Facilitating Small Group Discussion Online Using Blackboard Collaborate Breakout Rooms

November 16, 2012 By Jason Rhode 1 Comment

Learn how to use the Breakout Rooms feature within Blackboard Collaborate to facilitate small group discussions during an online session. During this online workshop offered 11/15/2012 we explored the options within a Blackboard Collaborate session for organizing students into small groups for discussion, including creating Breakout Rooms, assigning students to Breakout Rooms (both manually and automatically), moving whiteboard content into Breakout Rooms, and monitoring small group discussion.

For archives of other online workshops offered by NIU Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center, visit our YouTube channel

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Communicating Visually During Online Sessions Using Blackboard Collaborate Whiteboard

October 22, 2012 By Jason Rhode Leave a Comment

Learn how to use the Whiteboard feature within Blackboard Collaborate to present content in a visual and engaging way during an online Web conferencing session. During this online session I led 10/19/2012 we explored the options within a Blackboard Collaborate session for sharing and annotating content on the Whiteboard, including loading content on the Whiteboard, enabling access for students, drawing and writing, adding images and screen shots, and saving content from the Whiteboard for access offline.

For archives of other online workshops offered by NIU Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center, visit our YouTube channel

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Upgrading is Not an Uphill Battle: How NIU Easily Transitioned to Blackboard Collaborate

October 12, 2012 By Jason Rhode Leave a Comment

In July 2011, Blackboard announced the release of Blackboard Collaborate™ 11 web conferencing, the first product that combined the best of both Elluminate Live! and Wimba Classroom. Drawing from the best elements of these two long-competing products, it boasted a new, modern interface that represented a tremendous leap forward. However, it also meant that schools using Wimba Classroom faced an upgrade process that was more significant than any upgrade before. Wimba Classroom customers not only had to learn the new user interface, they also had to learn a new administrative system as well. In this presentation at 2012 SLATE Conference, learn how the technology team at Northern Illinois University balanced other technology upgrade initiatives and staffing requirements in order to ensure a smooth-yet-quick upgrade to Blackboard Collaborate, and ultimately, enjoyed a much easier upgrade experience than they anticipated.

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Designing an Exemplary Online Course: Blackboard Announces Open Online Course to be Offered

September 14, 2012 By Jason Rhode Leave a Comment

Let's build a better education experience

Blackboard has announced a new open online course “Designing an Exemplary Course,” as part of the CourseSites Open Course Series. The course will run from September 26th – October 17th, 2012. Registration is free and opens Wednesday, September 19th.

Whether you are just getting started or are an advanced online educator, this course will provide you with a framework to help identify and apply best practices for designing engaging online courses.

You will learn from 11 instructors and instructional designers including distinguished Exemplary Course Program (ECP) Directors and several of the 2012 ECP winners. Using the Blackboard ECP Rubric as a guide, the course will focus on the four critical elements of a course: design, interaction and collaboration, assessment, and learner support.

You will have the opportunity to participate in weekly live, online sessions, learn with peers in focus groups, and complete optional assignments to aid your course development and improvement. A panel of course design experts will facilitate each group to provide you with valuable feedback.

The learning environment will offer learners the flexibility to choose their own learning outcomes and time commitments based on individual needs. To maximize benefits of participation, optional homework assignments will be provided each week to apply concepts to build out one’s own course structure and materials. The course will provide a framework for forming collaborative teams.

For more details or to sign-up to be notified when registration opens, click here.

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Honored to Accept 2012 Blackboard Catalyst Award on Behalf of My NIU Colleagues at BbWorld 2012

July 13, 2012 By Jason Rhode Leave a Comment

One of the many highlights for me from BbWorld 2012 was to accept on behalf of all the colleagues I work with at NIU, the 2012 Blackboard Catalyst Award for Community Collaboration. This award recognizes leaders within the Blackboard user community who encourage collaboration, and share advice, insight, content, and effective practices with fellow educators outside their own institutions.

Accepting the award from Ray Henderson
Accepting the 2012 Blackboard Catalyst Award from Ray Henderson, President and Chief Technology Office, Blackboard

Our center was recognized for its long history of collaborating with others in the support of teaching with technology, sharing advice, insight, and best practices. This was the second year in a row our Center was recognized with a Blackboard Catalyst Award, with last year’s award being for excellence in professional development.

I am indeed blessed to work with an amazing team of colleagues at NIU and look forward to the future as we together we continue to make every effort at being “catalysts” in support of the the teaching mission of NIU.

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