Enhanced whiteboard tools coming to Collaborate in August
Draw freehand customize text & retain session annotations
A whiteboard is an important pedagogical tool to support handwritten expression and annotation, especially in a virtual classroom. Over the last year, Blackboard has been redesigning the whiteboard tool for Collaborate to provide more comprehensive tools and functionality. These
new whiteboard tools are expected in time for FA2021 courses.
When files or a blank whiteboard are shared in Collaborate, instructors can use annotation tools to edit and mark up the document during the live session. The enhanced functionality includes:
- Draw freehand on the page with various colors, thickness, and opacity. Select the eraser to remove annotations. You can erase parts of a freehand drawing with the eraser or select the Delete icon to delete the whole drawing.
- Add text directly on the page. You can move, edit, and change the text and select the font, size, alignment, and color of the text.
- Draw shapes including Line, Arrow, Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, and Polyline. Each shape has its own settings to change the color, width, opacity, and more.
- Highlight text on a shared file. You can also strikethrough, underline, squiggle, or comment on the highlighted section. Note: The highlighter is not available on the whiteboard.
In addition to annotation persistence, which allows you to retain markups on a whiteboard even after closing the whiteboard, the new tool will support moving the whiteboard or shared file on the page as well as zooming and adjusting the view to automatically fit the width. Group annotations on a whiteboard will also be saved. Even a multi-page whiteboard is possible!
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
]]>
A whiteboard is an important pedagogical tool to support handwritten expression and annotation, especially in a virtual classroom. Over the last year, Blackboard has been redesigning the...
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Mon, 02 Aug 2021 10:30:40 -0400
Mon, 02 Aug 2021 10:32:23 -0400
UMBC to pilot Collaborate automated transcription recording
Pilot will take place during summer session through 9/15
Update @ 10/1: The pilot has concluded.
In partnership with Blackboard, UMBC will pilot a recording transcription feature in the Collaborate web conferencing platform this summer. This feature will be available from July 15 - September 15, 2021.
Captions improve the accessibility of content for individuals who are deaf or hearing impaired. However, captions with videos offer opportunities for students to access the information in ways they need or want it.
- Anyone working in a noisy environment can read captions.
- Non-native speakers can read captions to reinforce their understanding.
- Students learning to read can follow along with the speaker.
- Students can see the spelling of terms that will be on a test.
In Collaborate, the recording transcription feature is triggered by the instructor through the recording settings page for the session. Please
review this FAQ for step by step instructions.
Collaborate leverages AI powered speech to text recognition to generate a transcription of what is said during the session. After the captions are created, captions are available from the recording list. The captions also immediately appear in the recording player for anybody having access to the recording.
As with Panopto, if you want to improve or correct anything in the captions, you can download the caption file to edit and replace it.
During the pilot, Blackboard would like to gather feedback from faculty who use the feature. Surveys will be distributed to faculty who use Collaborate recordings during the pilot. Please share your thoughts as this feedback is important to improving the feature for all future users.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
UPDATE: Following the introduction of gallery view to faculty in April 2021, we are pleased to announce that students and participants will also have access to 25 videos per page with the May update.
Sometimes it can important for users to choose who they want to focus on in a synchronous session. Instructors may want to keep a close eye on students who are struggling with the course. Students may want to follow a sign language interpreter, stay focused on the instructor, or see their study buddies. Gallery view introduced 25 videos per page in April 2021. With this month's Collaborate update, attendees can pin videos so they are always in view.
When you pin a video, it moves the video to the top of the list and pins, or anchors, it there. It doesn't change the number of videos you see, just the order you see them in.
Use the Attendee controls in the Attendees list or in the lower right corner of a video to pin and unpin videos. Pinned videos will appear in the order they were pinned, and you can pin more than one. Videos remained pinned even in breakout sessions. Only you know which video you pinned. Videos stay pinned until you unpin them or leave the session. Learn more with this FAQ.
NOTE: Only moderators can see more than 4 videos at a time. Increased access to gallery view will be gradually rolled out to attendees.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
The Planning Instructional Variety for Online Teaching (PIVOT) program is designed to support faculty as they prepare for the virtual classroom. For faculty who will be teaching this summer, the instructional technology team would like to share several resources to support online course development and instruction.
- Choose from our PIVOT Solo lessons to refresh or enhance your online teaching preparation. Five key topics cover course organization, active learning, community building, assessment, and supporting students.
- Explore our Panopto folder for a wide variety of recorded webinars on various instructional technologies available at UMBC.
- Attend a PIVOT Office Hours session to ask questions about strategies, effective practices, and available tools. Sessions include:
As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:
]]>
The Planning Instructional Variety for Online Teaching (PIVOT) program is designed to support faculty as they prepare for the virtual classroom. For faculty who will be teaching this summer, the...
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Wed, 28 Apr 2021 10:11:31 -0400
Wed, 28 Apr 2021 10:11:40 -0400
End of Semester Sprint Offers Customized Consults to Faculty
Two Sprints. One Day. Choose your time & topic.
The end of semester is a busy time of year for everyone, especially faculty. Instructional Technology will host two 2-hour sprint sessions on Thursday, May 13, 2021 for faculty to virtually drop-in and receive a shared consult on key topics including: - Recording & sharing videos with Panopto: Flip your classroom & prepare lectures.
- Building online community: Schedule, deliver & record virtual classes with Collaborate.
- Delivering & configuring virtual tests: Create online tests and promote academic integrity in online testing using Bb and Respondus Lockdown Browser.
- Tuning up your Blackboard gradebook: Create columns, drop scores, check calculations, verify weighted totals, etc.
The May 13th sprint will occur in two time slots to accommodate varied schedules.
The virtual drop-in will take place in a Blackboard Collaborate virtual conference room. Please view either the Morning Sprint or Afternoon Sprint myUMBC events and join the session by clicking the "Join Online Event" button at the top of the event page.
Prior to the sprint
Please note that this is not formal training.
UPDATE #1: Gallery view is now available! Learn more in this FAQ.
UPDATE #2: Students and participants gain access to gallery view with the May update.
Spring will bring warm weather to the UMBC campus community… and an exciting update for our web conferencing tool, Collaborate! The first phase of increased video thumbnails is tentatively targeted for April 8, 2021, allowing moderators to see up to 25 videos per page.
Three options will be available:
The Gallery View displays up to 25 videos per page. The zoom function reduces the videos displayed. Up to 250 videos can be supported in a session using pagination to display the thumbnails.
The Speaker View centers the lead speaker on the screen with 7-8 video thumbnails tiled at the bottom.
The Tile View places the speaker on the left with 11-12 video thumbnails on the right.
Gallery view works best in Chrome and is not supported at all in Safari at this time.
By summer, Blackboard anticipates supporting a student view of 25 videos per page. Future development for Collaborate includes pinning videos and side-by-side display of content against a smaller gallery.
Over the last year, Blackboard conducted extensive research with faculty and student focus groups to ensure the new functionality is designed for teaching and learning rather than just deploying more thumbnails like any other web conferencing tool. Reducing
cognitive fatigue and
non-verbal overload, supporting instructor customization, and providing student privacy are all elements Blackboard researched and will incorporate into its design plan for Collaborate. Additional research is
posted to the Blackboard Community site, which requires a free account to access.
During SP2021, Collaborate also will also feature these updates:
- Session owners can tell at-a-glance if the recording is available to the public or to course members only.
- Some Collaborate error pages will provide chatbot support to attendees. The chatbot is also available on the Report an Issue panel.
Finally, to reduce impact on session resources, any session that lasts longer than 8 hours will be automatically disconnected from the Collaborate system. While sessions can be scheduled for any length of time including 24-hours and no end date, it is unusual that anyone stays in the session for more than 8 hours at a time. The system therefore will assume extended connection to a session is unintended and disconnect the user from the room. However, attendees can rejoin the session, if they need to access it again.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
]]>
UPDATE #1: Gallery view is now available! Learn more in this FAQ. UPDATE #2: Students and participants gain access to gallery view with the May update. Spring will bring warm weather to the UMBC...
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Wed, 24 Mar 2021 08:00:17 -0400
Wed, 12 May 2021 13:00:06 -0400
Faculty Survey Suggests Shift in Pre/Post-Pandemic Teaching
31% increase in those open to non-traditional approach, FA21
"I teach mostly grad students. I did not expect to find any positives about remote teaching - in 35 years of teaching I had NEVER done it and did not plan on doing it before retirement [...] It is a lot of prep work and can be frustrating, but once I figured things out and was less anxious, things went pretty well and that can be quite rewarding. I think the biggest lesson for me was that you get as much effective learning in remote teaching as you put work and effort into prepping. Versatility in approach, flexibility in dealing with issues and a sense of humor are essential. The students reward your effort with their effort."
~ Professor Marina Adler, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Public Health
As UMBC prepares for a possible return to campus next year, DoIT wanted to better understand the faculty experience of remote instruction and online learning over the past year. To do so, we sent an anonymous survey investigating faculty online support needs to three distributions of faculty: those who completed PIVOT Plus, PIVOT Live and those who did not participate in PIVOT.1 Respondents were provided with the option to provide their email address for follow-up questions. The survey was available from Feb. 9 to 17, and was completed by 204 respondents. Of all respondents, half, (50%) indicated they would prefer to return to campus f2f. However, this is down from 81% prior to the pandemic. Indeed, of the 131 respondents who initially indicated that face-to-face (f2f) was their preferred form of delivery, 40% changed their mind to believing some other form of non traditional instructional delivery is preferable. Only 9%, or 8 respondents, went into the shift to fully online believing that some other form of online or hybrid instruction was preferable but now indicate a preference or interest to teach f2f when the campus reopens .
Three fifths of respondents spent a week or more developing just one course in Blackboard. Microsoft tools were the most leveraged by all respondents (75%), followed by Bb Collaborate and Bb Ultra. About half of respondents indicated they made use of Google Apps, Webex (Meetings), and Panopto. As illustrated in Figure 1, there were deviations in use patterns, depending on PIVOT participation, particularly related to used to support learner engagement tools, such as Google Apps, Panopto, and, in particular, VoiceThread.
Figure 1: Percent Tool Use, by PIVOT Training Participation
Nearly all respondents (97%) indicated they believed their internet skills were adequate to teach their course(s) and posting and receiving assignments worked smoothly (91%). As illustrated by Figure 2, of those who sought support during the Fall2020 term, the majority (63%) submitted a ticket through UMBC’s request tracker system. Around half of respondents also gained assistance through PIVOT training or from their colleagues.
Figure 2: Percent of Respondents Leveraging Resource
The qualitative comments followed several primary themes, one of which was a concern for the quality of online instruction compared with traditional f2f instruction. In general, the harshest criticisms appeared to originate from instructors who did not participate in PIVOT.[1] These qualitative descriptions complement the quantitative data, which indicate 63% percent of instructors would most like additional improvements to support Learner Engagement, while 45% of instructors would like to get a better handle on the best tools to fit their unique instructional needs. Additionally, there were voiced for the tools that were available for instruction, both articulated as there being too many choices and not the correct ones for their interests, particularly around synchronous instruction (e.g., disapproving of Bb Collaborate or WebEx while lauding Zoom or Google). Another area of concern was physical access to technology for both students and instructors. This element is echoed in the likert-type data, where 20% did not agree with the evaluation that the technology available to them during the fall was sufficient for teaching synchronously (e.g., students’ use of Chromebooks, lack of web cameras, or poor internet access).
However there were also many comments supporting the transition to away from fully f2f instruction, as exemplified by the Professor Adler’s quote at the top of this summary. Respondents voiced their appreciation for the support they received transitioning online, or described how they were able to grow pedagogically in online spaces and hoped to carry forward these new knowledges, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to their instruction once the university eventually moves back to some semblance of normal.
Conducting high-stakes assessment was also a prevalent concern voiced in the respondents’ comments. This theme was echoed in the quantitative data, where managing online tests appeared to be an area of potential opportunity with only 73% of respondents agreeing that they had the necessary KSAs to be successful in this domain, and 9% strongly disagreeing that they were well equipped to assess their students online.
[1] About 3 out of 5 respondents participated in some form of PIVOT (59%), about the same proportion teaching full-time (63%), while 2 of 3 indicated they had previously taught online or hybrid/blended courses either at UMBC or another institution.
~ By Tom Penniston & Mariann Hawken
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Tue, 02 Mar 2021 15:31:40 -0500
GO Chat Recap: The Year of Open Ed - UMBC Alum Leads the Way
Here's what you missed from our Go Online Chat!
Last month, we kicked off our GO Chat series for 2021 with a dive into all-things-open, as in Open Educational Resources (OER), Open Pedagogy, and Open Science.
We started with a brief discussion about several recent articles that caught our attention:
- Inside Higher Ed, Will College Be Free in 4 Years?, written through the lens of a 13-year-old middle schooler during the historic inauguration of President Biden, Vice President Harris, and FLOTUS Jill Biden. What might this mean for college affordability during the Biden administration? Despite the many political challenges, the authors deemed it a worthy aspirational goal for all institutions.
- Faculty Focus, This Semester, Don't Forget Participation Feedback! This was a timely reminder about what can be a frustrating experience, a "participation" grade in an online class. Faculty can start by reviewing and refreshing their often-prescriptive language, modeling effective participation, using formative assessments, and preparing students to be effective participants in the classroom and work situations.
- The Chronicle of Higher Education, Small Teaching Online column, 8 Strategies to Prevent Teacher Burnout. Author Flower Darby focused on flexibility and forgiveness as we approach the first year of pandemic teaching. She offered key takeaways for teachers: keep it simple, maintain balance, communicate strategically, and call timeout for yourself and your students.
Helping us understand this journey about all-things-open was UMBC alumni Dr. Karen Cangialosi, a Professor of Biology and Open Education Faculty Fellow at Keene State College (KSC) in Keene, New Hampshire.
Although she regularly incorporates open pedagogy in all her courses, Karen explains her journey started with an episode of the podcast, The Future Trends Forum by Bryan Alexander. During the episode featuring Gardner Cambell (2016), Karen recalled, "I'm a biology professor who used mostly traditional materials, but I did a complete 180 when it came to open education after listening to Gardner Campbell."
A proponent of Open Educational Resources (OER), Karen says OERs are an important gateway to open education in terms of people, practices, and content. Open pedagogy is about access, agency, and community. Karen describes a learning environment where her students can work with her to create content or learning outcomes, write an attendance policy, design self assessments, or determine how they will be graded.
While students can be unsure, or even resistant to this approach, Karen suggests that since most students will not know what this process can be about she still offers more traditional methods, content, or assessments. And what often ends up happening in those instances is that a few weeks after watching classmates create and share content, students will come to her and ask, "Can I change? I want to do what they're doing instead of this 25-page paper I said I'd write."
When it comes to students sharing content, Karen never requires them to create openly licensed work; however, she provides examples and opportunities that make it possible. For example, her BIO 318 students created a textbook -- A Student's Guide to Tropical Marine Biology that is utilized by other students across the open education community.
Karen acknowledges open education has been building slowly and she frequently guides colleagues to start with "your desire as a professor and what you want students to do and learn in your course." As higher education is changing dramatically now due to COVID-19, Karen sees faculty ideally positioned to shape those conversations and changes. Read more about Karen at her website: https://karencang.net/
Check out the full GO Chat here.
We will be joined by Dr. Laila M. Shishineh, Director of First-Year & Transfer Academic Programs in the Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs (UAA) at UMBC. In this role she oversees several campus initiatives: Academic Transition Courses (FYS, IHU, and TRS), Summer & Winter Bridge Programs, and the Living-Learning Communities.
We hope you will join us!
Don't miss a GO Chat! Make sure you:
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate slides and leave comments in several ways – text, voice, audio file, or webcam. VoiceThread is available to any instructor who would like to incorporate this engagement tool into their digital toolkit for academic continuity. With VoiceThread, faculty and students can:
Demonstrate procedures to help students prepare for a practical exam
Explain decisions when selecting subjects for a painting’s composition
Foster greater community in large, lecture-based classes
Debate the pros and cons of a controversial issue
Practice foreign language skills during role-play
Critique a classmate’s composition
To learn more about Voicethread and to expand your use of Voicethread in your teaching, please consider attending these webinars:
Using VoiceThread in Blackboard
Feb. 9, 2021 at 1:00pm ET - Register here
In this hands-on workshop, you will learn how to create VoiceThreads and then add them to your Blackboard course as lessons or assessments.
New Assignment Features Workshop
Feb. 16 at 7:00pm ET - Register here
In this workshop, you will learn how to turn new assignments on for your courses and begin using them with your students. We will review all of the workflows, new features, and options for your VoiceThread assessments.
New Assignment Features Workshop
March. 9, 2021 at 1:00pm ET - Register here
In this hands-on workshop, you will learn how to create VoiceThreads and then add them to your Blackboard course as lessons or assessments
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VoiceThread Assignment Features
New options and workflow for VoiceThread assignments
As announced last semester, a redesigned VoiceThread (VT) assignment tool is now live. The new interface provides new features with streamlined workflows and enhanced options. Clear, dynamic checklist requirements, grading requirements, and submission status are all new features of the new VoiceThread assignment tool.
In addition to determining the playback and sharing settings for all VT assignments, instructors may now automatically have edit access to student-created VoiceThread submissions. A new Student Gallery option provides students with a central area to see all VoiceThreads for a single assignment, allowing them to view and comment on their peers’ submissions.
Faculty may set start dates and due dates for VT assignments, which hide activities before you are ready for students to see them. New grading features are also available including checking the status of student submissions as unattempted, in progress, or submitted. Automatic reminders to submit can be sent to students. Grading is done with the VoiceThread interface and will automatically synchronize with Blackboard’s gradebook. Grading is based on a percentage-based or pass/fail format.
Faculty who would like to learn more about the new VoiceThread assignment may wish to review these tools:
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
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