Blackboard 9.1
Presented by:
Kim Shaver
Associate Director of Educational Technology
Assisted by:
Alicia Harkless, Educational Technology Specialist, Troy University
Gayle Blodgett, Instructional Technologist, Illinois Central College
Blackboard 9.1
Schedule of Events
– Blackboard System will be down between Term 4
& Term 5, May 19th – 20th , for pre-maintenance in
preparation for the upgrade to 9.1 in July.
– Blackboard training for 9.1 will begin in May and
continue through the summer.
– Blackboard System will be down between Term 5
& Term 1, July 28th – 30th , for the upgrade to
version 9.1.
Blackboard 9.1
What’s New?
– The new 9.1 version of Blackboard features fewer
clicks to navigate and to complete course setup
options.
– It offers new and improved social learning tools
such as blogs, wikis, and journals, easier
navigation, and other Web 2.0 technologies that
allow for greater interactivity and collaboration.
Blackboard 9.1
New Interface
“My Dashboard” tab is a new option that students can choose to display when they
login. The main “Blackboard Page” is still available for students to toggle back and forth.
Toggle between
main page and
new Dashboard
Main Blackboard Page View
New Dashboard View
Blackboard 9.1
Edit Mode
Toggle between main
page and new
Dashboard
Drag & Drop
Edit Mode
Blackboard 9.1
Edit Mode
– The most important detail instructors need to
know about Blackboard 9.1 is where to find the
“Edit Mode” button.
– This is a toggle button that is located in the
upper-right hand corner of each course area.
– With Edit Mode “ON” you can easily manage
course content.
– With Edit Mode “OFF” you see your course in
student view.
Blackboard 9.1
Improved Course Management
– Course content creation and editing tools are embedded throughout the
course and no longer require the instructor to access the Control Panel.
Instructors click on the Edit Mode switch to make changes from the
course home page.
– All options in the Control Panel are also available from the main Course
Menu.
– Instructors can use the drag and drop feature to
manage their course menu.
– Course menu items that do not contain any
content are automatically hidden from
Click on the drop
student view but are visible to instructors down arrows to
expand the menu
and see the various
within the “Edit Mode.”
options available
under each area.
Blackboard 9.1
Grade Center
•
There is little change in the way the Grade Center operates.
•
Changes have been made to allow instructors to grade items as they are viewed in
the content areas without having to go back and forth between the assignments and
the Grade Center.
•
Student grades now remain
in the Grade Center even
after the student is disabled
from Blackboard.
Instructors can enter results,
scores, percentages, & other
forms of grading into the
Grade Center spreadsheet.
Grade Center loads faster.
Grade Center now supports
average and minimum &
maximum grade calculations.
•
•
•
Blackboard 9.1
Assignment Feature
• There is no Digital Dropbox option in 9.1.
(instructors will still be able to access the DDB in older courses through a link)
• Improved Assignment Feature
– Students can now self enroll in groups and submit projects
as a group, allowing the instructor to grade assignments as
a group.
– Students can submit multiple attempts of the same
assignment. Ex. the student can submit a draft and then a
final document and the instructor can provide feedback for
both and grades for both.
Blackboard 9.1
Uploading Content
The “Create Assessment” menu allows
you to link to or create graded items in
Blackboard, such as tests and
assignments
To upload a
document,
click on “Build
Content” next
select “Item
Control Panel
The Control Panel has been changed in terms of organization. Functions are grouped into
eight categories (My Content, Course Tools, Evaluation, Grade Center, Users and Groups,
Customization, Packages and Utilities, and the Help) along with a Help area.
Blackboard 9.1
Interactive Tools
•Blackboard 9.1 has built in private Blog and Journal tools that let students create and
share ideas with their instructors or other students enrolled in a particular class.
•Group journals allow groups of students to reflect collaboratively and comment on their
fellow group members’ findings. To maintain privacy, group members may add journal
entries anonymously.
• Course blogs allow all
users in a course to
share their thoughts
and work in one
common area that
everyone in the
course can read and
add comments.
• New Blog feature replaces
the Bb Homepage option.
•Wiki’s are now available in
the interactive tool area.
The “Interactive Tool” allows
you to link to various
collaborative/communication
tools within Blackboard
Blackboard 9.1
Educational Technology Support
• Blackboard Support and Remote Proctor Support
have combined to form the Educational Technology
Support group.
• All online users will now have access to Ed. Tech.
support from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. (Central
Time) 7 days a week.
• For assistance with Blackboard please email
blackboardsupport@troy.edu.
• For assistance with Remote Proctor, please submit a
ticket @ https://it.troy.edu/offices.html
Leaving you on a good note. . .
•Blackboard has recently established a staging server for TROY that has been
upgraded to version 9.1 and clones the production server through 10/T3.
• Instructors will have the opportunity over the next few months to work on this
server to become familiar with 9.1.
•REMEMBER – this is not the production server so any work done on your
previous courses within this environment cannot be transferred and will
eventually be lost.
•The production server still contains your actual course sections, so you may use
the staging server as a “sandbox” to alter and delete information.
•Keep in mind Bb version 9.1 has just been released so Blackboard Support has
had little time to test. Please report any issues to kshaver@troy.edu.
•You may access the 9.1 staging server at http://troystaging.blackboard.com. You
will use the same login information that you currently use for the production
server.