BlackBoard 9: links and resources
I’m really looking forward to our upgrade to Blackboard version 9 this summer. I’ve had a play on the BB development website (last year!) and on the test server here at BU, and I want to like it … I really do!
So, do I like it? I’m not sure yet, and I want to be fair to the system and the people who have worked, and are continuing to work tirelessly, to get it installed, configured, and integrated with our internal systems.
In the meantime I’m going to post a series of links and resources I find about Blackboard version 9 here, the good and the bad (I haven’t found any ugly ones yet, but a few of the bad ones are fairly damning!).
- University of Syracuse: BB9 Testing Issues:
blogs.syr.edu/blackboard9testing - University of Leicester: BB9 YouTube video guides for staff:
www2.le.ac.uk/institution/lts/talent/blackboard/blackboard9upgrade/ - University of Leicester: Blackboard Staff Development:
www2.le.ac.uk/offices/staff-development/courses/it/elearning - Hack College: Blackboard 9 ‘enough is enough’ (and some interesting comments from staff and students):
www.hackcollege.com/blog/2009/9/9/blackboard-9-enough-is-enough.html - Leiden University: Log of Upgrade from BB7 to BB9:
http://bb9.weblog.leidenuniv.nl/ - Kentucky Community College: Issue and Bug ‘fixes’ for BB9:
efaculty.blogspot.com/2009/05/bb-v9-current-issues-and-work-arounds.html - Keith Russell: BB9 the next generation:
keithrussell.blogspot.com/2008/05/presentation-blackboard-9-next.html - Getting started with BB9:
www.ric.edu/faculty/revans/bb9/
If you have any links or resources you’d like to add to the list then please email me and I’ll include them (with your name as referral) or just leave a comment with the details below and I’ll publish it.
Either way I am interested to hear from all types of users of Blackboard, whether you are using the current version 9.1 or anything previous to this, whether you love or hate it (but please say why otherwise it is a little pointless!).
Additional Links/Resources:
- Blackboard On Demand – links and videos from Blackboard:
ondemand.blackboard.com (thanks to alextronic)
Ahhh we JUST upgraded in Bb9 this week! Here’s some of our resources!
We made a couple of prezis to stand in for training, for those who don’t want to sit through a workshop with us:
http://library.utm.utoronto.ca/bb/inahurry
http://library.utm.utoronto.ca/bb/gradecenter
Rochelle – That’s brilliant, thank you for sharing.
All the best, David
Last summer we also “upgraded”. It brought a plethora of issues and headaches to us all. We are looking towards an open source solution these days, but here was our issues list publication from the Office of Academic Technology at Spring Arbor University where I work as an Instructional Designer: http://sites.arbor.edu/oat/2009/08/28/blackboard-9-issues-list/
Thank you David; I’ll take a look through your resources on the link.
All the best, David
I usually work with web-based applications like http://www.showdocument.com
I use it for sharing my designs and documents with partners and clients,
but i guess it can used for other purposes too. If you’re looking for a free solution you should check it out.
– Laura W.
The idea of “don’t waste your time” goes beautifully with Bb9. It’s a needlessly unintuitive, crap version of what was once a delivery system that was easy to learn on one’s own, without myriad tutorials. I can ascertain no reasonable justification for structuring this build the way it’s been done, or for naming things what they’ve been named. “Add Item” has now inexplicably become “Create Column.” The process of weighting categories and setting up the view one wants is now an utter morass. The entire system is an opaque disaster. It reels the mind that human talent dreamt this up, and not only that, but that other humans observed it and said, “Yes, indeed, this is what we want…this is an improvement.” The fact that I never once needed to consult a manual for Bb7 but have to consult several for Bb9 to carry out the same not-so-sophisticated functions is an indicator that this new version is a spectacular WASTE OF MY TIME!
Every time I read a good post I usually do three things:1.Share it with all the close friends.2.save it in some of the popular bookmarking websites.3.Be sure to come back to the blog where I came accross the article.After reading this post I am really thinking of doing all of the above.
:(
When my university was using Blackboard 8, I could go to Course Search and find out all the courses that university is offering. From there I could access course materials for any course I wanted which was really awesome because I would love to take grad level courses as an undergrad, but can’t because of rules.
Now with Blackboard 9.1, they added permissions to the materials (I can still access course). Any work around for this? I really want to look through course materials which I am indirectly paying for… I’m just really curious…
Hi ‘curious student’ – I have no idea where you are nor what kind of set-up your Institution has implemented for Blackboard. I suggest you contact your version of IT Services and ask them, I’m sure they’ll help.
Hope you find your way, David.
I am so not impressed. It is hard to maneuver and find information. Links are not indicated as being links, and the information is bland. The content is likewritingasentancewithoutthespacebar. Very hard to find things when the navigation is sterile.
Hi Dino – not sure what you’re looking at but could you post a link to your work so we can see please? I know there are many different ways Bb can be installed and configured so it would be interesting to see how your’s works.
Thanks, in advance, David