are not OCRed (14,196).
Alternative Formats
64,650 total downloads of alternative file formats, including: Tagged PDF, HTML, ePub, BeeLine Reader, and audio-only as the top 5 formats.
5,600 courses had alternative file format downloads by students.
Instructor Feedback
942 total fixes by faculty have occurred in 256 courses.
2,865 feedback launches have occurred, providing faculty with feedback.
Teaching at GVSU?
Head on over to our web page for more information and help in creating accessible course content to support inclusive education!
With each new semester, courses are created in Blackboard with a default menu and layout. Faculty can then personalize the menu and layout to meet the needs of their class.
WHAT IS CHANGING?
Beginning in the Winter 2021 semester, the default course layout in Blackboard will be updated.
NOTE: If your school, department, or program has a customized Blackboard course menu, the new default layout will not apply.
WHAT DOES THE NEW LAYOUT LOOK LIKE?
The layout is sorted into functional categories with dividers, along with new “Begin Here” and “Weekly Content” menu items. Sample content (which is hidden from students) is also included to offer effective practice suggestions and faculty guidance.
To best take advantage of this new layout, a hidden to students “Instructor Guide” is readily available on the menu of every course.
Here is a comparison of the OLD and NEW menu in Blackboard:
Provide a clear, consistent, and uniform learner experience.
Reduce cognitive load and to increase ease of navigation for students.
Leverage effective practices and focus on quality design principles through organizations such as Quality Matters and the Online Learning Consortium.
WHEN WILL I SEE THE NEW DEFAULT LAYOUT?
The new layout will appear to all faculty in Winter 2021 courses, which will be available to faculty on November 9.
WILL I SEE ANY CHANGES TO MY CURRENT MENUS?
To ease in the use of course copy and to reduce workload in preparation for the upcoming Winter 2021 semester, please note that EXISTING FALL, SUMMER, and WINTER 2020 courses will have the following 4 menu changes:
Syllabus menu items will change to Syllabus and Schedule
Connect with colleagues and peers from across the nation, pick up good practice ideas for remote/online/hybrid/digital teaching in the Blackboard “Digital Teaching Symposium” on Thursday, Nov 5.
The first GVSU College of Education “BigByte” of the Fall semester was held entirely online, where presenters Suzanne Richards and Ellen Schiller discussed Technology and tips on how to effectively teach remotely and online.
This blog post features Suzanne Richards, Affiliate Professor of Educational Leadership and Counseling for Grand Valley State University’s College of Education.
Big Byte: Positive Remote Teaching Experiences
“Just do it”! – Fear and Fumbling leads to Success
If there is a tag line that I would use in learning to teach online, it is “Just do it”! When I first started teaching online courses, I was soooo worried that my Blackboard site would not be perfect or I would not know what to do during Collaborate or Zoom meetings.
I have learned not to worry so much about those things (I still worry, but not as much) because students will always let me know if I have made an error on Blackboard, then I correct it. In online meetings if I am fumbling with something, students tell me how to fix it. Both of these have happened to me already this semester and I have learned two new things!
The key is to make Blackboard easy to navigate. Make sure it’s clear to students of where to go and what to do – and keep it simple!
– Suzanne Richards
Navigating the Blackboard Learning Platform and Format & Use a GVSU Tech Coach
I have learned that my brain can only process so much at one time or during one semester. Once I repeat Blackboard procedures for a few times I usually can remember them but it is a multi – semester learning process.
Knowing that the tech team in eLearning and Emerging Technologies, specifically Kim Kenward, was assisting me I knew I could not fail. She is still my “go to” every semester and to whom I owe my success. After the first year, I started relaxing with Blackboard, knowing that each semester I would pick up a new skill and not be concerned about not knowing all the aspects or every tool in the system.
Until I needed to know something new or was pushed in a new direction by Kim I could master a few pieces at a time. This allowed me to relax into my own learning process and feel confident with my skill level.
High Trust and Low Stress for Students – It’s about Relationships; Make Blackboard easy to navigate
Students need to know that once they log into Bb for class that I care about them as individuals first and second, that my main goal is for their success. After this, I need to ensure that my Bb site is easy to navigate. Graduate students have very busy lives and they need to know that they can log on to Bb and quickly assimilate the process and procedures for class.During class orientation (first class), I go over the Bb site and show students how to navigate the menu items which they will be using. I record the session for absent students to view at a later date.
I believe that building relationships with students and between students is essential in any course that I teach. My greatest fear in teaching online was not understanding how to create a positive class culture and community. I prided myself in accomplishing that in my face-to-face classes.
Padlet, Flip grid and “Good Things” have assisted in making teaching online more personal. I have developed a system where I create a spreadsheet of student’s names for each class and when I learn something about them personally through Flipgrid or their assignments I add it to the spreadsheet. This enables me to connect names and people.
Personal Development Process – It’s about me to it’s about the Students
As I think about my online teaching journey I can identify a progression of levels of thinking and integration of Blackboard skills.
Year One: Figure out a workable and easy to understand BB format. I use two major areas for students to work with. The first year I used three but now I use two which seems easier to manage.
Objectives: The first box students see which describes the overall learning concepts for that weekly/monthly module.
To Do: The second box starts with a, Welcome to Week #1, and has weekly/monthly module that outlines every step that students need to follow starting with #1 and continuing until all student tasks have been listed for that module. My Blackboard site is quite prescriptive but my students love it because it is easy to read and fail proof when they work through it.
Class Culture and Community: I used Padlet for students to create personal biographies. I was insecure at first and did not want to use videos so I used Padlet.
Students also were asked to write a “Good Thing” about themselves weekly so that we could get to know each other. A critical piece of success to this was my emailing each student the first week to comment on their biography thus establishing an initial personal contact.
During the semester, not always weekly, I would comment on their “Good Things” or have other students comments on their “Good Things” posts so that we could celebrate the positive things in their lives and get to know each other.
Mid-Semester/End of Course Feedback Surveys: An important factor to online teaching is having students complete anonymous surveys to get timely feedback for making course adjustments to content and Bb format/procedures. Each semester I receive a comment(s) that when implemented improves my online teaching skills.
Professor Contact and Availability: Students need to know that I am available if they have questions or need assistance. I provide them with my cell phone number and email. Most of the time students respect the time/day that they call me.
Year Two and Beyond: Integrated two-way communication.
Discussion Board and Journals: Feeling more comfortable with the Blackboard format and with how the coursework integrated into Bb, I added these two components which added more depth to the course and a way for students to interact with the content information, each other and their personal application of material/topics.
Professor Videos: As I have gotten more comfortable with my own skills and having my face on camera, I am creating more videos with Panopto to share with students. This year I am challenging myself to find aesthetically pleasing backgrounds for my videos and appropriate lighting.
Class Culture and Community: Class culture and community is critical. Replacing Padlet with Flipgrid for building class culture has had a very positive outcome. Students personalities really come across in their videos.
By the end of the course I am seeing videos with students’ kids, pets, house tours, etc. This is an aspect that I had not even planned on but truly is something that could not be done in face-to-face classes. Students get to see me in my home as well and get a sense for who I am in my home environment.
Students have an opportunity to tell me a good thing about what is happening in their lives and families – and they build relationships and friendships which using Blackboard Collaborate and Flipgrid.
The class is about relationships and not just content.
– Suzanne Richards
Mid-Semester/End of Course Feedback Surveys: Last year I took the end of year course surveys for over a three-year time period and worked with the statistics department to analyze my instructional teaching strategies. The student feedback came from the surveys and was totally separate from the University LIFT student evaluation. The majority of the information was from face to face classes however, this year I am planning on repeating that analysis with my online surveys. Stay tuned!
Two Screen Home Office Set-up: I use two screens plus my lap top. This is truly a game changer.
Moving Forward – Keep learning and persevere!
I am grateful to Grand Valley State University for providing tech support to me as a professor. I can honestly say that without it I could not be successful and I fear what my students would say about their learning experience! I also appreciate the tips I get from colleagues in our meetings to push my thinking and online skill level.
Looking forward to teaching online and learning new skills this year!
ICYMI Here are some highlights from a webinar by Instructional Designer, Kim Kenward, on “Reclaim Time: Design, Grading & Feedback Strategies in using Blackboard”. [View Google Slides from Presentation]
“Students crave online interaction with their instructors.”
– Kim Kenward, Instructional Designer
TIP #1 – Set up an Instructor Facilitation Schedule
Create a schedule for yourself to help manage your time effectively. You can even share this with your students so they know when to expect a reply or a grade to be posted.
Having a schedule set aside for yourself, will save you time in the long run, so that you can focus on tasks for your courses in blocks of time.
TIP #2 – Use Due Dates in Blackboard
Save time and student emails coming in around confusion about an assignment.
Be extremely clear about the assignment, what is due, and where in Bb to submit the assignments.
Be clear about the assignment grading/turnaround time.
Be sure to SET DUE DATES in Blackboard because this helps students as they can view those assignment due dates in their Bb calendar.
When creating and assignment or assessment in Blackboard, be sure to enter the date and time in the DUE DATES section.
Here is an example of a student view (both in the calendar and in the mobile app), when DUE DATES are used by instructors:
TIP #3 – Be Digitally Present for your Students in Blackboard
Keep yourself and your students on schedule!
Create a consistent schedule of when you will be updating “Announcements” each week & coordinate with release of content or weekly folders in Blackboard.
Set clear expectations regarding when you will be present and when you will not.
Set scheduled and recurring times that you can meet for virtual office hours or will be actively checking email (Google document sign-up sheet example).
TIP #4 – Provide Rich Feedback to your Students
Save yourself the email overload… manage assignments and grades in Blackboard! (Do NOT have students email you their assignments!)
Use Blackboard Annotate to provide feedback to students regarding their assignments without having to print, annotate/grade, and re-upload or share with students. Using Annotate, everything is consolidated and in one place. Tablet or iPad Pro users can annotate with a stylus!
The first GVSU College of Education “BigByte” of the Fall semester was held entirely online, where professors Suzanne Richards and Ellen Schiller discussed Technology and tips on how to effectively teach remotely and online.
This blog post features Ellen Schiller, Professor and Unit Head of the Department of Teaching and Learning for Grand Valley State University’s College of Education.
Big Byte: Positive Remote Teaching Experiences
Until this summer, my online instructional experience was limited to using Blackboard as a companion to my face-to-face classes, and for hosting weekly cohort meetings with a small group of GTC interns.
The courses I teach are interactive elementary math and science courses, and not readily conducive to an online format that would make it difficult to use math manipulatives, perform science investigations, and engage in small group hands-on, inquiry-based learning activities.
In preparation for teaching EDI 630 Teaching Math K-8 online this summer, I enrolled in the Foundations of Online Learning course in May, and also participated in six 1.5 hour eLearning and Emerging Technologies webinars in May and June, which were very helpful! These included:
Creating and Facilitating Discussions in Blackboard
Basic and Advanced Panopto workshops
Time Management for Online Learning
Best Practices for Collaborate Ultra
Building Online Community and Instructor Presence
Kim Kenward, Instructional Designer in eLearning and Emerging Technologies, was a lifesaver as I navigated new territory. My goal was to replicate the face-to-face learning experience as much as possible, so the teachers could have exposure to the value of using the math tools and strategies that help elementary children enjoy and access math concepts.
Teaching Tools and Technologies
Here are the key elements I integrated and used:
Document Camera – I learned that we can borrow document cameras for home use, through Vince St. Germain, eLearning and Instructional Technology Specialist in eLearning and Emerging Technologies.
I picked up a brand-new doc cam and hooked it up at home to my GVSU laptop. This was very helpful for showing math game directions, math manipulative use, and problem-solving steps on a horizontal surface – I recorded videos for posting, and also used the doc cam during our synchronous class sessions.
Flipgrid – I used Flipgrid as a short video recording tool for introductions and recording of student-created math games…you can also record response/feedback videos that link to students’ videos, which I did.
Panopto – I used Panopto to record some instructional videos where I appeared on screen, but used this less than the doc cam recording feature, as I was often demonstrating something on a horizontal surface.
Padlet – One of the assignments is to share a math-related website. We used Padlet for doing website tours, and students could view and respond to others’ videos on the Padlet board.
BB Collaborate Ultra – I used Collaborate Ultra for our 3 synchronous class sessions, including breakout rooms, polling, and the chat feature. I also used Collaborate to schedule one-on-one meetings with students to discuss their math unit plans.
Some students scheduled more than one. Most sessions were a half hour long. This was very helpful for building rapport and giving students individualized attention. Some students scheduled repeat sessions, and a few didn’t schedule at all. It was optional, but most took advantage of this.
I created a perpetual Collaborate Ultra session, so it was easy to meet students there at a variety of times, without creating new sessions.
Gradebook – While I’ve used the basic Blackboard Grade Center for many years, for the online course I also used the video and audio feedback feature in Bb gradebook. This was very time efficient, and from the course evaluations, it appears the students felt they were getting more “face time” from me, which felt more authentic. For their major assignment, I utilized the new written feedback tools in Bb.
Student Feedback
The student evaluations were very positive, although several students said they could see how a face-to-face format would enable them to actually work with the manipulatives themselves, play math games with other teachers, and discuss in a more organic way…and they hoped I wouldn’t have to teach the class online again! Students also commented that it was apparent I “did the best I could.”
There were several students who commented that they greatly preferred recording and watching videos and using Padlet to post, as opposed to having Discussion Board threads – I think that may be getting “stale” for students. Some students commented that it can be hard to respond thoughtfully to a classmate’s “so-so” post, and they felt the videos were more rigorous and engaging.
My main take-away from participating in a lot of technology-related PD and building this course from the ground up this summer is that there are a lot of new tools at our disposal, and this is a great time to liven up your courses!
I was starting from scratch in this format, so this challenge really helped me develop new skills and strategies that students seem to find valuable. For those of you who are veterans of online instruction, I encourage you to see what’s out there…we are so lucky to have our instructional designers like Kim!
ICYMI Here are some highlights from a webinar by Instructional Designer, Kim Kenward, on “Approaches and Tools to Better Track Student Performance Online”. [View Google Slides from Presentation]
The key is to keep students organized using Blackboard due dates, engage students with assignment reminders, weekly agendas, regular announcements, and checking in and monitoring your students with tools in Blackboard such as the Retention Center, Performance Dashboard, last login dates etc.
In this post, we have provided a variety of tips and tools you can use to help your students be successful in your course!
#1 – Use Weekly Announcements and Be Electronically Present
Students thrive on regular check ins, communications, reminders, and prompts, especially in online and hybrid courses. Why? Because they are often juggling many courses, a variety of deadlines, and tasks and to dos.
Create a regular communication cadence or rhythm. Each Monday morning, create a Blackboard Announcement and Email this to students. In this regular, weekly communication agenda, include what topics are to be covered, what is due and when, and where to turn in or complete the learning activity or assessment.
Here are some sample course communications:
Be present by participating yourself as an instructor. Even if you are logging into Blackboard and grading or managing your course, your students may not “see” you.
Use Blackboard Private Journal or a Google Form for “End of Week Exit Tickets” (eg. what did you learn this week, how did you learn it, what questions do you still have or what topics are unclear, what goal do you have for next week etc.).
#2 – Use Blackboard Due Dates
Of critical importance to students is the use of due dates. Please don’t scroll through when creating an assignment or quiz in Blackboard without setting a due date. Why? Because due dates help students manage their time more effectively. In addition, when using the Blackboard calendar, My Grades (upcoming view), or the Blackboard mobile app, students are reminded about upcoming due dates. This helps students by organizing their time.
What you can do to help students:
Do not scroll by and skip adding a due date in Blackboard! Take a moment to add the date and time. Your students will thank you for this!
#3 – Leverage the Last Login in Grade Center, Performance Dashboard, Item Statistics, Course Reports, and the Retention Centerto Monitor and Engage with Students
What you can do to help students:
Use the last login date in the Grade Center to quickly email students that haven’t accessed your course.
Leverage the “Send Reminder” feature in the Grade Center to quickly email all students that have not submitted their assignment.
Check out the Performance Dashboard to see levels of student engagement across the course. Use these learning analytics data to engage and communicate with your students.
Looking for ways to leverage digital technology to connect and engage with students?
Here are 5 ways to build up student engagement in online teaching with Blackboard!
#1 – Blackboard Announcements, Email, and Discussions
There are a variety of strategies to use in making yourself visible to students in your Blackboard course. Tools such as: Announcements, Email, and Discussion Boards provide digital ways for you to connect with students, send reminders, and offer encouragement. You can also bring video in via Panopto and embed these in your communications.
Tips: Be digitally visible to students. Respond to student e-mail within 24 hours. Facilitate multiple forums of communication with students. Be available electronically and in person, and inform students of availability, office hours, etc.
#2 – Blackboard Audio/Video Feedback
Tips: Strive for effective use of e-mail, assignments, gradebook, etc. to give students prompt, constructive and meaningful feedback. Regularly monitor classroom environment (in person and online) to ensure student concerns are addressed and quality timely feedback is provided.
In Blackboard, you can record audio and video assignment feedback for each student. This feedback can be highly personalized, allowing faculty to build rapport and connection with students.
#3 – Blackboard Collaborate
Teach synchronously and conduct LIVE virtual office hours through Blackboard Collaborate. (Zoom, Teams, and Google Meet, is also available at GVSU.)
Collaborate provides opportunities for:
Online Lectures
Office Hours
Live Guest Speakers
Interviews
Advising
Study Sessions
Small Group Projects
and more!
#4 – Flipgrid
Flipgrid can be an effective tool to use as an icebreaker for students to get to know one another and to feel like part of a learning community. In a nutshell, it works like a video-based discussion board.
#5 – Panopto
Panopto is GVSU’s enterprise academic video streaming platform that is integrated with Blackboard. The digital studio provides faculty support in creating lightboard videos, screencast recordings, lecture content, etc.
With Panopto you can:
Create embedded video orientations, welcome messages, or opening each content/module/week with a personalized message.
eLearning Technologies @GVSU 