I’m fortunate to be able to attend BbWorld for the fifth time this year. Here’s a list of the presentations I’ll either be collaborating with colleagues to give this year at #BbWorld16…

Blackboard Collaborate: Strategies and considerations for institutional adoption

Date/Time/Location: Tue, 7/12/16, 1:00PM-1:50PM, Titian 2205
Presenters: Jason Rhode, Stephanie Richter, Jeff Geronimo
In this session, we will share NIU’s recent Blackboard Collaborate roll-out strategy, practices, and lessons learned. Learn how NIU’s carefully planned adoption approach has been helping to make anytime synchronous collaboration simpler, more reliable, and more enjoyable. Bring your own questions and experiences and join in the discussion!

The Blackboard Portfolio tool: Features, uses, and campus-wide implementation process

Date/Time/Location: Thu, 7/14/16, 9:35AM-10:25AM, Titian 2205
Presenters: Jason Rhode, Stephanie Richter
The new Blackboard Portfolio tool released with Blackboard learn in April 2014 is much-improved and provides an easy-to-use platform for students to demonstrate and reflect upon what they have learned throughout their university career. Northern Illinois University (NIU) implemented the portfolios campus-wide during 2015, and it was used by thousands of students in a relatively short time. This presentation will provide an overview of the portfolio tool, strategies for developing portfolios that serve different purposes, and best practices for institutional adoption. Sample portfolios and exemplars from faculty who are using Blackboard portfolios in their classes will be shared, along with NIU’s campus-wide implementation process. Opportunities and challenges will be discussed to provide insights for others planning to roll-out portfolios at their institutions.

If be tweeting @jasonrhode my #BbWorld16 insights and takeaways and will post the slides from my presentations here on my blog.