Teaching with Blackboard
Syllabus
Cuyamaca College Facilitator: Rhonda Bauerlein
Phone: (619) 660-4013
email: rhonda.bauerlein@gcccd.edu
Office: Room C-122, Teaching and Learning Center (TLC)
Table of Contents
Course Description
Intended Audience and Prerequisite Skills
Expected Outcomes
Course Structure
Course Requirements
Technical Requirements
Estimated Time Commitment
Explanation of Procedures
Evaluation
Professional Development Credit
Certificate of Completion
Supplemental Materials
Is This Your First Online Course?
Attribution
Course Description
Welcome to the Teaching with Blackboard online class. This course will take you step-by-step through the basics of building an online course in Blackboard. The hands-on exercises in each module will help guide you through the development process.
This course introduces Blackboard tools in the context of practical strategies for design, development, and management of an online course. You will have an opportunity to review the basics of online course development and practice the use of Blackboard tools through hands-on exercises.
Intended Audience and Prerequisite Skills
This course is designed for instructors, trainers, and support staff who want to become familiar with the Blackboard course management system for the purpose of developing or supporting online or web-enhanced courses.
Basic computer skills needed to succeed in this course include the ability to:
- create and save documents
- manage files on your computer
- copy content from a word-processing program and paste into another program
- navigate the internet
- have two browser windows open at the same time
- send and receive email
Note: Some familiarity with HTML, graphic files, and web editors, such as Adobe Dreamweaver, will be helpful, but is not required.
Skills and attitudes helpful to online students:
- A positive attitude towards online learning and an open mind towards technology
- Willingness to share experiences and comments with other students
- Strong reading and writing skills in order to participate in online instruction and discussion
- Resourcefulness - willingness to research, explore, and ask questions to complete course work
- Time management and self-regulation skills
- Basic technical troubleshooting skills
Expected Outcomes
At the conclusion of this course, you will be able to:
- Identify the basic features of an online course and online learning environment in Blackboard.
- Demonstrate understanding of the online learning environment in Blackboard.
- Navigate through the Blackboard interface and instructor control panel.
- Demonstrate proficiency with Blackboard content-creation tools.
- Structure a computer-mediated communication environment in Blackboard.
- Use Blackboard's online assessment tools and Grade Center.
- Create a course "skeleton" that includes the beginnings of essential course components, content organization, and effective navigation.
Course Structure
The course content is divided into several small sections so that you will be able to progress through the course at your own pace. Each section has a "Mark Reviewed" button that you will use to get credit for having reviewed the material as well as to keep track of where you are in the course.
This course is being facilitated by Rhonda Bauerlein for Cuyamaca College faculty. There are plans to have Chris Rodgers facilitate for Grossmont College faculty beginning Spring 2009. The goal is to have this course container become a district-wide resource for all faculty teaching online or using Blackboard tools for their hybrid and face-to-face courses.
Most questions should be posted to the Discussion Board, but you may contact your facilitator directly by email.
There are four quizzes for this course that are "open-book" and can be taken multiple times. This will allow you to review the material and get feedback on your understanding of the material.
Additionally, there are optional readings and other activities that you may want to explore.
Course Requirements
- Attendance - Reading the assigned materials in this Blackboard course, participating in the Discussion Board, and completing tasks in your own Blackboard classroom will be the equivalent of attending class. You will be expected to do your work on a regular basis.
- Completing all hands-on exercises. The practice exercises in this workshop offer the opportunity to master the use of the various tools. Participants must complete assigned tasks in their own practice courses in order to earn Professional Development credit or earn a Certificate of Completion.
Technical Requirements
- Fairly recent Mac or PC (not more than three years old) with a current operating system
- Internet connection must be broadband (DSL, cable, or campus network). This course has streaming video content that is not recommended for viewing with a dial-up modem connection. It is not recommended that you try to teach a Blackboard course with a dial-up connection.
Estimated Time Commitment
To complete the entire course, you can expect to spend approximately 40 hours total to review course material, participate in class discussion, and complete hands-on exercises. This time commitment will vary based on your computer skills and familiarity with online instruction and creating content for the web. If this is your first online course, or first experience with Blackboard, you may need to spend more time on the course than others who have more experience.
Not everyone will want or need to complete the entire course. Some faculty may have already been teaching with Blackboard and want to review specific areas of interest in the course. This course is structured to allow faculty to get the information they need, when they need it. The content will always be available for reference and review.
We recommend that faculty who have not taught with Blackboard before complete the entire course and earn a Certificate of Completion.
Explanation of Procedures
- All assignments are posted in the "Course Content" area.
- Each participant will create a practice course container on the Blackboard server. You can use this container to practice using Blackboard tools and to build your course skeleton.
- Each participant will create a "dummy" student user account in their practice container. You can use this account to log in to your practice container to get the "true" student experience in your course.
- Most communication will take place in the "Discussion Board" area.
- You will be expected to post your comments, ask questions, and respond to postings from your colleagues.
- Feel free to weave points from the optional readings into your discussion contributions.
- Your facilitators will monitor the course discussion each weekday and provide input and feedback as needed
- The facilitators will post an announcement if this expectation cannot be met.
- If you find any "dead" links or other inaccurate information in the course, please email Rhonda at rhonda.bauerlein@gcccd.edu so that the problem can be corrected as soon as possible.
- At the end of the workshop, you will be asked to complete a course evaluation survey.
Note: This course has incorporated techniques used commonly by teachers in the online classroom. While participating in this Blackboard course, you may encounter challenges similar to those that confront your online students. You will have an opportunity to discuss these challenges and potential solutions in the "Discussion Board" area.
Evaluation
Once you complete the entire course, enroll your facilitator in your Blackboard practice container as an instructor so that it can be reviewed. Be sure to email your facilitator and ask to have your container evaluated. Tell your facilitator if you are seeking a Certificate of Completion. Your facilitator will provide you with specific feedback on your progress and suggestions for improvement. If there is sufficient evidence that the hands-on exercises have been completed and all the course content has been reviewed as evidenced by being marked as reviewed, then a Certificate of Completion will be awarded.
Note: you don't have to wait until the entire course is complete to have your container reviewed. If you want feedback earlier in the course, contact your facilitator.
Professional Development Credit
To earn Professional Development Credit for this course, click on the "Prof Dev Credit" button on the course menu and follow the instructions there.
Certificate of Completion
See Evaluation.
Supplemental Materials
Blackboard Instructor Manual
(This is linked from the Control Panel in each Blackboard course account.)
Recommended Text:
Ko, Susan and Steve Rossen. Teaching Online: A Practical Guide.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. ISBN 978-0415996907.
Is This Your First Online Class?
If this is your first online course, here are a couple of resources to take a look at before you get started:
There is a class called "Developing an Online Course" (EDU 214) that is offered at Grossmont College and Cuyamaca College that will enhance your ability to teach online.
Attribution
This course was originally created by the California Virtual Campus,
through funding received from the Chancellor's Office, California Community
Colleges. We wish to thank Paul Meyers and the entire CVC team for their
efforts promoting distance learning and the effective use of technology for
education. We also thank Greg Beyrer who has enhanced this course, added his
own expertise, and kept it up to date.
Copyright: All content in this course is licensed under the
Creative Commons
License.