Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Collaboration Tools - Best Practices

As we wrap up our month of blog posts on collaborative tools within Blackboard, we would like to focus on some of the best practices for implementing these tools, as outlined within the official Blackboard Help pages (linked within each title below), as well as sharing some additional resources that offer ideas for effectively using these collaborative tools within your courses.

Best Practice: Interactive Tools in Action - Visit this link for lists of suggestions for using each of the collaborative tools, as well as ideas for using the tools in combination.
Effective use of interactive and collaborative tools is essential for developing a successful online community.  While "students report that their satisfaction with online courses relates to instructor presence, and the collaboration and sense of community they experience" (goo.gl/MwySFF), these tools can serve effectively within traditional face-to-face courses as well.  Choosing the right interactive tools, based on course goals, can help to effectively build community by encouraging interaction and development of ideas.  

Best Practice: Grading Reflective Writing
There is much debate over whether instructors should grade reflective writing.  Some give points for completion, rather than assigning a grade to students' ideas.  Instead of assigning a score, they provide feedback to students' ideas in the form of comments.  This helps students to value the writing process, rather than focusing on details for the sake of earning points.  For those who choose to assign grades, it can be very helpful to include a rubric within the tool, and use this as a guide for evaluating the content.  

Best Practice: Commenting on Reflective Writing
"Good job" doesn't provide helpful feedback for students.  Instead, it is important for instructors to focus on providing specific and meaningful comments that will "encourage students to write more, examine their own writing and learning, and feel comfortable when sharing their thoughts and opinions" (goo.gl/hYDvfE).  It is also essential to focus on the big idea and provide positive comments regarding the student contributions.  Since the Blackboard tools allow students to comment back, this allows for dialogue and opportunities to continually encourage students with their writing.

Additional Resources




For additional assistance with Blackboard collaboration tools, contact the TLC at tlc@icc.edu or (309) 694-8908, or visit us in room 240A on the East Peoria campus.


Next week our Blackboard Users' Group will meet in the TLC on Wednesday, December 2 at 12noon or Thursday, December 3 at 3pm - participants may attend either session.

There will be no ICC Blackboard blog series during the month of December.  Our January blog series will focus on assignments and will include topics about inline grading, SafeAssign, and rubrics.



Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Blogs, Journals, & Wikis

Blogs, Journals, and Wikis are collaboration tools similar to Discussion Boards, but each has some variation, as well as a different interface.  There are various ways to incorporate any of these tools into your Blackboard courses:
  1. Add a Tool Link to the course navigation menu (Discussion Boards are there by
    default, and others can be added)
  2. Add a Tool Link within any content area (these can link either to the full tool or only to one particular instance of the tool)
  3. Make any of the collaboration tools available within course groups


BLOGS

A blog, or "web log," is an online forum for sharing information with others.  Blog entries are typically more lengthy than discussion board entries, and blogs are typically updated frequently.  Most blogs include a commenting feature, allowing opportunities for interaction.  Blogs are an effective way for sharing ideas, information, and even artifacts of sorts (via the attachment feature).  Within Blackboard there are three types of blogs: course blogs, where the instructor sets the topic, and all students can add entries and comment on entries; individual blogs, where each student adds entries to their own blog, and other students can view and comment on the entries; and group blogs, where group members can post entries, and other students can view and comment on the entries.  For more information visit Blackboard Help's Blogs page.

JOURNALS
Journals are very similar to blogs.  The primary difference is that, within Blackboard, Journals are set to be private by default, meaning they are only visible to the instructor - not to any other students within the course (unless the instructor chooses to change these default settings).  Journals could be particularly useful as a self-reflective tool for students, where they could reflect on the course, course-related materials, the learning process, or their own progress within the course.  They could also be useful tools for the writing process, as instructors could guide students and provide suggestions on drafts of a written project.  Both instructors and students could engage in conversation via comments to a journal entry.  Students can make multiple entries for a single journal topic, and journals can either be graded or used only for communication purposes.  For more information visit Blackboard Help's Journals page.

WIKIS
Wikis are yet another collaborative tool available within Blackboard.  The primary difference between Wikis and the other collaborative tools is that any course member can add content to and edit a Wiki, making it a truly collaborative experience, where information gradually built upon.  It is also possible to track changes and additions and to revert to an earlier version, if necessary.  Wikis are an effective means for serving as a repository of information compiled by course members.  For more information visit Blackboard Help's Wikis page.  For ideas about using Wikis, visit Best Practices: Wikis in Action.




The ICC Teaching and Learning Center staff is available to help you build and incorporate any of these tools into your Blackboard courses.  
Stay tuned for next week's blog post, where we'll share some ideas and tips for best practices when using discussion boards, blogs, journals, and wikis.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Discussion Boards

Discussion Boards are a commonly-used Blackboard feature that can serve various purposes (list taken from Blackboard Help - Discussions):
  • An online meeting place for social interaction among peers
  • An additional medium for collaboration and the exchange of ideas
  • A medium to pose questions about homework assignments, readings, and course content
  • A way to demonstrate the understanding or application of course material
  • A record of discussion that members can review at a later point
  • A graded activity that demonstrates understanding or application of course material
View Blackboard Learn's video (below) for a comprehensive overview of how discussions work:


The possibilities for incorporating discussion boards into a course, be it online or face-to-face, are numerous.  Instructors could create a number of forums that present questions, and students could answer by creating new threads within the forum and interacting with one another within these threads.  Questions could be related to content from the textbook, current events/issues related to course content, or extensions of in-class discussions.  Instructors could also create a number of threads in relation to a forum topic (restricting students from creating new threads), and students could choose to respond to one or two threads of choice or respond to threads according to group assignments from the instructor.  Visit Blackboard Help's official page, About Forums and Threads, for additional information.

We typically recommend including a general questions forum that could be called something like "Ask the Instructor."  Encourage students to use this forum to ask general questions about the course or assignments (not personal questions about issues like grades), rather than emailing questions to you.  You might even consider allowing students to post anonymously to this forum, as some may be more likely to ask questions if their name is not connected to it.

Blackboard Help's Set Up Discussions page also provides several helpful tips for developing effective discussions, including defining participation requirements, crafting effective questions, encouraging new ideas, and moderating forums.  There are several options available in terms of setting how much control you allow students to have within the forum.  This help page also discusses options for making discussion forums and threads available to students via either the navigation menu or tool links within course areas - it would be helpful to consider the advantages and disadvantages of each option.  TLC staff is available to help you explore options and determine which method will work best in each of your course settings.






Visit Blackboard Help's official page on Discussions for additional information, ideas, and links to supplemental topics related to Blackboard discussions.

In the next couple of weeks we'll focus on other collaborative Blackboard tools like Blogs, Journals, and Wikis, as well as best practices for using any of the tools individually or in combination.