Faculty Development Institute: Spring Tracks: Track B: An Introduction to Blackboard

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Track B: An Introduction to Blackboard

Spring Track General Requirements
This year, FDI is again offering alternative tracks that will meet during the spring semester. By attending the sessions that comprise a spring track, faculty can opt out of participating during the summer months and still meet the participation requirements to receive a computer.

Track Requirements
(click on title to jump to a description and time listing)

Total of Seven 2-hour Spring Short Courses

Required Session #1 -

Campus Instructional Resources/Computer Security

Required Session #2 -

Blackboard for New Users: An Introduction to Creating Web-based Courses

Required Session #3 -

Blackboard 6 (Part One): Creating Web-based Courses

Required Session #4 -

Blackboard (Part Two): Question Pools and the Gradebook

Required Session #5 -

Acrobat 8: Creating PDF Files for Instruction

Required Session #6 -
choose one (or more) of the following two panel sessions

Teaching Using Technology: Faculty Panel Discussion
"From the Other Side of the Podium": Student Panel Discussion

Required Session #7 -
choose one (or more) of the following nine courses

Acrobat 8: Enhancing PDF Files with Advanced Features
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0: Scanning and Adjusting Images for the Web
Did it Help? Evaluating the Use of Technology in Your Courses
Dreamweaver 8 (Part One): Web Page Creation Made Easy
ePortfolio: Virginia Tech's ePortfolio (VTeP) System
Microsoft PowerPoint: Creating PowerPoint Presentations and Adding Multimedia Enhancements
Motivating Your Students: Strategies for Design and Implementation
Student Response Systems ("Clickers"): Using Technology to Engage and Assess Students During Class
Web Design: Building an Effective Web Site

Track B Description
This spring track is intended for faculty who have never used the course management tool Blackboard or have only used it in a limited fashion and need a re-introduction. Blackboard will be the central topic of this track and will be taught with the assumption that participants are somewhat new to the use of the web for instruction. Blackboard topics will include navigating Blackboard's portal, considerations of online learning, managing the student view, creating and customizing a course, uploading files to Blackboard, using the test manager, and using Blackboard's gradebook. In addition to these Blackboard topics, other software and skills will be introduced that will further enable faculty to use Blackboard effectively. These topics will include creating web-readable PDF documents using Adobe Acrobat, and creating web-readable images for Blackboard. This spring iteration of Track B will also afford faculty the opportunity to hear from their colleagues and students regarding the effectiveness of web-based assignments. This spring track will also allow faculty to participant in other sessions that are of particular interest to them.

Spring Track B Requirements
The Spring Track B will require participants to attend seven selected spring short courses to receive a computer. The table to the right summarizes these requirements. The table below lists the required short courses with descriptions and dates offered. If you plan to attend a spring alternative track, you must be able to attend required sessions from those listed below. As always, it is possible to sign up for more than the required minimum courses.

Required Session #1 -Campus Instructional Resources / Computer Security (Select one Short Course from the following list)
1	Monday, January 29 - 10:00 am - 12:00 pm Wednesday, January 31 - 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm Tuesday, February 6 - 10:00 am - 12:00 pm Thursday, February 15 - 10:00 am - 12:00 pm Tuesday, March 27 - 10:00 am - 12:00 pm All sessions meet in 1100 Torgersen Hall (Torgersen Hall Lobby). All sessions are both suitable for both Windows and Mac platforms.	This short course will provide participants with a complete overview of the services and agencies that are in place at Virginia Tech to support instructional and (in many cases) research activities. New initiatives will be highlighed and the library will demonstrate their new services. Virginia Tech's security group will also present and provide strategies, suggestions, and access to software that will assist participants as they take steps to ensure the safety of the information on their computers.
Required Session #2 - Blackboard for New Users: An Introduction to Creating Web-based Courses (Select one Short Course from the following list)
2	Monday, January 29 - 3pm-5pm - 3060 Torgersen Hall - Windows/Macintosh Tuesday, February 13 - 3pm-5pm - 3080 Torgersen Hall - Windows/Macintosh Wednesday, February 21 - 10am-12pm - 1120 Torgersen Hall - Windows/Macintosh	Are you considering the use of Blackboard in your courses but are unsure of where or how to begin? This workshop is intended as a prelude to the skill-building short courses, as it addresses the planning and instructional concerns that are worthy of consideration when conceiving of the use of Blackboard. Included among these concerns are individual pedagogical reflection; student perceptions, skills, and expectations; potential changes to the professor/student relationship; including Blackboard on your syllabus; avoiding pitfalls and creating fail-safes; planning ahead for course organization and growth; logistical concerns of online discussions and assessments; time investment; support options; and general "Classroom Management." This discussion-based, hands-on workshop, led by faculty and OCS staff, will enable participants to walk through a sample Blackboard course as a student while considering the various features of Blackboard from an instructional viewpoint.
Required Session #3 - Blackboard 6 (Part One): Creating Web-based Courses (Select one Short Course from the following list)
3	Monday, February 5 - 3pm-5pm - 3060 Torgersen Hall - Windows / Macintosh Tuesday, February 20 - 3pm-5pm - 3080 Torgersen Hall - Windows / Macintosh Wednesday, February 28 - 10am-12pm - 1120 Torgersen Hall - Windows / Macintosh	Are you somewhat new to web-based instruction and would like to learn more about Blackboard 6, Virginia Tech's on-line course management system? This short course will present participants with an overview of Blackboard's capabilities while providing essential information that will allow anyone teaching at Virginia Tech to have a web presence for his/her course. This session will consist of a hands-on demonstration of an exemplary Blackboard course, and participants will be allowed to explore this course as if a student. Blackboard's key features will be highlighted. Participants will also be given a hands-on tour of the essential course designer tools that are a part of Blackboard and will learn how to upload documents into the system. An overview of Virginia Tech's support options for Blackboard will also be presented. Hands-on activities will be an integral part of this session.
Required Session #4 - Blackboard 6 (Part Two): Question Pools and the Gradebook (Select one Short Course from the following list)
4	Wednesday, February 12 - 3pm - 5pm - 3060 Torgersen Hall - Windows / Macintosh Tuesday, February 27 - 3pm - 5pm - 3080 Torgersen Hall - Windows / Macintosh Wednesday, March 14 - 10am - 12pm - 1120 Torgersen Hall - Windows / Macintosh	Are you familiar with Blackboard 6's basic functionality but would like to learn how to do more with assessment and interaction? This short course builds upon the knowledge established in "Blackboard 6 (Part One): Creating Web-based Courses." Great emphasis will be placed on creating and managing assessments and using Blackboard's Gradebook to retrieve grades and survey results. The Assessment pool manager will also be included as will the Discussion Board tool. Hands-on activities will be an integral part of this session.
Required Session #5 - Acrobat 8: Creating PDF Files for Instruction (Select one Short Course from the following list)
5	Monday, January 29 10am-12pm 3060 Torgersen Hall Windows Tuesday, February 20 10am-12pm 1120 Torgersen Hall Macintosh Thursday, March 22 10am-12pm 3060 Torgersen Hall Windows Online Course through Element K	Have you discovered the limitations of HTML web pages and are looking for solutions to those problems? PDF files are completely web-ready and are capble of presenting information in ways that are impossible with traditional HTML. Beyond initial PDF file creation, this short course will also focus on how the functionality of PDF files can be extended by using the Adobe Acrobat Professional (version 7). Topics will include manipulating PDF document property and file size, adding navigation of bookmarks, web links and internal links, securing PDF files with password, and inserting sound and movie. Hands-on activities will be an integral part of this session. NOTE: Element K online tutorials may be substituted for instructor led sessions. You can take these tutorials at any time (starting now). It is not necessary for you to complete all of the modules of the tutorials, but it is expected that you will spend at least two hours in the tutorial. It is also requested that you complete the tutorial by Friday, April 13. The Acrobat 8 tutorials are not available yet, but completing two hours in the Acrobat 7 tutorials will be acceptable to meet our requirements."
Required Session #6 -- Panel Discussions (Select one (or more) Short Course(s) from the following list of two workshops)
6	Teaching Using Technology: Faculty Panel Discussion Wednesday, March 28 3pm-5pm 1100 Torgersen Hall Windows / Macintosh	This short course provides an opportunity for faculty at Virginia Tech to see how their colleagues have utilized technology to solve pedagogical problems. Our Faculty Panel will include colleagues from a diversity of disciplines who will explain and provide examples of their approaches to using technology in their courses. Their frank discussion concerning the process of developing class activities for face-to-face as well as blended and online class environments will include the following: problems encountered, time investment, pedagogical concerns, copyright issues, changes to the student-professor relationship, and support avenues available on our campus. Uses of technology in and outside of class (with both large and small enrollments) will be highlighted throughout. This panel will provide invaluable, real-life insight from those who have had success applying technology in their courses.
6	"From the Other Side of the Podium": Student Panel Discussion Monday, March 19 3pm-5pm 1100 Torgersen Hall Windows / Macintosh	How do our students learn best? When are they the most motivated and engaged? How might we present our content to enhance student learning? This panel, comprised of both graduate and undergraduate students from a variety of disciplines, serves as an opportunity for faculty members to interact with VT students to discover details about their generational culture, their epistemological perspectives, and their educational values. The panel participants will provide anecdotal evidence regarding what educational methodologies have most (and least!) inspired, motivated, and engaged them to perform, interact, and learn.
Required Session #7 -- Other Courses (Select one (or more) Short Courses from the following list of nine workshops)
7	Acrobat 8: Enhancing PDF Files with Advanced Features Monday, February 5 10am-12pm 3060 Torgersen Hall Windows Tuesday, February 27 10am-12pm 1120 Torgersen Hall Macintosh Thursday, March 29 10am-12pm 3060 Torgersen Hall Windows Online Course through Element K	Are you a user of the PDF file format and would like to know how to extend the capabilities of these files? In this short course, advanced features of Adobe Acrobat will be explored. Topics to be covered include how to add comments (note tool, text editing tool, stamp tool, highlighting tool), and how to use advanced security features (restrict printing, prevent changes to a document, digital IDs, etc.). In addition, creating forms in pdf with Adobe Acrobat Professional (version 7) will be covered as well. Hands-on activities will be an integral part of this session. NOTE: Element K online tutorials may be substituted for instructor led sessions. You can take these tutorials at any time (starting now). It is not necessary for you to complete all of the modules of the tutorials, but it is expected that you will spend at least two hours in the tutorial. It is also requested that you complete the tutorial by Friday, April 13. The Acrobat 8 tutorials are not available yet, but completing two hours in the Acrobat 7 tutorials will be acceptable to meet our requirements."
	Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0: Scanning and Adjusting Images for the Web Wednesday, January 31 10am-12pm 1120 Torgersen Hall Macintosh Tuesday, February 6 3pm-5pm 3060 Torgersen Hall Windows Monday, February 26 3pm-5pm 3060 Torgersen Hall Windows Thursday, March 15 3pm-5pm 3060 Torgersen Hall Windows Online Course through Element K	Are you looking for an image editor that produces high-quality results like Adobe Photoshop CS2 but lacks the complexity of that tool? This short course will provide participants with the skills that are needed to prepare images for the web using Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0. Participants in this session will learn how to make image adjustments (color, luminosity, contrast, etc.), create basic layers, apply filters, and adjust image resolution for optimal quality on the web. A full exploration of Elements' tool bar will also be provided during this session. No prior experience with Photoshop or Photoshop Elements is required. Hands-on activities will be an integral part of this session. Please note that Elements 3.0 is the latest version on the Macintosh. NOTE: Element K online tutorials may be substituted for instructor led sessions. You can take these tutorials at any time (starting now). It is not necessary for you to complete all of the modules of the tutorials, but it is expected that you will spend at least two hours in the tutorial. It is also requested that you complete the tutorial by Friday, April 13.
	Did it Help? Evaluating the Use of Technology in Your Courses Monday, 03/12/07 10:00 - 12:00 AM 1120 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh) Thursday, 03/22/07 10:00 - 12:00 AM 1120 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh)	One of the greatest challenges for those using technology in higher education is determining if its application in a course has truly had a positive result. For those that are looking to evaluate their use of technology in a class, it is important to note that underlying all instructional uses of technology is an instructional strategy. This short course will provide methodologies for determining if innovative instructional strategies have had an improvement on student learning, and much of the focus of this short course will be upon evaluating instructional strategies that utilize technology. Those who are motivated by continuous instructional improvement will find this short course to be of great interest. Participants will be provided with practical approaches to evaluating instruction, enabling them to ask and answer the right questions to assess the gaps in results and the consequences. While all materials presented in this short course will be grounded in instructional evaluation theory, participants will find the strategies provided to be exceptionally practical and accessible.
	Dreamweaver 8 (Part One): Web Page Creation Made Easy Tuesday, 01/30/07 10:00 - 12:00 AM 3080 Torgersen Hall (Windows) Thursday, 02/08/07 3:00 - 5:00 PM 3080 Torgersen Hall (Macintosh) Monday, 02/19/07 3:00 - 5:00 PM 3080 Torgersen Hall (Windows) Thursday, 03/01/07 3:00 - 5:00 PM 3060 Torgersen Hall (Windows) Tuesday, 03/13/07 1:00 - 3:00 PM 3060 Torgersen Hall (Windows) Online Course through Element K	Are you looking for an easy to use method of creating web (HTML) pages? Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 is quite intuitive, creates standard HTML code, and offers numerous tools to create and incorporate the latest technologies (Flash, DHTML, etc.) into HTML web pages. This short course will provide participants with an overview of the process of web site creation, including server information and options on campus. Introductory topics, such as inserting and modifying text, images, tables, and hyperlinks, will be taught. More advanced topics will also be covered, including interactive images, rollover effects, and Flash text. Hands-on activities will be an integral part of this session. Participants are encouraged to bring a zip, floppy disk, or jumpdrive so that they can take their creations with them once this workshop is over. NOTE: Element K online tutorials may be substituted for instructor led sessions. You can take these tutorials at any time (starting now). It is not necessary for you to complete all of the modules of the tutorials, but it is expected that you will spend at least two hours in the tutorial. It is also requested that you complete the tutorial by Friday, April 13.
	ePortfolio: Virginia Tech's ePortfolio (VTeP) System Thursday, 02/01/07 10:00 - 12:00 AM 3060 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh) Wednesday, 02/28/07 10:00 - 12:00 AM 3080 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh) Tuesday, 04/03/07 10:00 - 12:00 AM 3060 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh)	Virginia Tech's ePortfolio (VTeP) system is a web-based, interactive tool designed to help students create, organize, reflect on, and share evidence of their educational accomplishments, both in courses and extracurricular activities. ePortfolio is also seen as a tool to assist programs and departments with self-studies and accreditation. This short course will explore these and other applications of ePortfolio. The pros and cons of traditional applications of portfolios will be outlined as will a generalized model of the portfolio assessment process. The changes enabled by ePortfolio will be highlighted and ePortfolio?s evolution at Virginia Tech will be discussed. The latest version of ePortfolio is quite flexible; however, faculty wishing to use it must make a number of decisions as they design how they would like the system to work. For those interested in using the latest version, an overview of the designing process will be provided along with documentation and other resources that will aid in their thinking as they move toward using ePortfolio in their courses.
	Microsoft PowerPoint: Creating PowerPoint Presentations and Adding Multimedia Enhancements Wednesday, 02/14/07 10:00 - 12:00 AM 1120 Torgersen Hall (Macintosh) Monday, 02/19/07 10:00 - 12:00 AM 3060 Torgersen Hall (Windows) Wednesday, 03/28/07 3:00 - 5:00 PM 3060 Torgersen Hall (Windows)	Have you wanted to learn how to create more effective classroom and conference presentations? This short course is intended for those who are new to PowerPoint or have only utilized its most basic features. Sound PowerPoint design principles will be provided as will strategies that decrease your time investment with the software and increase your focus on your content. Text, image, sound, and movie insertions will be demonstrated as will advanced custom animations and transitions. After the session, participants will be able to analyze good and bad PowerPoint presentations, utilize advanced PowerPoint capabilities (transition, animation, and audio/video insertions), and export PowerPoint slides to various formats (print, WORD, webpage, and PDF). Hands-on activities will be an integral part of this session.
	Motivating Your Students: Strategies for Design and Implementation Monday, 02/05/07 09:00 - 12:00 AM 1120 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh) Thursday, 02/15/07 09:00 - 12:00 AM 1120 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh)	A universal challenge of instructors in higher education is how to motivate and engage students throughout the course of a semester. Informed by motivational research, this short course will provide faculty with a number of course design considerations as well as applicable technology tools that have been found to motivate students to learn. Participants will use a model for motivation and will work individually and in groups to learn about and incorporate several tools for motivation. Among the topics to be discussed are the nine most effective instructional strategies, collaborative and active learning techniques, learning styles, current technology, and rubric development.
	Student Response Systems ("Clickers"): Using Technology to Engage and Assess Students During Class Monday, 02/05/07 3:00 - 5:00 PM 3080 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh) Tuesday, 02/27/07 10:00 - 12:00 AM 3080 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh)	Are you looking for ways to engage ALL of your students, even in large classes? ?Imagine if you could give a pop quiz, on the fly, to a group of 500 students and have it graded as soon as students turn in their answers. ?Student Response Systems (sometimes referred to as Classroom Performance Systems or "clickers") can do both of these things and more. ??The response system concept has been around for decades, but the technology has finally advanced to the point where any faculty member with a laptop or in-class computer can utilize this in his/her courses. ?This short course, led by faculty and FDI staff, will provide participants with an overview of the features and pedagogical applications of student response systems. ?Participants will learn how these systems promote discussion, capture students' attention, and engage every student in class, even those in the back row of large lecture halls. ?In-class quizzing and other assessment features will be shown as well. FDI has been in contact with a number of vendors, including eInstruction, iClicker, Turning Point, and interWrite, and clickers made by each of these vendors will be on-hand during this session.
	Web Design: Building an Effective Web Site Thursday, 02/01/07 3:00 - 5:00 PM 3080 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh) Tuesday, 02/20/07 3:00 - 5:00 PM 3060 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh) Wednesday, 04/04/07 10:00 - 12:00 AM 3060 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh)	Are you looking for ways to make your web site more attractive, load more quickly, or garner more "hits"? This short course will provide a survey overview of all of the key issues that are involved with web design. Server issues, aesthetics, visual identity, site organization, navigation, frames, site testing, web accessibility, and web development for instruction are among the topics to be discussed. Numerous "real-life" examples from the web will be shown to further explicate key issues, and Macromedia Dreamweaver will be used to show how these concepts can be practically applied. Hands-on activities will be an integral part of this session.

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