Conference Day is coming up!  Thanks to all our faculty for a great semester.  Stay informed on all the latest from eLi by checking in with the eLi blog, and keep in mind that our Blackboard Learn 9.1 Service Pack 10 + Update is occurring in August and the new functionality in Blackboard will be available to all faculty for Fall 2013 semester!

Check out our Conference Day page HERE.

Find more information about the Blackboard Learn 9.1 Service Pack 10 + Update HERE.

As always, if you have questions or comments, post them to the blog and we’d be happy to answer for all!  You can also contact the Office of eLearning and Innovation directly!

Congratulations to Debbie Allen and Theresa Anastasakis for earning Quality Matters recognition for RADT2350 – Radiographic Pathology.  This is Tri-C’s first blended learning course that has earned recognition.  View the 2011-2013 Quality Matters standards at: www.qmprogram.org/files/QM_Standards_2011-2013.pdf, or go to the Title III blog to see a list of Tri-C’s QM Recognized Courses, go to: http://title3.wordpress.com/awards/.   Thanks Debbie and Theresa for your commitment to continuous improvement and designing a high quality learning experience for your student.  Congratulations!

Coming in Fall 2013, the Blackboard Learn 9.1 Service Pack 10 + Update will improve functionality for students and faculty alike!

Check out our page designated for updates on what to expect.

During the coming months, we’ll be sharing functionality, informing faculty and students of specific upcoming changes while simultaneously testing and creating how-to documents to make the transition easier and smoother.  This update is in alignment with the frequent release schedule from Blackboard to be more responsive to requested changes and fixes.

If you have any questions, please feel free to post, or contact the Office of eLearning and Innovation.

Course Copy is the ability to copy whole courses or content areas from one course to another. Use Course Copy when you want to duplicate an entire course or duplicate an entire content area (or course menu button). To use Course Copy, you must have the instructor role on both course sites. The source site is the site that contains the content you want to copy. The destination site is the site where you want to send the content.

Please find step-by-step instructions on how to effectively use Course Copy functionality HERE.  (This document is hosted in SkyDrive, so opening it with Internet Explorer or Firefox with Adobe plugin is recommended.  The default Adobe reader in Chrome will not allow the document to appear.)

Please let the Office of eLearning and Innovation know if you have any questions related to the usage of this new functionality.

SoftChalk Update

SoftChalk within Blackboard has been updated to resolve issues playing content in IE8 and IE9. As a result, all faculty with SoftChalk content in their Blackboard Course sites need to synchronize that content.  Please find a document with specific information about how to sync your SoftChalk content HERE.  Please use Internet Explorer or Chrome (it does not appear in Firefox correctly.)

Respondus

Several anecdotal reports have surfaced about difficulties with Respondus products, which may include Study Mate.  Please contact the Help Desk at 987-4357 to report any issues.

As we continue to assist with the resolution of these issues, please be sure to contact the Help Desk so that the resolution can be tracked, brainstormed, and solved within a timely manner.

The 2013 eMerge Conference was a great success, with a capacity crowd all dedicated to learning more about blended learning!

Check out photos from the event HERE, and check back next week for the presentations themselves.

As you know Tri-C introduced a new text messaging system Connect for Learn in January.  Connect for Learn expands and replaces the current MobileU system.  

Students are invited to sign up to receive text notifications about counseling, financial aid, and enrollment information and/or events and activities in Blackboard course sites.

Connect for Learn can send text notifications when announcements or assignments are available, when assignments are due, and when items are graded. Connect for Learn also allows you to select which notifications you want to receive! 

Mobile U will no longer be available after the Spring 2013 semester. To ensure that you continue to receive notifications, sign up for Connect for Learn now!

• The Course site is archived
• An email is sent to the faculty advising that due to a reassignment their course has been archived with instructions on how to access the archive
• The course site is then deleted
• The newly assigned faculty can now request a course site

If you have any questions relating to the process, please contact Michelle.Watson@tri-c.edu.

Welcome to to Believe Island, Tri-C’s first massively open online course (MOOC) and a land where students believe they can accelerate to college-ready coursework and obtain the degree or certificate program of their choosing!

Tri-C received funding from the Gates Foundation for Expediting the Transition into Mainstream College Coursework for Massive Numbers of Developmental Education Students. Tri-C has been designing and developing the MOOC with faculty and staff) which focuses on Pre-Algebra, (corresponding with some of the lower level Developmental Math content). This non-credit MOOC will run four times and is completely free for students (and open worldwide to anyone):

• Session 1: March 4 – March 30

• Session 2: April 1 – April 27

• Session 3: May 6 – June 1

• Session 4: June 3 – June 29

Check out the MOOC Page for more details.  And happy learning!