2008 Summer Workshop descriptions
Get comfortable with Blackboard with our Blackboard Quickstart workshop!
Participants will learn the basic layout and navigation system in Blackboard, how to customize the course menu, and how to add and organize content in their own courses. Participants will be working in their own Blackboard courses and should bring any course materials they wish to use to the workshop on a USB drive or disk. Please log into your course before the workshop; if you have trouble with this, e-mail Blackboard@luc.edu.
Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0 Tools
There are many free and easy-to-use online tools that allow you to connect with and foster interaction among your students. Blogs, wikis, podcasts, RSS, and social bookmarking sites are all considered Web 2.0 tools, and can easily be integrated into an online or blended course to engage students and enhance social learning. This workshop will give a brief overview of various Web 2.0 tools and will show you how these tools are being used in the online classroom environment.
Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of Internet
Using Blackboard's Management Features for Content Delivery
Blackboard has some advanced features that allow faculty to control which students can access information and when that information is released. Adaptive Release also helps faculty track student progress and provides content to certain groups rather than an entire class. This workshop will walk participants through the features and use of Adaptive Release and discuss some pedagogical advantages to using this application.
Prerequisites: Basic Blackboard
Blackboard's testing features provide faculty with a wide variety of tools for creating review quizzes, informational surveys and complete exams. This workshop will cover information on the survey and testing features available, how to reduce testing problems, and provide hands-on practice setting up and modifying a test and test options.
Prerequisites: Basic Blackboard
Creating a Podcast in Blackboard
In this hands-on workshop, we will cover how to use podcasting tools in Blackboard as a means to deliver a series of audio or video files to students. We will discuss the basics of podcasting and will look at examples of how podcasts are being used in higher education. We won't record during this session, but will review resources for recording and editing audio and video content. You will learn the process of creating and subscribing to a podcast using the podcasting tools in Blackboard.
Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of Blackboard and the Internet
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Blogs & Wikis in the Academic Arena
Blogs, short for Web logs, have quickly become the fastest and easiest way for individuals to publish content on the Web. The informal dialogue that is often used in the blogosphere is appealing to both the writer and audience, and often leads to conversations that do not begin in a formal environment. Wikis, such as the immensely popular Wikipedia, allow individuals to collaborate and edit mateials over the Web. This workshop will introduce you to blogs and wikis and will show you how they are being used in an academic environment. We will also discuss key issues, both positive and negative, relative to the technologies, and will even give you the opportunity to create your own blog or wiki using Loyola supported tools.
Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of Internet.
Designing and Creating Narrated Online Content
When we make the decision to present instructional materials in the online environment, the challenge becomes to find formats that are attractive and interesting to the user. Students remark that hearing the professor's voice helps give the course more of a personal touch; additionally, auditory learners benefit from being able to hear as well as see course materials. This workshop provides guidance in designing attractive and informative PowerPoint and Podcast scripts that can be recorded and compressed for online delivery or review. We will not record during the workshop, but will prepare the lecture material and be introduced to the tools that will later allow us to record narration.
Prerequisites: Basic Blackboard and PowerPoint skills
Saving Your Minutes with Blackboard Gradebook
This workshop will provide timesavng tips on how to organize and structure the Blackboard gradebook, including syncing assignments to the gradebook, downloading survey and test results, exporting gradebook data to Excel (for backup or further calculation) and creating and ordering gradebook columns and items.
Basic Blackboard skills *Registration requested
Preparing Video Content to Use Online or in the Classroom
The use of video can provide an engaging means to present information to students; however it can be a challenge to prepare video clips to use in Blackboard or in the classroom. In this workshop, we will review resources for recording and editing video content and finding videos on the Web. We will also cover techniques for incorporating video effectively into Blackboard.
Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of Blackboard and the Internet
Customize Access to the Library in Blackboard
As faculty use more and varied environments in their teaching, they look to develop ways to engage students and improve the learning process. Asking students to write a research paper, analyze sources, or create a lab experiment is an integral component of many courses. Blackboard offers a unique opportunity to customize access to research tools and information necessary for student research. This session will explore how to add useful research tools to your Blackboard course, as well as provide some tips and ideas on how to limit potential frustrations students might experience when learning to use the wide variety of research tools available to them in today's online environment.
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