How do rollouts of new Blackboard releases impact institutions? What steps are institutions taking to prepare faculty, teaching staff, and students for the changes brought about by Blackboard upgrades? During this presentation at the 2013 Blackboard Product Development Offsite on May 15, 2013, Northern Illinois University shared its comprehensive faculty development strategy for supporting faculty and preparing the campus community for new upgrades. Specific steps taken to prepare faculty and staff for each service pack were shared, including the initiatives underway in conjunction with NIU's upgrade from Learn 9.1 SP8 to SP11 in June 2013. Walk away with practical examples of how an institution is compiling and integrating available support documentation and resources from Blackboard to share with its campus as well as the wider Blackboard user community!

1. Maintaining Momentum
Successful Faculty Development Strategies
for Supporting Blackboard Upgrades
@jrhode
jasonrhode.com/pdo13
Wednesday, May 15, 13

2. Agenda
321 4 5
Background
Information
Strategy for
Supporting Faculty
Summary of
Support Efforts
Preparing for
New Releases
Wish
List
Wednesday, May 15, 13

3. Background
Information
Wednesday, May 15, 13

4. Jason Rhode, Ph.D.
Assistant Director,
Faculty Development and
Instructional Design Center
Northern Illinois University
e: jrhode@niu.edu
t: @jrhode
BIE, PDP, Bb Collab PAC
Wednesday, May 15, 13

5. Wednesday, May 15, 13

6. ‣ Main campus in DeKalb, IL located
65 miles West of Chicago
‣ Total enrollment: 21,869 (Fall ’12)
✓ 16,552 undergraduate
students
✓ 4,984 graduate students
✓ 333 law students
‣ 1,185 instructional faculty
‣ Student to faculty ratio: 18:1
‣ 39 academic departments; 57
undergraduate majors; 80
graduate programs
‣ Average undergraduate
student age: 22
‣ Average undergraduate
student age: 32
‣ 95% of undergrads and 79% of
grad students are from Illinois
‣ 685 international students
from 116 different countries
Wednesday, May 15, 13

7. Blackboard Usage at NIU
‣ 98% of students
‣ 82% of instructional
Faculty/Staff/TAs
‣ 53% of course sections
‣ 4 course sections per
student on Blackboard
As of Fall 2012:
Wednesday, May 15, 13

8. Use of Blackboard by Individual
Students
0
7,500
15,000
22,500
30,000
02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
No.
of
Students
Year
Spring Summer
Fall
Usage
%
for
fall
‘12
with
22,009
enrolled
is
97.5%
of
total
number
of
students
21,473
Wednesday, May 15, 13

9. Use of Blackboard by
(individual) Faculty/Staff/TAs
0
375
750
1,125
1,500
02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
No.
of
Faculty
Year
Spring Summer
Fall
82.75%
of
all
those
who
teach
use
Blackboard
for
credit
courses,
fall
‘12
1,449
Wednesday, May 15, 13

10. Number of Credit Course
Sections
0
750
1,500
2,250
3,000
02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
No.
of
Course
Sections
Year
Spring Summer
Fall
53.3%
of
all
scheduled
course
secIons
among
the
4,947
secIons
use
Bb,
fall
‘12
*Course
secIons
range
from
face-­‐to-­‐face
courses
with
online
components
to
“online
courses”
2,637
Wednesday, May 15, 13

11. Number of Course
Enrollments
0
22,500
45,000
67,500
90,000
02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
No.
of
Course
Enrollments
Year
Spring Summer
Fall
Approx.
4
courses
that
use
Blackboard
per
student,
fall
‘12
87,430
Wednesday, May 15, 13

12. Bb Mobile Learn
NIU
licensed
Bb
Mobile
Central
in
2011
Wednesday, May 15, 13

13. Bb Mobile Learn
24,276
unique
users
during
past
year
Total
Logins
Logins
by
Day
of
the
Week Logins
by
Hours
of
the
Day
Wednesday, May 15, 13

14. Bb Collaborate Mobile
Available
to
NIU
faculty
since
released
in
2012
Building
Block
update
installed
to
enabled
recently-­‐released
Android
app
Wednesday, May 15, 13

15. Wednesday, May 15, 13

16. niu.edu/facdev
Wednesday, May 15, 13

17. @facdev
Wednesday, May 15, 13

18. Strategy for
Supporting Faculty
Wednesday, May 15, 13

19. empower faculty to succeed
Wednesday, May 15, 13

20. communicate using multiple modalities
Wednesday, May 15, 13

21. collect, curate, clarify resources
Wednesday, May 15, 13

22. model best practices
Wednesday, May 15, 13

23. don’t reinvent the wheel
Wednesday, May 15, 13

24. Summary of
Faculty Development
Efforts
Wednesday, May 15, 13

25. Center Support Offered
‣We
support
faculty,
SPS,
instructors,
teaching
staff,
TAs,
and
academic
administrators
on:
–Teaching
effec+veness
–Technology
integra+on
–Professional
development
‣During
2011-­‐2012,
we
offered
free
of
charge:
–197
programs
for
2,101
par+cipants
–1,097
consulta+ons
for
393
individuals
from
88
academic
and
support
units
–Numerous
online
tutorials
and
resources
Wednesday, May 15, 13

26. Center Support Offered
‣Out
of
the
184
programs
offered
during
2011-­‐2012,
115
(62%)
were
on
technology
integraZon
‣Our
technology
programs
include:
-­‐ Blackboard
workshops
-­‐ Online
teaching
series
-­‐ Blackboard
Collaborate
(virtual
classroom)
workshops
-­‐ Teaching
with
Technology
Ins+tute
-­‐ Mul+media
workshops
(podcas+ng,
streaming
video)
-­‐ Other
technologies
(Clickers,
SMART
panels,
etc.)
Wednesday, May 15, 13

27. Who attends?
Wednesday, May 15, 13

28. all ages, faculty and teaching assistants
Wednesday, May 15, 13

29. What makes it work?
Wednesday, May 15, 13

30. hands-on experiences
Wednesday, May 15, 13

31. answering questions
Wednesday, May 15, 13

32. individualized follow-up assistance
Wednesday, May 15, 13

33. relationships built with faculty
Wednesday, May 15, 13

34. real-world examples
Wednesday, May 15, 13

35. Struggles
Wednesday, May 15, 13

36. Struggles
‣UpdaZng
our
offerings
to
keep
current
with
rapidly
advancing
Bb
feature
sets
(speed
at
which
Bb
is
changing)
‣Increasing
demands
on
faculty
Zme
(less
able
to
a[end
scheduled
workshops)
‣Increasing
workload
for
support
staff
Wednesday, May 15, 13

37. Creative Solutions
(more just-in-time resources)
Wednesday, May 15, 13

38. niu.edu/blackboard
Wednesday, May 15, 13

39. Teaching with Blackboard podcast
Wednesday, May 15, 13

40. Blackboard Ask A Question Form
Wednesday, May 15, 13

41. searchable FAQ
Wednesday, May 15, 13

42. FAQs documented
Wednesday, May 15, 13

43. Preparing Institution for
New Releases
Wednesday, May 15, 13

44. Faculty Support Phases
Phase
1:
DocumentaIon
and
Support
Materials
PreparaIon
Phase
2:
CommunicaIons
of
New
Features
and
User
Interface
Changes
Phase
3:
Preview
Sessions
Hands-­‐on
preview
sessions
90
mins
each;
Online
preview
sessions
60
mins
each
Phase
4:
Hands-­‐on
Face-­‐to-­‐Face
Workshops
(B
All
workshops
90
mins
Phase
5:
Open
Labs
&
Special
Sessions
Install
new
system
on
a
development
(BbDev)
server
Test
new
features
and
system
interfaces
Create
upgrade
page
to
document
new
features,
changes,
and
include
links
to
applicable
support
materials
provided
by
Blackboard
Update
Teaching
with
Blackboard
support
site
(niu.edu/
blackboard)
to
reflect
new
features
major
interface
changes
Outline
of
features
and
pre-­‐exisZng
support
materials
ArZcles
in
newsle[ers
and
campus
media
Episodes
on
Teaching
with
Blackboard
Podcast
devoted
to
changes
NoZces
of
new
features
posted
to
FacDev
blog,
Twi[er,
and
Facebook,
and
noZces
to
users
Screencasts
and/or
quick
Zp
highlighZng
changes
Online
preview
sessions
archived
for
on-­‐demand
viewing
invite-­‐only
hands-­‐on
preview
sessions
for
support
staff
and
faculty
power
users
online
preview
sessions
[60
min]
for
faculty/staff
&
TAs
via
Blackboard
Collaborate
hands-­‐on
preview
sessions
for
faculty/staff
&
TAs
invite-­‐only
hands-­‐on
preview
sessions
for
faculty
teaching
during
intersession
Bb
Tune-­‐up
sessions
for
experienced
users
offering
hands-­‐on
overview
of
changes
and
new
features
Bb
I
&
II
hands-­‐on
sessions
for
users
new
to
Bb
Bb
NG
Boot
Camps
(in-­‐
depth
hands-­‐on
sessions
for
faculty/staff
on
new
feature
sets)
Blackboard
Open
Lab
sessions
[11AM-­‐1PM]
each
day
during
1st
week
of
summer
&
fall
terms
College-­‐specific
sessions
available
upon
request
ConsultaZons
with
individual
faculty/staff
and
TAs
upon
request
Hands-­‐on
preview
sessions
and
face-­‐to-­‐face
workshops
will
be
90
minutes
in
length;
Online
preview
sessions
will
be
60
minutes
in
length
Wednesday, May 15, 13

45. niu.edu/blackboard/upgrade
Wednesday, May 15, 13

46. list of new features
Wednesday, May 15, 13

47. links to downloadable manuals
Wednesday, May 15, 13

48. online preview sessions
Wednesday, May 15, 13

49. tutorials
Wednesday, May 15, 13

50. “Quick Hits”
Wednesday, May 15, 13

51. Blackboard Drive “Quick Hit”
Wednesday, May 15, 13

52. niu.edu/blackboard/drive
Wednesday, May 15, 13

53. Current Training Initiatives
Preparing to Upgrade to SP11
in June 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 13

54. niu.edu/facdev/programs/20130531.shtml
Wednesday, May 15, 13

55. @NIUBlackboard
Wednesday, May 15, 13

56. niu.edu/blackboard/upgrade/
workshops.shtml
Wednesday, May 15, 13

57. Practical Examples of
Institutional Use of Available
Support Documentation and
Resources
Wednesday, May 15, 13

58. “Quick Hit” videos
Wednesday, May 15, 13

59. tutorials
Wednesday, May 15, 13

60. links to Bb help & BITS webinars
Wednesday, May 15, 13

61. BITS webinar archives
Wednesday, May 15, 13

62. searchabe from NIU domain
Wednesday, May 15, 13

63. Wish List
Wednesday, May 15, 13

64. Faculty Support Wish List
‣Subscribe-­‐able
noZficaZons
(RSS
or
otherwise)
of
when
new
items
added
to
On
Demand
Learning
Center
‣Clearly
idenZfy
which
new
videos
apply
to
which
service
packs/releases
‣More
insZtuZon-­‐customizable
resources
for
training
faculty
(PowerPoints
with
screen
shots,
etc.)
‣ConZnue
posZng
to
YouTube!
The
separate
channel
specifically
for
tutorials
is
greatly
appreciated!!
Wednesday, May 15, 13

65. Faculty Support Wish List (cont.)
‣Customizable
2-­‐page
“Quick
Guides”
in
Word
and
PDF
that
insZtuZons
could
use
or
customize
to
serve
as
handout
for
faculty
workshops
‣Perhaps
integrate
links
to
view
how-­‐to
tutorials
in
tool
Zps
or
other
locaZons
in
product
itself
‣Overall,
make
is
easier
for
faculty
development
staff
to
find
the
various
support
resources
Blackboard
is
creaZng
‣Keep
in
mind
that
some
insZtuZons
stagger
upgrades
to
new
releases
Wednesday, May 15, 13

66. Q&A
Wednesday, May 15, 13

67. Jason Rhode, Ph.D.
Assistant Director,
Faculty Development and
Instructional Design Center
Northern Illinois University
e: jrhode@niu.edu
t: @jrhode
slides available at:
jasonrhode.com/pdo13
Wednesday, May 15, 13