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Ally is a tool which can help promote accessibility and supports both staff and students when using Blackboard.

Ally for Students

Students will now be able to access alternative formats for any documents that’s been uploaded to Blackboard by clicking on the icon. A quick start guide can be accessed here:

https://help.blackboard.com/Ally/Ally_for_LMS/Student/Quick_Start

Ally for Staff

Tutors will be able to see coloured indicators next to the content they’ve uploaded reflecting the level of accessibility for that item.

Ally does not affect the workflow for adding new content to modules and you don’t need to do anything differently when using Blackboard – this is just and extra tool to help manage how accessibility your content is.

The accessibility indicators are only visible to tutors in the module so students won’t see them and are not a reflection of quality, only indicators of accessibility.

More information and training will be provided over the next few months but it you’d like to try this out for yourself the functionality is now there and a quick start guide is available here:

https://help.blackboard.com/Ally/Ally_for_LMS/Instructor/Quick_Start

Many people are now well up and running with using Collaborate for online teaching so here are a few additional tips and ideas for moving forward with your online teaching:

Before your session

You can schedule a session in Collaborate and send the link out in advance to your participants – remember you can’t enter the session or upload files until the start time so allow early entry in the settings to give yourself time to prepare.

Send students the guest link to the session – this will effectively give them a short-cut to the session and make it easier to access. Tutors should access the session via the Blackboard module to ensure you have moderator permissions.

You can also send the guest link to external people such as guest lecturers – once the session has started you can then “promote” them to enable them to present.

Send a reminder an hour or so before the session is due to start with the guest link embedded again.

During the session

Remember to use the record function so your session is available for those who couldn’t attend.

If you find the connection is poor turn off your webcam to save bandwidth. It’s also a good idea to ask students to turn off their cameras and microphones while you’re presenting to save bandwidth and prevent background noise. If students are having trouble hearing you they can dial in using a phone.

If for any reason your session drops out – don’t panic! Make sure you close your browser down completely, then go back into the session again – if you don’t close the browser you may still be logged on in another window.

Breakout rooms are great for group work – here’s the Blackboard help on using breakout groups:

https://help.blackboard.com/Collaborate/Ultra/Moderator/Moderate_Sessions/Breakout_groups

Unfortunately the TEL Unit don’t have capacity to investigate individual student issues however our ‘Getting Started’ video can be found here:

https://vimeo.com/359000224

General help for students is provided by Blackboard here: 

https://help.blackboard.com/Collaborate/Ultra/Participant

After the session

Recordings won’t be available immediately after the session as they can take a while to process, however you can access your recordings from the burger menu on the top left hand side of the virtual classroom page.

You can also access a register to see who attended the session and how long they were signed in for. From your sessions page change the filter to all previous sessions:

Click on the button at the end of the session you want to access and choose “View reports”

For more general guidance on remote working IT have produced this useful guide:

https://www2.worc.ac.uk/it/documents/Homeworking_Tips.pdf

2019/20 modules are now live on Blackboard! Please be aware that there are a couple of changes this year:

All staff will need to enrol on their modules this year

Due to GDPR and data security reasons, staff are not being auto-enrolled onto modules. You will need to complete a form to enrol onto your modules, which can be found on the logged in staff portal (pictured). Please get the module leader\’s permission (unless, of course, you are the module leader) and allow 24 hours for access to be granted.

For more information, see our previous blog post regarding this.

Things will look a little different

The TEL Unit have developed a new Blackboard template in consultation with a focus group of university staff. Pages now include guidance and tips for staff, which students are unable to see.

Read more about the new template here.

Transferring content

As ever, modules will be empty and you will need to transfer content from the 2018/19 instance of the module. Do not transfer the Assessment page as this needs to be set up afresh each year.

Instructions for transferring content can be found here.

If you have any queries, please contanct the TEL Unit at TEL@worc.ac.uk

Based on feedback from users, we have made some changes to the standard template for Blackboard courses to improve clarity and usability for staff and students alike. This means that when you open Blackboard in September you will see some changes to how the tabs are laid out.

The module template now contains guidance on what should go on each page.

Only staff can see this content – this is invisible to students (try the Student Preview to see this in action) so should not be edited. Once you have set up your course area for the new academic year, you can delete this information if you wish. 

The Assessment tab has been separated out so as to be more easily identified. All assignments and information relating to them should be included on this tab. For information about which would be the best system to use for your assignment, see our handy flow chart. For information about setting up assignments see our guidance on using Blackboard and Turnitin for assessment.

Don\’t forget to edit the welcome message to include the name of the module leader and a contact email (see how to edit your welcome message here). 

For more advice about your Blackboard modules:

• Baseline standards
• Top Ten Tips
• Electronic Management of Assessment
• Blackboard Manual
• Turnitin Guide

If you have any queries, contact the Technology Enhanced Learning Unit at TEL@worc.ac.uk

So, you have been given the keys to someone else\’s Blackboard page and you have just moved in. You might find that they haven\’t been the best tenants and have left things in a bit of a mess. Or maybe everything appears to be ship-shape, until you discover the dodgy wiring and the funny smell coming from the cupboard under the stairs. You don\’t know which problem to fix first or even how.

Having extended this metaphor further than is feasible, we thought it would be useful to prepare a list of six things to check when taking on another tutor\’s Blackboard page.

1. Welcome Message

Check that the Welcome message has been updated (the default message begins with \”This module is not using Blackboard\”). Update the welcome message and add your contact details so that the students can get in touch with you.

2. Links

Check that all of the links on the module are working and update where appropriate.

3. Materials

Make sure that the previous tutor has passed on any teaching materials ready for you to continue to use (e.g. via OneDrive).

4. Module Outline

Make sure that the current Module Outline is available on the Module Information page and that its contents are up to date.

5. Assessments

Poorly set up assessments can cause students a great deal of trouble so it is well worth taking the time to check that these have been configured correctly.

• Are the assessments set up on the Assessment page?
• Do all Blackboard assignments appear in the grade centre?
• Are assignments set to mark out of 19?
• Are the dates set up correctly?
• Are Turnitin submission points named meaningfully rather than just being called \’Turnitin\’? This helps students identify the correct place to submit work.
• Check that there are no stray Turnitin submission points lurking around the module such as on the Welcome page. These are likely to have incorrect settings and students can easily submit to the wrong place.

For more information, see our Blackboard Manual and our Turnitin Workflow.

6. Not using SOLE?

If you are not using SOLE for assignment submission, check that registry have been informed so that they do not send out automatic emails to students for non-submission of work.

Still need help?

Hopefully these pointers should get you well on the way to running an effective Blackboard module. If you do run into trouble however, you can email us for help at TEL@worc.ac.uk

Following our recent office move to WB073, the Technology Enhanced Learning Unit (formerly LTTU) is delighted to launch our new website.

There have been a number of developments in the field of TEL over the past few years, to reflect these changes and provide a more relevant identity for the team we have completely updated our web pages and changed our name to the Technology Enhanced Learning Unit (aka, TEL Unit).

Please visit our website www.uwtel.co.uk to find information about the team, the services we offer and our current projects.

Here you\’ll be able to access current information around the University\’s technologies that we support in your learning and teaching practice, such as Blackboard, PebblePad and Turnitin.

Be sure to stay up to date with new technologies, updates to existing applications and available training by subscribing to our blog.

The website is still a work in progress so any comments or feedback would be welcome – please note our new email address – tel@worc.ac.uk