USING BLACKBOARD CE
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES GUIDE
Center for eLearning
Rhodes Tower 203
Updated 10/2010
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.
General Information About Blackboard CE
3
II.
Getting Help in Blackboard CE
5
III.
Course Creation and Lifecycle in Blackboard CE
8
IV.
Course Content Policies
14
V.
eLearning Course Listings in CampusNet
17
VI.
Center for eLearning Services
20
I. General Information About Blackboard CE
What is Blackboard CE?
Blackboard CE is the Learning Management System (LMS) supported by CSU for faculty and
student use. An LMS allows faculty to organize course content, engage learners in an online
environment, and manage course activities and communication. Blackboard CE can be used to
enhance a face-to-face course, deliver a course entirely online, or a blend of these two
purposes.
Blackboard CE and WebCT
In 2005, Blackboard, Inc purchased a competing product, WebCT. Cleveland State University
used WebCT as its learning management system at that time. In 2006, Blackboard renamed the
WebCT product, Blackboard Campus Edition (CE). Blackboard, Inc had previously renamed its
original product, Blackboard Academic Suite. Blackboard continues to offer both product lines –
the Academic Suite (or original Blackboard) and Blackboard CE (or original WebCT).
The introduction of two different product platforms – Blackboard CE and Blackboard Academic
Suite – has been confusing. The distinction between the platforms is significant, especially
when working with publisher materials or migrating content to blackboard environments at
other institutions.
Although many users refer to our platform as Blackboard, Cleveland State University continues
to use the WebCT product, now named Blackboard CE. In August, 2008, CSU upgraded to
Blackboard CE version 8 (the official name of the platform). When working with third party
vendors and publishers, however, you should let them know that the university uses WebCT.
The Center for eLearning refers to the learning management system formally as Blackboard CE.
Who has access to Blackboard CE?
Faculty (full and part time) employed by Cleveland State University and students registered for
courses with Cleveland State University have access to Blackboard CE. CSU staff may be given
access, if appropriate, upon request to the Center for eLearning. Guest accounts for non-CSU
employees and students may be created, upon request, to the Center for eLearning (see the
Guest Accounts section in this document).
Who manages the Blackboard CE service?
The Center for eLearning manages the Blackboard CE service and provides training and faculty
development programs for faculty using eLearning technology. The Center handles requests for
course creation and access as well as requests for the addition of developing content to be
loaded onto the system.
I. General Information About Blackboard CE
3 of 21
Information Services and Technology (IS&T) supports the server environment for Blackboard
CE. IS&T maintains the server environment, system software, and infrastructure supporting
Blackboard CE. IS&T also provides technical help for Blackboard through the Call Center.
Logging in to Blackboard CE
The login page for Blackboard CE is located at:
http://elearning.csuohio.edu Links to Blackboard CE can also be found in the A-Z index and
other places on the CSU website.
The username for login is your CSU ID number. The password is your CampusNet password.
When you login to Blackboard CE you will land on your MY BLACKBOARD page. A list of courses
in which you are enrolled or appear as an instructor will be linked to your My Blackboard page.
Learning to use Blackboard CE
The Center for eLearning provides faculty development opportunities several times a year for
those interested in learning how to use Blackboard CE. In addition, the Center for eLearning
maintains resources at its website: http://www.csuohio.edu/elearning. There is information
there and on the Blackboard login page regarding access to two tutorial courses for using
Blackboard CE.
In addition, the Ask eLearning knowledge base (http://askelearning.csuohio.edu) provides links
to the Blackboard CE Instructor’s and Designer’s Manual. This pdf document can be
downloaded as an invaluable reference for all features and functionality of Blackboard CE.
Faculty using Blackboard CE should consult this reference for details using Blackboard CE.
I. General Information About Blackboard CE
4 of 21
II. Getting Help in Blackboard CE
Faculty Help
Faculty may request assistance with Blackboard in several ways:
1. Faculty who need technical assistance should first consult the CSU eLearning
Online Support Center. Students can browse through the website for relevant
help articles and submit general technical support questions. Questions
submitted to the CSU eLearning Online Support Center are answered daily during
normal business hours. Students can generally expect a response in less than one
business day. Questions can be submitted 24 hours a day for response during the
next business day. Students can also use the Live Chat feature to get online help
regarding Blackboard.
2. For more urgent or specific problems, faculty who need technical support may
contact the 24/7 Call Center via phone (216-687-5050 and select option 2 for
Blackboard) or the website CSU eLearning Online Support Center. The Call
Center will resolve the problem. The students should receive a response to help
tickets within the next business day for items submitted.
3. Faculty can also get help from the CSU Ask eLearning Knowledge Base website.
Faculty can search the knowledge base for relevant articles and submit general
technical support questions. Questions submitted to the Ask eLearning
Knowledge Base are answered daily during normal business hours. Faculty can
generally expect a response in less than one business day. Questions can be
submitted 24 hours a day for response during the next business day.
4. For general information or questions about eLearning, faculty may contact the
Center for eLearning via phone (216-687-3960) or email
(elearning@csuohio.edu). For email submissions, please provide your CSU ID
number for the fastest response. The Center for eLearning operates MondayFriday from 8 AM until 5 PM.
Student Help
We strongly recommend instructors use the following instructions in elearning courses
to direct students to appropriate channels for technical support.
There are several ways students can get help with technical issues for elearning courses.
1. Students who need technical assistance should first consult the CSU eLearning
Online Support Center. Students can browse through the website for relevant
help articles and submit general technical support questions. Questions
II. Getting Help in Blackboard CE
5 of 21
submitted to the CSU eLearning Online Support Center are answered daily during
normal business hours. Students can generally expect a response in less than one
business day. Questions can be submitted 24 hours a day for response during the
next business day. Students can also use the Live Chat feature to get online help
regarding Blackboard.
2. For more urgent or specific problems, students who need technical support may
contact the 24/7 Call Center via phone (216-687-5050 and select option 2 for
Blackboard) or the website CSU eLearning Online Support Center. The Call
Center will resolve the problem. The students should receive a response to help
tickets within the next business day for items submitted.
3. Students can also get help from the CSU Ask eLearning Knowledge Base website.
Students can search the knowledge base for relevant articles and submit general
technical support questions. Questions submitted to the Ask eLearning
Knowledge Base are answered daily during normal business hours. Students can
generally expect a response in less than one business day. Questions can be
submitted 24 hours a day for response during the next business day.
4. For general information or questions about eLearning, students may contact the
Center for eLearning via phone (216-687-3960) or email
(elearning@csuohio.edu). For email submissions, please provide your CSU ID
number for the fastest response. The Center for eLearning operates MondayFriday from 8 AM until 5 PM.
Technical Requirements
Using Blackboard CE requires users to meet minimum access, hardware, and software
standards. Some course content and media may require meeting additional technical
requirements. If a course requires any additional level of technical requirement, it
should be noted prominently in the course materials.
I. Internet Access
• Minimum Internet Speed: 56K dialup
(Note: you may experience very slow performance on dialup connections)
• Recommended Internet Speed: cable modem, DSL, or Local Area Network
(LAN) connection. Strongly recommended.
• Note: Some LANS include firewall settings that may interfere with connecting
to courses. Check with your local Network Administrator if you plan to
connect from a Local Area Network at work or school.
II. Computer Hardware Requirements
• Processor: 500 MHz or faster
• Memory: 512 MB RAM; 2 GB free hard drive space
II. Getting Help in Blackboard CE
6 of 21
•
Note: These are the minimal recommended requirements for taking an
online course. Please refer to your course syllabus for any additional coursespecific hardware requirements.
III. Computer Software Requirements
• Operating System Requirements
o PC: Microsoft Windows 2000 Second Edition, Windows XP or
Windows Vista operating systems
o Mac: Macintosh OS X or later operating systems
• Browser Requirements
o Supported Browsers for Windows
Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1; 6.0 SP2; 7
AOL 9.0
Mozilla 1.7.x
Firefox 1.0.x, 1.5.x, 2.0 (SP1 Hotfix 2)
o Recommended Browsers for Windows
Firefox 2.0 or 3.0
Note: Technical problems with many Blackboard CE features are
corrected when switching to this browser.
o Supported Browsers for Mac
Mozilla 1.7.x (OS X only)
Firefox 1.0.x (OS X only)
Safari 1.2,1.3, 2.x; and 2.x for Intel x86 platform
o Recommended Browsers for Mac
Safari 2.x
Note: Technical problems with many Blackboard CE features are
corrected when switching to this browser.
II. Getting Help in Blackboard CE
7 of 21
III. Course Creation and Lifecycle in Blackboard CE
CSU maintains over 600 course shells in any given semester and the number grows significantly
with each new semester. In order to effectively manage the volume of course shells in the
Blackboard CE 6 environment, the Center for eLearning maintains course lifecycle procedures
that address course creation, access and enrollment, and removal from the Blackboard
environment.
Faculty and staff who choose to make use of the Blackboard CE service should be familiar with
these procedures and understand their roles and responsibilities in maintaining the integrity of
the work they produce and distribute in the Blackboard CE environment.
Course Shell Types
A course shell is an individual course environment within Blackboard where instructors can add
content and select various tools and options for a specific course. All course shells are created
blank, but a section instructor can copy content from other courses. In order to copy content
the instructor must be enrolled as an instructor or section designer in both courses.
There are three basic types of course shells that we create within Blackboard:
•
Production Shells
Production shells are course environments used to teach a regular semester course. The
production shell is integrated with registration information in CampusNet. The shell is
created based on data taken directly from CampusNet and students registered for the
course are automatically enrolled into the production shell. The shell is associated with
a specific course section offered during a specific semester. Production shells contain no
content whatsoever, but instructors can copy content from another course shell and
add content as needed.
Production shells are scheduled for deletion from the Blackboard system after two
years.
•
Master Shells
A Master shell is a course environment an instructor uses to develop and maintain
course materials that are used from semester to semester. The course is not tied to
CampusNet and students are not enrolled into the course shell. Instructors build a new
course in a master shell and then update any permanent changes to the course in the
master. Typically, instructors copy content into a production shell when it is scheduled
to be taught and then make any changes needed relative to that specific semester in the
production course (for example, specific due dates).
Master shells are not deleted except upon request of the instructor or when they leave
CSU employment.
III. Course Creation and Lifecycle in Blackboard CE
8 of 21
•
Community Shells
Community shells are course environments used to foster a specific community of
learners, for example, students majoring in a particular field. Community shells support
academic programs with a virtual gathering space, discussion areas, and information
repositories. Community shells are only intended for academic purposes and are distinct
from the student organization space in the Green Room. The community shell is
managed by a faculty member or group of faculty members and is not tied to any
specific semester. A Community course shell is also not tied to CampusNet and
enrollment is handled by the faculty who manage the course.
Community Shells are created for a one-year period and must be renewed annually or
they will be scheduled for deletion.
Course Lifecycle
There are five distinct stages in the course lifecycle in the Blackboard CE environment:
Creation, Enrollment, Availability, Unavailability, and Deletion.
1. Creation
Course Shells are requested by completing a web form located on the Center for eLearning web
site. The Center for eLearning receives creation requests submitted via the web and processes
these requests as appropriate. The Center for eLearning generally processes course creation
requests 3 times per week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
Online and Blended courses should be identified in CampusNet as elearning courses. As a
convenience, the Center for eLearning will create course production shells for these courses
approximately 2-3 weeks after the semester is open for registration. (Note: Courses added
AFTER this date must request a shell using the web form).
Once a course shell has been created, a link will appear on the instructor’s My Blackboard page.
2. Enrollment
PRODUCTION shells are tied to CampusNet and students are automatically enrolled into the
course as they register through CampusNet.
Note: Students who register for a course less than 7 days prior to the start of a semester will
not be able to access the Blackboard shell for up to 24 hours (or until the nightly automation
process runs). Students who register for a course more than 7 days before the start of a
semester will have access 7 days prior to the semester start date.
Note: Students who drop courses are NOT removed from the Blackboard CE course.
III. Course Creation and Lifecycle in Blackboard CE
9 of 21
•
For all drops PRIOR to the end of the official drop/add period, instructors can use the
Gradebook to unenroll students from the course shell.
•
However, students who withdraw AFTER the final drop/add deadline will remain in the
Blackboard course. For students who have withdrawn, instructors should use the
Gradebook to deny access to students to the course shell.
•
If you use the unenroll option, students who withdraw after the drop/add period will
reappear again the next day after the overnight automation process runs again.
MASTER shells are not intended for teaching purposes and do not have any enrollment. If
course instructors wish to give access to others, they can add users as students or section
designers through the Gradebook. Additional instructors must be added by a system
administrator – contact the Center for eLearning.
COMMUNITY shells are not tied to specific semesters and do not have any automatic
enrollment enabled. All users must be added by the course instructor.
3. Availability
PRODUCTION shells are available to faculty approximately 24 hours after course creation
requests are processed. PRODUCTION shells are available to students 7 days prior to the start
of a semester. Links for the course do not appear in the students’ view until this time.
MASTER shells and COMMUNITY shells are available to faculty approximately 24 hours after
creation requests are processed.
4. Unavailability
PRODUCTION shells are made unavailable three weeks after the end of the semester. If an
instructor needs to make the course available to students after this time, contact the Center for
eLearning to set a later closing date. If instructors wish to make the course available to select
students, the Center can open the course for a longer period; the instructor would deny access
to any users who should not have additional access to the course.
MASTER shells and COMMUNITY shells remain available until requested.
5. Deletion
PRODUCTION shells are automatically deleted after 6 semesters on an annual basis at the start
of Fall semester.
Example: At the beginning of Fall 2009 semester, any PRODUCTION shell older than Fall 2007
will be deleted from the system.
III. Course Creation and Lifecycle in Blackboard CE
10 of 21
Instructors are responsible for making any backups or archives of courses prior to the deletion
date. Notification of pending deletions will be made in Campus Mailbag, through Blackboard
system announcements, and via email to all Blackboard instructors.
MASTER courses are reviewed annually, also at the beginning of Fall semester. Instructors who
own courses are emailed to identify any obsolete courses that can be removed. MASTER shells
are only removed by request.
COMMUNITY shells are created for a one-year period and are reviewed prior to Fall semester.
Unless owners of these courses request additional time, Community shells older than one year
are deleted each fall. Shell owners are notified via email prior to deletion.
Recommendations to Course Instructors/Shell Owners:
1. Maintain copies of all source files on your personal computer in an organizational
structure that parallels the elearning course in Blackboard. At major milestones in
developing these materials, make offline backups in other media such as CD/DVD and
store in a separate location.
2. Use a MASTER shell to maintain all permanent changes to a course. Copy content from
the MASTER shell into PRODUCTION shells as needed. (Content can be copied from a
PRODUCTION shell into a MASTER for changes made during a semester).
3. EXPORT any active Gradebooks at midterm and at the end of the course, at a minimum.
4. Make a course BACKUP just prior to making significant changes to a course, at the end
of a semester, or prior to course deletion. (See the BLACKBOARD CE BACKUP GUIDE
available at https://mycsu.csuohio.edu/elearning/faculty/guides.html for details).
5. Keep all copies of backups and exports in TWO media stored in different locations.
Example: Keep a course backup on your personal computer in your office and a copy on
a CD/DVD stored at home.
6. The Blackboard CE server environment is backed up daily by IS&T. However, the
purpose of this backup is to guard against catastrophic loss where the entire system
might fail. Restoring individual courses from these backups is very time consuming. It
will be faster to restore any lost data in your particular course if you have a backup of
your own we can restore. Any restoration of data from the daily security backups must
be approved by the University Chief Information Officer.
Course Access Policies
III. Course Creation and Lifecycle in Blackboard CE
11 of 21
For PRODUCTION course shells, only system administrators, those students who register for the
course or others you designate will have access.
For all other course types (Master shells, Community shells) only system administrators and
those who you designate will have access.
Course instructors may add any individual with an account in Blackboard to a course for which
they have instructor privileges. Additional users with instructor privileges may be added to the
course with permission of the instructor. Requests for additional instructor privileges should be
made in writing to the Center for eLearning.
System administrators have access to all courses and areas within Blackboard CE in order to
ensure the system operates properly and to diagnose technical problems and issues with the
system. System administrators may examine a course for technical support purposes, but will
not make changes or alterations to the course without expressed permissions from the
instructor. System administrators, once they enroll in your course may continue to appear in
your roster, even after unenrolling. If the administrator appears in your roster in red, it means
they were enrolled at one time, but are no longer enrolled.
Enrolling students in your Blackboard CE course
Enrollment of students into Blackboard courses is automated with CampusNet (Peoplesoft).
When you request a PRODUCTION course shell, the course shell is created through integration
with Peoplesoft. Students who register for the course are automatically enrolled in the
Blackboard course.
The enrollment process runs once per day during the night. Consequently, when students
register for the course, it may take 24 hours for them to appear in your Blackboard Roster.
Note: Students who register for a course less than 7 days prior to the start of a semester will
not be able to access the Blackboard shell for up to 24 hours (or until the nightly automation
process runs). Students who register for a course more than 7 days before the start of a
semester will have access 7 days prior to the semester start date.
Note: Students who drop courses are NOT removed from the Blackboard CE course.
• For all drops PRIOR to the end of the official drop/add period, instructors can use the
Gradebook to unenroll students from the course shell.
•
However, students who withdraw AFTER the final drop/add deadline will remain in the
Blackboard course. For students who have withdrawn, instructors should use the
Gradebook to deny access to students to the course shell.
•
For students who withdraw after the end of the drop/add period, use the HIDE setting
in the Gradebook. If you attempt to UNENROLL these students, they will reappear again
III. Course Creation and Lifecycle in Blackboard CE
12 of 21
the next day after the overnight automation process runs again.
Course instructors may also add students to their Blackboard course through the Gradebook.
Select “enroll students” and enter the appropriate CSU ID and select the student role.
Enrolling teaching assistants, guests, and others in your course section
All CSU students and faculty, including part-time students and faculty, have accounts activated
in Blackboard CE. It can require up to two business days for a new student or faculty member to
have accounts created initially.
Instructors can add any CSU student or faculty as a teaching assistant or course designer in their
course. A Teaching Assistant would have access to everything available under the TEACH tab in
Blackboard (see the Blackboard Instructors’ and Designers’ Reference available at
https://mycsu.csuohio.edu/elearning/faculty/guides.html for more detail).
Guest Accounts in Blackboard CE
On occasion, programs or instructors may need to use Blackboard CE with students or users
who are not enrolled students at CSU. In these instances, the Center for eLearning can create
Guest Accounts, if appropriate.
To request Guest Accounts, forward a request to the Center for eLearning and include the
following information:
•
•
•
•
Responsible CSU Faculty or Administrator
Reason for Guest Accounts
Period of time accounts need to be active
Number of requested accounts
If approved, the responsible faculty or administrator will need to supply the following user
information for each guest account:
•
•
•
•
First and Last Name
Valid email address
Blackboard Course shell(s) in which guest should be enrolled
Role for each guest account (student, teaching assistant, course designer, instructor)
The Center for eLearning will create guest accounts and provide username and password
information to the responsible faculty or administrator, who in turn will provide account
credentials to individual users.
Guest accounts are granted only for a limited time period and will be deleted upon expiration
of the requested duration.
III. Course Creation and Lifecycle in Blackboard CE
13 of 21
IV. Course Content Policies
The Center for eLearning will treat course content in these Blackboard CE course
environments like any other instructional materials faculty members create or assemble
for a traditional class. Center for eLearning staff will not make changes to course
content or settings, copy content, or provide access to others without the expressed
permission of the course instructor(s).
The Center for eLearning also provides incentive grants and instructional design and
media development support for developing course content as part of overall University
strategies to promote elearning programs and courses. Courses developed as part of
these strategic initiatives involve prior written agreements that specify how content in
these courses will be managed. Generally, in courses developed under these
agreements, the academic program sponsoring the course and the Center for eLearning
will manage a master version of the course and individual instructors will use copies of
the master they can modify as needed.
Copying Course Content from previous semesters
All course shells are created blank, with no content and default settings applied.
Instructors have the option the first time they enter a blank course shell to either add
content or copy content from an existing course. Instructors are able to copy content
from any section in which they are enrolled as a section designer or instructor. You can
find complete instructions at:
http://askelearning.csuohio.edu/kb/?View=entry&EntryID=38 .
Requesting permission to copy content from another instructor
Instructors may copy content from other instructors’ courses only with permission of
the other instructor. An instructor who wishes to grant such a request can simply enroll
the requesting instructor into the course section with course designer status. Instructors
can enroll other users through the Gradebook.
The Center for eLearning will perform the course copy only upon receiving written (or
email) authorization to provide access and to allow copying content into another course.
Such notification must specify what specific Blackboard course section(s) to which the
authorization applies and for which specific individual(s) such permission is granted.
Upon receipt of such an authorization, the Center will copy the authorized course into a
new shell for the requesting instructor.
Course Cleanup and Backup
Information Services and Technology (IS&T) makes routine backups of the entire
Blackboard CE database daily to protect against catastrophic loss. However, restoring
individual courses or data is labor intensive and cannot be done quickly.
IV. Course Content Policies
14 of 21
All requests for restoring data from IS&T backups must be approved by the Chief
information Officer of the University.
Blackboard CE does provide the option for individual instructors to make backups of
course sections that can be restored relatively quickly and easily in the case of a
significant problem or issue. Although IS&T does maintain daily backups of the system, it
is also the responsibility of individual instructors to protect their valuable data by
following personal backup and data security procedures.
Blackboard does include tools to easily create backups of courses that administrators
can restore at a later time. This feature is designed as a quick and convenient way to
back up a course before making changes that you may want to undo later on.
The following data is included in a course backup:
• enterprise data; including users, enrollments, and other meta-data
• all content and any data that it produces; for example, assessments and their
submissions
• selective release criteria applied to content
• file and folder structures
• course settings
The Center for eLearning recommends that you backup course sections at the end of
each term and SAVE THE BACKUP FILE on your computer. It is also a very good idea to
create a copy of each backup and store it on a CD, DVD, or other permanent storage
medium.
You cannot restore the backup yourself, but the Center for eLearning can restore
backups provided by instructors relatively quickly.
For more details on how to backup and archive courses, refer to the Blackboard CE
Backup Guide
Grading and Grade Challenges
Instructors are responsible for keeping copies of grades and gradebooks for purposes of
grading and grade challenges. The Gradebook in Blackboard can be exported to an Excel
Spreadsheet at any point during a semester. The Center for eLearning recommends, at a
minimum, that each instructor using the Gradebook export it after midterm grades and
upon completion of the course. Exported gradebooks should be stored securely and
backed up on a duplicate copy stored separately from other copies.
IV. Course Content Policies
15 of 21
Copyright
The Center for eLearning complies with all copyright laws and regulations and respects
the ownership of intellectual property. Center staff consult with Library staff on a
continual basis to determine how best to apply provisions of Fair Use and the TEACH Act
with respect to elearning courses and materials.
The Center works with the Library to provide guidelines and faculty development
regarding use of copyrighted materials. However, it is the responsibility of individual
instructors to ensure they comply with provisions of applicable copyright laws.
The Center for eLearning reserves the right to determine acceptable use of materials we
are asked to handle and may refuse service if, in our determination, such use would
violate copyright law.
IV. Course Content Policies
16 of 21
V. eLearning Course Listings in CampusNet
eLearning courses taught fully online, blended, or via interactive television (IVDL) are
listed in CampusNet with important details about the course. This listing ensures that
students, at the time of registration, understand expectations regarding the course
delivery.
Depending on the type of elearning course (online, blended, IVDL) a special note will
appear in the notes section of the course record. eLearning courses will also be
identified by a large, orange E.
Courses of these three types (defined below) should appear in the CampusNet
registration system as an elearning course with one of these designations. In addition,
Blended courses should also include a note specifying the meeting dates and times for
required sessions for the semester.
Course schedulers in each College know how to properly flag these courses in the
system, but instructors and department chairs should ensure they receive accurate and
timely information so these courses appear correctly in CampusNet. It is the
responsibility of the Department and College to ensure courses are listed properly in
CampusNet so students have complete and accurate information when they register for
classes. For more information on how courses are listed, please contact the Registrar’s
office.
The notes for each type of course also include a link to the Student Getting Started
Guide outlining expectations for elearning students prior to the start of courses. The
Student Getting Started Guide is available at:
https://mycsu.csuohio.edu/elearning/students/guidece6students3.pdf.
The Center for eLearning encourages faculty to check their CampusNet listings to ensure
that the course type and information are accurate. Please report any discrepancies to
your scheduler, the Registrar, or the Center for eLearning.
Types of eLearning Courses
eLearning courses include three different types, as defined as follows, with the
corresponding note that appears for each type in CampusNet:
Online
All instruction and course interaction occur online. There are no required face-to-face
class sessions, although optional orientation sessions that meet face-to-face may be
included. Some online courses may require proctored exams as well.
V. eLearning Course Listings in CampusNet
17 of 21
Blended
Course instruction and interaction occur in a mix of online and face-to-face activities.
The amount of face-to-face meeting time is reduced significantly compared to
traditional face-to-face courses. Blended courses can include a wide range of required
face-to-face meetings, from as few as 2 class sessions to weekly course meetings.
(Blended courses are sometimes referred to as hybrid courses.)
Interactive Video Distance Learning (IVDL)
Course instruction occurs over a two-way, interactive audio-video network, connecting
classrooms with appropriate equipment to see and hear the instructor in the originating
classroom and other remote classrooms.
Fig 4.1 Example ONLINE course listing in CampusNet.
V. eLearning Course Listings in CampusNet
18 of 21
Figure 4.2 Example BLENDED course listing in CampusNet
V. eLearning Course Listings in CampusNet
19 of 21
VI. Center for eLearning Services
Instructional Design Services
The Center for eLearning provides instructional design services to support elearning
course development and the integration of elearning with traditional instruction. The
Center provides course design and development support in two different models:
consultation support and program level support. The consultation model includes
several individual sessions with an instructional designer who will guide faculty through
our recommended course design process, provide feedback on strategies, applications
of technology, and best practices, and review course materials as they emerge from the
process.
Under the program level support model, the Center for eLearning provides incentives to
faculty as part of a strategic effort to develop elearning programs and course sequences.
The Center provides an instructional designer who manages the development process
with a course subject matter expert (or a team of experts), and a media developer
(provide by the Center for elearning). The instructional designer serves as a project
manager and the Center for eLearning handles all media development so that faculty
can focus on content and strategy development. For more information about the
consultant model and program level course design process see the Instructional Design
Consultation Policies document available on the Center for eLearning website, at
https://mycsu.csuohio.edu/elearning/faculty/guides.html.
Program Development Services and Support
The Center for eLearning supports development of elearning programs and course
sequences. The Center recognizes that offering a program online or in a blended format
involves more than just making courses available online. Center staff can assist with
coordinating marketing, student support services, program development, and other
factors important to successful learning programs. The Center also provides support for
course development on a program level. For more information, see the eLearning
Program Request for Proposal available at
https://mycsu.csuohio.edu/elearning/faculty/guides.html or contact the Center at
elearning@csuohio.edu or (216) 687-3960.
Media Development for eLearning Courses
Staff in the Center for eLearning can assist you with a number of multimedia
requirements for your elearning courses or projects, including:
•
Using Blackboard CE tools and features
•
Converting materials to formats appropriate for the Web.
VI. Center for eLearning Services
Page 20 of 21
•
Selecting technology and software for developing elearning content and
materials
•
Recording lectures and presentations for your course
•
Including videos and multimedia in your course
•
Scanning articles and documents for your course
•
Access to course reserves and electronic databases
The Center for eLearning supports several technologies for recording presentations and
lectures with PowerPoint, audio, and video for incorporation with elearning courses.
Contact the Center for eLearning to setup a consultation with one of the Instructional
Design or Media Development staff to determine which technology best meets your
needs. Media Development staff can assist with creating or converting your materials so
they can be placed inside Blackboard CE.
Center for eLearning Services and Guidelines
The Center for eLearning is committed to advancing access to educational opportunities
for learners through elearning delivery modes. Center staff work to provide support for
elearning programs, instructors, and students. The Center provides consultation for
instructional design and media development for elearning courses and programs, faculty
development opportunities for elearning pedagogy and technologies, and support for
elearning services such as Blackboard CE.
However, demand for Center services is high and we urge faculty to plan ahead as far as
possible. The start of a new semester (typically one week prior and the first two weeks
of a new semester) is the busiest time period. During these periods response times may
be longer and some services may not be available. Please contact the Center with any
questions or requests you may have, at (216) 687-3960 or elearning@csuohio.edu.
VI. Center for eLearning Services
Page 21 of 21