Blackboard News

Issue #9 Fall, November 2009

Quick Links

• Late December PSU Closure – Plan Ahead!
• ECHO360 for Your Blackboard Course
• Using Clickers at PSU
• Elluminate Training

Late December PSU Closure – Plan Ahead!

Remember, this year many of the support staff that you depend on to have your online course presence ready for the first day of class will not be available from December 19th – 28th.  In addition, during the few days between the school closure and the first day of classes we will be much busier than usual. So plan ahead:

• Do you have a Blackboard course shell for each course that you need it for? If not – contact your department scheduler and ask them to flag each section in Banner as needing Blackboard support.
• Do you have more than one section that you need to have combined into a single Blackboard course shell? Contact the Instructional Design Team and we will have your sections combined.
• Do the student enrollments in your Blackboard course appear correct? (All students who have enrolled in your course should already be in Blackboard.)
• Will you need access to the Instructional Development Support Center lab for (basement of Smith) for scanning or for media development?
• Do you need library help: e-reserves, books on hold etc?

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ECHO360 for Your Blackboard Course

Could video help spice up the online portion of your course? 

PSU has purchase a video capture system, called ECO360, which makes it easy to record lecture, activity on your computer screen or both. It can seamlessly add a link to this video into the calendar of your Blackboard course. It can even export in a format for viewing on ipods or similar mobile communication devices. 

PSU instructor, Gabriela Martorell, captured mini “concept videos” on topics for a course using ECO360. Students can now study these concepts 24/7. Copy link below into the URL window of your web browser to view an example. Use your ODIN account for the username and password.

http://echo360.pdx.edu/ess/echo/presentation/1afd5edb-e617-461b-899a-d4aa1826a828

You may want to create similar concept videos or perhaps you may just want to create a short video introducing yourself of your class. 

Interested? 

If so, contact Rick Arnold with the Office of Information Technology: arnoldr@pdx.edu or call (503) 725-9145 to schedule a video capture session.

Michael Chamberlain , Instructional Designer

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Using Clickers at PSU

More Students are Clicking Their Way to Improved Learning

Classroom response systems are finding their way into increasing  numbers of classrooms at PSU.  A classroom response system (sometimes called a personal response system, or "clicker") is a set of hardware  and software that can encourage student attendance, attention and  learning by involving the entire class during lecture and discussion.   

For example, at any point during a class session, an instructor can  pose a question, and students can immediately respond using a handheld transmitter (clicker) that beams a radio frequency to a receiver connected to the instructor's computer. Within seconds, the instructor receives immediate feedback on whether the students understood what was just presented.

If you are interested in receiving information about efforts to adopt  a common clicker system campus-wide, or if you are interested in more information on the use of clickers, please contact Janelle Voegele,  Assistant Director for Teaching, Learning and Assessment at  voegelej@pdx.edu.

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Elluminate Training

As many of you know, PSU has acquired a synchronous, collaboration and learning system called “Elluminate.”  Using Elluminate, instructors can communicate live with their students via voice-over-IP, video, and/or chat.  While in a session, documents, a white-board, and even your own computer screen can be shared with the participants and vice-versa.  Instructors can create breakout rooms for group work and much more!

If you’re interested in learning how to use Elluminate, the Instructional Design Team (IDT) is offering a live training Friday, December 4th from 1PM – 2PM.  This training will take place at your home or work computer.  It’s best to have a headset with an attached microphone. Without a microphone, it’s possible to participate using chat.  If you do not have a headset, speakers are essential!  Without speakers, you will not be able to hear the voice-over-IP conversations.

To register, please contact the CAE office at 5-5642.  Make sure we have your full name, email address, and a phone number that we can use during the training, if necessary.

Once registered, you will be sent a URL via your email address.  Make sure to sign-in about 10-15 minutes early to configure the audio volume and microphone.

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