Both in and out of the classroom, partnering Blackboard with library services can directly support student learning and your teaching. Learn about how the library can help you utilize Blackboard to make research simpler for you and your students during this session.
Thursday, November 10, 2011: 3:00 p.m.-3:50 p.m.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011: 11:00 a.m.-11:50 a.m.
Tools:
Library Resources Page
- Librarians can set up pages within your Blackboard course specifically designed to feature resources relevant to your course (as opposed to general resources); examples include: citation guides, plagiarism information, links to databases, links to websites about course topics, and information about books or other items on reserve (i.e. scanned Table of Contents pages, call numbers, DVD running time information, etc.).
Librarian Chat Page
- Librarians can embed a Meebo chat box into a page your Blackboard course. Students (and faculty) can instant message chat with the librarians using the chat box (no Meebo account needed). This tool is great for those "quick questions" and give students immediate contact with the librarians. Librarians are generally online whenever we are at our computers or at the reference desk (but are signed out when we are in a class). If we're not available when students have questions (i.e. 1 a.m.) we encourage students to email us their questions by listing our contact information on the chat page.
Discussion Posts/Forums
- Embedded librarians often use the Discussion feature of Blackboard as a space where students can apply, reinforce, and have their newly acquired skills be assessed. Oftentimes the activities are done within the context of the instruction session, and then commented on later, after all students have had the opportunity to submit their work. This can help inform you as an instructor to see where students stand in regards to information literacy concepts, as well as helping to inform librarians about which concepts need to be further explained in future sessions or clarified via email.
Blackboard Help
- Don't forget about all of the great resources and help tools available via MyView (Academics Tab-->Blackboard 9.1 Support-->Blackboard Instructor Support).
Concepts:
Blackboard Lesson Plans
- Just as you had to have training to be able to use Blackboard, so do our students. No matter the level of student (freshman to senior, and beyond), s/he may not have used Blackboard to the level you may be expecting in your class. Setting up a lesson plan showing students the tools you plan to use and sharing your expectations for Blackboard will help alleviate confusion and stress later. Things to consider for your Blackboard lesson plan include:
- Showing them where your materials are located on Blackboard (doing a walk-through of your course's Blackboard road map)
- Directly addressing any tools you plan to use in your course
- Showing them how to submit assignments (whether it is attaching a Word document, PDF, or submitting a post in a Discussion forum)
- Having in-class or sample activities related to Blackboard skills helps students practice, preparing them for later assignments, and helps alleviate some of the panic associated with using new technology with an approaching deadline
Simplicity of Design
- The easier it is for students to understand where they need to go to find information about your class, your expectations, and how to contribute to the course through Blackboard, the less time you'll have to spend reminding students where things are on Blackboard. Strategies to help you design a simple, clean Blackboard course include:
- Having an outline of what you want your Blackboard page to look like before you start uploading documents or plugging in other information. (I like to use Post-its to jot down elements of my Blackboard page; then it is easy to see all of the elements, move them around, and categorize things.)
- Keep in mind clean navigation. Eliminate any accidental duplicates in the tool bar on the left side--and show students how to find that left navigation tool bar when it disappears.
Content:
Copyright and Plagiarism
- Just as we cite sources for papers, information and images posted in Blackboard need to give credit where credit is due. This doesn't always mean giving a formal citation in APA format, but it does mean linking back to original sources (if you found an image or other information online).
- A great tool for finding images, media, music, videos, and clip art you can use, remix, and share is Creative Commons.
Linking to Websites in Blackboard
- A quick note about linking to websites outside of Blackboard. Occasionally, Blackboard will not link correctly to websites. In order to be sure students can get to the links you provide, click the "Open link in new window" box.
For more examples of how library services have been embedded into classes, explore this Prezi by Dan Chibnall and Cara Stone, given for the Conversations on Technology digital poster session held November 8, 2011.
